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Showing posts from June, 2014

Daily Thought For June 24, 2014

Building The Kingdom The kingdom aims at transforming human relationships; it grows gradually as people slowly learn to love, forgive and serve one another. Jesus sums up the whole Law, focusing it on the commandment of love (cf. Mt 22:34-40; Lk 10:25-28). Before leaving his disciples, he gives them a "new commandment": "Love one another; even as I have loved you" (Jn 13:34; cf. 15:12). Jesus' love for the world finds its highest expression in the gift of his life for mankind (cf. Jn 15:13), which manifests the love which the Father has for the world (cf. Jn 3:16). The kingdom's nature, therefore, is one of communion among all human beings-with one another and with God. The kingdom is the concern of everyone: individuals, society, and the world. Working for the kingdom means acknowledging and promoting God's activity, which is present in human history and transforms it. Building the kingdom means working for liberation from evil in all its forms. ...

Daily Thought For June 22, 2014

The Power of The Eucharist St John Mary Vianney liked to tell his parishioners: "Come to communion.... It is true that you are not worthy of it, but you need it" (Bernard Nodet, Le curé d'Ars. Sa pensée - Son coeur, éd. Xavier Mappus, Paris 1995, p. 119). With the knowledge of being inadequate because of sin, but needful of nourishing ourselves with the love that the Lord offers us in the Eucharistic sacrament, let us renew this evening our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We must not take this faith for granted! Today we run the risk of secularization creeping into the Church too. It can be translated into formal and empty Eucharistic worship, into celebrations lacking that heartfelt participation that is expressed in veneration and in respect for the liturgy. The temptation to reduce prayer to superficial, hasty moments, letting ourselves be overpowered by earthly activities and concerns, is always strong. When, in a little while, we recite th...

Daily Thought For June 21, 2014

Insights On Prayer Prayer is like a field. In this field, there is a treasure: the union with God. We must dig for it without giving up.  It is a rendezvous of love. He wants to hear us and speak to us. We just have to be aware of it through faith. It is a type of awakening. In order to pray, we must follow Saint Benedict's advice: "First, with fervent prayer, beg of Him to finish the good work begun ... " (RB, Prologue). We must expect that God seems to withdraw, but this withdrawal is only to invite us to go further in our search for him. It is a divine process arranged so that we don't stop when we have reached just the small part of God that we only have begun to find. From God's viewpoint, it is a forward flight. He touches us, excites us, flees, and then comes back to incite us again. This heart-to-heart is never interrupted by God. If we interrupt it, he will come back to it through another path or road. We must be firm, accept the trial, leave ...

Daily Thought For June 18, 2014

What Does Love Like? What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men and women. That is what love looks like. St. Augustine

Daily Thought For June 17, 2014

Pope Francis On The Holy Spirit Dear brothers and sisters, we need to let ourselves be imbued with the light of the Holy Spirit, so that He introduces us into the Truth of God, who is the only Lord of our lives. In this Year of Faith let us ask ourselves if we have actually taken a few steps to get to know Christ and the truths of faith more, by reading and meditating on the Scriptures, studying the Catechism, steadily approaching the Sacraments. But at the same time let us ask ourselves what steps we are taking so that the faith directs our whole existence. Do not be a ‘part-time” Christian, at certain moments, in certain circumstances, in certain choices, be Christian at all times! The truth of Christ, that the Holy Spirit teaches us and gives us, always and forever involves our daily lives. Let us invoke him more often, to guide us on the path of Christ's disciples. Pope Francis−Wednesday Audience May 15, 2013

Daily Thought For June 16, 2014

Living Life In The Spirit Brings Joy Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures. St. Thomas Aquinas

Daily Thought For June 14, 2014

A Celebration of God's Faithfulness O Lord, your life in me is a wonderful gift! A blessing and a privilege, it is unexpected, unmerited, and unwarranted. And yet you give it so freely! To have a relationship with you is a “portion” beyond measure. To feel your presence and to hear your voice—thank you for this gift! To hide myself in the shadow of your wings—thank you for the protection you offer me. Because you are my inheritance, Father, you hold me close to your heart, and I am safe. I trust that no one and nothing can snatch me out of your hands! No one is stronger than you. No one can outsmart you or trick you into letting me go. I am in awe of the fact that you, almighty God, keep me secure. Your eyes are ever upon me, even as you rule over all creation! Nothing, O Lord, compares to this portion, this inheritance, that I have received from you. If I were to own everything in the world but still not have this inheritance, I would be poor indeed. I would have nothing ...
Freedom & The Eucharist No one is closer to his master than the servant who has access to the most private dimensions of his life. In this sense "to serve" means closeness, it requires familiarity. This familiarity also bears a danger: when we continually encounter the sacred it risks becoming habitual for us. In this way, reverential fear is extinguished. Conditioned by all our habits we no longer perceive the great, new and surprising fact that he himself is present, speaks to us, gives himself to us. We must ceaselessly struggle against this becoming accustomed to the extraordinary reality, against the indifference of the heart, always recognizing our insufficiency anew and the grace that there is in the fact that he consigned himself into our hands. To serve means to draw near, but above all it also means obedience. The servant is under the word: "not my will, but thine, be done" (Lk 22:42). With this word Jesus, in the Garden of Olives, has resolved the ...

Daily Thought For June 12, 2014

Don't Forget Our Great Destiny—Heaven! The present life is given to us only to earn eternal life. If we forget this, we tend to concentrate all our affections on the things of this world, where we are but birds of passage. So it happens that when we have to leave this world we become frightened and upset. Believe me, if we want to live as happy pilgrims, we must always have in our hearts the hope of finally reaching that country where we will settle down forever. But at the same time we must believe, and believe with all our hearts (this is a most sacred truth!), that God keeps a loving eye on us as we walk toward Him, and never lets anything happen to us that is not for our greater good.  St. Francis de Sales

Daily Thought For June 11, 2014

Share The Treasure      To be committed to the new evangelization means that we are convinced that we have something of value to offer to the human family at the dawn of the new millennium .... It is not enough to offer a "merely human wisdom, a pseudoscience of well-being.t'" We must be convinced that we have "a pearl of great price" (see Mt 13:46), a great "treasure" (see Mt 13:44), which is fundamental to the earthly existence and eternal salvation of every member of the human race ....       At a time like this, when many are confused regarding the fundamental truths and values on which to build their lives and seek their eternal salvation; when many Catholics are in danger of losing their faith-the pearl of great price; when there are not enough priests, not enough religious sisters and brothers to give support and guidance, not enough contemplative religious to keep before people's eyes the sense of the absolute supremacy of God, we mu...

Daily Thought For June 9, 2014

The Holy Spirit—The Artisan of God's Works Let us invoke the Holy Spirit: he is the artisan of God’s works. Let his gifts shape you! Just as the Church travels the same journey with all humanity, so too you are called to exercise the Spirit’s gifts amidst the ups and downs of your daily life. Let your faith mature through your studies, work, sport, music and art. Let it be sustained by prayer and nurtured by the sacraments, and thus be a source of inspiration and help to those around you. In the end, life is not about accumulation. It is much more than success. To be truly alive is to be transformed from within, open to the energy of God’s love. In accepting the power of the Holy Spirit you too can transform your families, communities and nations. Set free the gifts! Let wisdom, courage, awe and reverence be the marks of greatness! Pope Benedict XVI—VIGIL WITH THE YOUNG PEOPLE  Randwick Racecourse  Saturday, 19 July 2008

Daily Thought For June 8, 2014

Wow! Amazing Testimony By Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa In 1975, while I was a professor of Ancient Christianity at the Catholic University of Milan, I began hearing about a new move in the church, a new spirit, a new way of praying. In the beginning I was very "anti." I told the lady who described this activity to me: "You should never go again to that particular retreat house." I was surprised to see that these people, whom you already realize were part of the charismatic renewal, were not offended by my criticism. They loved me and even asked me to give them teachings. I once gave a university course about the charismatic and prophetic movements in the early church just to try to understand what was going on now. Some manifestations were exactly like those which had occurred in the first Christian communities, in Corinth, for instance. But, as you may imagine, I was unprepared to accept other things, like speaking in tongues. In 1977, a lady from Milan receive...

Daily Thought For June 7, 2014

Get To Know The Holy Spirit My dear young friends, the Holy Spirit continues today to act with power in the Church, and the fruits of the Spirit are abundant in the measure in which we are ready to open up to this power that makes all things new. For this reason it is important that each one of us know the Spirit, establish a relationship with Him and allow ourselves to be guided by Him. However, at this point a question naturally arises: who is the Holy Spirit for me? It is a fact that for many Christians He is still the “great unknown”. This is why, as we prepare for the next World Youth Day, I wanted to invite you to come to know the Holy Spirit more deeply at a personal level. In our profession of faith we proclaim: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son” (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed). Yes, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the love of the Father and of the Son, is the Source of life that makes us holy, “because God...

Daily Thought For June 6, 2014

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Can You Relate To This?

Daily Thought For June 5, 2014

A Thanksgiving Prayer Oh, God, when I have food,  help me to remember the hungry;  When I have work, help me  to remember the jobless;  When I have a warm home,  help me to remember the homeless;  When I am without pain,  help me to remember those who suffer;  And remembering, help me  to destroy my complacency  and bestir my compassion.  Make me concerned enough to help, by word and deed,  those who cry out  for what we take for granted.  Samuel F. Pugh   (found on a Salesian Missions Prayer Card)

Daily Thought For June 3, 2014

The Holy Spirit & Being Fruitful Because we do not always see these seeds growing, we need an interior certainty, a conviction that God is able to act in every situation, even amid apparent setbacks: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor 4:7). This certainty is often called “a sense of mystery”. It involves knowing with certitude that all those who entrust themselves to God in love will bear good fruit (cf. Jn 15:5). This fruitfulness is often invisible, elusive and unquantifiable. We can know quite well that our lives will be fruitful, without claiming to know how, or where, or when. We may be sure that none of our acts of love will be lost, nor any of our acts of sincere concern for others. No single act of love for God will be lost, no generous effort is meaningless, no painful endurance is wasted. All of these encircle our world like a vital force. Sometimes it seems that our work is fruitless, but mission is not like a business transaction or investment, or eve...

Daily Thought For June 2, 2014

Repairing Sin's Damage   Penance is closely connected with reconciliation. Reconciliation with God, with oneself and with others implies overcoming that radical break which is sin. And this is achieved only through the interior transformation or conversion which bears fruit in a person's life through acts of penance ....  Sacred Scripture speaks to us of this reconciliation, inviting us to make every effort to attain it. But Scripture also tells us that it is above all a merciful gift of God to humanity. The history of salvation ... is the wonderful history of a reconciliation: the reconciliation whereby God, as Father, in the blood and the cross of his Son made man, reconciles the world to himself. He thus brings into being a new family of those who have been reconciled.  Reconciliation becomes necessary because there has been the break of sin from which derive all the other forms of break within man and about him. Reconciliation, therefore, in order to b...

Daily Thought For June 2, 2014

Our Stubborn Wills  Repent therefore and be converted. ACTS 3:19  Becoming a Christian is a once-for-all event when we repent of our sins and cast ourselves on Christ alone for our salvation. When we are converted, God takes us "out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).  But being a Christian is a daily, ongoing experience. It is a lifelong process of daily repentance and faith, of turning from sin and seeking to live for Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is where our wills come in. Although we have been converted and God has come to live in us, our old nature is still alive and kicking. Our stubborn wills still demand to put self first instead of Christ. It isn't easy to bring our stubborn wills into submission to Christ, but when we do, it is as if a misplaced vertebra has snapped back into place. Instead of the stress and tension of a life out of harmony with God, we discover the serenity of His presence.  Who will control your w...