Daily Thought from the Saints
"One just soul can obtain pardon for a thousand sinners."
— St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Daily Scripture Verse
"There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops."
Luke 12:2-3
Daily Meditation
"No one who follows Me will ever walk in darkness (Jn 8:12). These words of our Lord counsel all to walk in His footsteps. If you want to see clearly and avoid blindness of heart, it is His virtues you must imitate. Make it your aim to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ. Christ's teachings surpasses that of all the Saints. But to find this spiritual nourishment you must seek to have the Spirit of Christ. It is because we lack this Spirit that so often we listen to the Gospel without really hearing it. Those who fully understand Christ's words must labor to make their lives conform to His."
— Thomas á Kempis
Daily Catholic Wisdom
Ultimately, everything we have is on loan to us from God. Before long, we’ll be dead and someone else will be in charge of it. And this holds true on a global scale as well because ‘the earth is the Lord’s’ (Ps 24:1). So regardless of how you feel about climate change or species extinction or resource depletion, the material world should be treated with enormous care because it doesn’t belong to us.
—J. Augustine Wetta
from his book, “Humility Rules: Saint Benedict’s 12-Step Guide to Self-Esteem”
A Prayer from Notre Dame University
Rev. Brad Metz, C.S.C.
All-powerful God, you are near to us and hear us when we pray. Enliven us with your Spirit, the fire of your love. Through our baptism, we share in the life of your son, Jesus the Christ. Sustain your life within us by drawing us often to eat his body and drink his blood in the new and everlasting covenant that gives us eternal life. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Abbot’s Daily Lectio Divina
Abbot Austin Murphy, O.S.B., St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, IL
John 6:47-51
Reading
[Jesus said,] “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.”
Meditation
Eating is believing. Just as eating entails taking in food and having life from it, so believing entails taking into oneself the communication from God that Jesus Christ is, and having eternal life from Him. This is why eternal life is said to be from believing in Jesus and from eating His Flesh. They are, in a way, the same action. Consuming the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist makes visible the act of believing in Jesus. By this act, Jesus comes into us and gives us life.
Prayer
Jesus, may I have life from believing in You and may my belief in You be strengthened and maintained by receiving You in the Eucharist. Amen.
Contemplation…