Lasallian Reflections

Lent 2022

“Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: ‘Never again war!’; ‘With war everything is lost.’ Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.” Read the rest of Pope Francis’ Prayer for Peace here : http://www.usccb.org/prayers/pope-francis-prayer-peace

Our lives often present us with the choice of regarding each other either judgmentally or kindly. And so, we pray that we always make this choice with humble hearts. Teach us to be respectful and charitable with one other, remembering that each of us must struggle to overcome our own shortcomings.

*The Lasallian vision is seeing abundance where others see scarcity, and bringing nourishment where there is none.

A Prayer to be Lasallians Without Limits: Remembering that we are in the Holy Presence of God, we pray:To be light to those in darkness, To build sustainable communities wherever we find ourselvesTo be hope for those without, To stand in solidarity with those on the margins, To recognize the inherent human dignity of each person, No matter the circumstance, To discern how to be our best selves, In the midst of a chaotic world - To embrace our identity as Lasallians without Limits.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor does God sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, goodwill to all."

Which brings us full-circle to the start of the day and the hope that is that Light that came and dwelt among us and dwells among us still in and through those around us.

Live Jesus in our Hearts, forever.

Week of November 29 2020 ADVENT

We are to think and act beyond our self-made boundaries for the common good of the whole family of God.

*Week of November 22, 2020

Example makes a much greater impression than words. Gather safely for Thanksgiving and return well to live Lasallian. Live Jesus in our hearts. Forever.

*Week of November 15, 2020

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

*Week of October 26, 2020

“Look on everything with the eyes of faith. You must never fail to do this, no matter what the reason. Viewing things with the eyes of faith will earn for you in one day more good, more interior application, closer union with God, and greater vigilance over yourself than a month of those penances and austerities to which you are attracted. Believe me, you will see its effect, although perhaps for the present you will not understand it. Let me repeat: the more uncomplicated your view of faith, the more surely you will be disposed to simplicity of action and conduct, which is the disposition God wants of you.” (Letter 117)

* Week of May 18: Gentleness and Firmness: The Balance

It is easy to recognize what constitutes too much harshness and too much gentleness. Both of these extremes must be avoided if one is to be neither too harsh nor too weak, if one is to be firm in attaining a purpose and gentle in the means of attaining it; and in all to show great charity accompanied by zeal. A teacher must be constant in persevering. However, children must not be permitted to expect impunity, or to do whatever they wish, and the like; gentleness is not proper in such cases.

We must know that gentleness consists in never allowing any harshness or anything whatsoever that savours of anger or passion to appear in reprimands. Instead, being gentle means showing

·the gravity of a father,

·a compassion full of tenderness, and

·a certain ease, which is however, lively and effective.

The teacher who revokes or punishes must make it very clear that such punishment arises from necessity and that it is out of zeal for the common good that it is administered.
(Conduct of Schools)

Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway. (Eccl 7:18)

For the Week of May 11: Spiritual Medicine

When you find the practice of virtue difficult, you must strive to make it become easy by applying yourself to prayer.

Prayer, says St. Chrysostom, is a divine medicine which

·drives out of our hearts all the malice it finds there and

·fills them with all justice.

This is why, if we wish to deliver ourselves from sin, we cannot do anything better than to devote ourselves to prayer.

In fact, no matter how many sins a person who loves prayer commits, he still has a quick and easy recourse, which is prayer, in order to obtain the grace of repentance and pardon.

Ask God, then, to give you a pure heart that has an aversion for whatever can stain your conscience and make you displeasing to God.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

For everyone who asks will receive, and he who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks. (Lk 11:10)

For the Week of May 4: Taste and See

Some fear to receive Communion because they are convinced, falsely, that they obtain no benefit from it, and that it is an abuse to go so often without any profit for the good of their soul. Do they count for nothing the fact that Communion preserves them from mortal sin? This is without doubt a priceless favour which should make you desire to receive Communion every day.

But, you may say, as others do, this sacrament contains the essence of holiness, and demands great holiness in those who receive it so often. To reason in this way is to mistake the effect and purpose of this sacrament for what is merely the preparation. We go to Communion

·to become holy, not

·because we are holy.

If you were to say that you need to be a saint in order to live in community, you would be told that people come to religious life to become saints, not because they are saints.

Is not the union with Jesus Christ capable of making you share in his holiness? This is precisely the reason why you should receive Communion often.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Ps 34:8)

For the Week of April 27: God is Everywhere

You may make an act of faith on the words of Jeremiah where God says:

“Do I not fill heaven and earth.”

You are, O my God, in heaven, and you are there in all of its vastness. You are also on the earth, and you penetrate it entirely because it contains you and you yourself contain it.

I believe that wherever I go I will find you there. And that there is no place that is not honoured by your presence. For as the royal prophet very rightly says in Ps 74:

“He is neither absent from east, nor from west,
nor from the desert nor from the mountains.”

(Mental Prayer)

For God’s Spirit has filled the whole world and he who holds together all things, knows each word that is spoken. (Wis 1:7)

For the Week of April 20: St. Anselm (1033–1109): Winning Hearts

Becoming a superior, this saint endeavoured to guide his religious with so much
gentleness and
charity
that he won all their hearts. He took such tender care of a young religious who was ill, and who had found it difficult to submit to his guidance, that he moved the young man by his charity and won him over to return to his duties. Observing a certain abbot treating some young gentlemen rigorously, he told him that when you guide young people with so much rigour, you do not have any success at all instructing them.

By reason of your state you are responsible for the instruction of children. Profit from the words and wise conduct of this saint. You must consider the obligation you have to win their hearts as one of the principal means to lead them to live in a Christian manner. Often reflect that if you fail to use this means, you will drive them away from God instead of drawing them to him.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Yes, may you come to know his love and so be completely filled with the very nature of God. (Eph 3:19)

For the Week of April 13: Founded on Faith

God having chosen and destined St. Paul to preach the Gospel to the nations gave him such knowledge of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, that he was enabled like a good architect to lay the foundation for the building of the faith.

You must, then, look upon your work as one of the most important and most necessary services in the Church, one which has been entrusted to you by pastors, by fathers and mothers.

This means that you are called to lay the foundation for the building of the Church, when you instruct children in the mysteries accomplished by Jesus Christ when he was on earth.

For according to St. Paul, “without faith it is impossible to please God,” because faith is the foundation of the hope that we have. The knowledge, then, that each must have of the faith, the instruction that must be given concerning the faith to those who are ignorant of it, is one of the most important things in our religion.

Bring all the care needed, then, to fulfill this function with as much zeal and success as the saints have had fulfilling it.
(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? (Rom 10:14)

For the Week of April 6: Beginners - Slowly On

Take, for instance, a person who comes from the world or who while living in it still, wishes to make mental prayer. Up to now, this person has almost totally concentrated on satisfying the mind and the senses, and does not know the act of conversing with God nor of thinking interiorly of Him and of His presence.

What minds pass suddenly from consideration of material concerns to those that are purely spiritual? This would only succeed in making mental prayer tedious and in disgusting them, perhaps permanently, with the spiritual life.

It is much more appropriate to insinuate spiritual things imperceptibly into the mind of those who wish to begin to give themselves to God and to mental prayer by means of material images, clothed and animated by motives of faith.

These kinds of persons must ordinarily use
reasoning and

*For the Week of May 20: St. Bernardine of Siena (1380–1444): Lasting Impressions

From his youth St. Bernardine had such great prudence and self-control that the most disorderly of his fellow students were prudent in his presence and did not dare to speak of anything unbecoming. When they saw him coming from a distance, they said to one another,

“No more of this talk; here comes Bernardine.”

Are you likewise equally self-controlled, not only in the presence of your Brothers, but of your students as well? Does what they observe in you make such an impression on them that it is able to make them behave properly?

There is no one to whom you cannot and should not try to be helpful by the example of your virtues. This was the first way St. Bernardine practised his zeal, and it is also the way you are obliged to preach to everyone.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

I will live a pure life in my house, and will never tolerate evil. (Ps 101:3)

For the week of May 13: Keeping Secrets

You must be particularly circumspect in your words when someone has entrusted you with a secret. It would be very imprudent to reveal it,

·even if you urge the one to whom you repeat the matter to keep it to himself, and

·even if the one who confided the secret to you has not asked you not to mention it to others.

For, as the Wise Man says so correctly, if you reveal the secrets of a friend, you lose all credibility and will soon be unable to find any close friends (Eccl 27:16-17). He considers this fault as being much worse than speaking injuriously to your friend, for, even after harsh words, reconciliation is possible. But if you have been base enough to betray a friend’s secrets, there can remain no hope of reconciliation, and you will try in vain to recover the lost friendship.
(Christian Politeness)

For a wound can be bandaged and an insult forgiven, but if you betray a secret there is no hope. (Eccl 27:21)

For the Week of May 6: Practise the Virtues

It would have been of little use if the apostles had instructed the first Christians in the essential truths of our religion, if they did not lead them to live the Christian way of life. The apostles were not satisfied with teaching doctrine, but they had a marvellous care to bring the first Christians to practise their religion.

Above everything else, this is what you are obliged to do in your work. In imitation of the apostles you must give an altogether special care that those whom you instruct receive the sacraments, in particular, that they are ready to receive Confirmation in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You must see to it that they go to confession often, after learning how to do this well. You must dispose them to receive their first Communion with holy dispositions and to receive Communion frequently thereafter.

Inspire them also with piety and self-control in church and in the exercises of piety you have them perform in the schools. Instill in them the innocence and humility that Our Lord recommends so strongly in the Gospel. Do not forget to help them acquire gentleness,patience, love and respect for their parents, and all the conduct that is proper to a Christian child.
(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

Are there people among you who are wise and understanding? They are to prove it by their good lives by their good deeds performed with humility and wisdom.
(Jas 3:13)

For the Week of April 29: Saints Philip and James, Apostles: Faith and Zeal

St. James’ great application to prayer reveals itself in the Epistle he wrote, in which he states

·that we should especially ask God for true wisdom and piety,

·that God’s liberality toward us is great,

·that we should pray with faith, and

explains why we do not receive what we ask of God.

When St. Philip was called to the apostleship he immediately showed such great zeal for leading souls to God that he brought Nathanael to Jesus Christ.

It seems that Jesus also gave this saint a special grace, namely that of tenderness and an engaging manner to bring others to know and love Jesus Christ. When several Gentiles were eager to see Jesus, they asked this saint to introduce them to him.

In your work you have a special need for zeal for the salvation of souls. Ask this earnestly of God by the intercession of St. Philip who will help you very much to obtain it.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

“Have I been with you all this time, Philip,” said Jesus to him, “and you still do not know me?” (Jn 14:9)

For the Week of April 22: God Is Everywhere

You may make an act of faith on the words of Jeremiah where God says:

“Do I not fill heaven and earth.”

You are, O my God, in heaven, and you are there in all of its vastness. You are also on the earth, and you penetrate it entirely because it contains you and you yourself contain it.

I believe that wherever I go I will find you there. And that there is no place that is not honoured by your presence. For as the royal prophet very rightly says in Ps 74:

“He is neither absent from east, nor from west,
nor from the desert nor from the mountains.”

(Mental Prayer)

For God’s Spirit has filled the whole world and he who holds together all things, knows each word that is spoken. (Wis 1:7)

For the Week of April 15: Tell the Truth

Decorum requires that as a Christian you should never utter a single word

·which is contrary to the truth or to sincerity, or

·which shows disrespect for God or

·a lack of charity for your neighbour.

Refinement insists that you never say anything false. On the contrary, it exacts that each one should speak the truth to his neighbour (Eph 5). According to the Wise Man, refinement regards falsehood as a shameful flaw and the life of a liar as a life deprived of honour and always threatened by embarrassment (Eccl 20:26).

You might say that even if you fall into no other vice, frequent lying is enough to push you quickly into a vicious life. Jesus Christ explains why this is so when he tells us that the devil himself is the father of lies.

(Christian Politeness)

When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies. (Jn 8:44)

For the Week of April 8: Our Conversations

One of the first things to be done by those who wish to lead a new life is to regulate their conversations properly, making them holy and pleasing to God.

Ordinarily, it is in our talk that we commit most of our faults and the most serious ones. It follows that our conversation is one of the things we need to watch over the most, so that it may not become harmful.

For this we cannot do better than model our conversations on the one Jesus Christ had with his two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus, and also the ones which the two disciples had with each other before Jesus joined them, and after he had left them.

·In your conversations and recreations are you careful to take Jesus Christ for your model?

·On leaving them are you all on fire with divine love, as the two disciples who were travelling to Emmaus?

·Are their topics of conversation the same as yours?

That is how you will benefit from moments of recreation, to relax from your work and restore your energy.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along? (Lk 24:17)

For the Week of April 1: Good Conversations

The good effects that the conversation of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus produced in them were, first of all, that Jesus Christ joined them. This is also a benefit we derive from good conversations, to have Jesus present with us by faith.

In the second place, their hearts were filled with ardour for doing good and on fire with the love of God. When we have been speaking this way in recreation, we leave it filled with enthusiasm and eager to do good.

Thirdly, Jesus Christ was so pleased by the disciples’ conversation that he went with them to the place where they stopped and remained there with them. In the same way Jesus will be glad to be with you when you take pleasure in speaking of him.

In the fourth place, finally, Jesus gave them his sacred body and they recognised him. A like happiness will be yours when you willingly converse on holy topics.

(Meditations for Sunday and Feasts
-Easter Monday)

They will speak of the glory of your royal power, and tell of your might.
(Ps 145:11)

For the Week of March 25: Longing to Save Us

Jesus Christ was not content with having a lifelong desire to die for us. When he saw the time of his death approaching, he testified to his joy. This is what made him say to the apostles when he celebrated the Last Passover with them. He knew that this was to be the last meal he would eat with his apostles before suffering and dying for us.

This was also what made him cry out, shortly before dying, that he was thirsty. The holy fathers understand this thirst as the longing for our salvation. this is also what made him say these words as he was dying, that all is consummated, because

what he had so longed for -

to suffer for our salvation -

had been achieved.

Thank Jesus for such goodness, and make yourselves worthy to receive the benefits of salvation by your own sharing in his sufferings.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts

- Wednesday in Holy Week)

I have wanted so much to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer!

For the Week of March 18: Leave It to God

In your times of trouble, when you have had recourse to those who are appointed to guide you and they have been unable to provide a suitable remedy for your difficulty, God wants you then to remain completely abandoned to his guidance, awaiting from him alone all the help you need. Follow the example of this crowd of people who had come following Jesus Christ and who waited patiently for him to provide for their nourishment.

You should, in fact, be convinced that God will not allow you to be tempted and burdened beyond your strength. When men can do nothing to help you,

·then it is that God himself does everything for you,

·wonderfully showing at one and the same time his power and his goodness.

This is why you should abandon yourself to God as the people who followed Our Lord, to be delivered from your trials by means God judges most profitable for you without troubling yourself trying to achieve peace by your own efforts, which will often be useless.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-4th Sunday of Lent )

My God is my protector, and with him I am safe. (2 Sam 22:3)

For the Week of March 11: Table Manners

The Wise Man gives us a number of important suggestions about the manner in which we should behave at table if we are to eat with propriety and with decorum (Eccl 31).

He tells us that we should not give in to intemperance as soon as we are seated,

·scrutinizing the food with avidity

·as though we would like to devour everything in sight

·without leaving anything for the others.

He forbids us to eat hurriedly. It is impolite to eat with avidity, for this is the way a glutton would act.

He insists that we partake of what is served like a temperate person, eating only with restraint and moderation.

He exhorts us to defer very much to others at table.

He adds, to persuade us to follow these rules of refinement and sobriety, that whoever eats little will enjoy healthful slumber while insomnia, colic, and indigestion are the lot of the intemperate.
(Christian Politeness)

Eat what is set before you like an educated person and don’t be a glutton, lest you be detested. (Eccl 31:16)

For the Week of March 4: No Room for Complacency

·who are half-hearted and lazy,

·who have little love for prayer,

should not be surprised if they are not among those whom God favours in a special way. They do not enjoy an intimate union with him, because they do not give themselves to the exercise that unites us with God, in which we learn to enjoy God and to have even on this earth a foretaste of the joy of heaven.

When God makes use of consolation to strengthen souls and to give them a chance to rest a little after undergoing trials and tribulations, they should accept this little refreshment with a simple view of God’s good pleasure, without being complacent about the personal enjoyment they find there.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts-
2nd Sunday of Lent)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.
(Ps 34:8)

For the Week of February 25: Welcome Temptation?

The angel who accompanied young Tobias said to his father: Because you were pleasing to God, it was necessary for you to be tested by temptation.

This should fully convince you of the necessity of trials of this sort, since it is temptation that will procure for you an abundance of grace. So, do not believe that God has abandoned you when you are tempted. On the contrary, this is one of the greatest signs you can have that God is particularly concerned about your salvation, since he gives you the opportunity to fight and exercise yourself in the practice of virtue. For little by little we acquire sublime virtue when we remain
constant,
unshaken, and
inflexible
in its practice despite the violent temptations that attack us.

So consider it a great misfortune when you are not tempted. In the future be ready to meet temptation at any time, for God exercises those he loves.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-1st Sunday of Lent)

I reprimand and correct all those I love (Rev 3:19)

For the Week of February 18: The Chair of St. Peter, Apostle: Symbol of Christian Unity

The Pope is

·the Vicar of Jesus Christ and

·the visible head of the Church as well as

·the successor of St. Peter.

He has wide authority over the entire Church, and all the faithful should look upon him as their father and as the voice of God. He possesses the universal power of binding and loosing, that Jesus gave to St. Peter, and to him Jesus has committed the responsibility of feeding his flock.

Your role, then, is to work in order to increase and take care of this sheepfold. You should, therefore, honour our Holy Father the Pope as the holy shepherd of this flock.

We should, moreover, welcome everything the Church proposes to us. The Church is our mother; to her we must be united in every way. It is Jesus Christ himself who has given the Church his power and authority over us. This caused St. Augustine to say that he would not believe the Gospel if he were not bound to do so by the authority of the Church.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and what you unbind on earth shall be unbound in Heaven. (Mt 16:19)

For the Week of February 11: Foresight and Forethought

At the beginning of morning prayer, are you careful to give some forethought to what you will do during the day especially to whatever is likely to cause you some difficulty, or to those occasions in which your human nature will have to suffer, in order to prepare for them? Do you foresee
·the good actions you could perform and
·the faults you should avoid,
·the virtues you could practice,
·your duties of state,
or similar subjects?

It is far better to foresee in the morning the faults you might commit, in order to avoid them, than to have to deplore them at night because you had not foreseen them.
(Collection)

The discreet man sees danger and takes shelter, the ignorant go forward and pay for it. (Prov 22:3)

For the Week of February 4: Turn the Other Cheek

Take care never to let anything harsh be seen in your appearance; you should rather manifest
wisdom, kindness, and good will.

To slap a man’s cheek is to give him a grave insult. The Gospel urges us to endure this and suggests that Christians who seek to imitate Jesus Christ in his patience should be willing and even ready to turn the other cheek and receive another blow after having been struck. It forbids us to strike first; only some violent rage or a feeling of vengeance would lead us to do that.

As a person of good judgement, you should never raise your hand to strike another on the cheek; decorum and propriety never allow this, not even toward a servant.
(Christian Politeness)

If your hand makes you fall into sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life without a hand than with two hands to go to hell, to the fire that never goes out. (Mk 9:43-44)

For the Week of January 28: A Tranquil Countenance

In your own concerns, as a person of good judgment, you should always try to be even-tempered and display a serene countenance. Just as adversity should not cast you into dejection, prosperity should not make you unduly elated. You should maintain a tranquil countenance, which does not readily change its disposition or expression no matter what happens, agreeable or disagreeable.

People whose countenance change at every occasion that comes along are very disagreeable, and it is hard to put up with them.

·Sometimes they appear with a happy look on their faces,

·sometimes with a melancholy air.

·Sometimes they show plainly that they are upset;

·sometimes, that they are in a great hurry.

All this serves to reveal persons who have little virtue and who do not strive to keep their passions in check. This is a way of acting which shows little of the spirit of Christianity.

(Christian Politeness)

May the Lord let his face shine on you, and be gracious to you;
May the Lord look kindly on you and give you his peace.
(Num 6:25-26)

For the Week of January 21: St. Francis De Sales (1567–1622), Patiently Gentle

This saint had such gentleness and tenderness toward his neighbour and tried so earnestly to suppress in himself even the slightest movements of anger that after his death no bile was found in his body. When someone once urged him to yield to impatience, he asked if she wished him to lose in a moment what he had spent his whole life acquiring.

It was this gentleness and tenderness for his neighbour that made it possible for Saint Francis to convert so many souls to God.

In fact, this virtue won the hearts of all those with whom he dealt, and the affection they felt for him was a means he used to bring them to God.

Do you have these feelings of charity and tenderness toward the children whom you have to educate?

If you have for them the firmness of a father

to restrain them from misbehaviour,

you must also have for them the tenderness of a mother

to draw them to you.

Learn from this saint to overcome your passions.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion. (Jas 5:11)

For the Week of January 14: No Excuses

·the more anxiety and temptation you experience,

·the more you should have recourse to Communion,

which is a sure remedy to ease your anxiety and weaken your temptations.

Perhaps you may say at other times that you do not receive Communion because you cannot occupy yourself with God. You feel completely dry; your mind is filled with evil or useless thoughts.

Beg Jesus Christ living in you to make up for your powerlessness, and to make thanksgiving in you and for you. Do not, then, listen any further to what your spirit may suggest to dispense you from receiving Communion.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Cor 11:26)

For the Week of January 7: Of Noble Birth

In a person’s deportment there must always be something sedate and even majestic. You should take care, however, that there be nothing in this which suggests pride or arrogance of spirit, for such attitudes greatly displease everyone. What will produce this sedateness is the simple modesty and wisdom that as a Christian you display in all your conduct.

You are truly of noble birth since you belong to Jesus Christ and are a child of God. Hence in your exterior there should be nothing vulgar.

Everything in you should denote

·a certain air of nobility and greatness,

·a reflection of the power and majesty of God whom you serve.

This dignified appearance should not flow from arrogance or lead you to prefer yourself to others, for every Christian should show honour and respect to all others, considering them as children of God and brothers of Jesus Christ.

(Christian Politeness)

But you are a chosen race, God’s own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God. (1 Pet 2:9)

For the Week of December 17: Ways to Faith

There are chiefly seven means of acquiring the spirit of faith and of conducting ourselves by this spirit.

The first is to have a profound respect for Holy Scripture.

The second is to animate all one actions with sentiments of faith.

The third is to have in view in all things the orders and the will of God.

The fourth is to have great control over our senses.

The fifth is to exercise great vigilance over ourselves so as not to perform a single action, if possible, from natural impulse, through custom, or any human motive.

The sixth is to pay as much attention as possible to the holy presence of God, and to renew our attention from time to time.

The seventh is to banish from our minds all vain thoughts and ideas that might withdraw us from these practices.

(Collection)

For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it. (Eph 2:8-9)

For the Week of December 10: New Teachers—Agitation and Restlessness

Although it is not recommended to be as stiff as a statue in school, neither is it good to be too fidgety or too flustered. The two extremes must be avoided. The one causes teachers not to be sufficiently vigilant and to lack firmness; the other robs them of all authority and brings down on them the contempt of students.

New teachers must learn to control a natural tendency to be hasty and too quick to react. They must not at every moment modify
their expression,
their posture,
their position,
constantly turning the head from side to side; unable to keep the same position for a moment.
(Conduct of Schools)

Come to me, all you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. (Mt 11:28)

For the Week of December 3: Touch Hearts

St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan (ca340–397)

When he became a bishop, this saint’s eloquence, which was natural, became heavenly. It served him so well in the conversion of souls that no one was able to resist him. With God’s help he had the power to convert St. Augustine, to transform him into one of the greatest doctors of the Church. This was the reason why the heretics feared him and did not dare challenge him, because he alone was able to refute all of them. For he joined to his
eloquence and piety
a marvellous
power and firmness.

You do not need eloquence of this sort, but you do need to share in his zeal in order to labour usefully in your work of saving souls. Often ask God for the grace to touch hearts, as he did; this is the grace of your state.

It would be of little use to those whom you instruct if their minds remained blinded and hardened.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

I will give them a new heart and a new mind. I will take away their stubborn heart of stone and will give them an obedient heart. (Ezek 11:19)

Week of November 26: Preparing Hearts

Why, do you think, did Jesus Christ praise St. John the Baptist so highly? It was

·to lead the people to accept his teaching, and

·to make them understand that what John had said about himself was true;

that St. John had been sent to prepare their hearts to receive Jesus Christ himself and to profit by his teachings. This saint began by living a life of seclusion, prayer, and penance, to practise what he wanted to teach others, and thus to dispose his own heart to receive the fullness of the Spirit of God.

Because you have to prepare the hearts of others for the coming of Jesus Christ, you must first of all dispose your own hearts to be entirely filled with zeal, in order to render your words effective in those whom you instruct.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart. (1 Sam 16:7)

Week of November 19: Rewards on Earth

It is indeed a great glory for you to instruct your disciples about the truths of the Gospel solely for the love of God. It was this thought that made the Teacher of the Nations always find consolation and filled him with overflowing joy in the midst of all his afflictions.

You, too, must consider it a great reward for yourselves, the consolation you will feel at the bottom of your hearts, that the children whom you instruct are well-behaved, know their religion well, and live a life of piety.

You can expect yet another reward which God will give you in advance in this life if you devote yourselves generously to your duty and if through zeal you have known well how to give your disciples a foundation in the Christian spirit. This is the very special satisfaction you will have when they grow up and you see them

·living with justice and piety,

·keeping free from evil associations, and

·performing good deeds.

Thank God with all your heart for all these kinds of rewards that he gives you in advance in this life.
(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

But you must be strong and not be discouraged. The work that you do will be rewarded. (2 Chron 15:7)

For the Week of November 12: Self-Willed

As for those who are bold and insolent, it would be a good thing to reprimand them sometimes in private for their faults. Such admonishment must always be administered with seriousness and in a manner which will keep them respectful.

Those who are heedless and frivolous must be punished a little. Ordinarily, they do not reflect much, and a short time after having been corrected they sometimes fall again into the same fault. Their faults do not come from pure malice but from thoughtlessness. They must be treated in a way which may prevent them from misbehaving. They should be placed between two students of a sedate disposition. They should also be given some rewards from time to time to make them assiduous and fond of school.

(Conduct of Schools)

My brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in any kind of wrongdoing, those of you who are spiritual should set him right; but you must do it in a gentle way.
(Gal 6:1)

For the Week of November 5: Gentleness and Wisdom: Leo Pope (died 461)

The gentleness and wisdom of St. Leo were admirable and won for him the esteem of even the most uncivilized.

Later, when he became Pope, the emperor begged him to meet and plead with Attila, King of the Goths, encamped before Rome and ready to besiege it, in order to get him to give up his plan. The saint acquitted himself of this mission with so much wisdom and eloquence that this barbarian prince was led to withdraw and leave Italy in peace.

Is it in this way, by

·your gentleness and

·your wisdom,

that you lead those entrusted to your care to give up bad habits and disorderly conduct and to devote themselves to piety? These two means joined to prayer are often more effective on souls than any other method you could imagine.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Kindly words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the taste,
wholesome to the body.
(Prov 16:24)

For the Week of October 29: Support the Weak

When the bishop of Paris died, the holy life of St. Marcellinus caused him to be chosen to replace him. It was in this exalted responsibility that he showed how great was his zeal for the salvation of souls. He did not cease to pray and keep watch to help the ones who needed conversion, and to draw on others the graces needed for them to be strong in the practice of good and to advance in virtue.

In one sense it can be said that each of you is a bishop, that is, the vigilant guardian of the flock God has entrusted to you. The soul of each one of those you guide is infinitely dear to God.

You have two sorts of children to instruct;

·some are disorderly and inclined to evil;

·the others are good, or at least inclined to be good.

Pray continually for both, especially for those who have evil inclinations. Try to strengthen and preserve the good ones in the practice of virtue but let your chief efforts and most fervent prayers be directed to win over to God the hearts of those who are prone to evil.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

I have shown you in all things that by working hard in this way we must help the weak. (Acts 20:35)

For the Week of October 22: Everybody Has Defects

The charity which is required of us presupposes a patience that is proof against everything. Everybody has defects, and we bring them with us everywhere we go. Consequently, it is only by overlooking them among ourselves that we can maintain peace and union even in the most select societies. This is why St. Paul says that charity endures all things.

Some will say:

“This I will endure from my Brother, but as for that, I cannot bring myself to put up with it;”

or some will say :

“My disposition is incompatible with his.”

Therefore, as soon as something occurs which you find hard to bear, you fail to show charity toward your brother or union with him.

Think seriously about this. If you believe that you can live in a community without supporting the defects of your brothers, you are mistaken, and you have made a mistake in entering. Make your mind up on this matter for the rest of your life.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feast)

Love never gives up, and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. (1 Cor 13:7)

For the Week of October 15: A Clear Conscience

You should be guided in what you do by your rules, not by those who transgress them. Let people think what they wish of you, and do not be troubled, provided you are doing what you ought.

Slackness and rationalising will lead you into many faults. From now on, look on your rules as an explanation and an application of what is contained in the Gospels. The spirit of faith will lead you to give practical application to this frame of mind.

In all matters I advise you to act as being in the presence of God and not to please others. To take pains that others have nothing to reproach you with and not to be concerned about God is to act as a hypocrite, and not as a Christian. (Letters)

Keep your faith and a clear conscience. Some people have not listened to their conscience and have made a ruin of their faith. (1 Tim 1:19)

For the week of October 8: Recreation and Relaxation

Be careful not to become dissipated and do not lose sight of the presence of God.

Does your tongue cause you some disquietude of conscience during this time?

Be moderate in your conduct and observe discretion in your words.
(Collection)

Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest for a while. (Mk 6:31)

For the week of Oct. 1: Don’t Take Offence

You must not take it upon yourself to reprimand anyone

—unless you are obliged to do so or

—unless the matter is important.

It is a serious fault to set yourself up as critic and public censor. You should judge everyone favourably and not concern yourself with their actions unless you are responsible for their behaviour and are bound to instruct them and lead them to do what is right.

If it happens that someone insults you, it would be acting like a prudent person not to be offended by it. It is a sign of a mean spirit if you cannot endure an insult, and a Christian should not show any resentment. The Wise Man advises you to forget all the slights you may experience from your neighbour. (Eccl 10:6)

Jesus Christ wants you not only to pardon your enemies but also to do good to them, no matter what the wrong or displeasure they have caused you.
(Christian Politeness)

But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. (Mt 5:39)

For the week of September 24: In My Opinion

When giving an opinion, you must be careful not to maintain it stubbornly, for you should not be so sure of your ideas as to think them incontrovertible. It would also be very unseemly to argue in order to make your opinions prevail because you should not be so firmly attached to your ideas that you refuse to yield to those of others.

You should be very careful not to grow angry or abusive in order to force others to adopt your point of view. It is neither courteous nor wise to use emotion to make others accept your position as reasonable. Nor should you ever blame others or ridicule what they have said.

You show the characteristic of a well-mannered person when you esteem and praise the ideas of others. (Christian Politeness)

I beg of you, brothers, in the name of Christ Jesus, Our Lord, to agree among yourselves and do away with divisions; please be perfectly united, with one mind and one judgement. (1 Cor 1:10)

For the week of September 16: Learned, Wise and Humble

Even before becoming a Christian St. Cyprian was distinguished for his learning. Even before receiving baptism he studied Holy Scripture. As soon as he was baptised, he

·sold all his possessions,

·distributed the proceeds to the poor, and

·resolved to practise celibate chastity.

He gave edification to everyone by his holy life, just as he won admiration by his talent and knowledge of literature.

St. Cyprian, living such a holy life, was soon made a priest, and almost as quickly Bishop of Carthage by the choice of all the people. As a bishop, he enlightened the entire Church by his excellent writings and during persecution he worked forcefully to support those who were wavering in their faith. Everybody agrees that this saint surpassed all the other bishops of his time in eloquence as well as in wisdom and humility. Following his example, you must know your religion well, and you must also show by your wisdom and piety that you really understand it.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

I understood that wisdom is more profitable than folly, just as light is better than darkness. (Eccl 2:13)

For the week of September 4: Importance of Education, The Greatest Gift

When parents withdraw their children from school to make them work while they are too young and not yet sufficiently instructed, they must be made to understand that they harm them a great deal. To have their children earn a little, they will make them lose a very much greater advantage. It should be explained to them how important it is for an artisan to know how to read and write well. It should be emphasised that,
however limited the child’s intelligence,
the child that knows how to read and write
will be capable of anything.
(Conduct of Schools)

Wisdom does more for a person than ten rulers can do for a city. (Eccl 7:19)

For the Week of August 22: Humility in Action

Look upon humility as the foundation of all the other moral virtues, without which there can be no true piety, since piety, without humility, is usually mere hypocrisy or an illusion.

Shun human praise and approval. Never say the least thing that might raise you in the good opinion of the world. When you hear anything said to your advantage, remember that the honour is due only to God.

At the same time, humbly endure contempt and rebuffs as being most just. Always select what is least when choice is allowed. Do not be too eager to speak, and when you speak,

·do so in a simple and unaffected manner,

·without trying to improve what others say or

·interrupting them, and

·talk in a low voice.

(Collection)

No one is respected unless he is humble; arrogant people are on the way to ruin. (Prov 18:12)

For the Week of August 6: The Milk of Human Kindness

In today’s Gospel Jesus Christ proposes to us an example of Charity.

Charity is kind. Indeed, it is not by
scolding,
murmuring,
complaining about or
quarreling
that we show our love and union. It is by speaking in a kind and affable way. A kind word, says the wise man, turns away wrath, while a harsh reply stirs up fury.

For this reason Our Lord said to his apostles: Blessed are those who show kindness toward others, for they shall possess the land. This means the whole earth, because those who possess the hearts of others do possess the whole earth, which is what persons whose temperament is kind and moderate easily achieve. They gain entry so well into the hearts of those with whom they speak and relate that they win them over little by little.

Ah! what a great advantage it is to learn well and to practise well the lesson given us by Our Lord: Learn of me, for I am kind and humble of heart.

Never speak to anyone except with kindness, and if you fear to speak otherwise, keep silent.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-12th Sunday After Pentecost)

Love one another warmly as Christian brothers, and be eager to show respect for one another. (Rom 12:10)

For the Week of July 23: Be Yourself

Let people think what they wish of you, and do not be troubled, provided you are doing what you ought.

I advise you to act as being in the presence of God and not to please others, because you know that to take pains that others have nothing to reproach you with and not to be concerned about God is to act as a Pharisee and a hypocrite, and not as a Christian.

Do not complain in the least of what people may say or do against you. Show by your
silence and
patience
that you are content.
(Letters)

Keep your conscience clear... For it is better to suffer for doing good, if this should be God’s will, than for doing evil. (1 Pet 3:16-17)

For the week of July 9th: I Assure You

Jesus Christ assures us explicitly that all that we ask for we shall receive. Prayer has this efficacy of itself; this is precisely what God promises us. The more we ask of him, the more he gives, because he takes great delight in granting our prayers.

Whatsoever you ask in prayer with faith, says Jesus Christ, you will receive. He says all whatsoever, and he makes no exceptions. Would anyone believe that faith would have such an effect if the Son of God, who is truth itself, had not assured us of this?

·Take courage, therefore, to believe the One who so strongly addresses you.

·Make yourself worthy of his promises.

·Be convinced that God is ready to refuse you nothing that you ask of him with faith and confidence in his goodness.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

I pray to you, O Lord;

You hear my voice in the morning; at sunrise I offer my prayer and wait for your answer. (Ps 5:3)

For the week of June 25th: Cast Your Cares On the Lord
Do not have any anxiety about the future. Leave everything in God’s hands for he will take care of you.

As for myself, I do not like to make the first move in any endeavour. I leave it to Divine Providence to make the first move and then I am satisfied. When it is clear that I am acting only under the direction of Providence, I have nothing to reproach myself with.
When I make the first move,
it is only I myself who am active,
so I do not expect to see much good result;
neither does God usually give the action his special blessing.

See if God shows his approval of your work, and notice if Divine Providence is assisting you. Throw yourself into his arms; he is your Father and he will carry you when the road is rough, that is, in time of temptation.
(Letters)

Everyone knows how good you are, how securely you protect those who trust you. (Ps 31:19)

For the week of June 18th: Due Respect

How shall I dare to be in the presence of God without respect and without reverence!

What! If the presence of a king restrains all the movements of the body and of the soul in such a way that one does not make a single one without circumspection, out of respect for the dignity and personality of the king, shall we forget the
worship and
reverence
due to God in whose presence we always are?

Give me the grace that the thought of your holy presence may occupy me always, so that, being always in your holy presence, I may not pass a single moment without thinking of you.
(Mental Prayer)

And so, in honour of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees. (Phil 2:10)

For the week of June 10th:Temptations

Approach the sacraments eagerly; it is in them that you will find the strength to overcome your difficulties.

I cannot understand why you did not tell me earlier of the temptation you experienced. Don’t you know that an illness is already half cured when you tell the doctor about it?
(Letters)

Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One. (Mt 6:13

For the week of June 4: The Real Presence

We can make an act of faith in the presence of Our Lord in the church in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

It is here, truly, that Jesus makes his dwelling place.

I must consider myself happy to be there often, to keep you company and to fulfill my obligations to you.

Although you may be veiled from my eyes, yet you are there

·as great,

·as powerful,

·as adorable,

·as lovable,
as you are in heaven. Because you are the same God and because you are equally present in both places.

But here, in this place, having sacrificed yourself for us through love, you are for us a loving God and you are there to pour out on us your heavenly blessings provided we do not make ourselves unworthy of them by our sins and scant gratitude for your kindnesses.
(Mental Prayer)

One day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand spent anywhere else.
(Ps 84:10)

For the week of May 29: The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

When Jesus Visits Us

Let us admire the promptness with which the Blessed Virgin went to visit her cousin St. Elizabeth as soon as she learned the will of God. Her promptness drew down God’s blessings on her visit. We should consider ourselves blessed when we are visited by God through his inspirations.

God urged the Blessed Virgin to go to visit St. Elizabeth because he wished to sanctify John the Baptist by the presence of Jesus Christ, his Son. God also wanted St. John to pay homage to Jesus by leaping for joy at the approach of Christ.

God also wished to give himself to St. Elizabeth in such a way that she would be at once filled with the Holy Spirit and know that Mary was the Mother of God. This made St. Elizabeth realise how great a happiness she enjoyed.

Since you have the honour of being visited

·by God every day in prayer and often

·by Jesus in Holy Communion,

make sure that their visits to you are not useless.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
Why should this great thing happen to me, that my Lord’s mother comes to visit me? (Lk 1:43)

For the week of May 20: The Leap of Faith

With good reason we can call the Holy Trinity the mystery of faith, because nothing but faith can throw light on this mystery.

Faith alone can enable us to know it, though only in a superficial manner; nevertheless, we do know it as far as it can be grasped in this life.

Faith alone keeps our mind fixed on the consideration of this supreme mystery, which is infinitely beyond the range of the human mind.

Faith alone, drawing the mind from the darkness of infidelity, leads it deep into this sacred obscurity in which faith holds us captive.

Other mysteries are accompanied by something tangible that gives our senses and our reason some help, but in this one neither senses nor reason find any assistance.

Ask God, therefore, for a deep faith to believe this sacred mystery. Dedicate yourself entirely to the Holy Trinity, to contribute as far as you will be able to extend its glory over all the earth.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-Trinity Sunday)

What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts for ever.
(2 Cor 4:18)

For the week of May 14: Breath of the Spirit

On this day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and on all those who were gathered together with them in the large upper room. He came to bring them a new law, the law of grace and love, and poured himself out upon them like a strong, driving wind.

This wind, the symbol of the Spirit of God, filled the entire house. At that moment the apostles received such an abundance of grace that all Jerusalem was filled with the sound of their voices. They spoke about nothing but the risen Jesus Christ. They had the words of Sacred Scripture constantly on their lips and these words served to guide them in all they did.

They had all fled after seeing Christ die on the cross; they had gone into hiding, afraid of death. But after receiving the Holy Spirit, they came together again and gathered in the same place; there they encouraged each other and urged one another to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ. In such suffering they considered themselves blessed, and rejoiced.

You carry out a work which requires you to touch hearts,
but this you cannot do except by the Spirit of God.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-Pentecost Sunday)

But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. There is no law against such things as these. (Gal 5:22

For the week of May 7: Spiritual Medicine

When you find the practice of virtue difficult, you must strive to make it become easy by applying yourself to prayer.

Prayer, says St. Chrysostom, is a divine medicine which

·drives out of our hearts all the malice it finds there and

·fills them with all justice.

This is why, if we wish to deliver ourselves from sin, we cannot do anything better than to devote ourselves to prayer.

In fact, no matter how many sins a person who loves prayer commits, he still has a quick and easy recourse, which is prayer, in order to obtain the grace of repentance and pardon.

Ask God, then, to give you a pure heart that has an aversion for whatever can stain your conscience and make you displeasing to God.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

For everyone who asks will receive, and he who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks. (Lk 11:10)

For the week of April 30: Stand Firm

It is a surprising thing how far the enemies of St. Athanasius carried their anger against him. There were no calumnies, injuries, deceptions, persecutions, evil treatments, and tribulations that the Arians did not try to use in order to destroy him. They accused him of all kinds of crimes, murder, violence, injustice, but all these charges were completely and publicly dismissed in the presence of his accusers who were put to shame because of all their lies.

Be ready to endure
injuries,
outrages and
calumnies
in return for all the good you have tried to do for others. Prepare your heart to accept these trials with love.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. (Mt 5:11)

For the week of April 23: The Spirit of Zeal

You share in the ministry of the Guardian Angels by making known to children the truths of the Gospel, which you have been chosen by God to announce.

Your zeal must go so far in this that in order to achieve it, you are ready to give your very life, so dear to you are the children entrusted to you.

It is your duty, then, to admonish the unruly, and to do this in such a way that they give up their former way of life; you must rouse up those who lack courage, support the weak, and be patient toward all.

You would be deserving of blame if you did not engage them to renounce their former way of life; you must, therefore, lead them with the same zeal to renounce lying, and to speak the truth to their neighbor at all times.

You must help them

to be gentle and
to have a tenderness for one another,
mutually forgiving, as God has forgiven them in Jesus Christ.

(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you in Christ. (Eph 4:31-32)

For the week of April 16:

A difference between worldlings’ joy and the joy of God’s servants is that the former is only superficial, whereas the latter is very deep. The joy of the former is only apparent: the world knows only the pomp and outward show of joy, but when God’s servants have joy, it is their hearts that rejoice.

The heart is the source of life in a person, because it is the last thing in a person to die. The joy of the just will be unshakeable and not easily subject to changes because it is founded on the love of God and union with him by prayer and the reception of the sacraments.

Your joy is genuine if you rejoice in the midst of suffering. But if you make your joy consist in sensual pleasures, how true it is that your joy is completely superficial, since it has the same nature as its object, a fragile and perishable good!

Does your joy come from within?
Do you not sometimes let yourself be absorbed by vain and entirely exterior joys?

Now you are sad, but I will see you again, and your hearts will be filled with gladness, the kind of gladness that no one can take away from you. (Jn 16:22)

For the week of April 9:

Charity is generous; this is the third quality attributed to charity by St. Paul. It was also by this quality of generosity that the Samaritan of the Gospel showed the goodness of his heart.

Admire the great charity of this good Samaritan. He was a foreigner among the Jews; people from his country were considered as schismatics by the Jews, and they hated each other. Still, this Samaritan did everything he could for the unfortunate traveller, whom a priest and a Levite, both Jews, had not even wanted to look at. He even showed great unselfishness in his charity, for after having done all in his power for him, personally, he gave the innkeeper money to care for him, and he promised him when he came back he would pay for all that he had spent on this man.

How human is such charity,
how little Christian,
how little does it deserve to be called generous!

Love is not ill-mannered, or selfish, or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs. (1 Cor 13:5)

For the week of April 2:

One of the principal signs that a person is leading a new life, and is risen with Jesus Christ, is when the person enjoys interior peace.

There are many persons who seem to be spiritual and to possess interior peace, but who really lack it. We might say of them what Jeremiah says, that they desire peace yet peace does not exist in them. Such persons appear to be the most pious and devoted; they speak very eloquently and most willingly about interior things. They often experience the presence of God in prayer. But just

say a sharp word to them or
do something to irritate them and
immediately they are quite upset.

They lose their peace because they are not solidly grounded in virtue and have not worked hard enough to get rid of their natural impulses.

Are you one of these persons? You have to give yourself more resolutely and more truly to God.

Peace be with you. (Lk 24:36)

For the week of:

March 26, 2018

This feast is a day of joy for the entire Church; that is why we so frequently sing:

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is glorious because by it he overcame death and destroyed sin. It is advantageous for us because it is an assurance of our own resurrection.

The resurrection should also procure for you the benefit of making you rise spiritually by causing you to live according to grace. This means it will cause you to enter an entirely new and heavenly life.

To enter into these practices and to show that you are risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, love the things of heaven, not those that are on earth. Show by your conduct that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has produced these happy effects in you.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-Easter Sunday)

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?
(Jn 11:25-26)

For the week of:

March 19, 2018

Consider Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd of the Gospel who

seeks the lost sheep,
places it upon his shoulders, and
carries it back to restore it to the fold.

Since you are taking his place, look upon yourself as obliged to do the same thing. Ask him for the grace needed to procure the conversion of their hearts.

You must devote yourself very much to prayer in order to succeed in your ministry. You must constantly represent the needs of your disciples to Jesus Christ, explaining to him the difficulties you have experienced in guiding them. Jesus Christ, seeing that you regard him as the one who can do everything in your work and yourself as an instrument that ought to be moved only by him, will not fail to grant you what you ask of him.

Guard against any human attitude toward your disciples; do not pride yourselves over what you do. These two things are capable of spoiling all the good there is in the performance of your duties. What have you in this regard that has not been given to you? And if it has been given to you, why are you boasting as if you had it on your own?
(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

Never boast about tomorrow. You don’t know what will happen between now and then. Let other people praise you - even strangers; never do it yourself.
(Prov 27:1-2)

For the week of:

March 12, 2018

You realise how important it is to follow the inspirations that come to you from God. They are precious and it is to them that God ordinarily attaches his graces. He does not mean for them to be given to you for no purpose. So those inspirations that God gives us are to be valued, and he grants his graces only insofar as we are faithful in following them.

Listen to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and
not so much to
your dislikes and difficulties.

You may be sure that you will not make progress in the way of love except insofar as you are faithful not to harden your heart to the inspirations of grace. You know what the Holy Spirit says by the mouth of the Prophet,

“If today you hear his voice, take care not to harden your heart.”

For the week of:

March 5, 2018:

Don’t Overdo It

Do you act with moderation between too much and too little, even in the practice of virtue?
Do you perform your actions without overhaste and without undue anxiety?
Are you not, for instance, too hasty to finish what you have begun, and troubled when commanded to do what you find disagreeable?

Never be sad or cast down with the kind of dejection the world experiences.

Be equally careful to avoid excessive joy, which gives rise to immoderate laughter, raillery, unbecoming jokes, and so on. (Collection)

Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough. (Prov 21:5)

For the week of

February 26, 2018:

Since you are ambassadors and ministers of Jesus Christ in the work that you do, you must act as representing Jesus Christ himself. He wants your disciples to see him in you and receive your instructions as if he were giving them to them. They must be convinced that your instructions are the truth of Jesus Christ who speaks with your mouth, that it is only in his name that you teach, and that it is he who has given you authority over them.

They must also be convinced that they themselves are a letter which Jesus Christ dictates to you, which you write each day in their hearts, not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, who acts in you and by you through the power of Jesus Christ. He helps you to triumph over all the obstacles that oppose the salvation of these children.

All your care for the children entrusted to you would be useless if Jesus Christ himself did not give
the quality,
the power, and
the efficacy
that is needed to make your care useful. All the good you are able to do in your work will be true and effective only insofar as Jesus Christ gives it his blessing and as you remain united with him. (Meditations for Time of Retreat)

So we are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:20)

For the week of

Feburary 19, 2018:

Opportunities to Serve

I have failed a great number of times to practise humility, although I have had such wonderful occasions for doing so.

What! The Lord of Heaven and earth humbles himself to the point of washing the feet of poor and miserable human beings. Yet I, a person of no consequence, find it hard to render a service to my neighbour, because this offends my pride.

It was to teach me, Lord, that you humbled yourself. It was to persuade me

·to humble myself and

·to feel no shame in serving others,

even giving what is considered the most demeaning and lowest service.

You join to your example the promise that I shall be happy if I care to avail myself of your promise.

To day, I shall pray that people will make me do the most humbling tasks.

(Mental Prayer)

If, therefore, I who am your master and Lord have washed your feet, you must also wash one another’s feet. (Jn 13:14)

For the week of:

February 12, 2018

the good actions you could perform and
the faults you should avoid,
the virtues you could practice,
your duties of state,
or similar subjects?

It is far better to foresee in the morning the faults you might commit, in order to avoid them, than to have to deplore them at night because you had not foreseen them.

The discreet man sees danger and takes shelter, the ignorant go forward and pay for it. (Prov 22:3)

For the week of:

February 5, 2018

What greater privilege could we enjoy in this world, than to have God dwelling in us and reigning there with the absolute power of a king in his kingdom.

With God thus reigning in the soul, it has the honour says St. Paul, of being the temple of God. You are, he says, the temple of the living God.

This is certainly true since the whole person, body and soul, belongs to God. Surely you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you.
(1 Cor 3:16)

We should then be very careful not to profane this temple, much less to destroy it, by driving God and His Holy Spirit from our hearts.

This thought must make us reflect seriously

·that we are obliged to live in great holiness and

·that we are not only to refrain from soiling our soul with any vice, but

·that we are bound to take particular care to adorn it with every kind of virtue.

(Mental Prayer)

I will make my home with my people and live among them;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(Lev 26:12)

For the week of:

January 29, 2018

If we have esteem for worldly things, it should only be in so far as they relate to God, because we are rightly convinced that God is present in all things and that all things are nothing except in so far as God dwells in them.

From this it follows that we insult God dwelling in us when we do something which displeases him, and when we use our senses wrongly, seeking to please ourselves and not to please God who is the only one in whom we are to find all our pleasure and all our satisfaction.

In fact, we have
being,
movement, and
life
only because God is in us, and communicates them to us. So that if God were to cease for one moment to be within us or failed to give us being, we would instantly fall into nothingness.

(Mental Prayer)

“God is not far from any of us,
since we do not have life or movement or being
except in God.”
(Acts 17:28)

For the week of:

January 16, 2018

All your care for the children entrusted to you would be useless if Jesus Christ himself did not give
the quality,
the power, and
the efficacy
that is needed to make your care useful. As the branch of the vine cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it remains attached to the stem, so neither can you bear fruit, if you do not remain in me, says the Lord.

What Jesus Christ says to his apostles he also says to you. It is the same for you as it is for the branch of the vine, which can bear fruit only if it remains attached to the stem and draws its sap and strength from the vine.

Jesus Christ wants you to understand from this comparison that the more your work for the good of your disciples is given life by him and draws its power from him, the more it will produce good in them. He is also the one who enlightens the minds of your students and leads them to love and to practise the good that you teach them.

For the week of:

December 18, 2017

If you wish to make great progress in the practice of this virtue, carry out the following directions:

When reproved for some fault, you have not committed, thank those who do this with the same gentleness and humility as if they were doing you a favor.

Always take the lowest and most inconvenient place, in spite of any repugnance you may feel.

You must be convinced that there is none who is not more virtuous and more spiritual than you.

If you can engrave these sentiments on your heart and live by them, I think you will have found an efficacious means of drawing down God’s mercy on yourself.

December 11, 2017

Is the cross you carry the cross of Jesus Christ?
How do you recognize this?

Pay attention to this: if these crosses turn you away and make you complain, they are the crosses of thieves.

Prepare yourself today, then to love the Cross, since you will always have it.

December 4, 2017

The love St. Nicholas had for the poor was surprising, for it led him to explore all possible means to provide for their needs. It was this which led him to go secretly by night, on three different occasions, to provide the sum necessary for the dowry of three young girls whose father was prepared to prostitute them because he did not have the means to get them married.

You are under the obligation to instruct the children of the poor. You should, therefore, cultivate a very special tenderness for them and supply their spiritual needs as far as you are able. Faith, which should animate you, should lead you to respect Jesus Christ in their persons, and make you prefer them to the wealthiest children on earth because they are the living images of Jesus Christ. By the care you have for them, show how truly dear they are to you. Ask St. Nicholas to obtain for you from God some share in his love for the poor, and especially a great zeal to procure purity for them, a virtue so difficult to preserve in a time as corrupt as ours.

November 27, 2017

Why, do you think, did Jesus Christ praise St. John the Baptist so highly? It was to lead the people to accept his teaching, and to make them understand that what John had said about himself was true; that St. John had been sent to prepare their hearts to receive Jesus Christ himself and to profit by his teachings. This saint began by living a life of seclusion, prayer, and penance, to practice what he wanted to teach others, and thus to dispose his own heart to receive the fullness of the Spirit of God.

November 20, 2017

The manner in which Jesus Christ says we should love God requires of us a great courage.

To love God with all your heart and with all your soul is truly to sacrifice your life for God, to spend it only for him. This is what you can do in your profession and your work, not being concerned whether you die in a few years, provided you save yourself and win souls for God.

They will help you to rise to heaven because you have helped them procure admittance there, have taught them how to enter, and have helped them take all possible means of doing so.

God has put us in this world only for himself; he thinks constantly of us and has given us a mind that can think of him. Jesus Christ, then has reason to say that we must love God with all our minds.

Nothing shows better that we love another person than when we cannot help thinking about that person. How happy you would be if all your thoughts tended only to God. Then you would really have found your paradise in this world.

November 13, 2017

What are your dispositions and with what purity of heart and intention do you go to Holy Communion?

You can easily make the four following considerations before approaching the holy table, to place your heart in the condition in which it ought to be for so holy an action.

The first is, “What am I about to do?”
The second is, “Who am I compared with almighty God?”
The third is, “Why do I wish to approach the altar to receive him?”
The fourth is, “How, and for what reason, should I receive Holy Communion to day?”

Do you approach the holy table with the same dispositions you would wish to have on entering heaven? Surely we should not have less respect in receiving Jesus Christ than in being received by him.

November 6, 2017

Jesus Christ says that when the abomination of desolation will be in the holy place, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. No one can question that a community is a holy place, that the Lord is truly in this place and this place is the house of God and the gate of heaven.

This is true since God’s name is so often invoked there and since those who dwell there are together there only to save themselves through the sanctification of their souls.

This is the first purpose you should have had when you entered this community and what ought to keep you there. It is for this end that we live withdrawn from the world and why we commit ourselves to all kinds of exercises of piety. How little sense you would have had if you had come here with any other purpose.

Have you come to this house as to the house of the Lord? Did you come here in order to sanctify yourself? Is the main effort you make in this house to take the means to become holy?

Pray God to preserve his Holy Spirit always in your community.

October 30, 2017

I believe you, my God, became a child for love of me. You were born in a stable in the dead of winter. You lay on hay and straw. Your love for me reduced you to such poverty.

You could have been born in an abundance of riches and honors and in the most magnificent palace. At your birth you could have taken possession of the kingdoms of the world, because they belonged to you. But you preferred not to profit from these rights.

Your infinite wisdom judged that it was much more to my advantage to give me the example of the life which I must lead, the road which I must follow to reach true glory, to enjoy spiritual and heavenly wealth.

I do this by detachment from the perishable goods of the earth and of false and ephemeral honors.

You know, Lord, how my proud, avaricious, and sensual nature inclines me to these things.

October 23, 2017

Some will say, “This I will endure from my Brother, but as for that, I cannot bring myself to put up with it" or some will say, “My disposition is incompatible with his.”

Therefore, as soon as something occurs which you find hard to bear, you fail to show charity toward your brother or union with him.

October 9, 2017

Be careful not to become dissipated and do not lose sight of the presence of God.

Does your tongue cause you some disquietude of conscience during this time?

Be moderate in your conduct and observe discretion in your words.

October 2, 2017

You must not take it upon yourself to reprimand anyone unless you are obliged to do so or unless the matter is important.

It is a serious fault to set yourself up as critic and public censor. You should judge everyone favorably and not concern yourself with their actions unless you are responsible for their behavior and are bound to instruct them and lead them to do what is right.

Jesus Christ wants you not only to pardon your enemies but also to do good to them, no matter what the wrong or displeasure they have caused you.

September 25, 2017

St. Michael was the leader of all the angels who remained faithful to God. He it was who, through zeal for the glory of God, joined with all the holy angels to fight against Lucifer and his adherents who, dazzled by the perfections and graces God had placed in them, revolted against him.

St. Michael, filled with faith, which served as his shield against the evil angels, was victorious over them by these words: Who is like to God? At the same time he and his followers gave glory to God as they cried out, You are worthy, O Lord Our God, to receive all glory, all honor, and all power, because you have created all things.

Pay St. Michael the honor he deserves for having been so loyal to God. Often recall those words which animated them and the good angels in the fight: “Who is like unto God?”

These words will strengthen you in your temptations.

September 18, 2017

Be sure to be warmly affable toward everyone, to speak to and to answer everyone with a very great gentleness and deference, keeping in mind the way Our Lord spoke and replied to others, even when he was most harshly treated.

Never comment on the faults or behavior of your brothers. When others speak of them, put a good interpretation on their actions, and if you cannot, say nothing at all.

Unless necessity obliges you, don’t ever complain about others in any matter at all, and should you be obliged to do so, do not make it a formal complaint.

You are full of zeal but it is not well regulated, because you want others to be reprimanded for their faults but do not wish to be reproved for your own. Put up with the faults of others and be generous in the interpretation you put on them.

September 11, 2017

The name Mary means star of the sea. It is, says St. Bernard, very well given to her, because she is indeed a star which enlightens, guides, and leads us to a harbor in the stormy sea of this world.

The road you must follow through this life being so dangerous, you need a guide to walk safely. You cannot have a better guide than the most Blessed Virgin, because she is most pure within and without and because she knows all the paths and all the means to keep you safe amid the dangers you will encounter.

You have without doubt a need for light in this life, where you are always as if upon a stormy sea. In danger, in narrow and perilous paths, think of Mary, invoke her sacred name; at once you will find comfort and deliverance from all your troubles

September 5, 2017

When Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees to take a meal with him, those who were there watched him maliciously. You are in a work which allows everybody to observe you.

In the first place, your students observe you; this is why you are obliged to give them good example by your teaching, imitating Our Lord in this who began to do before teaching.

This is also something which will make you esteemed by your students; this is why it is important that your actions teach them more than your words.

Is this how you act? Do you teach your disciples anything you do not practice yourselves? When you tell them to be self-controlled, are you the very first to act that way? When you urge them to pray to God, do you do so yourselves? Do you have the same charity for them that you want them to have for their companions?

It is by conduct of this sort that you will be a model of good works in all things.

August 28, 2017

Today’s Gospel portrays the plight of those who have lost the grace of their state. Jesus Christ, drawing near to the dead man, touched the litter, and those who carried it stood still. Then he said to this young man, I bid you, get up. Immediately the dead man sat up, uncovered his face, and began to speak. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.

These words make known the means to recover the grace of our vocation.
The first is to resort to prayer in order to bring Jesus near to us. The second is to stop the flow of all the thoughts which have led us to the brink of the precipice. The third is to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ who speaks to us through our superiors. The fourth is to raise ourselves up to God as soon as we hear his word.

In this way, little by little, we recover the spirit of our state and begin again to fulfill the duties expected of us. Then Jesus will give us back to our mother, which is our community, to which we have committed ourselves.

August 21, 2017

Frequently spend time in prayer, and during periods of dryness try to find your consolation in it, for it is there you will find God most surely. In periods of dryness and darkness when you feel no attraction, remain constantly faithful to prayer.

Be all the more faithful to prayer when you feel, on the one hand, God deep in your heart drawing you to it, and, on the other, the devil making every effort to dissuade you from it.

Your prayer is good just as you are making it. God is in your prayer, making it for you. All you have to do is from time to time disown with peace and tranquillity of heart all the distractions you experience. Put yourself completely in the hands of Our Lord, so that he may come and live in you.

August 7, 2017

Charity is kind. Indeed, it is not by scolding, murmuring, complaining about or quarreling that we show our love and union. It is by speaking in a kind and affable way. A kind word, says the wise man, turns away wrath, while a harsh reply stirs up fury.

Ah! what a great advantage it is to learn well and to practice well the lesson given us by Our Lord: Learn of me, for I am kind and humble of heart.

Never speak to anyone except with kindness, and if you fear to speak otherwise, keep silent.

July 24, 2017

Let people think what they wish of you, and do not be troubled, provided you are doing what you ought.

Do not complain in the least of what people may say or do against you. Show by your silence and patience that you are content.

July 10, 2017

Dislike for our neighbor and resentment for wrongs done to us prevent our prayers from reaching God. If our hearts are torn by anger or hatred, it is impossible for us to maintain union with Jesus Christ.

Each day look for every possible opportunity of doing a kindness for those for whom you feel dislike.

Unless necessity obliges you, don’t ever complain about others in any matter at all and should you be obliged to do so, do not make it a formal complaint.

June 26, 2017

Over 4,000 people had followed Jesus Christ out into the desert, drawn by the example of his holy life and by the zeal he showed for the conversion of souls. These people did not grow weary in Our Lord’s company, even though they were in a deserted place, had nothing to eat, and could not procure any food.

If they acted this way, it was because they were convinced as followers of Jesus that they should no longer be concerned about their bodies but only their souls.

Jesus, seeing that these people took no care for their bodily nourishment, took care of it himself. It is right to let him act in such a circumstances, because the more fully we abandon ourselves to the care of Providence, the more attentive God is not to let us want for anything.

A marvellous thing indeed! For three days these people did not say a single word to complain or show their distress, because it was enough that Jesus Christ knew their needs.

Has he ever abandoned those whose only desire is to please him, and who think only of following him?

June 19, 2017

Civility is so demanding in what refers to your neighbor that it does not permit you to scandalize anyone in any way and never allows you to speak ill of anyone. It is, then, very rude to be forever finding fault with what others do. If you do not wish to say anything good about them, you should say nothing.

When you hear someone spoken ill of, civility requires that you try to
excuse his defects and say something good about him by showing him in a favorable light and by speaking with appreciation of something he did.

Thus, according to the Wise Man’s counsel, if you have heard something unfavorable about your neighbour, you should, if you wish to act with decorum, let the story be buried in your own heart.

June 12, 2017

Approach the sacraments eagerly; it is in them that you will find the strength to overcome your difficulties.

I cannot understand why you did not tell me earlier of the temptation you experienced. Don’t you know that an illness is already half cured when you tell the doctor about it?

June 5, 2017

You should make an effort to be so sincere in what you say that you will earn the reputation of being entirely truthful, a person whose word can be counted on, a person people can rely on.

Nothing is more honorable for you than the sincerity and fidelity you show in keeping your promises, just as nothing makes you more worthy of contempt than breaking your word.

As it is a matter of honor to be faithful to your words, so it is very imprudent to speak lightly without having seriously considered whether you will be able to keep your promises. For this reason, never make a promise without carefully weighing the consequences.

It is shameful for you to make use of fraud and deceit in your words, Those who do this will soon find that they have won for themselves an infamous reputation for dishonesty.

May 30, 2017

It is hard to imagine that persons who are born for heaven should neglect the best means given them by God to sanctify themselves, namely, communion with the body of Christ.

If, as Our Lord says, the body is more important than the clothing, what is the body compared with the soul?

If a king wanted to honor his people who were taken up with worldly concerns and proposed to visit them in their homes, would they offer him such frivolous excuses for not welcoming him?

Bestir yourself to receive Communion, and come with faith. You commit a great wrong if you excuse yourself from Communion, since you have so many opportunities to receive it with such great ease. Be convinced that no matter what excuse you give to Jesus Christ to dispense yourself from receiving him, he is not disposed to accept it.

May 22, 2017

This saint had a great devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ and to the Blessed Virgin. He could not think or speak of the sufferings of Jesus without weeping, because he considered himself to be the cause. This made him sometimes say that the wound in Christ’s side was very large, but if God did not restrain his hand, he would make it even larger. He also sometimes spent entire nights conversing with the Blessed Virgin.

These two loves, for Jesus Christ and for the Blessed Virgin, have, as a rule, been the principal devotions of the greatest saints. St. Bernard and St. Francis found their greatest pleasure meditating on the Passion of Jesus Christ, and they had such a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin that they chose her as the protectress of their orders.

Consider her in the same way as the protectress of your Institute.

May 15, 2017

It is not true that in your vocation suffering goes unrewarded. Every state of life has its own difficulties. You must not be surprised at having to suffer. This is part of the plan of God, who wishes us to gain merit in this way. Make sure, then, that in the future you bear your sufferings with patience.

You must expect to have troubles all your life, wherever and in whatever situation you find yourself.

Always cling to the Cross of Jesus Christ, and never separate yourself from it. Ought we not to suffer in order to win back the paradise we have lost and to avoid the hell we deserve? If you wish to be pleasing to God, offer him your sufferings in union with those of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

May 8, 2017

When you find the practice of virtue difficult, you must strive to make it become easy by applying yourself to prayer.

Prayer, says St. Chrysostom, is a divine medicine which drives out of our hearts all the malice it finds there and fills them with all justice.

This is why, if we wish to deliver ourselves from sin, we cannot do anything better than to devote ourselves to prayer.

In fact, no matter how many sins a person who loves prayer commits, he still has a quick and easy recourse, which is prayer, in order to obtain the grace of repentance and pardon.

Ask God, then, to give you a pure heart that has an aversion for whatever can stain your conscience and make you displeasing to God.

May 1, 2017

Be ready to endure injuries, outrages and calumnies in return for all the good you have tried to do for others. Prepare your heart to accept these trials with love.

April 24, 2017

Jesus Christ told his apostles that it was better for them that he was leaving.

Those who have given themselves to God often believe that God’s sensible presence is the only thing that can confirm them in piety. They think that when they experience interior difficulty and dryness they have completely lost the degree of holiness to which God has raised them. Having lost a certain relish for prayer and a facility for praying, they imagine that they have lost everything and that God has completely rejected them. Their inner life is desolate and they suppose that all the paths leading to God are blocked before them.

Such persons should be told what Jesus Christ said to his apostles: that it is better for them that God withdraws from them on a feeling level, and that what they consider a loss is for them a real gain if they willingly endure this trial.

April 18, 2017

At the sight of Jesus Christ and of his wounds, Saint Thomas cannot keep from crying out, "My Lord and my God!", because up to then he saw Jesus Christ only with eyes blinded by the darkness of doubt. He was not able to perceive the divinity veiled beneath the shadows of human nature. But now, thanks to the light of faith, he sees all that is divine in Our Lord.

In this way a soul is filled with views of faith and so raised up into the life of God that it no longer understands things apart from God, values everything in terms of God and finds no joy except in God.

This was how St. Francis felt when, enlightened by faith and filled with love for God, he kept saying all his life, “My God and my all!”

Do you feel that you have this disposition? Pray to the risen Christ to give it to you.

April 10, 2017

Jesus Christ compares those who have charge of souls to a good shepherd who has great care for the sheep. One quality he must possess is to know each one of them individually. This should be one of the main concerns of those who instruct others: to be able to understand their pupils and to discern the right way to guide them.

They must show more mildness toward some, more firmness toward others. There are those who call for much patience, those who need to be stimulated and spurred on. Some need to be reproved to correct them of their faults while others must be constantly watched over to prevent them from being lost or going astray.

This guidance requires understanding and discernment of spirits, qualities you should frequently and earnestly ask of God. They are most necessary for you in the guidance of those placed in your care.

April 3, 2017

One of the principal signs that a person is leading a new life, and is risen with Jesus Christ, is when the person enjoys interior peace.

They lose their peace because they are not solidly grounded in virtue and have not worked hard enough to get rid of their natural impulses.

Are you one of these persons? You have to give yourself more resolutely and more truly to God.

March 27, 2017

One of the principal signs that a person is leading a new life, and is risen with Jesus Christ, is when the person enjoys interior peace.

They lose their peace because they are not solidly grounded in virtue and have not worked hard enough to get rid of their natural impulses.

Are you one of these persons? You have to give yourself more resolutely and more truly to God.

March 20, 2017

Consider Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd of the Gospel who seeks the lost sheep, places it upon his shoulders, and carries it back to restore it to the fold.

Since you are taking his place, look upon yourself as obliged to do the same thing. Ask him for the grace needed to procure the conversion of their hearts.

March 13, 2017

The Wise Man gives us a number of important suggestions about the manner in which we should behave at table if we are to eat with propriety and with decorum (Eccl 31).

He tells us that we should not give in to intemperance as soon as we are seated, scrutinizing the food with avidity, as though we would like to devour everything in sight, without leaving anything for the others.

He forbids us to eat hurriedly. It is impolite to eat with avidity, for this is the way a glutton would act.

He insists that we partake of what is served like a temperate person, eating only with restraint and moderation.

He exhorts us to defer very much to others at table.

He adds, to persuade us to follow these rules of refinement and sobriety, that whoever eats little will enjoy healthful slumber while insomnia, colic, and indigestion are the lot of the intemperate.

March 6, 2017

Do you act with moderation between too much and too little, even in the practice of virtue? Do you perform your actions without overhaste and without undue anxiety?

Are you not, for instance, too hasty to finish what you have begun, and troubled when commanded to do what you find disagreeable?

Never be sad or cast down with the kind of dejection the world experiences.

Be equally careful to avoid excessive joy, which gives rise to immoderate laughter, raillery, unbecoming jokes, and so on.

February 27, 2017

In speaking, make it a point to use a gentle and related tone of voice. It is not polite to talk too loudly or to shout as though speaking to deaf people.

One thing you should be careful about when speaking is not to let anything harsh, bitter, or disdainful creep into your voice, no matter to whom you are speaking. You should always speak with refinement and good will.

There are some people whose way of enunciating is hard and brusque, and this manner of speaking is very rude. To overcome this defect, always speak gently, paying attention to yourself and showing much kindness for others.

February 20, 2017

You say that often you don’t know how to keep from speaking. You must try to learn this. It is great wisdom to know how to keep silence when the occasion requires it. Get into the habit of always speaking in a low voice. You know very well that silence and recollection are two means of becoming interior.

You will find silence a very useful, even a very necessary virtue, if you are to adore God, serve him in spirit and in truth, resist temptations, and save yourself from falling into sin.

Always remain silent when others annoy you, and let God alone be the witness of your innocence.

You must learn how to be silent and to speak only when necessary, so that you may not fall into the habit of excessive talking. If you cannot speak without justifying yourself, remain completely silent.

February 13, 2017

At the beginning of morning prayer, are you careful to give some forethought to what you will do during the day especially to whatever is likely to cause you some difficulty, or to those occasions in which your human nature will have to suffer, in order to prepare for them? Do you foresee the good actions you could perform and the faults you should avoid, the virtues you could practice, your duties of state, or similar subjects?

It is far better to foresee in the morning the faults you might commit, in order to avoid them, than to have to deplore them at night because you had not foreseen them.

February 6, 2017

Take care never to let anything harsh be seen in your appearance; you should rather manifest wisdom, kindness, and good will.

As a person of good judgment, you should never raise your hand to strike another on the cheek; decorum and propriety never allow this, not even toward a servant.

January 30, 2017

In fact, we have being, movement, and life only because God is in us, and communicates them to us. So that if God were to cease for one moment to be within us or failed to give us being, we would instantly fall into nothingness.

January 23, 2017

This saint had such gentleness and tenderness toward his neighbor and tried so earnestly to suppress in himself even the slightest movements of anger that after his death no bile was found in his body. When someone once urged him to yield to impatience, he asked if she wished him to lose in a moment what he had spent his whole life acquiring.

It was this gentleness and tenderness for his neighbor that made it possible for Saint Francis to convert so many souls to God.

In fact, this virtue won the hearts of all those with whom he dealt, and the affection they felt for him was a means he used to bring them to God.

Do you have these feelings of charity and tenderness toward the children whom you have to educate? If you have for them the firmness of a father to restrain them from misbehavior, you must also have for them the tenderness of a mother to draw them to you.

Learn from this saint to overcome your passions.

January 17, 2017

Never read through curiosity, and do not read hurriedly to get through a book quickly. Stop from time to time to relish your reading. Reflect on and examine yourself about what prevents you from practicing what you read.

Read your spiritual book as if it were a letter sent by Jesus Christ himself to make known to you his holy will.

As it is neither the books we read nor the reasons we hear which of themselves touch our conscience, but rather God who uses these means, we must pray for the grace to draw from them the fruit which God desires to communicate to us.

Have you done so?

January 9, 2017

I cannot understand why you did not tell me earlier of the temptation you experienced. Don’t you know that an illness is already half cured when you tell the doctor about it?

You must not be upset or anxious over the temptations you experience. When they come, place yourself in God’s hands as you would with a good father. Beg him to help you, being convinced that you cannot help yourself. Approach the sacraments eagerly; it is in them that you will find the strength to overcome your difficulties.

You are right in saying that the thoughts you indulge in from time to time about the difficulties of your vocation are nothing but a deception of the devil, who seeks only to discourage you from lovingly bearing the hardships that are part of it.

Firm courage and a little generosity will enable you to overcome all your difficulties. Take advantage of your times of favor to buoy yourself up.

December 19, 2016

This week Jesus Christ is born poor in a stable. The Most Blessed Virgin brings him into the world in a place where she finds no comfort and where there is no other bed to put this newborn Child except a manger. Behold the palace and the bed for presenting Jesus our Savior on his entry into the world!

The poverty that Jesus practices so eminently at his birth should commit us to have a great love for this virtue. Let us not be surprised, then, when we lack something, even necessities, since at his birth Jesus was lacking everything.

If you do not resemble the newborn Jesus in his poverty and humility, you will be little known and little employed. You will be neither loved nor appreciated by the poor, and you will never be for them a savior.

December 19, 2016

Is the cross you carry the cross of Jesus Christ? How do you recognize this?

Pay attention to this: If these crosses turn you away and make you complain, they are the crosses of thieves.

Prepare yourself today, then, to love the Cross, since you will always have it.

December 5, 2016

By the care you have for them, show how truly dear they are to you. Ask St. Nicholas to obtain for you from God some share in his love for the poor, and especially a great zeal to procure purity for them, a virtue so difficult to preserve in a time as corrupt as ours.

November 28, 2016

St. Andrew, who was for a while a disciple of St. John the Baptist, became a follower of Jesus Christ when Our Lord called him. As soon as he knew Jesus, he brought his brother, Peter, to Our Lord. This new disciple, not satisfied with taking care of his own salvation, was already trying to bring others to become disciples of Jesus Christ, who always showed him a special affection and often had him for his companion.

You have been called just as the apostles were to make God known, and you need great zeal for this. Ask God for a share in the zeal of St. Andrew, look upon him as your model, and proclaim Jesus Christ and his holy truths without growing weary.

For this purpose you need to have learned these truths from Jesus Christ by being often in his company through your assiduity in prayer.

November 21, 2016

The manner in which Jesus Christ says we should love God requires of us a great courage.

They will help you to rise to heaven because you have helped them procure admittance there, have taught them how to enter, and have helped them take all possible means of doing so.

God has put us in this world only for himself; he thinks constantly of us and has given us a mind that can think of him. Jesus Christ, then has reason to say that we must love God with all our minds.

November 14, 2016

St. Margaret’s principal care was to govern her household properly and to make sure that all who belonged to it revered and loved God. She even became the teacher of her children, teaching them to read. She devoted herself to their education as her supreme duty, regarding it as the most pleasing thing she could do for God. For the same reason this was likewise the first object of her prayers.

This saint is a great example of what you should do for the children God has entrusted to you. Consider this an honor for you and look upon the children as the children of God himself. Have much more care for their education and instruction than you would have for the children of a king.

Do you love them? Do you honor Jesus Christ in their persons?

November 7, 2016

The gentleness and wisdom of St. Leo were admirable and won for him the esteem of even the most uncivilized.

Is it in this way, by your gentleness and your wisdom, that you lead those entrusted to your care to give up bad habits and disorderly conduct and to devote themselves to piety? These two means joined to prayer are often more effective on souls than any other method you could imagine.

October 31, 2016

Prayer, says St. Chrysostom, is a divine medicine which drives out of our hearts all the malice it finds there and ·fills them with all justice.

This is why if we wish to deliver ourselves from sin completely, we cannot do anything better than to devote ourselves to prayer.

In fact, no matter how many sins a person who loves prayer commits, he still has, even in the midst of a very great disordered life, a quick and easy recourse, which is prayer, in order to obtain the grace of repentance and pardon.

Ask God, then, to grant you a pure heart that has an aversion not only for the most grievous sins, but also for whatever can stain your conscience.

October 24, 2016

As true interior peace proceeds from love, nothing is more able to destroy it than whatever makes us lose the love of God. What will separate us, asks St. Paul, from the love of Jesus Christ?

Will it be tribulation, that is, either interior or exterior trials?

Will it be distress, that is, whatever can cause you some vexation, like separation or privation of something to which you are attached?

Will it be hunger, because you live in a poor community and have to live sparingly?

Will it be nakedness, because you are given worn or patched clothes causing you embarrassment in public?

Will it be some danger, in which you might lose your health or even your life?

Will it be some persecution, such as insults and vicious treatment against you?

Will it be the sword, a calumny that someone has spread against you?

None of these things can make you lose your interior peace if it is a true peace, because none of them can cause you to lose charity.

October 17, 2016

Now is the time for little speech and much action. Let your aim be to become very silent and very humble and to apply yourself to prayer.

To do this you need little thinking, little desiring, and little understanding; yet it is the way to live at peace.

You will find silence very useful, even a very necessary virtue, if you are to adore God, serve him in spirit and in truth and resist temptations.

You must learn how to be silent and to speak only when necessary. Always remain silent when others annoy you, and let God alone be the witness of your innocence.

Take care never to justify yourself, but, on the contrary, admit that you were wrong, without of course telling an untruth.

October 10, 2016

You wicked servant, said the ruler, should you not have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had compassion on you? God has forgiven you a huge debt; he certainly expects you also to forgive those of your Brothers who owe anything to you.

It is impossible for several persons living together not to have to suffer from one another. One will have a touchy disposition, another will have a contrary spirit, another bad manners, another will be disagreeable, another will be too prone to give in, another will say what he thinks too quickly, another will be too reserved and secretive, another will be too critical.

If grace does not come to the rescue, it is almost impossible to live in harmony with one another and that charity not suffer severely.

The way to maintain union in a community in spite of all these different personalities is to bear up charitably with the defects of each other, to be ready to make allowances for others just as we want others to make allowances for us. Pay serious attention to this today and for the rest of your life.

October 3, 2016

So great was the love of St. Francis for the poor that he gladly gave them alms on every occasion and was unable to turn down anyone who asked him for anything.

This was because he saw Jesus Christ in their persons and was convinced that what ever good he did to them, he did to Jesus Christ himself.

This same love for the poor led this great saint to devote himself to instructing them rather than the rich. Motivated by this same love for the poor, he served them in the hospitals of the places he visited. It was to imitate Jesus Christ, who also loved the company of the poor, that St. Francis showed special happiness in their midst.

You are required by your work to love the poor since it is your duty to instruct them. Look upon them as images of Jesus Christ. In this way the more affection you show for them, the more you will belong to Jesus Christ.

September 26, 2016

St. Jerome was gifted with an excellent mind and extraordinary learning. At first he devoted himself to humane learning, but having perceived that this turned him away from God, he gave this up and spared neither pain nor effort to be instructed in Holy Scripture.

In Athens he met St. Gregory of Nazianzen, who told him that to understand well the meaning of Holy Scripture it is necessary to begin by putting it into practice. St. Jerome went at once into the Syrian desert to live there a holy and penitential life, devoting himself to prayer, meditation on Holy Scripture, and the practice of all it teaches.

It was there that he came to understand thoroughly that knowledge sometimes puffs up, but charity edifies, that if anyone thinks he knows something, he has not yet learned what he should know, but if anyone loves God, he is known and loved by God.

If you wish to be filled with the mind of God, make the sacred books of Scripture your special study so that they serve as your rule of conduct.

September 19, 2016

Never comment on the faults or behavior of your brothers. When others speak of them, put a good interpretation on their actions, and if you cannot, say nothing at all.

Unless necessity obliges you, don’t ever complain about others in any matter at all, and should you be obliged to do so, do not make it a formal complaint.

September 12, 2016

The name Mary means star of the sea. It is, says St. Bernard, very well given to her, because she is indeed a star which enlightens, guides, and leads us to a harbor in the stormy sea of this world.

September 6, 2016

When Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees to take a meal with him, those who were there watched him maliciously. You are in a work which allows everybody to observe you.

In the first place, your students observe you; this is why you are obliged to give them good example by your teaching, imitating Our Lord in this who began to do before teaching.

This is also something which will make you esteemed by your students; this is why it is important that your actions teach them more than your words.

Is this how you act?

Do you teach your disciples anything you do not practice yourselves?

When you tell them to be self-controlled, are you the very first to act that way?

When you urge them to pray to God, do you do so yourselves?

Do you have the same charity for them that you want them to have for their companions?

It is by conduct of this sort that you will be a model of good works in all things.

August 29, 2016

These words make known the means to recover the grace of our vocation.

The first is to resort to prayer in order to bring Jesus near to us.

The second is to stop the flow of all the thoughts which have led us to the brink of the precipice.

The third is to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ who speaks to us through our superiors.

The fourth is to raise ourselves up to God as soon as we hear his word.

August 22, 2016

It is to you especially that Jesus Christ addresses these words of today’s Gospel. Seek first the Kingdom of God. You should seek only to establish within your soul this reign of God both in this life and in the next.

You nourish the life of your soul with God’s life by occupying yourself with his holy presence as much as you are able. Seek only to do his will, to love him, and cause him to be loved by others.

This should be your entire preoccupation on earth; to accomplish this should be the goal of all your work. Hence, help those whom you teach to look upon sin as a shameful sickness which infects their souls. Inspire them with a love for virtue, and see to it that God does not cease to reign in them.

Often recall to mind the purpose of your vocation, and let this arouse you to do your part to establish and maintain the kingdom of God in the hearts of your students.

August 8, 2016

In today’s Gospel Jesus Christ proposes to us an example of Charity. Charity is kind. Indeed, it is not by scolding, murmuring, complaining about or quarreling that we show our love and union. It is by speaking in a kind and affable way. A kind word, says the wise man, turns away wrath, while a harsh reply stirs up fury.

Ah! what a great advantage it is to learn well and to practice well the lesson given us by Our Lord: Learn of me, for I am kind and humble of heart.

Never speak to anyone except with kindness, and if you fear to speak otherwise, keep silent.

July 25, 2016

Seeing that most people are so filled with themselves that generally if they speak, it is of themselves and in their favor, Jesus Christ proposes to us the parable of a publican and a Pharisee. The latter pretended to pray, but his mind was full of nothing but his good qualities, and the former humbly begged God for mercy and was justified because of the simple and humble manner in which he prayed. The other man, on the contrary, reaped only confusion because he had insulted God instead of praying to him.

This is the model Jesus gives you to induce you never to speak or think about yourself except to seek the means to correct yourself of your defects. When you pray, often say with David, my sin is before me always.

Indeed such is your condition; yet, to hear you speak it seems that you are something! Do not imitate the Pharisee, who instead of praying to God thought only of praising and congratulating himself.

Never show any esteem for what you do, for it is God by his goodness and his grace who is the author of all the good there is in you.

July 11, 2016

Each day look for every possible opportunity of doing a kindness for those for whom you feel dislike.

Unless necessity obliges you, don’t ever complain about others in any matter at all and should you be obliged to do so, do not make it a formal complaint.

June 27, 2016

You should make an effort to be so sincere in what you say that you will earn the reputation of being entirely truthful,

a person whose word can be counted on,
a person people can rely on.

Nothing is more honorable for you than the sincerity and fidelity you show in keeping your promises, just as nothing makes you more worthy of contempt than breaking your word.

June 13, 2016

When Saint Anthony of Padua was put to the work of preaching, it became apparent that God had placed his holy word in his mouth. For when he preached all his hearers were filled with admiration, and he brought about surprising conversions.

He succeeded so well in this ministry because he had prepared himself for it by seclusion and prayer.

You need to live in seclusion in order to learn the knowledge of salvation which you have to teach others. In that way you must learn how to speak about God, and be able to speak about him effectively.

Be convinced that it is in seclusion and in silence that you learn how to speak well.

June 6, 2016

Approach the sacraments eagerly; it is in them that you will find the strength to overcome your difficulties.

I cannot understand why you did not tell me earlier of the temptation you experienced. Don’t you know that an illness is already half cured when you tell the doctor about it?

May 31, 2016

We can make an act of faith in the presence of Our Lord in the church in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

It is here, truly, that Jesus makes his dwelling place.

I must consider myself happy to be there often, to keep you company and to fulfill my obligations to you.

Although you may be veiled from my eyes, yet you are there as great, as powerful, as adorable, as lovable, as you are in heaven. Because you are the same God and because you are equally present in both places.

May 23, 2016

We can make an act of faith in the presence of God by considering him in our soul as in His temple.

I believe that you are the treasure of my soul, and that it has the advantage of possessing you since St. Paul assures us that we are the temple of the living God who dwells in us, and that He will converse with us.

It is, therefore, in order to make me take pleasure in your conversation that you make your dwelling in my soul, in order to make of it a place of delights.

Detach my soul so much from all created things that you may find your delight there. Overwhelm it with your blessings and your graces, so that being fittingly adorned, it may become worthy of receiving you.

May 16, 2016

You must expect to have troubles all your life, wherever and in whatever situation you find yourself.

May 9, 2016

You must be particularly circumspect in your words when someone has entrusted you with a secret. It would be very imprudent to reveal it, even if you urge the one to whom you repeat the matter to keep it to himself, and even if the one who confided the secret to you has not asked you not to mention it to others.

May 2, 2016

Some fear to receive Communion because they are convinced, falsely, that they obtain no benefit from it, and that it is an abuse to go so often without any profit for the good of their soul. Do they count for nothing the fact that Communion preserves them from mortal sin? This is without doubt a priceless favor which should make you desire to receive Communion every day.

If you were to say that you need to be a saint in order to live in community, you would be told that people come to religious life to become saints, not because they are saints.

Is not the union with Jesus Christ capable of making you share in his holiness? This is precisely the reason why you should receive Communion often.

April 25, 2016

You may make an act of faith on the words of Jeremiah where God says: “Do I not fill heaven and earth?.”

You are, O my God, in heaven, and you are there in all of its vastness. You are also on the earth, and you penetrate it entirely because it contains you and you yourself contain it.

I believe that wherever I go I will find you there. And that there is no place that is not honored by your presence. For as the royal prophet very rightly says in Ps 74: “He is neither absent from east, nor from west, nor from the desert nor from the mountains.”

April 18, 2016

Idleness is to be avoided, but at the same time you must not hamper yourself with a great number of acts in prayer. All you need and all God wants of you is that you remain in his presence.

April 11, 2016

Charity is generous; this is the third quality attributed to charity by St. Paul. It was also by this quality of generosity that the Samaritan of the Gospel showed the goodness of his heart.

Admire the great charity of this good Samaritan. He was a foreigner among the Jews; people from his country were considered as schismatics by the Jews, and they hated each other. Still, this Samaritan did everything he could for the unfortunate traveler, whom a priest and a Levite, both Jews, had not even wanted to look at. He even showed great unselfishness in his charity, for after having done all in his power for him, personally, he gave the innkeeper money to care for him, and he promised him when he came back he would pay for all that he had spent on this man.

How human is such charity, how little Christian, how little does it deserve to be called generous!

April 4, 2016

It is necessary, says Jesus Christ, that the sheep know their shepherd in order to be able to follow them. Two qualities are needed by those who lead others.

The first is a high level of virtue in order to be models for others who would not fail to go astray following their guides, if the guides themselves did not walk in the right way.

The second is a great tenderness must be shown by them for those entrusted to their care. They must be very alert to whatever can harm or wound their sheep. This is what leads the sheep to love their shepherds and to delight in their company, for there they find their rest and comfort.

Do you wish your disciples to do what is right? Do it yourself. You will persuade them much more readily through your example of wise and prudent behavior than through all the words you could speak to them.

March 14, 2016

You should, in fact, be convinced that God will not allow you to be tempted and burdened beyond your strength. When men can do nothing to help you, then it is that God himself does everything for you, wonderfully showing at one and the same time his power and his goodness.

March 7, 2016

The application to the presence of God by simple attention consists in being before God in a simple interior view of faith that He is present. Remain thus for some time, say 10 or 15 minutes according to how you feel yourself occupied by and interiorly attracted to it.

There are several souls so interiorly free, so free from affection for created things, that God gives them this grace. They rarely, if ever, lose the presence of God.

But a soul does not ordinarily succeed in enjoying this privilege,unless it has preserved its innocence all its life, or it has been faithful to God for a long time and is thoroughly purified from sin and even completely stripped of its own inclinations and of all human self-seeking. And unless, finally, it no longer has its own will but the will of God working in it.

February 29, 2016

One often knows, says the Wise Man, what is in the depths of the soul by observing what appears in the eyes (Eccl 19). Thus, one of the first things you should attend to in your exterior deportment is to keep control over your eyes and regulate your glances.

If you wish to be considered a person of humility and moderation, you should try to keep your eyes calm, peaceful and controlled.

If it is proper to look at anyone, do this in a natural manner, gently and decently. It is most impolite for you to scowl at anyone, for this is a sign of contempt.

Since the mind is naturally inclined to want to see everything and to know everything, it is very necessary to watch over yourself and to refrain from these mannerisms.

Often address God in these words of the Royal Prophet: My God, turn my eyes aside and let them not rest on useless things. (Ps 118:37)

February 22, 2016

Hold silence in great esteem and observe it willingly, for it is the guardian of all the virtues, an obstacle to all vices, prevents detraction and all language contrary to truth, charity and modesty.

We must use language only for necessary things and not distract ourselves with useless words.

Often reflect that one who is not reserved in speech cannot become spiritual and that a sure means of attaining perfection rapidly is to avoid sins of the tongue.

When there is a superfluity of words, God’s grace and inspirations are like a liquor that has gone flat.

February 15, 2016

How happy I should be, O my God, when I consider that I am your temple and that it is yourself who tells me that I have this advantage. It is, therefore, not necessary that I go very far in order to adore you and fulfill my duty to you. To do that, I have only to enter into myself and offer you in my soul the homage which I owe you.

This temple is very different from those which are built by human hands. This one is yours and worthy of receiving you and containing you only because you are the one who fashioned it.

Adorn it by your dwelling in it with all that can cause you pleasure and draw you to it. Since you are holiness itself, communicate this holiness to my soul in such a way that you may take delight in it, so that the words of St. Paul will apply to me.

February 8, 2016

Do you foresee the good actions you could perform and the faults you should avoid, the virtues you could practice, your duties of state, or similar subjects?

It is far better to foresee in the morning the faults you might commit, in order to avoid them, than to have to deplore them at night because you had not foreseen them.

February 1, 2016

Jesus declares that the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds and which however, when it has grown, becomes a tree such that the birds of the sky come to rest in its branches.

The same can be said of something done out of obedience, even though it may be quite insignificant in appearance. Eating, for instance, or gathering up the crumbs remaining on the table, or sweeping a room, washing dishes, attaching a pin; all such tasks appear to be trifles in themselves, but when performed through obedience, they become highly significant actions since we obey God in performing them.

Even the birds of the sky, that is, the virtues which belong to the saints in heaven, rest on those who obey, for they experience a joy, consolation, and interior peace which cannot be adequately expressed.

Experience for yourself how good the Lord is and how true all this is.

January 25, 2016

You are well aware that we must have great love for one another and for that purpose we must bear with one another in the mistakes into which we often fall through human weakness. It is in this way especially that we carry out the command to love, which we should hold in great honor.

However unreasonable the opinions and wishes of others may seem, if you cannot yield to them and at the same time keep your rules, try to satisfy them which words spoken with gentleness and humility.

Adapt yourself with gracious and charitable compliance to all your neighbor’s weaknesses. Give up all bitterness toward your neighbor, no matter what, and be convinced that your neighbor is better than you are.

In short, take as your rule never to speak of the failings of others nor to reprimand them. Whenever you see someone fall into some fault, call to mind what is said in the Gospel, “You can see the splinter in your brother’s eye, but you cannot see the beam in your own.”

January 19, 2016

All your care for the children entrusted to you would be useless if Jesus Christ himself did not give the quality, the power, and the efficacy that is needed to make your care useful. As the branch of the vine cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it remains attached to the stem, so neither can you bear fruit, if you do not remain in me, says the Lord.

January 11, 2016

God is so good that, having created us, he wills that all of us come to the knowledge of the truth. This truth is God himself and what he has desired to reveal to us through Jesus Christ, through the apostles, and through his Church. Just as he commanded light to shine out of darkness, so he himself kindles a light in the hearts of those destined to announce his word to children by unveiling for them the glory of God.

Since, then, God in his mercy has given you such a ministry, do not falsify his word but gain glory before him by unveiling his truth to those whom you are charged to instruct. You have been destined to cultivate these young plants by announcing to them the truths of the Gospel.

Teach them these truths not with learned words, lest the cross of Christ become void of meaning, and all you say to them would produce no fruit in their minds or heart. Those who help them to save themselves must do this in so simple a manner that every word will be clear and easy for them to understand.

January 4, 2016

You should pay attention to your behavior in what concerns not only yourself but others also. For it is impossible to please God if you do not live amicably with others. Nor will you have peace of soul unless you show consideration for those for whom you ought to set a good example.

Take care never to get into arguments with anybody, for in doing so you can offend against charity, which should be outstanding among you.

Be sure to be warmly affable toward everyone, to speak and to answer everyone with a great gentleness and deference, keeping in mind the way Our Lord spoke and replied to others, even when he was most harshly treated.

So never rebuff anyone; that gives a very bad example. On the contrary, speak politely, which is in keeping with the Spirit of God. Let humility and gentleness be always evident in what you say. “A soft answer,” says the wise man “breaks down the hardest nature.”

December 14, 2015

There are chiefly seven means of acquiring the spirit of faith and of conducting ourselves by this spirit.

The first is to have a profound respect for Holy Scripture.

The second is to animate all one actions with sentiments of faith.

The third is to have in view in all things the orders and the will of God.

The fourth is to have great control over our senses.

The fifth is to exercise great vigilance over ourselves so as not to perform a single action, if possible, from natural impulse, through custom, or any human motive.

The sixth is to pay as much attention as possible to the holy presence of God, and to renew our attention from time to time.

The seventh is to banish from our minds all vain thoughts and ideas that might withdraw us from these practices.

December 7, 2015

We make an act of adoration by recognizing God as our Creator and sovereign Lord. And by keeping ourselves in a profound respect in His holy presence, conscious of our baseness and even of our nothingness, of our dependence on God, and of our unworthiness, we enjoy the advantage and happiness of His holy presence.

You are adorable everywhere O my God, since you fill heaven and earth. I am your creature, and thus I must recognize your infinite greatness and your sovereign majesty.

The angels who accompany you everywhere adore you there. It is, therefore, very proper that I, a mere creature, join myself to them to carry out my duties to you.

November 30, 2015

It is unbelievable how may souls St. Francis converted to God, once he had filled himself with the spirit of God before going off to preach the holy Gospel. It is estimated that he converted several hundred thousand in the Indies and in Japan. He baptized several princes and even several kings. He spent his time preaching. catechizing, confessing, and visiting hospitals.

Nothing, no matter how humble it was, was beneath him when it was a question of converting souls. This saint had especially such a great zeal for the instruction of children, that he went about in the streets ringing a little bell to call them to catechism.

Do you wish to convert your disciples and easily win them over to God? The more you make yourself little, the more you will touch the hearts of those whom you instruct and engage them to live as true Christians.

November 23, 2015

She was even so strong in her faith that, after she was arrested by order of the emperor, and he saw how she spoke with such energy concerning her religion, he assembled the philosophers and most learned people in Alexandria to refute her. But all they got out of the arguments they had with her was the embarrassment of being overcome by a young woman.

See how important it is for you to know Holy Scripture well. Holy Scripture enlightens the mind with that divine light which St. John says enlightens everyone who comes into this world.

Often meditate on the words of Holy Scripture to encourage yourself to do what is right.

November 16, 2015

I commend to God first of all my soul, and next all the Brothers of the Society of the Christian Schools to whom he has united me. I recommend them above all things to have always an entire submission to the Church, especially in these distressing times, and in order to give proof of this, never to be at variance with Our Holy Father the Pope and the Church of Rome.

I also recommend them to have a great devotion to Our Lord, a great love for Holy Communion and the exercise of prayer, and a special devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin and to St. Joseph, the patron and protector of their Society; to acquit themselves of their work with zeal and unselfish generosity; to maintain an intimate union among themselves and unquestioning obedience to their superiors, which is the foundation and support of all perfection in a community.

November 9, 2015

What are your dispositions and with what purity of heart and intention do you go to Holy Communion?

You can easily make the four following considerations before approaching the holy table, to place your heart in the condition in which it ought to be for so holy an action.

The first is, “What am I about to do?”

The second is, “Who am I compared with almighty God?”

The third is, “Why do I wish to approach the altar to receive him?”

The fourth is, “How, and for what reason, should I receive Holy Communion today?”

Do you approach the holy table with the same dispositions you would wish to have on entering heaven? Surely we should not have less respect in receiving Jesus Christ than in being received by him.

November 2, 2015

Jesus Christ says that when the abomination of desolation will be in the holy place, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. No one can question that a community is a holy place, that the Lord is truly in this place, and this place is the house of God and the gate of heaven.

This is true since God’s name is so often invoked there and since those who dwell there are together there only to save themselves through the sanctification of their souls.

Have you come to this house as to the house of the Lord?

Did you come here in order to sanctify yourself?

Is the main effort you make in this house to take the means to become holy?

Pray God to preserve his Holy Spirit always in your community.

October 26, 2015