THOUGHTS TO PONDER

After all it is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life.
Evelyn Underhill

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Maya Angelou

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
Buddha

To be old can be glorious if one has not unlearned how to begin.
Martin Buber

Plan for this world as if you expect to live forever; but plan for the hereafter as if you expect to die tomorrow.
Solomon Ibn Gabirol

The difficulties which I meet with in order to realize my existence are precisely what awaken and mobilize my activities, my capacities.
Jose Ortega y Gasset

I think when you move past your fear and you go after your dreams wholeheartedly, you become free. Know what I'm saying? Move past the fear.
LL Cool J


 Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.

 Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.

 Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein

AWAKE, BE VIGILANT

We must become truly vigilant people. What does this mean? The principal difference between someone dreaming and someone awake is that the dreamer is in a world of his own. His "self" is locked into this dreamworld that is his alone and does not connect him with others. To wake up means to leave that private world of one's own and to enter the common reality, the truth that alone can unite all people. Conflict and lack of reconciliation in the world stem from the fact that we are locked into our own interests and opinions, into our own little private world. Selfishness, both individual and collective, makes us prisoners of our interests and our desires that stand against the truth and separate us from one another. Awake, the Gospel tells us. Step outside, so as to enter the great communal truth, the communion of the one God. To awake, then, means to develop a receptivity for God: for the silent promptings with which he chooses to guide us; for the many indications of his presence. There are people who describe themselves as "religiously tone deaf". The gift of a capacity to perceive God seems as if it is withheld from some. And indeed our way of thinking and acting, the mentality of today's world, the whole range of our experience is inclined to deaden our receptivity for God, to make us "tone deaf" towards him. And yet in every soul, the desire for God, the capacity to encounter him, is present, whether in a hidden way or overtly. In order to arrive at this vigilance, this awakening to what is essential, we should pray for ourselves and for others, for those who appear "tone deaf" and yet in whom there is a keen desire for God to manifest himself.

-From the 2009 Christmas Eve homily of the Holy Father,Benedict XVI

THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER

(attributed to Pope Clement XI)
Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith. I trust in you: strengthen my trust. I love you: let me love you more and more. I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow. I worship you as my first beginning, I long for you as my last end, I praise you as my constant helper, And call on you as my loving protector. Guide me by your wisdom, Correct me with your justice, Comfort me with your mercy, Protect me with your power. I offer you, Lord, my thoughts:
to be fixed on you; My words: to have you for their theme; My actions: to reflect my love for you; My sufferings:
to be endured for your greater glory. I want to do what you ask of me: In the way you ask, For as long as you ask, Because you ask it. Lord, enlighten my understanding, Strengthen my will, Purify my heart, and make me holy. Help me to repent of my past sins And to resist temptation in the future. Help me to rise above my human weaknesses And to grow stronger as a Christian. Let me love you, my Lord and my God, And see myself as I really am: A pilgrim in this world, A Christian called to respect and love All whose lives I touch, Those under my authority, My friends and my enemies.
Help me to conquer anger with gentleness, Greed by generosity, Apathy by fervor. Help me to forget myself And reach out toward others.
Make me prudent in planning, Courageous in taking risks. Make me patient in suffering,
unassuming in prosperity.
Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer, Temperate in food and drink, Diligent in my work, Firm in my good intentions.
Let my conscience be clear, My conduct without fault, My speech blameless, My life well-ordered.
Put me on guard against my human weaknesses. Let me cherish your love for me, Keep your law, And come at last to your salvation. Teach me to realize that
this world is passing, That my true future
is the happiness of heaven, That life on earth is short, And the life to come eternal.
Help me to prepare for death With a proper fear of judgment, But a greater trust in your goodness. Lead me safely through death To the endless joy of heaven. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Christian Joy

Christian Joy

What is the source of your joy? Joy is more than just temporary happiness. Real true and lasting joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in your life.
True joy comes from Jesus Christ. It does not depend on your circumstances. I once visited the prison cell in Rome where one of the early apostles was held almost 2,000 years ago. The cell was dark, and cold and small. The Apostle Paul, when he was in prison in Rome, wrote to his fellow Christians, "Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, I say, rejoice." How could someone rejoice in such terrible circumstances? He was in prison; in danger of losing his life; not free to go and to see those he loved. The reason he could rejoice is that he knew that Jesus Christ lived in his heart and life; and that Jesus Christ alone is King and Lord over sin, and death, and the devil. Even death itself could not rob Paul of his joy, because when he died he knew he would go to heaven and be in the presence of God forever.So are you discouraged about your circumstances? Are you afraid? Are you uncertain about tomorrow? God knows the future. He holds your life in His hands. He loves you. Nothing can separate you from His love. So rejoice!
Let us pray that
Others will see Jesus in us -- that the Holy Spirit will fill our hearts and lives with the joy of Jesus Christ
God will fill the world with His presence -- and that Christians everywhere will be filled with His love and joy

Prayer is love for God

Prayer is a matter of love. Man expresses love through prayer, and if we pray, it is an indication that we love God. If we do not pray, this indicates that we do not love God, for the measure of our prayer is the measure of our love for God. St. Silouan identifies love for God with prayer, and the Holy Fathers say that forgetfulness of God is the greatest of all passions, for it is the only passion that will not be fought by prayer through the Name of God. If we humble ourselves and invoke God’s help, trusting in His love, we are given the strength to conquer any passion; but when we are unmindful of God, the enemy is free to slay us.”
Archimandrite Zacharias in The Hidden Man of the Heart

A rebuke and a condemnation

Mankind's belief in God is a rebuke to, and a condemnation of, the careless atheist. For it is the height of rashness or of pride to assume without investigation that so large a part of the race is giving credit to an illusion, for the existence of which no rational grounds can be assigned.
Ronald A. Knox, The Belief of Catholics
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Vain Hopes

One of the vain hopes of a culture drunk on pluralism and consumerism is the desire for a plurality of gods comfortable to consumer culture. But Catholic Faith, while affirming the variety and catholicity of the Church, flatly denies a variety of gods. There are lots of ways to approach God through Christ. You can do it through Mass, lectio divina, silent contemplation, boisterous prayer, the sacraments, the Rosary, group prayer, individual prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, charismatic worship, Scripture study, devotions to this, that, or the other saint, and prayer in Hebrew, Latin, Greek or Yapese. You can pray in a woman’s body, a man’s body, a black, white, yellow, or brown skin. You can pray standing, sitting or lying down. You can even pray in zero gravity. You can approach God through Christ in a million ways. But there is only one Father to approach and only one Christ through whom we can approach him. Walk away from him in any direction and you are walking away from the only fountain of water and out into a universal desert. Today, approach God in Christ by any means you choose, but approach him. There is no other

Priest's Encounter with Jesus Christ

Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, has warned against priests who have an “insufficient and superficial” encounter with Jesus Christ, saying this can turn their ministry into a “kind of clerical profession” in which they carry out their duties “like officials.”

Blessed be God....

Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
Blessed be the name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints.
May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.

Spirit of the Living God, fill us....

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us
Melt us, mould us, fill us, and use us
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us (2)

Fill us with

Acceptance, accountability
Blessings, benign attitude, balance
Compassion, conversion, confession, cool attitude
Dedication, docility, discernment
Enthusiasm, entertaining, enlightenment
Faith, forgiveness, fruits worthy of repentance, fruits of the Spirit
Gratitude, grace, gentleness, gentlemanliness,
Holiness, humility, happiness, health, humour
Intelligence, interdependence, interest in the Kingdom
Joy, justice
Kindness,
Love, light
Meekness
Non-judgmental attitude
0bedience, openness
Patience, Power Divine, praise, prayerfulness, poverty, purity
Quiet
Repentance, reverence, respect for all, resigned
Silence, self-discipline, service, simplicity, Supervision
Truthfulness
Understanding
Victory, Virtues, Vision
Worship, Wisdom
XT
Youthfulness
Zeal


Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us
Melt us, mould us, fill us, and use us
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us (2)

We make this prayer, relying on the powerful intercession of Mary, our mother, trusting in the communion of saints and in the matchless name of Jesus and
For your names’ sake, Lord, Amen.

Unflinching Faith

: “If God were to take away all His blessings, health, physical fitness, wealth, intelligence, and leave me but one gift, I would ask for faith – for with faith in Him and His goodness, mercy, love for me, and belief in everlasting life, I believe I could suffer the loss of my other gifts and still be happy – trustful, leaving all to His inscrutable Providence.” –Rose Kennedy

Absolute Faithfulness

If man is faithless,does that nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means.Let God be true though every man be false.

Be kind to your priests

To a bishop who knelt at his feet and sought God’s mercy, Fr. Vianney gave just five words of advice, “Be kind to your priests.”

Merciful love

Still today, the Altar of Sacrifice and the confessional. are the primary places where a priest is a channel of the rich love and mercy of God.

For God so loved the world that.....

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.