Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Friday, May 29, 2009

The Spirit of Truth...dwells with you and will be in you.
- Jn 14:17

Reflection: The Holy Spirit does not remain inactive in us: He wipes away sins, purifies hearts, revivifies the tepid, and enlightens the ignorant. His inspirations suggest to us what we ought and what we ought not to do. There exists an infinite variety of His communications.
- St. Anthony of Padua

Prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the heart of Your servant and kindle in me the fire of Your love.

From: Everyday Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him...the Spirit of knowledge.

- Isa 11:2

Reflection: The Holy Spirit leads us like a mother. He leads His child by the hand..., as a sighted person leads a blind pearson.

- St. John Vianney

Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant me Your Spirit with His gift of knowledge. May this gift enable me to discern Your teaching and distinguish between good and evil from day to day.

From: Everyday Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Wednesday, May 27, 2009

he Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the Spirit of wisdom.

- Isa 11:2

Reflection: Those who are led by the Holy Spirit have a right concept of everything. Hence, many unlettered people enjoy such knowledge more than the wise.

- St. John Vianney

Prayer: Father of every good gift, send forth Your Spirit upon me with His sevenfold gifts. Grant that I may see everything with Your eyes and always act according to Your will.

From: Everyday Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Tuesday, May 26, 2009

It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should both believe in Him and suffer for Him.

- Phil 1:29

Reflection: The greatness of our God must be tested by the desire we have for suffering for His sake...Bear the cross and do not make the cross bear you!

- St. Philip Neri

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, let me be closely united with You in all things. Grant that I may carry my cross willingly--because of You and in union with You.

From: Everyday Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Friday, May 22, 2009

I love those who love me; and those who watch for me early in the morning will find me.

- Prov 8:17

Reflection: Blessed are those who abandon themselves into our Lady's hands. Their names are written in the Book of Life.

- St. Bonaventure

Prayer: Heavenly Father, make me a devoted client of Your beloved Daughter Mary. Let me entrust myself always into her hands so that she may protect me as she took care of Your Son Jesus in His infancy and childhood.

From: Everyday Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer Thursday, May 21, 2009

Abide in Me, as I abide in you.

- Jn 15:4

Reflection: See Christ our Lord in all human beings. In this way, you will be filled with respect and consideration for others.

- St. Teresa of Avila

Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant me the grace to see all human beings as potential persons in Whom You might dwell. And let me respect them because of You, my Lord and Redeemer.

From: Every Day Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Wednesday, May 20, 2009

We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for ever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day.
- CCC: 989

Reflection: It is not easy to "firmly believe" in the resurrection of the dead, and yet, if Christ did not rise from the dead, then we do not rise from the dead, in which case our faith is a joke and we are pathetic--as Paul himself pointed out.

Prayer: Lord, we do believe, but help and heal our unbelief.

From: Day by Day with the Catechism (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Because of his zeal in the fear of the Lord...[he] made expiation for Israel.
- Sir 45:23

Reflection: Let us spare no effort in leading souls to God. According to the word of St. Augustine: "Where there is no zeal, neither is there any love."
- Pope Pius XI

Prayer: Loving Father, You will that all people should be saved. Help me to be zealous for the salvation of all whom I encounter by my life-witness and by my prayer.

From: Everyday Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Monday, May 18, 2009

I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate to dwell with you forever, the Spirit of truth.
- Jn 14:16-17

Reflection: Christ did not found an abstract religion, a mere school of religious thought. He set up a community of apostles, of teachers, with the task of spreading His message and so giving rise to a society of believers: His Church. He promised the spirit of truth to His Church and then sent Him.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: Lord Jesus, continue to send Your Spirit upon the Church. May I too hear Your call and follow You wherever You lead me.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Friday, May 15, 2009

As the Father has loved Me, I also have love you. Abide in My love...Keep My commandments.
- Jn 15:9

Reflection: In the special manifestation to St. Margaret Mary, Christ pointed to His Heart as a symbol by which we are drawn to recognize and to acknowledge His love. At the same time, He constituted it as a sign and pledge of His mercy and His grace for the needs of the Church in our time.
- Pope Pius XII

Prayer: As You showed St. Margaret Mary the greatness of Your love, Lord Jesus, so now reveal Your love to me. Let me know with certainty that You are Love Incarnate, and all You wish of me is to live in Your love.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer 05/14/2009

Upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
- Mt 16:18

Reflection: Today the Church is alive. Despite all contrary appearances, the Church is united. The Church is and remains the yeast in the dough, the signal among nations.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: Guide Your Church, O Lord, through these difficult times. Bestow upon her good and holy leadership. Send her committed members. Endow her with the courage to lead us home to You.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer 05/13/2009

Do not be frightened. But set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts.
- 1 Pt 3:14-15

Reflection: Jesus is the center of history and of all things. He is One Who knows us and loves us, the Companion and Friend of our life, a Man of sorrow and of hope.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: Be the center of my life, Lord Jesus. Be closer to me than my own heart. Let our love be one, and our life be one, now and forever.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer Tuesday, May 12, 2009

This is indeed a grace, if you endure the pain of unjust suffering because you are conscious of God.

- 1 Pt 2:19

Reflection: Suffering is a necessary ingredient of holiness. Love is like it. The love that Christ teaches us and that He first lived to give us an example is a merciful love, a love that atones and saves through suffering.

- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: Lord Jesus, so often when people are in pain, they feel as if they are abandoned or are being punished. Help me to see Your love in those moments of doubt and join my suffering to Your own.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer 05/11/2009

I the Lord, am your God. And you shall make and keep yourselves holy, because I am holy.
- Lv 11:44

Reflection: All are called to holiness, and it is possible to all. It is an invitation from the heart of God the Father Who sanctifies and divinizes us through the grace merited by Christ. This grace is sustained by His Spirit, nourished by the Sacraments, and transmitted by the Church.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: Lord God, I do not consider myself to be holy, and yet You call me to holiness. Teach me Your ways and guide me so that I may respond to the call to be holy as You are holy.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer 05/8/2009

Yet it was our infirmities that He bore, our sufferings that He endured.
- Is 53:4

Reflection: The Good News is this: that God loves us. He became human to share in our life and to share His life with us. He walks with us every step of the way, taking our concerns as His own, for He cares about us.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: O Lord, when I think of the things You have done and do for me, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. You are so good, so loving. Let my every breath, my every heartbeat remind me to thank You once again.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Thursday, May 7, 2009

Loose the chains of injustice and untie the bonds of the yoke, set the oppressed free and break every yoke.
- Is 58:6

Reflection: Be careful to defend always and everywhere the just rights and true freedom of persons--without discrimination. Such discrimination occurs when we become sensitive only to those victims whose ideas or convictions we share.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: O Lord, teach me to reach out to all Your little ones, especially to those who have no on to defend them. Let me begin this service especially with those with whom I live, work, and play.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer 05/6/2009

On the contrary, whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant.
- Mt 20:26

Reflection: It is love that led Christ to serve, to give His life as a ransom for many. The word "to serve" no longer means an insupportable degradation of the human being's dignity. In the sense Christ gave it, service acquires the highest moral value--dominion of self, heroism, sacrifice, boundless love.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: Teach me, O Lord that the measure of success in my life is how much I have loved. Let me love more each day of my life, until I finally come home to You, Who are pure love.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer for Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for Your are God my Savior.
- Ps 25:5

Reflection: We believe we are free because we liberate ourselves from what we have learned, because we get away from obedience and rules, because we entrust ourselves to the new and unknown. But we often fail to notice that we are becoming followers of others' ideas and imitators of fashion imposed by others.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: O Lord, grant me discernment to judge what is a passing fashion and what is eternal truth. May I be steadfast in my defense of that truth, even when that is an unpopular stance to take.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer 05/4/2009

No branch can bear fruit by itself...So neither can you unless you abide in Me.
- Jn 15:4

Reflection: The Heart of Christ still beats. It unites millions of other hearts. The Church sees the beauty of these hearts, which will surely proclaim a spiritual acceleration in our modern world.
- Pope Paul VI

Prayer: Let me see in Your Sacred Heart, O Jesus, a model of what I am called to be. join my love to Yours, so that our love may build a new world.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)

Scripture, Reflection and Prayer 05/1/2009

How did this Man come by this wisdom and these miracles? Is He not the carpenter's Son?
- Mt 13:55

Reflection: Work is not something that people do for the sole purpose of earning a living; it is a human dimension that can and must be sanctified. In this way, work will enable people to fulfill their vocation as creatures made in the image and likeness of God.
- Pope John Paul II

Prayer: O Lord, grant that St. Joseph, patron of human work, will assist me in my work, in that vocation I have on earth. May he teach me to resolve the difficult problems connected with work.

From: Minute Meditations from the Popes (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)