Daily Thought from the Saints
"For a Son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a man on fire with love, who spreads its flames wherever he goes. He desires mightily and strives by all means possible to set the whole world on fire with God’s love. Nothing daunts him; he delights in privations, welcomes work, embraces sacrifices, smiles at slander, and rejoices in suffering. His only concern is how he can best follow Jesus Christ and imitate Him in working, suffering, and striving constantly and single-mindedly for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls."
— St. Anthony Mary Claret
Daily Scripture Verse
"'Be still, and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth!' The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."
Psalm 46:10-11
Daily Meditation
"Our Lord, by descending into hell, planted (if I may thus express myself), in the spiritual garden of the Church, a mysterious tree, the fruits of which—namely, His merits—are destined for the constant relief of the Poor Souls in Purgatory. The Church Militant must cultivate the tree, and gather its fruits, in order to present them to that suffering portion of the Church which can do nothing for itself. Thus it is with all the merits of Christ; we must labor with Him if we wish to obtain our share of them; we must gain our bread by the sweat of our brow. Everything which Our Lord has done for us in time must produce fruit for eternity; but we must gather these fruits in time, without which we cannot possess them in eternity. The Church is the most prudent and thoughtful of mothers; the ecclesiastical year is an immense and magnificent garden, in which all those fruits for eternity are gathered together, that we may make use of them in time. Each year contains sufficient to supply the wants of all; but woe be to that careless or dishonest gardener who allows any of the fruit committed to his care to perish; if he fails to turn to a proper account those grace which would restore health to the sick, strength to the weak, or furnish food to the hungry! When the Day of Judgment arrives, the Master of the garden will demand a strict account, not only of every tree, but also of all the fruit produced in the garden."
— Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
Daily Catholic Wisdom
The story of creation is meant to teach us how much God loves us and that he invites us to respond to that love.
—Mike Pacer
From his book “The Three Comings of Christ”
Daily Journey with the Pope
“Brothers, sisters, let us remember this: the gaze of God never stops at our past, full of errors, but looks with infinite confidence at what we can become. And if at times we feel we are people who are “short in stature”, not up to the challenges of life and far less of the Gospel, mired in problems and sins, Jesus always looks at us with love… Let us pray to Mary, whose humility the Lord looked upon, and ask her for the gift of a new outlook on ourselves and on others.”
Pope Francis
A Prayer
Rev. Herbert Yost, C.S.C.
Lord God, I am thankful that I may come before you, confused, even puzzled at times at my failures and weakness in serving you. I know that if I seek forgiveness from my heart, I shall find it. You have assured me that even the angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner turning back to the Lord of love and forgiveness. Hear my prayer, Lord, look not at my failures, but at my heart that desires to be one with your grace and call. Let me honor you in word and deed, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Abbot’s Daily Lectio Divina
Abbot Austin Murphy, O.S.B., St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, IL
Philippians 3:8-11
Reading
I consider [all things] refuse, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Meditation
God created all things good and, so, to consider them 'refuse' is not to deny their goodness, but to say that knowing Christ is so supremely good that all else pales in comparison. One knows Christ through faith and it entails knowing the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering. So, to know Christ we must suffer with Him, with the same spirit He had in His suffering, one of love, trust, and confident hope in the resurrection to come.
Prayer
Allow me, Lord, to share with all the saints in the fellowship of Your Son's suffering, that I may also share in His resurrection to new life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Contemplation…