You are light in the Lord...The fruit of light is every kind of goodness.Reflection: Goodness has the same relationship to the human heart that a magnet has to iron. Goodness has the power to attract the heart.
- St. Thomas Aquinas
Prayer: God of light, let my heart be ever attracted to goodness rather than to evil. Help me to live as a child of light, devoted to You every day of my life.
[From: Every Day Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)]
The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.
- Romans 5:5
Reflection: One and the same love embraces both God and neighbor. This love is the Holy Spirit, Who is Divine.
- Saint Anthony of Padua
Prayer: Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the heart of Your faithful one and enkindle in me the fire of Your love. Divine Guest of my soul, abide in me and grant that I may abide in You.
O children, listen to me; ...Hear instruction and be wise.
- Proverbs 8:32-33
Reflection: Let Mary never be far from your lips and from your heart. Following her, you will never lose your way. Praying to her, you will never sink into despair. Contemplating her, you will never go wrong.
- Saint Bernadine of Siena
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to have continual recourse to Your holy Mother. Grant that she may watch over me as she lovingly watched over You in Your childhood at Nazareth.
The Church of the living God [is] the pillar and foundation of the truth.
- 1 Timothy 3:15
Reflection: The Church has the following characteristic qualities. She overcomes when she is attacked. She is understood when she is disputed. And she grows greater when she is abandoned.
- St. Hilary of Poitiers
Prayer: Heavenly Father, let me always cling to Your Church for she is my best contact with You. Grant that I may never depart from this pillar of truth--the prolongation of Your Son Jesus in the world.
What do you possess that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you did not?
- 1 Corinthians 4:7
Reflection: The reason why God is such a great Lover of humility is that He is a great Lover of truth. Humility is in fact truth, while pride is nothing but lying.
- Saint Vincent de Paul
Prayer: God of truth, help me to realize that everything I have is from You. Let me show my gratitude by always using it in accord with Your holy Will.
Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the Kingdom of Heaven but only the one who does the Will of My Father.
- Matthew 7:21
Reflection: Virtue does not consist in making splendid resolutions. It consists in carrying out those resolutions and producing good fruits.
- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to put all my good resolutions into effect. Grant that I may always bring forth good fruits from my union with God.
This is how we know we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
- 1 John 3:20
Reflection: Let nothing disturb you, nothing frigthenyou. Everything passes, but God never changes. Patience obtains everything. Those who possess God lack for nothing. God alone is enough.
- St. Theresa of Avila
Prayer: Heavenly Father, let me remain calm amid all the difficulties of life. Help me to preserve my union with You,which is the one thing necessary in this world.
How deep are the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
- Romans 11:33
Reflection: With heartfelt love let us sing of our Eternal Father's Providence--all-wise, all-powerful, and all-gentle. Oh the depth of the riches, and the wisdom, and the knowledge of God!
- St. Francis de Sales
Prayer: All-provident Father, teach me to trust wholeheartedly in Your loving care. Help me to see that all that takes place is for my ultimate good, no matter how it may appear.
[From: Every Day Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)]
If your brother wrongs you, go and take up the matter with him.
- Matthew 18:15
Reflection: Those who want to work for moral reform in the world must seek the glory of God before everything else. They must wait for God's help in this difficult and necessary undertaking, for He is the source of all good.
- St. John Leonardi
Prayer: Almighty God, help me to work for moral reform in the wold in everything I do. But let me rely on Your grace so that I may effect a reform that is true rather than one that is purely my own.
May our Lord Jesus Christ...comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Reflection: Jesus knows how to comfort us. So when you are desolate, leave creatures behind. Come to the tabernacle, and you will always find strength and consolation.
- St. Peter Eymard
Prayer: Lord Jesus, let me frequently have recourse to You in the Blessed Sacrament. O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!
The Mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."...His Mother said to the waiters, "Do whatever He tells you."
- John 2:3-5
Reflection: I want to recommend the Rosary to you in a special way. It is a source of profound Christian life. Try to pray it every day alone or with your family. Meditate on those scenes of the life of Jesus and Mary of which the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, [and Luminous] Mysteries remind us.
- Pope John Paul II
Prayer: Lord Jesus, today is the feast of our Lady of the Rosary. May the prayers of Your Holy Mother for the world lead me to pray the Rosary more often and with greater fervor.
Sacrifice or oblation You did not desire, but You have given me ears open to obedience.
- Ps 40:7
Reflection: By your work you show what you love and what you know. When you observe true obedience with prudence and enthusiasm, it is clear that you pick the most delightful and nourishing fruit of Divine Scripture.
- St. Bruno
Prayer: Heavenly Father, let me realize that You guide our lives through legitimate authority in every area. Help me to be obedient to the rules for my state in life and so be obedient to Your Will for me.
Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
- Luke 14:11
Reflection: The true and only glory is the glory that will last forever. In order to attain it, we do not need to do spectacular deeds. We need merely hide ourselves from the eyes of others and even from ourselves.
- St. Theresa of the Child Jesus
Prayer: God of glory, impress on me the value of humility and as a means of attaining true glory. Help me to be humble myself in my own eyes as well as in the eyes of all.
[From: Every Day Is A Gift (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)]
