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Showing posts from 2017

Daily Thought For December 30, 2017

The Characteristics Of A Good Friend When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares. Henri Nouwen

Daily Thought For December 29, 2017

Why God Allows Difficulties “God, by placing man in difficult situations, provokes him into performing acts of faith.  These situations, which make us realize our powerlessness, can deepen our yearning for God… …[H]e may allow or cause you to go through difficult trials of faith when you will not be able to cope with your problems by yourself… The experience of not being able to cope with something, and the feeling of loss, can cause you to have the desire to look for his coming.  This is a chance for the growth and the deepening of your faith.”  Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer, December Magnificat, p. 202-203.

Daily Thought For December 28, 2017

Great Advice On Overcoming Anger Anger can be a powerful and fierce emotion. If left unchecked, it can cause us to make rash decisions and lead us to hurt innocent people. Just look at Herod. He heard a king had been born in Israel and he was afraid. This child was a threat, and Herod wanted to get rid of him quickly. When the Magi didn’t cooperate with his plan, he became furious. So he lashed out, ordering the deaths of all young boys in and around Bethlehem. Such a violent act horrifies us. And it should! It seems so arbitrary and unnecessary. Herod could have taken any number of other less drastic measures to protect himself. But as terrible as his reaction is, the truth is that none of us are immune to the pitfalls of anger. It can start small. Maybe you get annoyed because your husband eats the lunch you had packed for yourself. It was just one thoughtless action, but you start to generalize and tell yourself he’s always inconsiderate or selfish. You start scolding him ev

Daily Thought For December 27, 2017

May The Son Illumine Our Vocations For St. John, as for everyone else, his vocation gave a new meaning even to the most ordinary things. The whole of life is affected by Our Lord's plans for each one of us. The discovery of one's personal vocation, is the most important point in each person's existence. It changes everything without changing anything; just as a landscape, without changing, is different before and after the sun goes down, beneath the light of the moon, or wrapped in the darkness of night. Every discovery gives a new beauty to things, and a new light creates new shadows; one discovery is the prelude to other discoveries of new lights and more beauty.   John's whole life was centred on his Lord and Master; in his faithfulness to Jesus he found the meaning of his life. He put up no resistance of any kind to His call; he was found on Calvary when all the others had disappeared. This is what our life, too, has to be like,   because even though Our Lord

Daily Thought For December 26, 2017

We Need Peace Lectio Matthew 10:17–22 Meditatio “For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” We might suppose that the day after Christmas would bring us another cozy Gospel story of angels and shepherds, or Magi traveling across countries, following the light of a star. But today, instead, we recall one of the first martyrs of the early Church—Saint Stephen. Stephen’s story seems to break rather abruptly into the Christmas season. The rage of the crowd and Stephen’s violent martyrdom startle us. It seems so much at odds with the utter wonder and simplicity of God coming among us as a newborn baby. New hope was born among us, cause for great joy. The story of Stephen is given to us today as a challenge to bring this joy out into a world that often resists it. As too soon the lights and decorations begin to come down around us and life quickly returns to more “ordinary” time, it can be difficult to live out the joy and hope tha

Daily Thought For December 25, 2017

Christmas Blessings! Our Saviour, dearly-beloved, was born today: let us be glad. For there is no proper place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity. No one is kept from sharing in this happiness. There is for all one common measure of joy, because as our Lord the destroyer of sin and death finds none free from charge, so is He come to free us all. Let the saint exult in that he draws near to victory. Let the sinner be glad in that he is invited to pardon. Let the gentile take courage in that he is called to life. For the Son of God in the fulness of time which the inscrutable depth of the Divine counsel has determined, has taken on him the nature of man, thereby to reconcile it to its Author: in order that the inventor of death, the devil, might be conquered through that (nature) which he had conquered. St. Leo I

Daily Thought For December 23, 2017

Our Amazing Destiny Lectio Luke 1:57–66 Meditatio “What, then, will this child be?” As each of my nieces and nephews was born (and especially when I had a chance to see them soon after birth), a feeling of awe and wonder struck me. What a little bundle of potential a newborn baby is! Each child is a mystery. What will he become? What will she be like? We can spot some clues—long feet and toes indicating future height, for example. We can surmise some likely possibilities—the prospect of inheriting gifts and inclinations from artistic, athletic, or musically gifted parents, for instance. But no one except God can know for sure anything about the future deeds, accomplishments, influence, or lifespan of the child. And only a foolish person would claim to know the future. A child like John, the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, is the focus of wonder because each child is a gift from God to the world—a sign that God has not finished with us yet. The extraordinary circumsta

Daily Thought For December 22, 2017

Love & Suffering Love and sacrifice are closely linked, like the sun and the light. We cannot love without suffering and we cannot suffer without love. St. Gianna Beretta Molla 

Daily Thought For December 21,2017

Beautiful Insights Into The Visitation Lectio Luke 1:39–45 Meditatio   “… for joy …” Christmas is just a few days away. Most of us still have lots of things to do as we prepare for our liturgies and our family celebrations. And so, today’s Gospel is especially for us. We find echoes of the pre-holiday hustle and bustle in Mary’s hasty journey through the difficult hill country. Mary was very young, pregnant, and certainly preoccupied with her own future. For these reasons we are moved by her thoughtfulness, concern, and care every time we read this passage. In announcing to her God’s plans, the Archangel Gabriel tells her, as a means of reassuring her, that her older, barren cousin is also with child. Mary goes quickly to Elizabeth, eager to serve. We expect exuberance from the young. It is one of life’s delights. Luke recreates this delight in the heart of today’s Advent saint, Elizabeth. We are not told the words or manner of Mary’s greeting to Elizabeth, but we can

Daily Thought For December 19, 2017

Listen In The Silence Of Your Heart Imagine how difficult it must have been for Zechariah to remain silent for nine long months. How could he conduct business? How could he minister as a priest? How could he relate to his wife, Elizabeth? Scripture gives us little insight into how Zechariah spent that time, but we can be sure he spent a good portion of it learning patience and trust in God. Whatever Zechariah did, it’s clear that God used this time to prepare him for his role as father of John the Baptist. Raising any child is a challenging venture, so imagine how much higher the stakes were here: Zechariah had to form the new Elijah, the herald of the Messiah. It’s a good thing he had a prolonged period of silence and reflection! Catholic author and poet Caryll Houselander once talked about the blessings of silence this way: “God speaks silently, God speaks in your heart; if your heart is noisy, chattering, you will not hear.” It’s in silence that we can become aware of our em

Daily Thought For December 18, 2017

He Is Present Lectio Matthew 11:28–30 Meditatio “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,  and I will give you rest.” Who cannot relate to this passage? The feeling of being tired and burdened can last all year and is simply more intense these weeks before Christmas. Yet Advent is the one time we really long to slow down and appreciate the season. We know that we celebrate at Christmas the mystery that holds for us great joy: the birth of our Savior. Children are innately happy, filled with eager anticipation—even the secular world celebrates this season of joy. We long to savor the gift, to get away from the frenetic pace so often connected with this season. My parents, ever my spiritual models, years ago made the simple decision that they would no longer go the expensive and exasperating mall-crawling, gift-giving route. They give a donation to charity, commit to daily Mass, and spend the rest of Advent a little more calm and less burdened as they visit family a

Daily Thought For December 17, 2017

Take His Hand And Walk As long as you realize that God is holding on to you by your will and resolution to serve him, go on boldly and do not be upset by your little set-backs and falls; there is no need to be put out by this provided you throw yourself into his arms from time to time and kiss him with the kiss of charity. Go on joyfully and with your heart as open and widely trustful as possible; and if you cannot always be joyful, at least be brave and confident.  Go straight on, and always in God's sight. God takes pleasure in seeing you make your little steps; and like a good father who holds his child by the hand, he will conform his steps to yours and will be quite happy not to go any faster than you. What are you anxious about? Whether you are taking this road or that other way, going fast or slow? All that matters is that he is with you, and you with him. St. Francis de Sales (Selected Letters, pp.45-46,  Selected Letters, P: 160) 

Daily Thought For December 16, 2017

Trust When I trust deeply that today God is truly with me and holds me safe in a divine embrace, guiding every one of my steps I can let go of my anxious need to know how tomorrow will look, or what will happen next month or next year. I can be fully where I am and pay attention to the many signs of God's love within me and around me. Henri Nouwen

Daily Thought For December 14, 2017

Giving The Glory To God Ponder IN ISAIAH’S POETRY, the Lord calls Jacob a worm and Israel a maggot (41:14). Of course, some translations soften it a little by using the word insect. The King James version just says ye men of Israel. In any case, that name-calling jolts us, especially at 7 A.M. Mass. Would we be able to take it if the Lord faced us squarely with our reality? The text goes on to tell us that the Lord will help even worms and maggots; the promises of prosperity, fertile, fruitful lands, and precious forests continue—in fact, mightily! “You shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory” (Is 41:16). The point of the reading: The wonderful things happening to Israel will ultimately be God’s doing, not ours. “The hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it” (Is 41:20). In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus talks to the crowds. Some support him; others object to everything he says and does. He praises the greatness of his cousin

Daily Thought For December 13, 2017

Lay It Down Lectio Matthew 11:28–30 Meditatio “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Who cannot relate to this passage? The feeling of being tired and burdened can last all year and is simply more intense these weeks before Christmas. Yet Advent is the one time we really long to slow down and appreciate the season. We know that we celebrate at Christmas the mystery that holds for us great joy: the birth of our Savior. Children are innately happy, filled with eager anticipation—even the secular world celebrates this season of joy. We long to savor the gift, to get away from the frenetic pace so often connected with this season. My parents, ever my spiritual models, years ago made the simple decision that they would no longer go the expensive and exasperating mall-crawling, gift-giving route. They give a donation to charity, commit to daily Mass, and spend the rest of Advent a little more calm and less burdened as they visit family and

Daily Thought For December 12, 2017

Light It Up! If we are truly in love with Christ and if we sense how much he loves us, our heart will 'light up' with a joy that spreads to everyone around us. Pope Francis

Daily Thought For December 11, 2017

Is Humanity Still Waiting? How Do We Prepare? But the question is: is the humanity of our time still waiting for a Saviour? One has the feeling that many consider God as foreign to their own interests. Apparently, they do not need him. They live as though he did not exist and, worse still, as though he were an “obstacle” to remove in order to fulfil themselves. Even among believers—we are sure of it—some let themselves be attracted by enticing dreams and distracted by misleading doctrines that suggest deceptive shortcuts to happiness. Yet, despite its contradictions, worries and tragedies, and perhaps precisely because of them, humanity today seeks a path of renewal, of salvation, it seeks a Saviour and awaits, sometimes unconsciously, the coming of the Saviour who renews the world and our life, the coming of Christ, the one true Redeemer of man and of the whole of man. Of course, false prophets continue to propose a salvation “at a cheap price”, that always ends by producing

Daily Thought For December 10, 2017

The Lord Is Doing Something New Lectio Mark 1:1–8 Meditatio   “The beginning of the Gospel …” Beginnings are generally small, even insignificant. Nightfall begins when the first faint star appears. A world-changing technology may begin in a flash of insight entirely hidden to all but the thinker. A life-changing love may have its origin in a subtle glance whose potential could never be fathomed by the two who exchange it. Advent celebrates just this kind of beginning, one bursting with possibilities. The Gospel itself, “the power of God for salvation” (cf. Rom 1:16), begins with a solitary voice in the desert. Those who heard that call probably thought the eccentric John, with his camel hair and locusts, was the focal point of what was about to begin. But John is not staging an event as if he were launching a new product line or planning an inauguration. Instead, he claims to be no more than an advance messenger; the “one mightier” is drawing near. This is why John pare

Daily Thought For December 7, 2017

A Child's Will      It took having kids for me to start distilling some of Jesus' parables. The first grader, eager to please, jumps when offered a task-that is, until she hears the actual chore. If it  doesn't fit her criteria of glamour or overall extraordinariness, you can see the wheels turning as she starts backing out. The four-year-old is more honest; he'd rather just play. The toddler throws things.       Their childish flightiness is familiar to me, even as I seek to do the will of my Father in heaven. Often I'm my daughter, raring to fight for a worthy cause du jour, at the risk of missing the daily cases God places before me in which it is difficult, boring, and tiresome to love. To suffer. To obey. I empathize with my son's desire to remain in comfort, and even the youngest's most willful rebelliousness.       Jesus warns us, Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the

Daily Thought For December 6, 2017

The Lord's Compassion & The Gift of Lourdes Lectio Matthew 15:29–37 Meditatio   “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd.” Today’s Gospel visibly demonstrates Jesus’ compassion in word and action. After days of following the Master, the crowd longs for his presence, his words, and his saving deeds. Jesus also knows the people are hungry! “My heart is moved with pity.…” As the Teacher climbs the mountain and sits before the crowd, the suffering of the sick and the needs of the people stirred his heart with pity. His saving touch heals the physically challenged and those who suffered many kinds of sickness. With seven loaves and a few fish, Jesus multiplies the food so the people will not “collapse on the way.” The healing of the sick and the feeding of the four thousand show clearly how profoundly God embraces our human condition in Jesus Christ. The heart of God understands the physical suffering, pain, and weakness we experience! He is not only a God who is

Daily Thought For December 5, 2017

The Cross Will Always Stand Against Evil The image of the naked Galilean hanging from the cross has always inspired great love and fierce hate. Nero sought to make the cross a hateful image by putting Christians to death upon it, pouring pitch upon them, and lighting Rome with these flaming human crosses. Julian the Apostate said that he would make the world forget the Man on the cross, but in his final agony he had to acknowledge, “Thou has conquered, Galilean.” Communists forbid its presence because they fear its power against their evil designs. Hitler has tried to replace the image of our Blessed Lord on the cross with a stupid swastika. Invectives, false philosophies, violence, and every diabolical scheme have been used to tear the Christ from the cross and the crucifix from the church. Nevertheless, like the bombs that were dropped on this chapel, they have only succeeded in making the cross stand out more and more in bold relief. The image we love grows greater in our under

Daily Thought For December 4, 2017

Our Holy Longing Will Be Fulfilled Lectio Matthew 8:5–11 Meditatio   “I will come …” In the movie August Rush, the eleven-year-old orphan Evan Taylor hopes to be reunited with his birth parents, whom he has never known. His parents, Lyla and Louis, fall in love but are separated. Lyla has a child, but her father gives the child up for adoption without Lyla’s knowledge. With the vision possible only to the human heart, Evan clings to the hope he will one day be reunited with his parents. Evan can be for us an icon of Advent hope. He longs to know he is not alone, to know that he is loved. During Advent, we also long for the coming of the awaited Messiah—in Bethlehem, at the end of time, and in each human heart, including our own. Like Evan, we also cry out: “Come!” Similarly, the centurion in today’s Gospel pleads with Jesus to heal a sick servant. The centurion trusts Jesus so much that he believes Jesus’ word has power to bring relief and healing. Situations of pain or

Daily Thought For November 30, 2017

St. John Chrysostom on Friendship Such is friendship, that through it we love places and seasons; for as bright bodies emit rays to a distance, and flowers drop their sweet leaves on the ground around them, so friends impart favor even to the places where they dwell. With friends even poverty is pleasant. Words cannot express the joy which a friend imparts; they only can know who have experienced. A friend is dearer than the light of heaven, for it would be better for us that the sun were exhausted than that we should be without friends. St. John Chrysostom

Daily Thought For November 28, 2017

Small Beginnings Are Great We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. Blessed Oscar Romero

Daily Thought For November 27, 2017

An Important Reminder The story of Mary of Magdalene reminds us all of a fundamental truth...A disciple of Christ is one who, in the experience of human weakness, has had the humility to ask for his help, has been healed by him and has set out following closely after him, becoming a witness of the power of his merciful love that is stronger than sin and death. Pope Benedict XVI

Daily Thought For November 26, 2017

Go Make A Difference! Speak tenderly; let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don't only give your care, but give your heart as well. St. Teresa of Calcutta

Daily Thought For November 24, 2017

The Power Of Prayer Gives Way To Hope Prayer can truly change your life. For it turns your attention away from yourself and directs your mind and your heart toward the Lord. If we look only at ourselves, with our own limitations and sins, we quickly give way to sadness and discouragement. But if we keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, then our hearts are filled with hope, our minds are washed n the light of truth, and we come to know the fullness of the Gospel with all is promise and life. St. John Paul II

Daily Thought For November 23, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving! Father all-powerful, Your gifts of love are countless and Your goodness infinite. On Thanksgiving Day we come before You with gratitude for Your kindness: open our hearts to concern for our fellow men and women, so that we may share Your gifts in loving service.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Daily Thought For November 22, 2017

24 Hour Prayer There are some people who, in order not to pray use as an excuse the fact that life is so hectic that it prevents us from praying. This cannot be. Prayer does not demand that we interrupt our work, but that we continue working as if it were a prayer. It is not necessary to always be in meditation, nor to consciously experience the sensation that we are talking to God, no matter how nice that would be. What matters is being with Him, living in Him, in His will. To love with a pure heart, to love everybody, especially to live the poor, is a twenty-four hour prayer. St. Teresa of Calcutta

Daily Thought For November 20, 2017

Pray And Don't Lose Heart If God seems slow in responding, it is because He is preparing a better gift. He will not deny us. God withholds what you are not yet ready for. He wants you to have a lively desire for His greatest gifts. All of which is to say, pray always and do not lose heart. St. Augustine

Daily Thought For November 17, 2017

Tending Your Own Garden Don't sow your desires in someone else's garden; just cultivate your own as best you can; don't long to be other than what you are, but desire to be thoroughly what you are. Direct your thoughts to being very good at that and to bearing the crosses, little or great, that you will find there. Believe me, this is the most important and least understood point to the spiritual life. We all love according to what is our taste; few people like what is according to their duty or to God's liking. What is the use of building castles in Spain when we have to live in France? St. Francis de Sales

Daily Thought For November 16, 2017

In Praise Of The Holy Spirit Holy Spirit, the life that gives life: You are the cause of all movement. You are the breath of all creatures. You are the salve that purifies our souls. You are the ointment that heals our wounds. You are the fire that warms our hearts. You are the light that guides our feet. Let all the world praise you. St. Hildegard of Bingen

Daily Thought For November 15, 2017

Are You A Canal Or A Reservoir? If then you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. For a canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus communicates, without loss to itself, its superabundant water. In the Church at the present day, we have many canals, few reservoirs. St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Daily Thought For November 14, 2017

A Grave Warning From A Great Philosopher Unless we regain the art of silence and insight, the ability for nonactivity, unless we substitute true leisure for our hectic amusements, we will destroy our culture and ourselves. Josef Pieper

Daily Thought For November 13, 2017

The Power of Prayer They who pray with faith have fervour and fervour is the fire of prayer. This mysterious fire has the power of consuming all our faults and imperfections, and of giving to our actions, vitality, beauty and merit. St. Francis Xavier Cabrini (Memorial is Today)

Daily Thought For November 12, 2017

Press Forward & Fear Nothing If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to Him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing. St. Katharine Drexel

Daily Thought For November 11, 2017

Tune Our Hearts To Brave Music God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening; when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave music; give us the sense of comradeship with heroes and saints of every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life, to your honor and glory. St. Augustine

Daily Thought For November 10, 2017

Evidence The Holy Spirit Is Lacking "Where joylessness reigns, where humor dies, the spirit of Jesus Christ is assuredly absent." Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Daily Thought For November 9, 2017

An Important Truth Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received - only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage. St. Francis of Assisi

Daily Thought For November 8, 2017

The Relief Of Suffering Love is the first ingredient in the relief of suffering. St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Daily Thought For November 7, 2017

Power In Weakness The Church therefore has one inescapable task: To lift up Christ. When she seeks to lift herself up she becomes weak, but when she acknowledges her own weakness and proclaims her Lord, she is strong. Cardinal Avery Dulles, SJ

Daily Thought For November 6, 2017

Great Prayer From A Great Saint Lord, help me to live this day, quietly, easily. To lean upon Thy great strength, trustfully, restfully. To wait for the unfolding of Thy will, patiently, serenely. To meet others, peacefully, joyously. To face tomorrow, confidently, courageously. St. Francis of Assisi

Daily Thought For November 5, 2017

Why Peter Got Out Of The Boat It is not those who commit the least faults who are the most holy, but those who have the greatest courage, the greatest generosity, the greatest love, who make the boldest efforts to overcome themselves, and are not immediately apprehensive about tripping. St. Francis de Sales

Daily Thought For November 4, 2017

Love Is The Answer Lectio Luke 14:1, 7–11 Meditatio “On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of the one of the leading Pharisees.…” Jesus, why do you eat at the house of a Pharisee? What are you thinking? You have denounced the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and reproached the scribes and lawyers. They have been setting traps for you, hoping to get rid of you. They are clearly set against you. Why do you go to the house of a Pharisee to share the intimacy of a meal? I can’t fathom it. How do you act there? Did you plan what to say? Did you think of some great remarks that would outwit your host? Did you come up with backhanded complements or sarcastic remarks that would beat them at their own game? Why did you walk into the hornet’s nest? They are observing you. How can you eat under that scrutiny? I can’t understand, Jesus, because I wouldn’t have been able to do it. There are some people I don’t like—family members who don’t talk to me, colleagues I don’t get along with

Daily Thought For November 3, 2017

The Encounter That Changes Everything! Christianity is not a new philosophy or new morality. We are Christians only if we encounter Christ... Only in this personal relationship with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we really become Christians... Therefore, let us pray to the Lord to enlighten us, so that, in our world, he will grant us the encounter with his presence, and thus give us a lively faith, an open heart, and great charity for all, capable of renewing the world. Pope Benedict XVI

Daily Thought For November 2, 2017

The Chief Purpose Of Life The chief purpose of life, for any of us, is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks. J.R.R Tolkien

Daily Thought For November 1, 2017

St. Thomas On How To Alleviate Sorrow Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine. St. Thomas Aquinas

Daily Thought For October 31, 2017

A Christian Is..... A Christian is: a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, and a hand through which Christ helps. St. Augustine

Daily Thought For October 28, 2017

Don't Get Discouraged — God Is Patient! Don't get upset with your imperfections. It's a great mistake because it leads nowhere - to get angry because you are angry, upset at being upset, depressed at being depressed, disappointed because you are disappointed. So don't fool yourself. Simply surrender to the Power of God's Love, which is always greater than our weakness. St. Frances de Sales

Daily Thought For October 27, 2017

How Pride Works Pride measures prosperity not by her own advantages but by the disadvantages of others. She would not even wish to be a goddess unless there were some wretches left whom she could order about and lord it over, whose misery would make her happiness seem all the more extraordinary, whose poverty can be tormented and exacerbated by a display of her wealth. This infernal serpent, pervading the human heart, keeps men from reforming their lives, holding them back like a suckfish. St. Thomas More

Daily Thought For October 26, 2017

Living Waters He is like a tree planted near running water. (Psalm 1:3) What a glorious promise—especially to the Jewish people who would have prayed this psalm! Remember, the Holy Land is a more arid region than where most of us live. The thought of lush vegetation growing along the banks of a babbling stream would have seemed almost exotic to them. So to say that the one who follows the Lord is like one of those trees is to say something powerful indeed! While it’s true that most of us live in more temperate climates, our spiritual environments can be far more arid. The world around us may not be as hospitable to our spiritual life, which means we should drink as deeply as we can when we are in the presence of Jesus’ living waters. And nowhere do these waters flow more abundantly than at Mass. What is one of the first things you do when you enter a church? You bless yourself with holy water. You recall your baptism, when you were first plunged into the water of life. Then

Daily Thought For October 25, 2017

Faith Is Not Like Bottled Water Faith is not like bottled water but like rain. Its destiny is not just to be kept and held but to make something visible grow. Peter Kreeft

Daily Thought For October 24, 2017

Partnership With God Pray daily as though your future were entirely dependent on God; and then proceed to work for your reasonable needs and intelligent desires as though their fulfillment depended entirely on you in proportion as you see your daily life as a partnership with God, you will find life’s inadequacies, insecurities, and anxieties less confusing to the mind, less oppressive to the body and less frustrating to the spirit. Your inadequacies will be counterbalanced by your supernatural faith in God's divine plan for you. (Matt 25:14-23) Your natural sense of insecurity will find strength in Christ’s sermon on His Father’s divine providence for His children (Matt. 6:25-34). Finally, your spontaneous anxieties will find solace and peace in the good news of your Redemption. (John 1:1-14) This large perspective will make anger and hostility less necessary to you, since your fulfillment will no longer be restricted to the narrow fulfillment of an hour, day or year. Rather,

Daily Thought For October 23, 2017

The Gift of Perspective As your perspective grows in breadth and depth, you will find yourself acquiring a keener awareness of God’s presence in your daily round of occupations. Your religious sense gradually becomes so intertwined with your natural interests and concerns, that nature and grace are seen as two hands of God embracing you and sustaining you. With perspective your passing earthly activities become steps not only toward your natural self-fulfillment in this life, but also toward your unending, all satisfying self-fulfillment with God in heaven. You will see your personal life on earth as your share in the evolution of God’s original act of creation. Whether your personal gifts and opportunities be great or small in the eyes of worldly men, you will see them as part of God’s overall plan to draw all things back to himself in due time. The more your balanced perspective develops, so much the more will you realize why true self-development is the work of a lifetime. It

Daily Thought For October 22, 2017

Judging Others Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Daily Thought For October 21, 2017

The Sea of Faith Even in the life of a Christian, faith rises and falls like the tides of an invisible sea. It's there, even when he can't see it or feel it, if he wants it to be there. You realize, I think, that it is more valuable, more mysterious, altogether more immense than anything you can learn or decide upon It will keep you free - not free to do anything you please, but free to be formed by something larger than your own intellect or the intellects around you. Flannery O'Connor

Daily Thought For October 20, 2017

You Can Do Everything - In Christ! Start being brave about everything. Drive out darkness and spread light. Don’ look at your weaknesses. Realize instead that in Christ crucified you can do everything. St. Catherine of Siena

Daily Thought For October 19, 2017

Courage To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that. St. Teresa of Avila

Daily Thought For October 18, 2017

The Splendor Of God In Creation Listen to the sermon preached to you by the flowers, the trees, the shrubs, the sky, and the whole world. Notice how they preach to you a sermon full of love, of praise of God, and how they invite you to glorify the sublimity of that sovereign Artist who has given them being. St. Paul of the Cross

Daily Thought For October 17, 2017

No One Has Ever Hoped In The Lord And Been Confounded Men may deprive me of property and honour; sickness may take away my strength and other means of serving You; I may even lose Your grace by sin; but never, never will I lose my hope in You. I will cherish it unto that dreadful moment when all hell will be unchained to snatch my soul away. "No one has hoped in the Lord and has been confounded." St. Claude de la Colombière

Daily Thought For October 14, 2017

Let Us Always Be Mindful of Christ's Love If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight. Many, many times I have perceived this through experience. The Lord has told it to me. I have definitely seen that we must enter by this gate if we wish his Sovereign Majesty to reveal to us great and hidden mysteries. A person should desire no other path, even if he is at the summit of contemplation; on this road he walks safely. All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example. What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the wor

Daily Thought For October 13, 2017

The Starting Point — Consenting To Our Poverty      At the beginning…we are ready to make radical sacrifices.  We would like to leave everything, give everything.  But, very quickly, we discover that God always asks of us something that we had not thought of, sometimes even apparently insignificant things of which we are incapable of letting go.”      We discover “all those secret attachments, those unconfessed refusals, those secret wounds.  We would have liked to leave everything, we were aspiring to freedom, and here we discover, with a sort of disillusionment that can sometimes lead to despair or turn into cynicism, that we are caught in our own trap…following Jesus, leaving everything for him, is beyond our capacity. We then realize that, despite all our efforts and our good resolutions, in fact we have not yet really begun!”      “But paradoxically, this realization of our resistance, our inability to respond to his call, is perhaps, in reality, the most precious fruit…For