Lavishly the just give to the poor. Their generosity shall endure forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
- Ps 112:9
Reflection: It is not enough for us to reach out and help those in need. We must help them to discover the values that enable them to build a new life and to take their rightful place in society with dignity and justice.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: O Lord, may I not be satisfied with handing the poor a fish when I can teach them how to fish. Let me not only fill their stomachs with food but also take the time and energy to fill their spirits with dignity.From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. - Col 3:7
Reflection: Above all it is my conviction that all work is a fundamental dimension of human existence on the earth. This is true of all work--from the simplest to the most difficult, from the less paying to the most rewarding.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: Lord Jesus, let my work be productive and meaningful, and my attitude toward work be positive and generous. May I always remember that in my work I am working with You to recreated the world in Your image.
From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- Phil 4:7
Reflection: Do not seek to be numbered among the learned and clever whose numbers seem destined by the combination of circumstances to increase. Be truly poor, meek, eager for holiness, merciful, pure of heart. Be among those who bring to the world the peace of God.
- Pope Paul VI
Prayer: Teach me Your ways, Lord Jesus, for You were meek as a lamb in Your suffering, and yet You transformed the world. Teach me the true wisdom of Your Kingdom.From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we saw His glory...as the only-begotten of the Father.
- Jn 1:14
Reflection: The Divine is united to the human. The invisible has become visible. The infinite has assumed a human form. Humanity has been accepted into the unity of the Divine Person of the Word.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as Your dear Mother Mary gave her "fiat" when she responded, "Let it be done to me according to Your word" (Luke 1:38), so too may I learn to cooperate with God's will.
From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Over this [salvation] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you are sorrowful by various trials.
- 1 Pt 1:6
Reflection: The Spirit creates joy, and joy is effusive. This, too, is a testimony that you can and must offer to people of our time, so often made cold and unhappy by selfishness.
- Pope Paul VI
Prayer: O Lord, fill my heart with joy so that I may experience true Gospel joy and so that I may share that joy with those who have forgotten the true meaning of joy.From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Each of you must give according as you have decided in your heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
- 2 Cor 9:7
Reflection: Because all are entrusted with the vast area of charity and material assistance, I invite you to give generously. Give for the maintenance and support of seminarians, for the formation of the laity, in particular of catechists, for the construction of churches, schools, hospitals, and social work.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: O Lord, grant that I may remember that what I have received from Your Providence, I have received in trust. Teach me to use these gifts with great generosity.From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
When the sun rises, they withdraw and couch in their dens. People go out to their work until the evening.
- Ps 104:22-23
Reflection: The spirituality of work consists in the awareness that through our work, we can place ourselves in a relation with out ultimate destiny. We can become an ally of the living God.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: O Lord, when my work becomes heavy and goring, remind me that You have called me to be a co-creator of this world. Together, we shall build the Kingdom of God.
From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
So Joseph, arising from sleep, did as the Angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife.
- Mt 1:24
Reflection: Joseph obeyed. Filled with joy, he offered up the tremendous human sacrifice that was asked of him. He would be the father of the one born not of flesh, but from love. He was publicly the husband, but really only the guardian, the witness and defender of the immaculate virginity and the Divine Maternity of Mary.
- Pope John XXIII
Prayer: Joseph, spouse of the Virgin Mother of God, teach me increasingly all the Divine truth and all the human dignity contained in the vocation of spouses and parents.
From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Christ has set us free. Therefore, stand fast and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery [to sin].
- Gal 5:1
Reflection: If we are to respect people in their integrity, we must educate them to do good with a sense of responsibility; with a capacity for self-discipline and also with the external help of law and authority.
- Pope Paul VI
Prayer: O Lord, by my words and actions may I teach others the importance of living a morally ordered life. May I show others that this type of life is not enslavement but the true freedom of the children of God.From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling... With a demonstration of the Spirit's power.
-1 Cor 2:3
Reflection: Our human brothers and sisters need to meet others radiant with serenity, joy, hope, and charity, in spite of the hardships and contradictions that overtake them. To be a witness to God's power operating in human frailty is not to alienate humanity, but to propose to it ways to freedom.
-Pope Paul VI
Prayer: Fill me with Your love, O Lord, so that I may freely choose to love. Teach me to share that love, especially with people who seem all but unlovable.From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Love consists in this: not that we have loved God, but that He has first loved us, and sent His Son as expiation for our sins.
- 1 Jn 4:10
Reflection: God's love for us is freely given and unearned, surpassing all we could ever hope for or imagine. His love for us does not depend on whether we have merited or are worthy of it.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: Thank You, O Lord, for a love that knows no measure, and is so wondrous that I cannot even begin to fathom its greatness. I am overwhelmed at Your love for me. I love You, Lord Jesus.From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things [such as clothes and food] will be given you.
- Mt 6:33
Reflection: This is the time to act, to do. A Church that chooses to remain inactive could not possibly be a faithful Church. It would not be a living Church. It could neither confront nor overcome the difficulties that we face in our days.
- Pope John XXIII
Prayer: Never allow me to sit back, O Lord, when I see injustice or hurt. Keep me fully engaged in the struggle to further the Kingdom of God.From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
We have gifts differing according to the grace that has been given us...to be used according to the proportion of faith.
- Rom 12:6
Reflection: If the members who constitute the parish are numerically many, so are the gifts that the Holy Spirit incessantly distributes. So also are the initiatives that He awakens there according to the grace given to each member.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: O Lord, the gifts that You entrust into our care are intended for the good of all. Help me to examine my conscience as to whether I have sufficiently shared my talents with others, and enable me to be ever more generous in my use of Your gifts to me.
From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil...spending forty days and forty nights there.
- Mt 4:1-2
Reflection: The season of Lent keeps inviting us, in a pressing way, to meditate on this great truth: love is of God. This is a living, present reality that we should never forget.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as You spent forty days in the desert to prepare for Your mission, grant that my Lenten preparation may prepare me to celebrate the Holy Mysteries of Your Death and Resurrection. From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Run to win. Everyone who competes for a prize abstains in every way...I chastise my body and train it lest after having preached to others, I myself shall become a castaway.
- 1 Cor 9:25-27
Reflection: Those who love Mary must silence within themselves the desires of the senses. They must also silence the disordered longings of the passions.
- St. John Eudes
Prayer: O Mary, you well know all the temptations that exist in the world. Help me to curb my evil desires and practice self-discipline, so that I may safeguard my union with your Divine Son.From: Mary Day by Day (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
A path shall be there called the holy way; the unclean shall not pass over it...And on it shall walk the delivered.
- Isa 35:8-9
Reflection: May the Blessed Virgin Mary help me to live a holy life and die a holy death. Then at the last instants of my life, may she come to my assistance and lead me to heaven.
- St. Dominic Savio
Prayer: O Mary, you let St. Dominic along the "holy way" during his short life on earth. Lead me too along this way of holiness so that I may one day join him a and you in the eternal holiness of heaven.
From: Mary Day by Day (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Receive my instruction and not silver, and choose knowledge before gold. For wisdom is better than precious stones, and no object of desire can compare with her.
- Prov 8:10-11
Reflection: Read attentively the book of purity that is Mary, written by the finger of God. Read the holiness, the love, the kindness, the humility--in short, read the vast fullness of all the virtues.
- St. Thomas of Villanova
Prayer: O Mary, help me to learn from you how to lead a Christian life. Let me strive to imitate the virtues you exhibited, for you were the closest follower of your Divine Son Jesus on earth.
From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
God is love, and whoever abides in love lives in God and God in him. In this way, love is brought to perfection among us.
- 1 Jn 4:16
Reflection: The Heart of Mary constituted a perfect empire for the Divine Love, which always reigned therein. And it caused to reign therein all the laws of God, all the maxims of heaven, and all the Christian virtues.
- St. John Eudes
Prayer: O Mary, your Heart was a burning vessel of God's love. Fill my heart with love for God and let me thank Him every day for His great love in sending His only Son to obtain my salvation. From: Mary Day by Day (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
The harvest indeed is great, but laborers are few. Prayer therefore the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest.
- Mt 9:37-38
Reflection: Let us not only take care to defend ourselves from the contagion of evil but also to promote the good, sustain it, give witness to it, defend it, and multiply it. We must take responsibility for the fact that the world is suffering from evil stemming from our lukewarmness.
- Pope John XXIII
Prayer: Send me, O Lord, into the field for the harvest. Send me, to give witness to Your Word and Your love.
From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Persons who say, "I love God" but hat their brothers or sisters are liars. For how can they who do not love those whom they see love God Whom they do not see!
- 1 Jn 4:20
Reflection: In today's world, torn by indifference, division, hatred, and oppression, fraternal communion founded on love is an eloquent example of universal reconciliation in Christ.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: O Lord, teach me to lay aside the petty differences and annoyances that can shade my relationships with others. Let me treat them with as much respect as I would treat You. From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
- Jn 8:31:32
Reflection: Being a Christian is not a secondary, questionable, changeable thing; it is not a subjective ideology. It is truth that happily tranfigures and vivifies. The truth will make you free.
- Pope Paul VI
Prayer: Lord Jesus, when I act as a Christian, I am most true to myself. But when I deny who I am by sinning, I am denying the very core of who I am: Your child. Let me always live in the truth of the children of God.
From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
