Daily Thought

Letting Good Things Run Wild! The more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild. Gilbert K. Chesterton

Sharing In The Anointing of Christ Means Sharing In The Cross of Christ The readings we have just heard link us to the apostolic Tradition. That Tradition “is not the transmission of things or words, an assortment of lifeless objects; it is the living stream that links us to the origins, the living stream in which those origins are ever present” (BENEDICT XVI, Catechesis, 26 April 2006) and offer us the keys to the Kingdom of heaven (cf. Mt 16:19). A Tradition ancient yet ever new, that gives us life and renews the joy of the Gospel. It enables us to confess with our lips and our heart: “‘Jesus Christ is Lord’, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:11). The entire Gospel is an answer to the question present in the hearts of the People of Israel and today too dwells in the hearts of all those who thirst for life: “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Mt 11:3). Jesus takes up that question and asks it of his disciples: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:...

One Reason Why We Need Discernment Error never shows itself in its naked reality, in order not to be discovered. On the contrary, it dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself. St. Irenaeus of Lyons

Casting Your Pebbles What we would like to do is change the world - make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended for them to do....We can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. We repeat, there is nothing that we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as well as our friend. Dorothy Day

God Will Make A Way No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.  I Corinthians 10:13

Taking A Stand For Christ   By contrast, the person who is always seeking the approval and applause of others can easily deform his own conscience. The rule of action then becomes what people will say, rather than the Will of God. Concern for the opinion of others can easily become fear of the environment. It is easy then to neutralize the apostolic activity of Christians, who have taken upon themselves the urgent task to fulfill on earth the evangelization of the world.    Sometimes, in order not to appear out of step, one easily begins not to be consistent with one's principles. One falls into the temptation of leaning to the side from which approving smiles and handshakes more readily come, or at least in the direction of mediocrity. This is what happened to the Pharisees. Vanity and cowardice were what led them away from God That is what led them to seek another theatre for their struggles, and is what lost them: because...

Spending Time With Jesus Is Never A Waste Of Time “Even for you this remains a struggle.  There are so many lesser things that pull you away, that eat up your time, that put stumbling blocks in the path of your coming to be with Me.  Learn to recognize these obstacles for what they are. Some of them are your own doing; others are the work of the Evil One; still others come from the ordinary cares of life in a world that has forgotten how to be still in My presence.  Do not let yourself be stopped by any of these things.  Learn to come to Me quickly, generously, and gladly.  I wait for you in the Sacrament of My love, and you will not be disappointed in coming to Me.  This is really all I ask of souls…that they come to Me.  And I will do the rest.”  In Sine Jesu , p. 104

Refuge And in every disappointment, great or small, let your heart fly directly to your dear Savior, throwing yourself in those arms for refuge against every pain and sorrow. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Knowledge & Love There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love. St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Saints Have Complicated Problems The two, Paul and Barnabas, disagreed at the beginning of the second missionary journey because Barnabas was determined to take with them as a companion John called Mark, whereas Paul was against it, since the young man had deserted them during their previous journey (cf. Acts 13:13; 15:36–40). Hence there are also disputes, disagreements and controversies among saints. And I find this very comforting, because we see that the saints have not “fallen from Heaven”. They are people like us, who also have complicated problems. Holiness does not consist in never having erred or sinned. Holiness increases the capacity for conversion, for repentance, for willingness to start again and, especially, for reconciliation and forgiveness. So it was that Paul, who had been somewhat harsh and bitter with regard to Mark, in the end found himself with him once again. In St Paul’s last Letters, to Philemon and in his Second Letter to Timothy, Mark actually appea...

Love Is..... Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being in love which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. St. Augustine

What Is Gossip? We are tubes, open at both ends. And what we do with our lower end in the smallest and plainest room in our house, we often do with our upper end in the largest and fanciest room. Peter Kreeft —  A Turn of the Clock (A Book of Modern Proverbs) p.28

The Fountain of Grace   The fountain of grace heals us and strengthens the life of grace by guiding the flow of purest love to the deep recesses of the heart. So often we forget the depths for which we are created. We rush through the day from one thing to another, without realizing the meaning available in this very moment. As the Holy Spirit moves within us a change takes place and an interior conversion emerges. The mysteries of the faith more easily suffuse the soul's most original depths. The heart itself becomes contoured to receive a deeper influx of the life of grace. Like a fountain, the Holy Spirit generates his love from the very center of our existence. This is not automatic or without difficulty. We do not become immune to the ups and downs of life, but we find a deeper stability and purpose in them. A fountain is always transcending itself by giving itself away, pouring itself out. Through grace, the Holy Spirit'...

Humility & Freedom Humility is rooted in self-knowledge and knowledge of God. Knowledge of our own sinfulness, the shortness and fragility of human life, the great mercy and goodness of God, and the length of eternity all deepen humility and enable us to practice patience. Patience is impossible without the humility that brings with it a deep knowledge of and confidence in the goodness and providence of God. Catherine explains that even though nobody can avoid physical pain in this life because of the fragility of our bodies, the deeper pain is rooted in the opposition of our will to God’s will. As our will comes into greater and greater conformity with God’s will—one of the definitions of holiness used by many of the saints—the spiritual and psychological anguish of being in opposition to God subsides and the physical pain can be more easily endured, as all the virtues grow.     This is why I told you that they suffer physically but not spiritually, because their...