Daily Thought

The Holy Spirit ― Soul of the Church The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. He gives life, he brings forth different charisms which enrich the people of God and, above all, he creates unity among believers: from the many he makes one body, the Body of Christ. The Church’s whole life and mission depend on the Holy Spirit; he fulfills all things. The profession of faith itself, as Saint Paul reminds us in today’s first reading, is only possible because it is prompted by the Holy Spirit: “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3b). When we pray, it is because the Holy Spirit inspires prayer in our heart. When we break the cycle of our self-centredness, and move beyond ourselves and go out to encounter others, to listen to them and help them, it is the Spirit of God who impels us to do so. When we find within a hitherto unknown ability to forgive, to love someone who doesn’t love us in return, it is the Spirit who has taken hold of us. When we move be

Happy Thanksgiving! Dear Subscribers to The Daily Thought, I just wanted to wish you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving and thanks for subscribing to the Daily Thought. There are approximately 696 subscribers. I consider you my "online" family.  I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with a renewed awareness of God's love, the importance of Faith, Family, and the freedom we enjoy.  A special word of thanks to all who serve in our military and who can't be together today because of their service to our country.  Sincerely in Christ, Fr. Jim Northrop

No Fear Do not be terrified. (Luke 21:9) Hearing about “wars and insurrections” can certainly be terrifying. On our shrinking globe, violence halfway around the world is streamed to us almost instantaneously. We may not understand all the factors involved, but most of us can find a personal link. Maybe we have a classmate or a coworker from that part of the world. Maybe a family member is serving in the government or the military, or someone on our street has been robbed or abused. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by such events and to wonder how much worse things will get before Jesus comes back and brings the world to an end. But what do we really need to know about the end of the world? Jesus refuses to answer the “when” question that agitates his followers. He tells them to expect natural as well as man-made disasters and not to be taken by surprise when they happen. He cautions them not to believe any prophet of doom. There are only a few things they need to know. First,

Refurbishing The Soul When the soul is completely restored to health by that balm of charity which the Holy Spirit places in its heart, then it can go forward and stand on its own feet, although this is still by virtue of its new health and the sacred medicine of holy love. For this reason, although it can walk by itself, it must still render all the credit to God, who has... given it such vigorous and sturdy health. In fact, whether the Holy Spirit strengthens us by movements that He impresses on our hearts or supports us by the charity He infuses into them; whether He saves us by lifting us up and carrying us forward or strengthens our hearts with His invigorating and entwining love, it is always in Him and by Him that we live, move and work. St. Francis de Sales

Developing A Friendship With God I LOVE YOU with an everlasting Love, which flows out from the depths of eternity. Before you were born, I knew you. Ponder the awesome mystery of a Love that encompasses you from before birth to beyond the grave.  Modern man has lost the perspective of eternity. To distract himself from the gaping jaws of death, he engages in ceaseless activity and amusement. The practice of being still in My Presence is almost a lost art, yet it is this very stillness that enables you to experience My eternal Love. You need the certainty of My loving Presence in order to weather the storms of life. During times of severe testing, even the best theology can fail you if it isn't accompanied by experiential knowledge of Me. The ultimate protection against sinking during life's storms is devoting time to develop your friendship with Me.  The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovin

Do You Believe This? Be not afraid of your Savior, O sinful soul. I make the first move to come to you, for I know that by yourself you are unable to lift yourself to me. Child, do not run away from your Father; be willing to talk openly with your God of mercy who wants to speak words of pardon and lavish his graces on you. How dear your soul is to Me! I have inscribed your name upon My hand; you are engraved as a deep wound in My Heart. St. Faustina Kowalska Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 1485

The Journey To Holiness God gives you the grace to become a saint. God communicates with you." Always and everywhere you can become a saint, that is, by being receptive to the grace that is working in us and leads us to holiness. Are you a parent or a grandparent? Be holy by passionately teaching your children or your grandchildren to know and to follow Jesus. And this takes a lot of patience, to be a good parent, a good grandfather, a good mother, a good grandmother, it takes a lot of patience and this patience is the holiness exercising patience.  Are you a catechist, educator or volunteer? Be a Saint by becoming a visible sign of the love of God and of His presence at our side. This is it: every state of life leads to holiness, always!  At home, on the streets, at work, at church, in the moment and with the state of life that you have, a door is opened on the road to sainthood. Do not be discouraged to travel this road. God gives you the grace to do so. And this is all that

Praying in the Power of the Holy Spirit Pray to the Holy Spirit that you may know Christ in the fullness of His gospel and the love of the Father that you may understand He is the source of power, the Holy Spirit. Our Lord said, “I will send you power from on high.”. Every day of my priestly life I pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. The power that is not human, not physical, not intellectual; rather a power coming solely from living the Christ life, the power to influence people, the power to impress you with the divinity of the Holy Spirit.  We tell ourselves that we are not meant to be saints, yet we know we are. Pray for us. Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

The Grace of Being Faithful The first Christians had the custom of speaking of their fellow Christians as the faithful. This terminology came into common use during a period of harsh external difficulties, persecution, campaigns of slander and coercion. The pagan world of that time did its level best to impose its beliefs and practices on the Christian community, yet they remained faithful despite the most grievous consequences. St John records these words in the Book of Revelation: Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. This is the challenge facing Christians of every age: Be faithful unto death. The Evangelist gives this warning from the same passage: Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days. These ten days may be understood to symbolize our time on earth. We do not have a lot of time. When we suffer some contradiction, even some discrimination because of

Forgiveness Prayer Please contemplate the words of this prayer  And pray them from your heart with all sincerity.  FATHER, I choose to forgive everyone that has ever offended or hurt me in any way, and I ask for the grace to be able to forgive them from my heart. Give me Your Love for everyone that has ever hurt me. JESUS, I ask you to come into my heart, take control of my life, and fill me with the healing power of your HOLY SPIRIT. Heal my body, soul and spirit. Heal me of all painful memories and release me from the bondage to them. Cleanse my mind of anything that I have read or seen that was not pleasing to you. Set me free of anything that is not a part of your plan. I want only the power of the Holy Spirit operating in me. Give me a hunger for the word of God; open it up to me with greater understanding. Let me experience your love for me in a greater way than I have ever known before. Let the love of Jesus flow out of me to everyone I meet. Grant this through our Lord a

Great Insights Into The Gospel Reading For Today But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. When the lord asked this servant to give an accounting, all he could offer were excuses. He said: Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours. This last servant represents man when he is not faithful to God. This person is overcome with fear and self-love. He attempts to justify his behavior by alluding to the purportedly unjust expectations of the lord who reaps where he has not sown. The master angrily responds to this lazy fellow: You wicked and slothful servant! He had disregarded an essential truth — that man was created to know, love and serve God in this life. Then he is to see him and possess him in Heaven. When God is known well, it is not hard to love him. And when God is tru

Be Strong & Courageous Be strong and courageous even when you are feeling very weak. However, the weaker you feel, the more effort it takes to choose to be strong. It all depends on where you look. If you gaze at yourself and your problems, your courage will melt away. The choice to be bold rests on your confidence that I am with you and for you. Through eyes of faith, see Me on the path before you, beckoning you on, one step at a time. Looking to Me consistently will increase your strength and valor.  When everything seems to be going wrong, refuse to get discouraged. Remember that I am a God of surprises: I am not limited by the way things are or by the paltry possibilities you can see. I am infinitely creative and powerful. With Me all things are possible! The longer you wait for your prayers to be answered, the closer you are to a breakthrough. Meanwhile, waiting for Me-aware of My loving Presence-is a blessed way to live. I am good to those who wait for Me.  Have I not

Our New Identity Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. St. Paul (Galatians 2:20)

On A Lighter Note

Salt For The Earth−Light For The World The world you are inheriting is a world which desperately needs a new sense of brotherhood and human solidarity. It is a world which needs to be touched and healed by the beauty and richness of God's love. It needs witnesses to that love. The world needs salt. It needs you - to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  Salt is used to preserve and keep. As apostles for the Third Millennium, your task is to preserve and keep alive the awareness of the presence of our Savior Jesus Christ, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist, the memorial of his saving death and glorious resurrection. You must keep alive the memory of the words of life which he spoke, the marvelous works of mercy and goodness which he performed. You must constantly remind the world of the "power of the Gospel to save" (Rom 1, 16)! Salt seasons and improves the flavor of food. Following Jesus, you have to change and improve the "taste

Being Content May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing that you are a child of God. St. Teresa of Avila Personal Note: A special word of thanks for the service and sacrifice of our military men and women as we remember them all on this Veteran's Day. 

The Love of Christ Knows No Limits Whoever is near us and needing us must be our ''neighbor''; it does not matter whether he is  related to us or not, whether he is morally worthy of our help or not. The love of Christ knows no limits.  It never ends; it does not shrink from ugliness and filth. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Prayer of Pope Francis Lord, take care of your people in expectation of the Holy Spirit. Take care of young people, take care of families, take care of children, take care of the sick, take care of priests, consecrated men and women, take care of us Bishops, take care of all. And grant us that holy intoxication, that of the Spirit, that which makes us speak all languages, the languages of  charity, always close to brothers and sisters who need us.  Teach us not to fight among  ourselves to have an extra bit of power; teach us to be humble; teach us to love the Church more than our party, than our internal “quarrels”; teach us to have an open heart to  receive the Spirit. Send your Spirit, O Lord, upon us! Amen Pope Francis (Address to  Participants in the 37TH National Convocation of the Renewal of the Holy Spirit−Jun 1, 2014 )

Pope Pius XII On Sports Sport, properly directed, develops character, makes a man courageous, a generous loser, and a gracious victor; it refines the senses, gives intellectual penetration, and steels the will to endurance. It is not merely a physical development then. Sport, rightly understood, is an occupation of the whole man, and while perfecting the body as an instrument of the mind, it also makes the mind itself a more refined instrument for the search and communication of truth and helps man to achieve that end to which all others must be subservient, the service and praise of his Creator. Pope Pius XII

All Work Can Give Glory To God Do not pay any attention to the kind of work you do, but rather to the honor that it brings to God, even though it may seem quite trivial. Desire only to do the Divine Will, following Divine Providence, which is the disposition of Divine Wisdom. In a word, if your works are pleasing to God and recognized as such, that is all that matters. Work hard every day at increasing your purity of heart, which consists in appraising things and weighing them in the balance of God's will.  St. Francis de Sales

The Reality of Faith Faith is not a mere intellectual assent of the human person to specific truths about God; it is an act with which I entrust myself freely to a God who is Father and who loves me; it is adherence to a “You” who gives me hope and trust. Of course, this adherence to God is not without content; with it we are aware that God has shown himself to us in Christ, he has made us see his face and has made himself really close to each one of us. Indeed, God has revealed that his love for man, for each one of us, is boundless: on the Cross, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God made man, shows us in the clearest possible way how far this love reaches, even to the gift of himself, even to the supreme sacrifice. With the mystery of Christ’s death and Resurrection, God plumbs to the depths of our humanity to bring it back to him, to lift it up to his heights. Faith is believing in this love of God that is never lacking in the face of human wickedness, in the face of evil and death

Cling To Prayer No soul ever fell away from God without giving up prayer. Prayer is that which establishes contact with Divine Power and opens the invisible resources of heaven. However dark the way, when we pray, temptation can never master us. The first step downward in the average soul is the giving up of the practice of prayer, the breaking of the circuit with divinity, and the proclamation of one’s owns self sufficiency. Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

An Evangelizing Community Gets Involved The Church which “goes forth” is a community of missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice. An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, he has loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19), and therefore we can move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the outcast. Such a community has an endless desire to show mercy, the fruit of its own experience of the power of the Father’s infinite mercy. Let us try a little harder to take the first step and to become involved. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. The Lord gets involved and he involves his own, as he kneels to wash their feet. He tells his disciples: “You will be blessed if you do this” (Jn 13:17). An evangelizing community gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase

Suffering Illumined by the Cross Christian love gives value and meaning to our existence even when infirmity and illness have compromised the integrity of the body. There is a life in us not conditioned by our physical state, but by the love we give. "You who are sick, you are strong like Jesus on the cross," exclaimed John Paul II one day. Yes, because our strength is in Christ, in Christ crucified and abandoned! It is when we are weak that we are strong.  I touched this reality in prison. When I lived through times of extreme physical and moral suffering, I thought of Jesus crucified. To the human eye, his life was a defeat, a disappointment, and a failure. Reduced to the most absolute immobility on the cross, he was no longer able to encounter people, to cure the sick, to teach .... However, in the eyes of God, that was the most important moment of his life, because it was then that he poured out his blood for the salvation of humanity.  "Everyone is invited