Tag: The BEATITUDES

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on PURITY of INTENTION, The BEATITUDES, The HEART, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 30 July – ‘ … The vision of God is promised ONLY to people with a pure heart. …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 30 July– “The Month of the Most Precious Blood” – St Abdon and St Senen (Died c250) Martyrs – 2 Corinthians 6:4-10; Matthew 5:1-12 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“They shall see God.” – Matthew 5:8

REFLECTION – “We want to see God, we seek to see Him, we ardently desire to see Him. Who does not desire this? But note what the Gospel says: “Blest are the pure of heart, they shall see God.” Do what is necessary in order to see Him! To compare it with something from material reality, how can you want to contemplate the rising sun if your eyes are sick? If your eyes are healthy that light will be a pleasure for you; if they are sick, it will be torture for you. You will surely not be allowed to see, with an impure heart, that which one can only see with a pure heart. You will be moved away, put at a distance, you will not see!

How often did the Lord proclaim people to be ‘blest‘? What reasons for eternal happiness did He cite, what good works, what gifts, what merits and what rewards? No other! the beatitude says, “They shall see God.” This is what the others say: “How blest are the poor in spirit, the reign of God is theirs. Blest are the lowly; they shall inherit the land. Blest are the sorrowing; they shall be consoled. Blest are they who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill. Blest are they who show mercy; mercy shall be theirs.” So none other asserts, “They shall see God.”

The vision of God is promised ONLY to those with a pure heart. This is not without a reason, since the eyes which allow us to see God are in the heart. Those are the eyes the Apostle Paul was speaking of when he said: “May He enlighten your innermost vision” (Eph 1:18). So, at the present time because of their weakness, those eyes are enlightened by faith; later, because of their strength, they will be enlightened by vision… “Now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face.” (1 Cor 13:12).” (1 Cor 13:12).” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon 53).

PRAYER – O God, Who bestowed upon Thy Saints, Abdon and Sennen, an abundance of grace to bring them to this glory, grant to Thy servants forgiveness of their sins, so they may be found worthy to be freed from all harm, through the interceding merits of Thy Saints. 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, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, QUOTES on HEAVEN, The BEATITUDES, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 1 November – ‘… What every man seeks…’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 1 November – The Solemnity of All Saints, Readings: Apocalypse 7:2-4, 9-14, Psalms 24:1-6, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12

“Blessed are the poor in spirit” – Matthew 5:2

REFLECTION – “And when he had sat down, he opened his mouth.” (Mk 6,31). May it be granted me to sit with Jesus, to sit at His feet on the mountainside and partake of His instruction! When He is in the crowd, He is standing and walking, occupied and wearied, and so hard-pressed, that neither He, nor His disciples are, as it were, allowed to eat bread, “the bread of life and understanding” (Jn 6,35) and to drink “the water of wisdom” (Sir 15,3). For this water can only be drunk in a time of leisure and it is drawn by those who have little to do. For “the well is deep”(Sir 38,24) …

Opening His mouth Jesus speaks to the heart of Jerusalem, talking to her in solitude or on the mountain and this is what He says: “Happy are the poor in spirit.” ( Jn 4,11). He Who is Happiness, speaks of happiness, He Who became poor, of poverty, Bread speaks of repletion, Mercy of mercifulness, He Who is the Purity of hearts, speaks of purification of heart, the truly Peaceful of peace-making, the Son by nature, speaks of sonship…

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Wisely indeed He puts first… what every man seeks… For who does not want to be happy? Why do men universally quarrel and fight, bargain, resort to flattery and inflict injuries on one another? Is it not simply in order to obtain, by fair means or foul… something that promises to make them happy?… So, the Teacher of all men… begins by redirecting those who have lost the way…; He Who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life”…  (Jn 14,16; 6,32;4,6) begins with the words: “Happy are the poor in spirit.” – Blessed Isaac of Stella O.Cist. (c 1100 – c 1170) Cistercian Monk, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher (Sermon 1, for the Feast of All Saints ; SC 130).

PRAYER – Father, All-Powerful and ever-living God, today we rejoice in the holy men and women of every time and place. May their prayers bring us your forgiveness and love. Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, our trusted guide and loving mother and all you holy Saints of the Church Triumphant, pray for us! We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

Posted in NOTES to Followers, SAINT of the DAY, The BEATITUDES

Thought for the Day – 11 September – “Blessed are you when men hate you”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 11 September – – Wednesday of the Twenty-third week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 6:20–26 and The Memorial of St John Gabriel Perboyre (1802-1840) Martyr of the Congregation of the Mission

“Blessed are you when men hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!   Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for so their fathers did to the prophets. ... Luke 6:22-23

A sermon he heard at age 15 inspired St John Gabriel to become a missionary in China. There he met a brutal death on a cross for refusing to renounce his faith.

Born in France in 1802, Jean-Gabriel became a Vincentian priest.   He displayed so many gifts and had such fine personal and spiritual qualities that, for a time, his religious order kept him busy closer to home.

He finally received permission to begin his missionary endeavours in 1835.   After a 1,000-mile trip by boat and foot across three provinces, he arrived in central China.   In one early letter, written to his community in Paris, he described himself as a curious sight –  “my head shaved, a long pig-tail, stammering my new languages, eating with chopsticks.”

He soon joined the Vincentians in helping to rescue abandoned Chinese children and in educating them in the Catholic faith.   He was arrested in 1839 under an edict that banned Christianity.   He was tortured and interrogated for months.   Almost one year later he was executed by strangling while hanging on a cross.

Saint Jean-Gabriel was Canonised by St Pope John Paul II in 1996.   Chinese government officials denied permission for any public Mass commemorating the new saint.

So many saints seem to have lived centuries ago.   Jean-Gabriel is far more recent and we can identify better with his life and circumstances.   His life and death speak to us of living the faith in our own times and places, for these are times of great persecution and endurance for the Son of man!

St John Gabriel Perboyre, pray for us!st john gabriel perboyre - pray for us.2.jpg

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The BEATITUDES, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 11 September – “Blessed are you that weep now…”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 11 September – Wednesday of the Twenty-third week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 6:20–26

“Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.” … Luke 6:21

REFLECTION – “Let us hope, let all those of us who weep and shed innocent tears keep on hoping, let us hope whether we are weeping for the pains of body or of soul, these will serve as our purgatory.    God will make use of them to… make us raise our eyes to Him, purify us and sanctify us.
Let us hope even more if we are weeping for the pains of others, for this act of charity is inspired by God and pleasing to Him.   Let us hope even more, if we are weeping, for our own sins, since this compunction has been placed into our souls by God Himself.   Let us hope even more if, with a pure heart, we are weeping for the sins of others, for this love for the glory of God and sanctification of souls has been inspired by God and is a great grace.
Let us hope if we are weeping with desire to see God and pain at being separated from Him, for this loving desire is God’s work in us.   Let us hope even more if we are weeping simply because we love, without either desire or fear, desiring completely what God wishes and nothing more, happy in His glory, suffering from His former sufferings, weeping sometimes for compassion at the remembrance of His Passion, sometimes for joy at the thought of His Ascension and glory, sometimes simply from emotion because we are dying for love of Him!
O sweetest Jesus, make me weep for all these reasons make me weep all those tears that cause love in You, through You and for You to spread abroad.   Amen.” … Blessed Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916) – Hermit and Missionary in the Sahara (Meditations on the passages of the holy Gospels referring to the fifteen virtues, Nazareth 1897-98 no15)blessed are you that wep now luke 6 21 - let us hope if we are weeping now 11 sept 2019.jpg

PRAYER – Lord God, in Your wisdom, You created us, in love. By Your providence, You rule us, in love.   Penetrate our inmost being with the holy light of Your Son.   Penetrate our hearts with the overwhelming love for Your love, so that we may weep in consolation.   May the prayers of Your holy saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary, be our guiding inspiration.   Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever amen.blessed virgin mary immaculate mother - pray for us - 2 sept 2018.jpg