Daily Thought

Looking At The Heart Simon, the master of the house, the Pharisee, on the contrary, doesn’t manage to find the road of love. Everything is calculated, everything is thought out.... He stands firm on the threshold of formality. It is an unpleasant thing, formal love, he doesn’t understand. He is not capable of taking that next step forward to meet Jesus who will bring him salvation. Simon limits himself to inviting Jesus to lunch, but did not truly welcome him. In his thoughts Simon invokes only justice and in doing so he errs. His judgment of the woman distances him from the truth and prevents him from even understanding who his guest is. He stopped at the surface — at formality — incapable of seeing the heart. Before the parable of Jesus and the question of which servant would love more, the pharisee responds correctly: “The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more”. Jesus doesn’t fail to observe: “You have judged rightly” (Lk 7:43). When Simon’s judgment is turned to love, then is...

A Prayer For Peace of Mind FORTIFY me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit and give Your peace to my soul that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry. Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to You so that Your will may be my will. St. Francis Xavier Cabrini

God's Desire To Shelter Us I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Ezekiel 37:26-27) Think about the way a hen gathers her chicks. She will spread her wings out to provide a safe place for them if there is any danger. As the chicks burrow under their mother’s wings, you can’t even tell they are hiding there. Well, this is how God wants you to think of him. The children of Israel had turned away from him and gone after false gods. They had turned away from their covenant with him, and now they were reaping the consequences of their sin: their Temple was destroyed, and they were sent away in shame to live as exiles in a foreign land. Still, even as they adjusted to their new status as refugees, God promised through the prophet Ezekiel that he would gather them back under his wings. He would forgive them and renew his covenant of peace with them. He would deliver them from...

No Need To Be Mediocre Do not be content to live a mediocre Christian life: walk with determination along the path of holiness. Pope Francis

Overcoming A Critical Spirit Those who correct others should watch for the Holy Spirit to go ahead of them and touch a person's heart. Learn to imitate Him who reproves gently. . . . When you become outraged over a person's fault, it is generally not "righteous indignation" but your own impatient personality expressing itself. Here is the imperfect pointing a finger at the imperfect. The more you selfishly love yourself, the more critical you will be. Self-love cannot forgive the self-love it discovers in others. Nothing is so offensive to a haughty, conceited heart as the sight of another one. God's love, however, is full of consideration, patience, and tenderness. It leads people out of their weakness and sin one step at a time. Monsignor François Fénelon

For Nothing Is Impossible For God What is impossible for humans is possible for God: 'Caritas omnia sperat' - 'Love hopes for everything'. God loves and can do anything. God respects the freedom God gave to humankind but God does not hold back when freely giving graces. God's grace can be such that it overturns all obstacles and brings the calm after the storm. Let us know how to obtain powerful graces from the one who said: 'Ask and you shall receive' and 'When two or more of you are gathered in prayer, I am among you.' Blessed Charles de Foucauld

The Key To Happiness You will never be happy if your happiness depends on getting solely what you want. Change the focus. Get a new center. Will what God wills, and your joy no man shall take from you.  Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Helpful Advice For Spiritual Aridity We should resign ourselves to God's will in interior sufferings, temptations, doubts, darkness, aridity, and in all difficulties of the spiritual life. God ordinarily sends sweetness and comfort to those who begin to embrace. virtue; in order to draw them entirely from all affection for the world; but when they have grown stronger in virtue, He withdraws His sensible presence to test their love. St. Teresa says, "While we live here, we must not so much seek to enjoy God, but rather to do His will." And again: "Those who love Him, God proves with dryness and temptations."  Hence, the soul should thank God when He caresses it with sweetness, but should not grow impatient or fret when left in desolation. Some persons, when  deprived of sensible sweetness, imagine themselves abandoned by God. Then they neglect prayer and lose all that they have gained. There is no better time to exercise our resignation to God's will th...

The Gospel Must Be Shared We cannot keep to ourselves the words of eternal life given to us in our encounter with Jesus Christ: they are meant for everyone, for every man and woman. Everyone today, whether he or she knows it or not, needs this message. May the Lord himself, as in the time of the prophet Amos, raise up in our midst a new hunger and thirst for the word of God (cf. Am 8:11). It is our responsibility to pass on what, by God’s grace, we ourselves have received. Pope Benedict XVI Verbum Domini #91

A Model For Our Times—Elisabeth Liseur Recently, I was listening to a series of podcasts from a men’s conference in Detroit, where Father John Riccardo had been a speaker. I was shocked when I heard him report that only 30% of people who were raised Catholic still practice the Faith today. Not only that, but among that 30%, only 48% believe that the God of their Faith is a personal God, with whom they could have an actual relationship. I know it’s simple math, but let’s put numbers with those statistics just for shock value. Out of 100 people who were raised Catholic, only 30 of them still practice the Faith. And of those 30, fewer than 15 believe that they can have a personal relationship with God. No wonder the Church is in such a crisis! If we don’t even believe we can have a relationship with God – if He is a remote Being, who remains an enigma to us, how can we recognize Him when He is right before our eyes in the Holy Eucharist? How could we possibly believe that His laws a...

Walking In Confidence WAIT WITH ME FOR A WHILE. I have much to tell you. You are walking along the path I have chosen for you. It is both a privileged and a perilous way: experiencing My glorious Presence and heralding that reality to others. Sometimes you feel presumptuous to be carrying out such an assignment.  Do not worry about what other people think of you. The work I am doing in you is hidden at first. But eventually blossoms will burst forth, and abundant fruit will be borne. Stay on the path of Life with Me. Trust Me wholeheartedly, letting My Spirit fill you with Joy and Peace.  "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below-you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way." -1 KINGS 8:23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. -GALATIANS 5: 22-23  ...

Conformity To God's Will      The foregoing example shows us that conformity to God's will makes us not only holy, but also perfectly happy. It fills us with the sweetest peace that can be tasted in this life, and makes of earth a paradise.      Those who love God live in peace, because they find their whole pleasure in doing the will of God, even in things contrary to nature.       In truth, can a man experience greater satisfaction than to see all his wishes fulfilled? Now, if we desire only what God wills, nothing can befall us :but what we desire, for everything in the world comes to pass through the will of God, sin excepted. Our complete conformity to the will of God is so agreeable to the Divine Majesty that it often exerts a visible influence even in temporal matters. This is shown by the story of a farmer of whom the early Fathers of the desert make mention. His field always yielded more than those of his neighbors. When ...

The Power of Prayer By prayer the soul is cleansed from sin, replenished with charity, confirmed in faith, strengthened, and refreshed in spirit. Prayer establishes the inward man, pacifies the heart, knows the truth, conquers temptations, expels sorrow, renews the senses, stirs up languishing virtue, puts to flight tepidity, and scours the rust of vices. In prayer, the quick sparkles of celestial desires are incessantly sent forth, from the burning coals of divine love. The privileges of prayer are rare, the prerogatives admirable. Prayer unlocks the gates of heaven, manifests divine secrets, and always finds free access to the ears of God. St. Peter of Alcantara (Spiritual Director of St. Teresa of Avila)

The Light of A Soul We have all met persons of this sort. They are rare, no doubt, but there flows from them such an intensity of inner life, such calm strength, such true beauty that merely to come into contact with them soothes and comforts us. After all, this is only natural. Our outer life is the reproduction of our inner life, and the visible part of us reflects what is unseen; we radiate our souls, so to say, and,when they are centers of light and warmth, other souls need only to be brought into contact with them in order to be warmed and enlightened. We give out, often unknown to ourselves, what we carry within us; let us strive to increase daily this reserve store of faith and quiet charity. – The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur, p. 246 (The Little Treatise on Peace, paragraph nine)        Peace is often as elusive as a cloud; something we see, but cannot ever seem to capture within our own hearts – at least not for very long.      ...

Spirit-Filled Evangelizers Spirit-filled evangelizers means evangelizers fearlessly open to the working of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, the Spirit made the apostles go forth from themselves and turned them into heralds of God’s wondrous deeds, capable of speaking to each person in his or her own language. The Holy Spirit also grants the courage to proclaim the newness of the Gospel with boldness (parrhesía) in every time and place, even when it meets with opposition. Let us call upon him today, firmly rooted in prayer, for without prayer all our activity risks being fruitless and our message empty. Jesus wants evangelizers who proclaim the good news not only with words, but above all by a life transfigured by God’s presence. Pope Francis Evangelii Gaudium #259

The Greatest Work of Charity Is Evangelization In the Church, contemplation and action, symbolized in some way by the Gospel figures of Mary and Martha, have to coexist and complement each other (cf. Lk 10:38-42). The relationship with God must always be the priority, and any true sharing of goods, in the spirit of the Gospel, must be rooted in faith (cf. General Audience, 25 April 2012). Sometimes we tend, in fact, to reduce the term “charity” to solidarity or simply humanitarian aid. It is important, however, to remember that the greatest work of charity is evangelization, which is the “ministry of the word”. There is no action more beneficial – and therefore more charitable – towards one’s neighbor than to break the bread of the word of God, to share with him the Good News of the Gospel, to introduce him to a relationship with God: evangelization is the highest and the most integral promotion of the human person. As the Servant of God Pope Paul VI wrote in the Encyclical Populo...

Great Reflection To Start Your Day The Goal of our life is to live with God forever. God, who loves us, gave us life. Our own response of love allows God's life to flow into us without limit. All the things in this world are gifts from God, Presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily. As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God Insofar as they help us to develop as loving persons. But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives, They displace God And so hinder our growth toward our goal. In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance Before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice And are not bound by some obligation. We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, Wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us A deeper response to our life in God. Our only desire and our one choice ...

Prayer Against Depression O Christ Jesus When all is darkness And we feel our weakness and helplessness, Give us the sense of Your Presence, Your Love and Your Strength. Help us to have perfect trust In Your protecting love And strengthening power, So that nothing may frighten or worry us, For, living close to You, We shall see Your Hand, Your Purpose, Your Will through all things. St. Ignatius of Loyola

The Challenge of Forgiving People Speaking in parables was one of Jesus’ most effective methods of teaching. A master storyteller, he had the ability to gain his listeners’ interest and involve them in the story’s drama. But Jesus’ parables weren’t simply engaging stories. They reveal to us the love of God and the values of his kingdom. They call us to deeper conversion. To bring a lesson home forcefully, Jesus often used exaggeration—a common Semitic practice—or contrasted opposites like wisdom and foolishness, generosity and stinginess. Surely there’s no clearer instance of exaggeration than today’s Gospel reading about the unforgiving servant. A man who was forgiven an enormous debt, the equivalent of 150,000 years’ wages, refused to cancel another man’s debt that equaled a hundred days’ wages, a debt that was only 1/20,000 of 1 percent as great as his own. Although the servant acknowledged his need for mercy, he didn’t allow that mercy to soften his heart. And the consequence...

The Power of A Simple Invitation Invite someone who doesn't regularly attend Mass to come to church with you sometime during Lent. It could be an inactive Catholic, a Christian from another church, someone from a non-Christian faith such as Islam, or an unchurched person with no religion.  This Lent, we are being asked not just to deepen our faith but to share it. It is finally time to take seriously the call to the New Evangelization and make it a part of our Lenten journey.       There are many churchgoing Catholics who experience the practice of their faith more as a chore than a joy. There are an increasing number of Catholics who have been away for a long time. And there are many from other religious traditions and of no religious background at all who don't know that they have a loving Father.       Evangelization is not about pushing our ideas on people. It's about letting them know the Good News that they are loved and forgive...

Some Helpful Tips on Forgiveness Forgive those who have offended you or your loved ones. In fact, think of the person who has most hurt you or most annoys you. Spend several minutes each day thanking God for that person and asking God to bless him or her.  Just about everyone can recite the Lord's Prayer from memory. That's precisely the problem, though. We often rattle it off without really thinking about what we are saying.  "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."  Whenever we pray this line, we are asking God to forgive us in exactly the same way as we forgive those who hurt us. In other words, if we are harboring unforgiveness in our hearts as we say this prayer, we are calling a curse down upon ourselves.  Let's face it, we are all in desperate need of the mercy of God. But time and time again, the Word of God makes clear that the greatest block to his mercy is resentment. In the Old Testament, Sirach 27:30-28:7 tel...

Gratitude To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.  Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference. Thomas Merton

The Divine Artisan A rough and unshapen log has no idea that it can be made  into a statue that will be considered a masterpiece, but the  carver sees what can be done with it. So many seem to  know scarcely anything of the Christian life and do not  understand that God can mould them into saints, until  they put themselves into the hands of that almighty  Artisan. St. Ignatius of Loyola

The Carnival Barker "Step right up, Ladies and Gentlemen!"  Can you picture the typical carnival barker with his straw hat, striped coat and cane? From his mouth flows an endless stream of words designed to lure you into' 'the greatest show on earth." We have a friend who worked as just such a barker for many years. Bernard Joseph Patrick Murray took the stage name "Ray Murray" when  he went on the road with his magic show as a young man.  Ray came from a humble background. He recounts that when he needed new pants, he got new patches for his knees instead. As a child he vowed that when he grew up, things would be different. He'd be somebody.  After starting a family, Ray left show business and tried various jobs, until one day he discovered what's known as "sales motivation" or "positive thinking." Ray felt he had discovered the big dark secret to happiness, love and joy. His natural ability to persuade people led ...

The Joy of Divine Providence      My DEAR SISTER,—I am touched by your sympathy in my trials, but I am glad to be able to reassure you. It is true that at first I suffered acutely on seeing myself burdened with a quantity of business and anxieties contrary to my liking for solitude and silence, but see how divine Providence has come to my aid. God gives me the grace to remain unattached to all these affairs, so that my spirit remains always free. I leave their successful issue to his paternal care, so that nothing distresses me. Often things go all right and I give thanks to God; sometimes everything goes wrong, I again bless his holy name and offer him the sacrifice of my efforts. Once this sacrifice has been made, God arranges everything.  Already our good Master has prepared several of these agreeable surprises for me. As for leisure, I have more than anywhere else. At the moment visits are rare, because I only pay them out of duty and pure necessity. Our F...