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Quote/s of the Day – 9 May – The Word!

Quote/s of the Day – 9 May – Thursday Third Week of Easter, C

“Catholicism is a matter of the body and the senses, as much as it is, a matter of the mind, precisely because, the Word became flesh.”

Bishop Robert Barron

“The Word is NOT a bible verse BUT living, flesh and blood, Jesus Christ!”

Fr Enrico V Parry

Lenten Reflection – 12 March – Tuesday of the First Week of Lent, C – Gospel Matthew 6:7–15

“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”

St Pope Leo the Great (400-461)

Father & Doctor of the Church

“Those who wish to receive the Paschal feast of the Lord in holiness of mind and body should strive, above all, to win that grace which contains the summit of virtues and “covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pt 4:8).   So at the point of celebrating the greatest of all mysteries, that with which the blood of Jesus Christ wiped out our iniquities, let us first of all prepare the sacrifice of mercy.

Thus we shall return to those who have offended us what the goodness of God has granted us.   May insults be cast into oblivion, wrongs ignore torture from now on and all offences be set free from fear of reprisal!…   If someone should detain such prisoners… may he fully understand that he himself is a sinner and, so as to receive forgiveness, let him rejoice that he has found someone to forgive.   In this way, when we say, according to the Lord’s teaching: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Mt 6:12), we shall have no doubt that we receive God’s pardon as we formulate our prayer.”

Daily Meditation: Help us grow in our desire for you.

We are learning the intimate connection between the “discipline” we choose these days, and the growth of our desire. If our desire for our Lord is weak, if it has to compete with so many other desires that choke it out, then we need to re-form our desiring. We want to be disciples – those who love Jesus, are with Jesus in our desires, and choose to follow Jesus.

In today’s lesson we learn the Lord’s Prayer again. As children, we turn to our Loving Father in prayer.

“I shall know You, You who know me. Virtue of my soul, go deep into it and make it fit for You, so that You may have it and possess it, without stain or wrinkle.”

St Augustine (354-430)

Father & Doctor of the Church

Closing Prayer: Father of my soul, Mother of my heart, I know Your love for me is limitless beyond imagining. You care for me as a loving parent. Through my smallest Lenten sacrifices, help me to become less selfish and more aware of Your ways. Fan the flame of my desire to draw ever closer to You. Guide me to seek Your love.

May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen

“Your faith will grow, only in the measure, that you give it away.”

Bishop Robert Barron

Quote/s of the Day – 14 September – Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

“In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross.”

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471) The Inner Life

“The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things.”

St John of the Cross (1542-1591) Doctor of the Church

The everlasting God has in His wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost heart. The cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with His divine mind, tested with His wise justice, warmed with loving arms and weighed with His own hands to see that it is not one inch too large nor one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with His holy name, anointed it with His grace, perfumed it with His consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God.

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of the Church

Camillus wanted to have on his habit the Sign of the Cross in order ‘to demonstrate that this is a religion of the Cross… so that those who want to follow our way of life will get ready… to follow Jesus Christ unto death’. He wanted it to be dark red ‘because more like the true wood of the most holy Cross on which the Redeemer of the World died and was appended’.

St Camillus de Lellis (1550-1614)

“Oh cherished cross! Through thee my most bitter trials are replete with graces!”

St Paul of the Cross (1694-1775

“Everything is a reminder of the Cross. We ourselves are made in the shape of a cross.”

St John Vianney (1786-1859)

“Let us not forget, that Jesus not only suffered but also rose in glory; so, too, we go to the glory of the Resurrection, by way of suffering and the Cross.”

St Maximillian Kolbe (1894 -1941)

“There is line from the illuminator of the St John’s Bible that states: “We have to love our way out of this.” There is nothing wimpy or namby-pamby or blind about this conviction. When we love extravagantly, we are not purposely blinding ourselves to moral realities— just the contrary.

Love is not a sentiment, but “a harsh and dreadful thing,” as Dostoevsky said.

This is just what Jesus shows on His terrible cross. And this is just what we, His followers, must imitate. Taking up the cross means, not just being willing to suffer but being willing to suffer as He did, absorbing violence and hatred through our forgiveness and nonviolence.”

Bishop Robert Barron

Quote/s of the Day – 25 April – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter and the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist

Speaking of:  Being Catholic

“I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.”

St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor

“In her voyage, across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.”

St Boniface (672-754) Father & Martyr

“Jesus is with me. I have nothing to fear.”

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925)

“The Jesus of the Gospels is surely not convenient for us.”

“The Jesus who makes everything okay for everyone is a phantom, a dream, not a real figure…”

Pope Benedict XVI

“Catholicism is a matter of the body and the senses, as much as it is a matter of the mind, precisely because, the Word became flesh.”

“Easter is an earthquake, an explosion. If you see it as less than that, you’re not getting it.”

Bishop Robert Barron

“At some point, Jesus is going to call you out. That’s what He does.”

Father Mike Schmitz

Celebrating the joyous Memorial of Bl Pier Giorgio Frassati! - 4 July

Lenten Reflection – 7 April – “Scapegoating violence”

Lenten Reflection – 7 April – The Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C, Gospel: John 8:1–11

The Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalms 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Philippians 3: 8-14; John 8:1-11

And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again.”…John 8:11

Bishop Robert Barron JOHN 8:1-11

“Friends, our Gospel today tells about the woman that scribes and Pharisees caught in adultery.   Imagine…