Daily Reflections

VIRTUE OF THE MONTH

CONFIDENCE

Ecce ego vobiscum sum –   “Behold, I am with you.“ 

– Matthew 28:8

“Whoever serves God with a pure heart, and, setting aside all individual and human interests, seeks only His glory, has reason to Hope for success in all he does, and especially under circumstances when, according to human judgment, there is no help; for the divine works or above the sight of human prudence, and depend upon a loftier principal.“

Saint Charles Borromeo

1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 2:14; 12:1

Christ bore our sins in His Body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice – through death, He might destroy him who had the empire of death, that is to say, the devil.

And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us:                    – through death, He might destroy him who had the empire of death, that is to say, the devil.

Tuesday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

St. Teresa of the Infant Jesus, Virgin (Traditional)

 Blessed Columba Marmion, Abbot  (Ireland)

Jesus “resolutely took the road for Jerusalem” to lay down his life on the Cross. We also follow Christ on this journey, filled with faith as we seek the LORD and His favour. Those who search will end up finding Him on His holy mountain with all His holy ones. We pray to be counted among those Christ has welcomed and beg them, “We want to go with you, since we have learnt that God is with you” (Zecharias 8:20-23).

ST TERESA OF THE INFANT JESUS, VIRGIN (ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX)

Mary Frances Teresa Martin was born at Alençon [Orne) of saintly parents who were endowed with a comfortable amount of the goods of this world, on January 2, 1873. She was educated by the Benedictine nuns at Lisieux. After her ninth year, she tried to enter the Carmelites, and put her case before the Bishop of Bayeux and Pope Leo XIII, whom she visited. At the age of 15 she was allowed to enter the Carmel at Lisieux [April 9, 1888]. She died at the age of 24.

There was nothing extraordinary about her religious life; she was perfect in her simplicity, humility, charity, her love of God, and her trust in Him. She offered her self as a victim to the “merciful love of the good God.” She was just a little child in the arms of Jesus. Her way of sanctity was a little way; Pius XI said: “ we wish that St. Teresa’s secret of sanctity should be made known to everyone of our children. We have set her before the children of the Church as a striking, and most precious example.” Countless miracles have been wrought through her intercession. On her death bed she said: “ I do not intend to remain idle in Heaven. My longing is to labour even there for the Church and souls. Our LORD will work wonders for me that will infinitely surpass my boundless desire. After my death I shall let fall a shower of roses.“ Pope Pius XI  declared her Blessed on April 29, 1923 and canonized her on May 17, 1925.

BLESSED COLUMBA MARMION, ABBOT

Blessed Columba Marmion, OSB, born Joseph Aloysius Marmion (April 1, 1858 – January 30, 1923) was an Irish monk, and the third abbot of Maredsous Abbey. Beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 2000, Marmion was one of the most popular and influential Catholic writers of the 20th century. His books are considered spiritual classics.

From a letter to the Philippians by Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr
(Cap.6, 1-8, 2: Funk 1, 273-275)

Jesus has set us a personal example

Presbyters should be sympathetic and merciful to everyone, bring back those who have wandered, visiting the sick; they must not neglect widows and orphans, or the poor, ever providing for what is good in the sight of God and of men. They should refrain entirely from anger, human respect and prejudice; avarice should be wholly alien to them. Nor should they be rash in believing something said against another, nor too severe in judging others, since they know that we are all debtors through sin.

If, then, we pray to the LORD to forgive us, we must in turn forgive. For we live under the eye of Our LORD and God, and we must all stand before the judgment seat of God, each to give an account of himself. Let us then serve God with fear and awe. The LORD’s command is also the command of the Apostles who preached the Gospel to us, to say nothing of the prophets who foretold the LORD’s coming. Our observance of what is good should be meticulous, avoiding anything that might cause another to stumble; we must shun false brothers and those who assume the LORD’s name hypocritically and lead the unwary into error.

For anyone who does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh is the antichrist. And anyone who refuses to admit the testimony of the Cross is of the devil. Whoever perverts the LORD’s words to suit his own desires and denies that there is a Resurrection or a Judgment is the firstborn of Satan. So let us abandon the folly of the masses and their false teaching, and return to the Teaching that was handed down to us from the beginning. We must be alert in prayer, constant in fasting; and in our prayers let us beg God, who sees everything, not to lead us into temptation. As the LORD has said: The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

So let us persevere in the pledge of our righteousness and in our Hope, that is, in Christ Jesus. In His mouth no hint of guilt was discovered; He committed no sin and yet bore our sins in His own Body on the Tree. Rather, He endured everything for our sake so that we might live in Him. Let us then imitate His constancy; if we should suffer because of His Name, let us give Him that glory. For this is the personal example He has given us, this is the Object of our Faith.

DAILY MEDITATION 

I assure you that God is much better than you believe. He is content with a glance, a sigh of love. As for me, I find perfection very easy to practice because I have understood it as a matter of taking hold of Jesus by His Heart. Look at a little child, who has just annoyed his mother. If he hides away in a corner in a sulky mood and in fear of being punished, his mama will not pardon him. But if he comes to her, holding out his little arms, smiling, and saying, “Kiss me, I will not do it again,“ will his mother be able not to press him to her heart tenderly, and forget his childish mischief? However, she knows her dear little one will do it again on the next occasion, but this does not matter; if he takes her again by her heart, he will not be punished.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux ( +1897] – French Carmelite nun, mystic, and champion of the “Little Way“ of holiness, regarded as the greatest saint of modern times.

Resolutely Determined to Keep Going

(Luke 9:51-56)

The other day I was reading in Saint Francis de Sales that a person of a melancholy turn of mind, of a cold and disagreeable disposition, might love God as much as another born with better inclinations, but he would not have as much joy and satisfaction, although he would have the same merit…. A little impatience with the children who are around you is not a fault that removes you from God when it escapes without your will sharing therein. As soon as you see that you have failed in meekness, try to regain it quickly…. In short, when you have committed a fault disavow it before God. Ask His pardon, promise to do better in the future. Make a good act of love and after that go your way as though nothing had happened. Think no more about it, except when you go to Confession. It is not necessary that you should have a feeling of the divine Presence during your daily occupations; that is not practicable in our vocation of an active life. Make a good offering of all your actions to God in the morning, and then from time to time during the day….

May God’s holy Will be done! This is what we must come back to under all circumstances, and this is what we must start out with—Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven! Call to mind this beautiful petition of the Our Father when you feel discouraged, seeing the little success you have with your classes; when you feel that you do not inspire others with the feelings you think they ought to have for you. All this will be very meritorious if borne with love and resignation. Then, too, you might draw profit from these contradictions by accepting them in a spirit of penance.

Saint Theodora Guerin

Saint Theodora Guerin († 1856) was a French-American religious sister and founder of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Her feast day is 3 October. [From Journals and Letters, Sister Mary Theodosia Mug, Ed. ©

Romans 12:17; 2 Corinthians 6:3; Acts 24:15, 16

To no man rendering evil for evil.             Providing good things, not only in the sight of God but also in the sight of all men. – For if any man think himself to be some thing, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

Having hope in God,
And herein do I endeavour to have always a conscience without offence, towards God and towards men. – For if any man think himself to be some thing, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

“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