Daily Reflections

A Powerful Prayer to be Said Before Praying

“Almighty Father, I place the Precious Blood of Jesus before my lips before I pray, that my prayers may be purified before they ascend to Your divine altar.” – St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

When blessing yourself with Holy Water

“By this Holy Water and by Your Precious Blood, Lord Jesus, wash away all my sins.”

James 4:8, 9, 10; 5:6

Cleanse your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you who are fickle;
– mourn and weep;
humble yourselves before the LORD.

You condemned the Just Man and put Him to death
and He offered you no resistance.
– Mourn and weep;
humble yourselves before the LORD.

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Vincent de Paul, Confessor (Traditional)

Jesus blesses the Father for revealing things “to mere children” (Mt 11:25-27) —like Moses who, in his humility, protests, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Bk of Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12) Our weakness is not an obstacle but the precise occasion for God’s strength to shine forth. The Risen humanity of Jesus Christ is like the glory of the burning bush: on fire but incapable of being consumed. The LORD’s words to Moses apply to us: “I shall be with you.”

SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL, CONFESSOR

Saint Vincent, de Paul, founder of the congregation of the priests of the mission. [Lazarists], and the Society of the Sisters of Charity, while a young priest was held as a slave in Africa, where he had been sold by pirates. On his return to France he became a parish priest. For a time he took the place of a galley slave. His parish was a country parish; his experience led him to found the Priests of the Mission, bound by special vow to undertake this special work. At one time he was entrusted by Saint Francis DeSales, with the special direction of the nuns of the Visitation. Assisted by Louise de Marillac he founded the Sisters of Charity. The authority exercised by Saint Vincent, was immense, and was undisputed throughout the kingdom. He was a member of the king’s Privy Council, and thus had control over the appointments to the Episcopal sees, and to the richest benefices of the Church of France. Yet Vincent, meek and humble of heart, ascended the magnificent stairs to the palace and took part in the royal councils, with the same evangelical, simplicity, and clothed in the same poor and shabby garments in which he traversed the streets of Paris rescuing abandoned waifs and strays and succoring the helpless sick and suffering. He died in 1660 at Saint Lazarus, the motherhouse of his Congregation. Pope Leo, XIII declared him the patron of all charitable associations.

From the treatise On the Mysteries by Saint Ambrose, Bishop
(Nn. 19-21,24,26-38: SC 25 bis, 164-170)

Water does not sanctify without the Holy Ghost

You were told before not to believe only what you saw. This was to prevent you from saying: Is this the great mystery that eye has not seen nor ear heard nor man’s heart conceived? I see the water I used to see every day; does this water in which I have often bathed without being sanctified really have the power to sanctify me? Learn from this that water does not sanctify without the Holy Ghost.

You have read that the three witnesses of Baptism—the water, the blood and the Spirit—are one. This means that if you take away one of these the Sacrament of Baptism is not conferred. What is water without the Cross of Christ? Only an ordinary element without sacramental effect. Again, without water there is no sacrament of rebirth. Unless a man is born again of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. The catechumen believes in the cross of the LORD with which he too is signed, but unless he is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, he cannot receive the forgiveness of sins or the gift of Spiritual Grace.

The Syrian Naaman bathed seven times under the old law, but you were baptized in the name of the Trinity. You proclaimed your Faith in the Father—recall what you did—and the Son and the Spirit. Mark the sequence of events. In proclaiming this Faith you died to the world, you rose again to God, and, as though buried to sin, you were reborn to Eternal Life. Believe, then, that the water is not without effect.

The paralytic at the pool was waiting for someone. Who was this if not the LORD Jesus, born of a virgin? At His coming it is not a question of a shadow healing an individual, but Truth Himself healing the universe. He is the One whose coming was expected, the One of Whom God the Father spoke when He said to John the Baptist: He on Whom you see the Spirit coming down from Heaven and resting, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. He is the one witnessed to by John: I saw the Spirit coming down from Heaven as a dove and resting on Him. Why did the Spirit come down as a dove if not to let you see and understand that the dove sent out by holy Noah from the ark was a figure of this dove? In this way you were to recognize a type of this sacrament.

Is there any room left for doubt? The Father speaks clearly in the Gospel: This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; the Son too, above Whom the Holy Ghost showed Himself in the form of a dove; and also the Holy Ghost , who came down as a dove. David too speaks clearly: The voice of the LORD is above the waters; the God of glory has thundered; the LORD is above the many waters. Again, Scripture bears witness for you that fire came down from Heaven in answer to Gideon’s prayers, and that when Elijah prayed, God sent fire which consumed the sacrifice.

Do not consider the merits of individuals but the office of the priests. If you do look at merits, consider the merits of Peter and also of Paul in the same way as you consider the merits of Elijah; they have handed on to us this Sacrament which they received from the LORD Jesus. Visible fire was sent upon them to give them Faith; in us who believe an invisible fire is at work. That visible fire was a sign, our invisible fire is for our instruction. Believe then that the LORD Jesus is present when He is invoked by the prayers of the priests. He said: Where two or three are gathered, there I am also. How much more does He give His loving Presence where the Church is, where the Sacraments are!

You went down into the water. Remember what you said: I believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Not: I believe in a greater, a lesser and a least. You are committed by this spoken understanding of yours to believe the same of the Son as of the Father, and the same of the Holy Ghost as of the Son, with this one exception: you proclaim that you must believe in the Cross of the LORD Jesus alone.

What He Reveals to the Childlike

In the evening, after saying my prayers, I set out to do the usual Holy Hour prayer. Jesus stayed with me throughout. He proved anew His love towards me by giving me His Crown of Thorns until the following day. That evening He took back the crown, saying He was happy with me and as He caressed me He said: “Daughter, if I add other crosses, do not be afflicted.” I promised, and He left me….

Today I feel a great need for Jesus but it is already late and I no longer have any hope; I expect to spend the night free and alone. But Jesus came, you know! How He reproached me because I had not gone to Communion. This is how Jesus reproached me: “Why, daughter, am I so often deprived of your visits? You know how much I yearn for you to come to Me when you are good.” I fell on my knees in front of Jesus and in tears I said: “But how can this be, my Jesus, aren’t you tired of putting up with me and all my coldness?”

“Daughter,” He answered,”see to it that from now on not a day goes by without your coming to Me, try to keep your heart pure and adorned with every possible care. Drive all self-love away from your heart and anything else that is not entirely Mine, and then come to Me without fear.” He blessed me and went away; indeed, in the end He advised me to have a little more strength in combating the enemy, telling me to take no account of those words because the devil is always a liar who seeks every means to make me fall.

Saint Gemma Galgani

Saint Gemma Galgani († 1903), from Lucca, Italy, had many mystical experiences, such as seeing her guardian angel and receiving a crown of thorns from Jesus. She died at the age of twenty-five and is called the “Flower of Lucca” and “Daughter of the Passion”. [From The Diary of Saint Gemma Galgani.

DAILY MEDITATION

In truth, if each one of us would study to know himself, he would find that it is very just and very reasonable to despise himself. For, if we, on the one hand, seriously consider the corruption of our nature, the levity of our mind, the darkness of our understanding, the disorder of our will, and the impurity of our affections; and if, on the other, we weigh well in the scales of the sanctuary our works and productions, we will find all worthy only of contempt. But “What!“ you may say to me, “Do you include the sermons we preach, the confessions we hear, the care and trouble we take with our neighbour for the glory of God?“. Yes, gentlemen, if our best actions be reviewed, it will be discovered that in most of them we have failed in the manner of doing them, and often in the end proposed, and that in whatever way we look at them, we will find as much of evil as a good.

For, tell me, I pray you, what can be expected from the weakness of man? Who is it that produces nothingness and who is it that produces sin? And what else have we within us but nothingness and sin? Let us, then, look upon it as certain, that, in all things and everywhere, we deserve to be rejected, and are very despicable by reason of the opposition we have in ourselves, to the sanctity, and other perfections of God, to the life of Jesus Christ, and to the operations of His grace. If, then, we study to know ourselves thoroughly, we will find in all we think, in all we say, in all we do, regarding either the substance or the circumstances, that we are fully and completely surrounded with cause for shame and confusion.

And more; we ought to be pleased when others know our faults and despise us. We ought to receive with satisfaction the contempt that our state of life, our person, our manner of acting, or our mode of speech may bring upon us. Our LORD could have avoided the insults, the jeers, and the reproaches He received from the Jews, and yet He did not. Let us beget within us an affection for humiliation, and thus God will give us humility, He will preserve it in us, and He will increase it by the acts He will inspire in us to perform.

Saint Vincent de Paul [+1660]– French Jesuit, priest, and founder of the Congregation of the Mission, renewed for his apostolic charity.

Matthew 3:11; Isaiah 1:16, 17, 18

The One who comes after me is greater than I.
I am not worthy to carry off His sandals.
– He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

Cease to do evil and learn to do good, says the LORD.
– He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.” – Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen