Daily Thought

I'm Still Working On This Perfect love means putting up with other peoples shortcomings, feeling no surprise at their weaknesses, finding encouragement even in the slightest evidence of good qualities in them. St. Thérèse of Lisieux

More Wisdom From Pope Francis The perfect family doesn't exist, nor is there a perfect husband or a perfect wife, and let's not talk about the perfect mother-in-law! It's just us sinners." A healthy family life requires frequent use of three phrases: "May I? Thank you, and I'm sorry" and "never, never, never end the day without making peace. Pope Francis

The Power of Love Love and ever more love is the only solution to every problem that comes up. If we love each other enough, we will bear with each other's faults and burdens. If we love enough, we are going to light that fire in the hearts of others. And it is love that will burn out the sins and hatreds that sadden us. It is love that will make us want to do great things for each other. No sacrifice and no suffering will then seem too much. Yes, I see only too clearly how bad people are. I wish I did not see it so. It is my own sins that give me such clarity. Dorothy Day

Honoring God In All Our Works 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 Wonder of Humility You see, only the humble man or woman can teach Christ, can give him and his love to others, because the proud man or woman just can’t really have Christ. The proud person is so filled with himself that there is no room for Christ. And I can’t in any way give what I do not have. I can’t give Christ if I don’t have him myself. The wonder of humility is that it teaches us that we are nothing: that we have nothing of ourselves to give to others; that no matter how brilliant or holy we are, all this is from God. Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ

Accepting God's Will —Today! It is a mistake easily made by every man, saint or scholar, Church leader or day laborer. Ultimately, we come to expect God to accept our understanding of what his will ought to be and to help us fulfill that, instead of learning to see and accept his will in the real situations in which he places us daily. The simple soul who each day makes a morning offering of "all the prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day" - and who then acts upon it by accepting unquestioningly and responding lovingly to all the situations of the day as truly sent by God - has perceived with an almost childlike faith the profound truth about the will of God. To predict what God's will is going to be, to rationalize about what his will must be, is at once a work of human folly and yet the subtlest of all temptations. The plain and simple truth is that his will is that he actually wills to send us each day, in the way of circumstances, places, people, an...

Lift Up Your Head! Salvation Is Passing By As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew. (Matthew 9:9) Matthew probably had a lot of things going through his mind when he saw Jesus pass by. Let’s imagine that internal conversation: “Oh no, he’s looking right at me. I’ve heard so much about this Jesus. People say he can heal any ailment and has even cast out demons. He doesn’t pull any punches but tells it like it is. He doesn’t seem to be cowed by anyone, neither religious leaders nor Roman occupation troops. In fact, I heard he even healed a centurion’s servant. “But I feel stuck in the middle. I must turn over enough taxes to the Romans so that they won’t give my job to someone else, but I have to collect enough to provide for myself, don’t I? And if I’m not aggressive enough, other tax collectors are going to ruin my livelihood. “Nobody likes to pay taxes. It’s the Romans’ fault, but I’m the one with my hand out, so my countrymen resent me. The religious leaders think ...

The Challenge To Be Full-Time Christians   Jesus tells us that the seed which fell on the path or on the rocky ground or among the thorns bore no fruit. I believe that we can ask ourselves honestly: What kind of ground are we? What kind of ground do we want to be? Maybe sometimes we are like the path: we hear the Lord’s word but it changes nothing in our lives because we let ourselves be numbed by all the superficial voices competing for our attention. I ask you, but do not respond immediately; everyone respond in his or her own heart: am I a young person who is numb? Or perhaps we are like the rocky ground: we receive Jesus with enthusiasm, but we falter and, faced with difficulties, we don’t have the courage to swim against the tide. Everyone of us respond in his or her heart: am I courageous or am I a coward? Or maybe we are like the thorny ground: negativity, negative feelings choke the Lord’s word in us (cf. Mt 13:18-22). Do I have the habit of playing ...

How The Kingdom of God Comes About The kingdom of God will grow upon earth, will be brought to fulfillment, in the same way it was established: by the daily and seemingly hidden lives of those who do always the will of the Father. Father Walter Ciszek, SJ

Great Message On Forgiveness Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! This Sunday’s evangelical passage (Cf. Matthew 18:21-35) gives us a teaching on forgiveness, which doesn’t deny the wrong suffered but recognizes that the human being, created in the image of God, is always greater than the evil he commits. Saint Peter asked Jesus: “how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (v. 21). To Peter it already seems the maximum to forgive the same person seven times; and perhaps for us it seems a lot to do so twice. But Jesus answers: “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven” (v. 22), that is, always: you must forgive always. And He confirms it recounting the parable of the merciful king and of the merciless servant, in which He shows the incoherence of him who was first forgiven and then refuses to forgive. The king of the parable is a generous man that, gripped by compassion, condones an enormous debt — “ten thousand tal...

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). 

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst Witnessing as I do, dearly beloved, your daily gathering here with such enthusiasm, I am filled with deep satisfaction, and I do not fail to praise the loving God for your progress. I mean, just as hunger is a sign of bodily health, so, too, interest in listening to the divine sayings would be taken by anyone as a sure pointer to spiritual wellbeing.   Accordingly, our Lord Jesus Christ, too, in the Beatitudes pronounced on the Mount, declared, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will have their fill. So who could adequately commend you, now that you have already received this blessing from the Lord of all, and are looking forward to so many more good things from him? Our Lord, you see, is like that: when he sees a soul seeking the things of the Spirit with great desire and earnest zeal, he bestows on it his graces in abundance.   Hence, with a view to your greater benefit, I, too, look forward t...

Love Is Always Within Reach       Love is within reach of the child, of the invalid who has been confined to a hospital bed for a lengthy period, of the businessman, of the doctor who hardly has a minute to spare ... because sanctity is a matter of love, and of the effort we make to reach the Master with the help of grace. We have to give a new meaning to life, together with all its joys and exhilarations, its pains and woes. Sanctity requires a fight against conformity, against lukewarmness, against an easy-going worldly attitude. It demands heroism - not in extraordinary situations that we are unlikely to encounter, but in continual fidelity to our task in the unremarkable duties of each day.  from  In Conversation with God Volume 3 Part 2 92.1  by Francis Fernandez

 Every Thought Captive To Christ   THERE IS A MIGHTY BATTLE going on for control of your mind. Heaven and earth intersect in your mind; the tugs of both spheres influence your thinking. I created you with the capacity to experience foretastes of heaven. When you shut out the world and focus on My Presence, you can enjoy sitting with Me in heavenly realms. This is an incredible privilege reserved for precious ones who belong to Me and seek My Face. Your greatest strength is your desire to spend time communing with Me. As you concentrate on Me, My Spirit fills your mind with Life and Peace.    The world exerts a downward pull on your thoughts. Media bombard you with greed, lust, and cynicism. When you face these things, pray for protection and discernment. Stay in continual communication with Me whenever you walk through the wastelands of this world. Refuse to worry, because this form of worldliness will weigh you down and block...

Life In Hell   In hell everything is computerized and the computers are always down.    Peter Kreeft -  A Turn of the Clock - A Book of Modern Proverbs  p.70

God Will Provide Amid Hardships Keep your eyes lifted up to God. Build up your courage in holy humility; strengthen it in sweetness; confirm it in steadiness. Always make your spirit lead your inclinations and whims. Don't let anxiety take control of your heart; each day will tell you what you are to do. You have already passed through a number of trials by the grace of God; the same grace will be there for you in all the occasions to come, and will free you from difficulties and rough paths one after the other even if God must send an angel to carry you over the more dangerous steps. St. Frances de Sales

The Looking Glass   The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him.  St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

The Right Attitude      Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness. St. Teresa of Calcutta

Encouraging Others You are children of the light and children of the day. (1 Thessalonians 5:5) Children of the day! How wonderful to be reassured that we have been rescued from the darkness of sin and can now enjoy the light of Christ! But Paul, ever the apostle, goes beyond the good feelings and immediately shifts our focus to what it means to live in the light. In the very next verse, he tells us, “Let us stay alert and sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6). There are so many ways we can stay alert, but let’s focus on one that Paul mentions at the end of today’s passage: by encouraging each other. Because we are “children of the day,” we are all uniquely qualified to bring daylight to the people around us (1 Thessalonians 5:5). In a world that has grown jaded, positive and encouraging people are deeply needed! “Build one another up,” Paul says (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Comment on the good things you see God doing in the lives of other people. Be positive, supportive, and appreciative...

How To Stay Strong In Faith 1.  Pray every day. Each Catholic man must start his day with prayer. It is said, “Until you  realize that prayer is the most important thing in life, you will never have time for  prayer.” Without prayer, a man is like a soldier who lacks food, water, and ammunition.  Set aside some time to speak with God first thing each morning. Pray the three prayers  essential to the Catholic faith: the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be. Pray also  at every meal. Before food or drink touches your lips, make the Sign of the Cross, say  the “Bless us, O Lord” prayer, and end with the Sign of the Cross. Do this no matter  where you are, with whom or how much you are eating. Never be shy or ashamed  about praying over meals. Never deny Christ the gratitude that is due to Him. Praying  as a Catholic man before every meal is a simple but powerful way to keep strong and fill  the breach. 2. Examine your con...

Taking Our Faith "Off Campus" Do you want to honor Christ’s body? Then do not scorn him in his nakedness, nor honor him here in the church with silken garments while neglecting him outside where he is cold and naked. For he who said: This is my body, and made it so by his words, also said: You saw me hungry and did not feed me, and inasmuch as you did not do it for one of these, the least of my brothers, you did not do it for me. What we do here in the church requires a pure heart, not special garments; what we do outside requires great dedication. Let us learn, therefore to be men of wisdom and to honor Christ as he desires. For a person being honored finds greatest pleasure in the honor he desires, not in the honor we think best. Peter thought he was honoring Christ when he refused to let him wash his feet; but what Peter wanted was not truly an honor, quite the opposite! Give him the honor prescribed in his law by giving your riches to the poor. For God does not want...

Thy Will Be Done “God calls us through what happens during our day: through the suffering and happiness of the people we live with, through the human interests of our colleagues and the things that make up our family life.” St. Josemaria Escriva