Daily Thought from the Saints
"O my God, teach me to be generous, to serve you as you deserve to be served, to give without counting the cost, to fight without fear of being wounded, to work without seeking rest, and to spend myself without expecting any reward, but the knowledge that I am doing your holy will. Amen."
— St. Ignatius of Loyola
Daily Scripture Verse
"Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of any one, says the Lord God; so turn, and live."
Ezekiel 18:31-32
Daily Meditation
"Whoever confesses his sins ... is already working with God. God indicts your sins; if you also indict them, you are joined with God. Man and sinner are, so to speak, two realities: when you hear 'man' - this is what God has made; when you hear 'sinner' - this is what man himself has made. Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what he has made ... When you begin to abhor what you have made, it is then that your good works are beginning, since you are accusing yourself of your evil works. The beginning of good works is the confession of evil works. You do the truth and come to the light."
— The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Daily Catholic Wisdom
We have grown so used to each other that some think they are free to say anything to anybody at any time… Why not first try to hold your tongue? You know what you can do, but you do not know how much the other can bear.
—St. Teresa of Calcutta
quoted in the book, “Love: A Fruit Always in Season”
A Prayer from Notre Dame University
Members of the Holy Cross Novitiate
Almighty and ever-loving Father, you know us better than we know ourselves. Too often, we place our trust in things of this world, failing to place our full trust in you. Your Son proclaimed to us that you know even the number of hairs on our heads. Help us to behold the great love you have for us, and all of our brothers and sisters, that we may more faithfully place our trust in you. We ask this through your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Abbot’s Daily Lectio Divina
Abbot Austin Murphy, O.S.B., St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, IL
Matthew 10:26-27
Reading
[Jesus instructed his apostles,] "Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops."
Meditation
We can be afraid to bear witness to the truth, especially when it is not popular with the prevailing voices in our culture. But while these voices speak loudly and in the daylight, the Lord speaks the truth in the darkness as it were to our consciences. The Lord's voice whispers within. We are to proclaim the truth. All will be revealed, including the wrongness of those who resist the truth. God will have the last word forever.
Prayer
Lord, help me to see that voices that resist the truth, even if powerful in the present, will not prevail forever, but that Your voice will. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Contemplation…