Daily Thought For September 30, 2014
A Spiritual Vintage Just as wine is made by pressing the grapes, so we make a spiritual vintage by pressing upon God's grace and his promises. To press upon God's grace, we must multiply our prayers by brief but lively movements of our hearts. To press upon his promises, we must multiply our works of charity, for it is to these that God has joined his promises. "I was sick and you visited me," he said (Matt. 25:36). Each thing has its season: in one we press the grapes, and in another we bring the vintage forth from the cellar, but we must press, and do so carefully and without anxiety. On the Cross, there is but one grape, although it is worth more than thousands. How much nourishment have holy souls found there, by thinking upon the graces and virtues that our Savior showed forth to the world. Make a good harvest of your earthly labors, and they will serve you as a ladder to climb to spiritual ones. St. Francis loved the lambs and the sheep because the