Daily Thought

The Power of Forgiveness In today’s Gospel, Peter asks the Lord: “If my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” To which the Lord replies: “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy times seven” (Mt 18:21-22). These words go to the very heart of Jesus’ message of reconciliation and peace. In obedience to his command, we ask our heavenly Father daily to forgive us our sins, “as we forgive those who sin against us”. Unless we are prepared to do this, how can we honestly pray for peace and reconciliation? Jesus asks us to believe that forgiveness is the door which leads to reconciliation. In telling us to forgive our brothers unreservedly, he is asking us to do something utterly radical, but he also gives us the grace to do it. What appears, from a human perspective, to be impossible, impractical and even at times repugnant, he makes possible and fruitful through the infinite power of his cross. The cross of Christ reveals the power of God to b...

Confidence In Troubled Times IN QUIETNESS AND CONFIDENCE SHALL BE YOUR strength. When you're in a tough situation, your mind tends to go into overdrive. You mentally rehearse possible solutions at breakneck speed. Your brain becomes a flurry of activity! You scrutinize your own abilities and those of people you might call upon for help. If you find no immediate solution to your problem, you start to feel anxious. When you find this happening, return to Me and rest in quietness. Take time to seek My Face and My will rather than rushing ahead without clear direction.  I want you to have confidence in Me and My ways-patiently trusting in Me even when you can't see the way forward. Whereas anxious striving drains you of energy, quiet confidence will give you strength. You can trust that I will not forsake you in your time of need. Keep communicating with Me about your situation, and be willing to wait-without pushing for immediate resolution. Those who wait for the Lord will...

Striving For Spiritual Excellence We must be patient and little by little root out our bad inclinations, overcome our aversions and control our emotions. This life is truly a continual warfare, and there is no one who can say, "I am never tempted." Peace is reserved for Heaven, where the palm of victory awaits us; on earth there is a continual struggle between hope and fear. However, our hope must be strong, relying on the omnipotence of God, Who is always ready to help us. So never tire of fighting for your growth and perfection. St. Francis de Sales

Praying Constantly Retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart, even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others, and talk to God. St. Francis de Sales **The next Daily Thought will be on August 29th**

One Step At A Time FOLLOW ME ONE STEP AT A TIME. That is all I require of you. In fact, that is the only way to move through this space/time world. You see huge mountains looming, and you start wondering how you're going to scale those heights. Meanwhile, because you're not looking where you're going, you stumble on the easy path where I am leading you now. As I help you get back on your feet, you tell Me how worried you are about the cliffs up ahead. But you don't know what will happen today, much less tomorrow. Our path may take an abrupt turn, leading you away from those mountains. There may be an easier way up the mountains than is visible from this distance. If I do lead you up the cliffs, I will equip you thoroughly for that strenuous climb. I will even give My angels charge over you, to preserve you in all your ways.  Keep your mind on the present journey, enjoying My Presence.  Walk by faith, not by sight, trusting Me to open up the way before you.  Wit...

Trust As to the past, let us entrust it to God’s mercy, the future to Divine Providence. Our task is to live holy the present moment. Saint Gianna Beretta Molla

Happiness In Any Circumstance It does happen, even under these circumstances, that every now and then my whole being is flooded with pulsating life and my heart can scarcely contain the delirious joy there is in it. Suddenly, without any cause that I can perceive, without knowing why or by what right, my spirits soar again and there is not a doubt in my mind that all the promises hold good.... Outwardly nothing is changed. The hopelessness of the situation remains only too obvious; yet one can face it undismayed. One is content to leave everything in God's hands. And that is the whole point. Happiness in this life is inextricably mixed with God. Fellow creatures can be the means of giving us much pleasure and of creating conditions which are comfortable and delightful, but the success of this depends upon the extent to which the recipient is capable of recognizing the good and accepting it. And even this capacity is dependent on our relationship with God. Alfred Delp, S.J....

Time To Think Outside The Box Instead of being just a church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a church that finds new roads, that is able to step outside itself and go to those who do not attend Mass, to those who have quit or are indifferent. Pope Francis

Faith & The Need For Joy Something I constantly notice is that unembarrassed joy has become rarer. Joy today is increasingly saddled with moral and ideological burdens, so to speak. When someone rejoices, he is afraid of offending against solidarity with the many people who suffer. I don't have any right to rejoice, people think, in a world where there is so much misery, so much injustice. I can understand that. There is a moral attitude at work here. But this attitude is nonetheless wrong. The loss of joy does not make the world better - and, conversely, refusing joy for the sake of suffering does not help those who suffer. The contrary is true. The world needs people who discover the good, who rejoice in it and thereby derive the impetus and courage to do good. Joy, then, does not break with solidarity. When it is the right kind of joy, when it is not egotistic, when it comes from the perception of the good, then it wants to communicate itself, and it gets passed on. In...

A Plea For Healing In The Body of Christ How many wars take place within the people of God and in our different communities! In our neighborhoods and in the workplace, how many wars are caused by envy and jealousy, even among Christians! Spiritual worldliness leads some Christians to war with other Christians who stand in the way of their quest for power, prestige, pleasure and economic security. Some are even no longer content to live as part of the greater Church community but stoke a spirit of exclusivity, creating an “inner circle”. Instead of belonging to the whole Church in all its rich variety, they belong to this or that group which thinks itself different or special. Our world is being torn apart by wars and violence, and wounded by a widespread individualism which divides human beings, setting them against one another as they pursue their own well-being. In various countries, conflicts and old divisions from the past are re-emerging. I especially ask Christians in comm...

The Prayer of Petition The prayer of petition plays an important role in the life of men and women. Although the Lord provides countless blessings without our ever asking for them, He has set aside many graces the granting of which will depend upon our personal prayer, or upon the prayers of others who are close to him. Saint Thomas teaches that our petitions do not change the Divine Will, but instead win for us what has already been set aside for us if we should ask. As a result, we should petition the Lord without ceasing. Who knows how many blessings are waiting for us if only we ask for them. We should ask others to pray for the fervent intentions we have in our hearts, to pray for all the blessings we need and can receive from the Lord. Saint Thomas says that this is one of the reasons why Jesus did not reply immediately to the Canaanite woman. He wanted the disciples to intercede for her. In this way He shows us the importance of the intercession of the saints. The Gentile wo...

God Never Tires In Offering Us Mercy! How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards! Pope Francis — The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium) #3

Faith & The Importance of Family In the family, faith accompanies every age of life, beginning with childhood: children learn to trust in the love of their parents. This is why it is so important that within their families parents encourage shared expressions of faith which can help children gradually to mature in their own faith. Young people in particular, who are going through a period in their lives which is so complex, rich and important for their faith, ought to feel the constant closeness and support of their families and the Church in their journey of faith. We have all seen, during World Youth Days, the joy that young people show in their faith and their desire for an ever more solid and generous life of faith. Young people want to live life to the fullest. Encountering Christ, letting themselves be caught up in and guided by his love, enlarges the horizons of existence, gives it a firm hope which will not disappoint. Faith is no refuge for the fainthearted, but somet...

God's Amazing Love Jesus loved me and gave himself up for me. This is the great truth that consoles us. Jesus shows his love by giving his life. He loves each of us as if each one were the sole object of his affections. We should meditate often on this truth: God loves me. This surpasses the most improbable expectations of the human heart. No one — without divine Revelation — would dare to guess at or acknowledge this sublime vocation to which each and every person is called: to be God's son or daughter, called to live a close relationship as a friend, to participate in the very Life of the three divine Persons. Considered with earthbound eyes, it seems a dream, or scarcely credible, but it is the truth, the great truth that should move us to  correspond.  Jesus never stops loving us, helping us, protecting us,  talking to us, not even in our moments of sheer ingratitude, or after we have committed the greatest disloyalty. Perhaps it was during such sad circumstance...

Called by Name      The common denominator of every call of God to us from birth to death is the call to come to him. "In the hour of my death, call me." For what reason? That  I may come to you. Bid me come to you .... That is the whole point. All of these calls through life on to death must be answered on a very deep, personal level. The call of those of us baptized in infancy was answered in our name by others; but it became a real, living, driving  force in our lives, a practical vital force, as we grew to maturity and actuated that decision in ourselves ....       Knowing that we are called to the God who loves us is what sweetens every sacrifice, gives meaning to all suffering, infuses pain with splendor. It is the being called that gives significance to human love as well and offers impetus to the mortifications life continually puts before us.       If we could only remember that God is calling us by name in ...

Let God Help You LET ME HELP YOU get through this day. There are many possible paths to travel between your getting up in the morning and your lying down at night. Stay alert to the many choice-points along the way, being continually aware of My Presence. You will get through this day one way or the other. One way is to moan and groan, stumbling along with shuffling feet. This will get you to the end of the day eventually, but there is a better way. You can choose to walk with Me along the path of Peace, leaning on Me as much as you need. There will still be difficulties along the way, but you can face them confidently in My strength. Thank Me for each problem you encounter, and watch to see how I transform trials into blessings.  And do not grumble, as some of them did-and were killed by the destroying angel. —1 CORINTHIANS 10:10  "To shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." — LUKE 1:79  from ...

Care of the Soul The self can be a jealous gatekeeper that clamors for all the attention and does not want us to go deeper. Moreover, the Evil One likes to discourage us and arrogantly charges us with the sole responsibility of fixing ourselves – a dead end! Jean-Pierre de Caussade knew well that when healing is needed for the damaged, dysfunctional self, God seeks to heal the soul, from where the most salutary healing will spring forth and endure. When the soul is tended with care, the self thrives.  Archbishop J. Peter Sartain

The Importance of Being Not Just Doing The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are.  St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

Helping One Another Our Lord wants us to provide the shelter and protection of our fraternal concern to the people we are close to through ties of blood or friendship, and indeed to all mankind: helping them daily with our prayer, alerting them opportunely and gently through fraternal correction whenever we see them falling into customs or habits that are not in keeping with their Christian state, giving them some helpful advice to improve their family life or their work, being quick with a word of encouragement when they are feeling down, being understanding with their shortcomings and defects and helping them to overcome them. We can even help people a lot by the way we greet them, because, as Saint Thomas says, our greeting is a sort of prayer in it we wish people peace of soul, that God would bless them, and so forth.  Frater qui adiuvatur a fratre quasi civitas firma , a brother or  helped by a brother is like a walled city. If we let ourselves be helped and we tru...

Beautiful Words From A Saint About Our Saint For The Day The Cure of Ars is a model of priestly zeal for all pastors. The secret of his generosity is to be found without doubt in his love for God, lived without limits, in constant response to the love made manifest in Christ crucified. This is where he bases his desire to do everything to save the souls ransomed by Christ at such a great price, and to bring them back to the love of God. Let us recall one of those pithy sayings which he had the knack of uttering: "The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus." In his sermons and catechesis he continually returned to that love: "O my God, I prefer to die loving you than to live a single instant without loving you... I love you, my divine Savior, because you were crucified for us... because you have me crucified for you." For the sake of Christ, he seeks to conform himself exactly to the radical demands that Jesus in the Gospels puts before the disciples whom ...

God Is With Us The Eucharist is the sacrament of the presence of Christ, who gives himself to us because he loves us. He loves each one of us in a unique and personal way in our practical daily lives: in our families, among our friends, at study and work, in rest and relaxation. He loves us when he fills our days with freshness, and also when, in times of suffering, he allows trials to weigh upon us: even in the most severe trials, he lets us hear his voice. Yes, dear friends, Christ loves us and he loves us for ever! He loves us even when we disappoint him, when we fail to meet his expectations for us. He never fails to embrace us in his mercy. How can we not be grateful to this God who has redeemed us, going so far as to accept the foolishness of the Cross? To God who has come to be at our side and has stayed with us to the end? To celebrate the Eucharist "to eat his flesh and drink his blood", means to accept the wisdom of the Cross and the path of service. It mean...

The GIFT of Salvation God arranged the plan of salvation with a fundamental purpose: that no one would have any grounds for boasting in a self-glorifying way. Self-delusion and self-righteousness are characteristic of us fallen creatures; the very root of sin is pride. The only way to break pride and allow God's grace to triumph is to admit the awesome truth: we're all in desperate need of God, of His forgiveness, of His love, of His Holy Spirit, and all of us need to abandon our pride, admit our need, and come to the foot of the Cross to receive mercy and forgiveness. And we need to stay there. Ralph Martin  The Fulfillment of All Desire:  A Guidebook to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints (p. 229).