Tag: matthew6:16-21

Posted in CARMELITES, CHRIST, the BRIDEGROOM, DOCTORS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, LENT 2024, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 14 February – ‘… Conceal yourself, in order to find and experience Him….’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 14 February – Ash Wednesday – St Valentine (176-273) Bishop and Martyr – Joel 2:12-19; Matthew 6:16-21 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not be seen fasting by men but by your Father, Who is in secret and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:17-18

REFLECTION – “What else do you search for outside, O soul!, when within yourself, you possess your riches, delights, satisfactions, fullness and Kingdom – your Beloved, Whom you desire and seek?… There is but one difficulty, even though He does abide within you, He is hidden …

Yet you inquire – since He, Whom my soul loves is within me, why do I not find Him or experience Him? The reason is that He remains concealed and you do not also conceal yourself, in order to find and experience Him. If you wish to find a hidden treasure, you must enter the hiding place secretly and once you have discovered it, you will also be hidden, just as the treasure is hidden. Since then, your beloved Bridegroom is the treasure, hidden in a field, for which the wise merchant sold all his possessions [Mt. 13:44] and that field is your soul, in order to find Him, you should forget all your possessions and all creatures and hide in the secret inner room of your spirit.

There, closing the door behind you (your will to all things), you should “pray to your Father in secret.” Remaining hidden with Him, you will experience Him in hiding, that is, in a way transcending all language and feeling!” – St John of the Cross (1542-1591) Carmelite, Doctor of the Church (Spiritual Canticle B1, 8-9).

PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who celebrate the anniversary of the death of Thy holy Martyr, Valentine, may, by his intercession, be delivered from all evils which threaten us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thine Son who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, One God forever, amen (Collect).
O glorious advocate and protector, St Valentine,
look with pity upon our wants,
hear our requests,
attend to our prayers,
relieve by your intercession,
the miseries under which we labour
and obtain for us the divine blessing,
that we may be found worthy
to join you in praising the
Almighty for all eternity:
through the merits of
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on FASTING

One Minute Reflection – 22 February – ‘ … What the sun is to the day, almsgiving is to our fast …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 22 February – Ash Wednesday – Joel 2:12-19, Matthew 6:16-21 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“But you, when you fast…” – Matthew 6:17..

REFLECTION – “My dear brethren, today we set out on the great Lenten journey. So let us take our food and drink along in our boat, putting into the chest, the abundant mercy we shall need. For our fasting is a hungry one, our fasting is a thirsty one, if it is not sustained by goodness and refreshed by mercy. Our fasting will be cold, our fasting will flag, if the fleece of almsgiving does not clothe it, if the garment of compassion, does not wrap it around.

Brethren, what Spring is for the land, mercy is for fasting – the soft, Spring winds, cause all the buds on the plains to flower – the mercy of our fast causes all our seeds to grow until they blossom and bear fruit, for the heavenly harvest. What oil is to the lamp, goodness is to our fast. As the oily fat sets the lamp alight and, in spite of so little to feed it, keeps it burning, to our comfort, all night long, so goodness makes our fasting shine: it casts its beams until it reaches the full brightness of self-restraint. What the sun is to the day, almsgiving is to our fast – the sun’s splendour increases the light of day, breaking through the dullness of the clouds – almsgiving, together with fasting, sanctifies its holiness and, thanks to the light of goodness, dispels from our desires anything that could petrify.

In short, what the body is for the soul, generosity acts similarly for the fast: when the soul leaves the body it brings about death; if generosity abandons the fast, it is, its death!” – St Peter Chrysologus (400-450) Bishop of Ravenna, “Doctor of Sermons” Father and Doctor of the Church (From Sermon 8).

PRAYER – Grant, O Lord, that Thy faithful people may, with true piety, undertake the time-honoured custom of fasting and may carry it out with unwavering devotion. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on FASTING, QUOTES on HYPOCRISY, QUOTES on PRIDE, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 2 March – ‘ … He strips bare the secret intentions of our souls. …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 2 March – Ash Wednesday –Joel 2:12-19, Matthew 6:16-21

“They have received their reward” – Matthew 6:16

REFLECTION – “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.” Why not? If people see them then what will you get out of them? “You will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.”  My brethren, the Lord is not bringing judgement here but giving an explanation. He casts light on the wiles of our thoughts, He strips bare the secret intentions of our souls. He draws attention to the measure of a just retribution, to those unrighteous, pondering righteousness. Righteousness that sets itself in the sight of others can expect no divine reward from the Father. It wanted to be seen and it was seen; it wanted to please others and it pleased them. It has received the recompense it wanted – the recompense it did not want, it will not have …

“When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do.” “Blow your trumpet” – this is the exact phrase in that this kind of alms is more like a deed of war than of peace. It passes wholly into its sound but has nothing to do with mercy. It comes from the land of disunion but has not been nourished by goodness. It is a dealing in outward show, not chaste commerce …. “So, then, when you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.” You have taken good note: – alms offered at a meeting, in public square and street corners, is not an offering made for the comforting of the poor but has been set forward in the sight of others to attract their admiration … Flee hypocrisy, my brethren, flee from it …. It does not bring comfort to the poor; the groans of the homeless but is only a pretext for it, to seek out even more busily, a spectacular glory for itself. It inflates its praise of the suffering of the poor. – St Peter Chrysologus (406-450) Bishop of Ravenna, Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon 9).

PRAYER – Grant, O Lord, that Your faithful people may, with true piety, undertake the time-honoured custom of fasting and may carry it out with unwavering devotion. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).