Daily Thought from the Saints
"The school of Christ is the school of love. In the last day, when the general examination takes place ... Love will be the whole syllabus."
— St. Robert Bellarmine
Daily Scripture Verse
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil."
2 Corinthians 5:10
Daily Meditation
"Set free from human judgment, we should count as true only what God sees in us, what he knows, and what he judges. God does not judge as man does. Man sees only the countenance, only the exterior. God penetrates to the depths of our hearts. God does not change as man does. His judgment is in no way inconstant. He is the only one upon whom we should rely. How happy we are then, and how peaceful! We are no longer dazzled by appearances, or stirred up by opinions; we are united to the truth and depend upon it alone. I am praised, blamed, treated with indifference, disdained, ignored, or forgotten; none of this can touch me. I will be no less than I am. Men and women want to play at being a creator. They want to give me existence in their opinion, but this existence that they want to give me is nothingness. It is an illusion, a shadow, an appearance, that is, at bottom, nothingness. What is this shadow, always following me, behind me, at my side? Is it me, or something that belongs to me? No. Yet does not this shadow seem to move with me? No matter: it is not me. So it is with the judgements of men: they would follow me everywhere, paint me, sketch me, make me move according to their whim, and, in the end, give me some sort of existence ... but I am disabused of this error. I am content with a hidden life. How peaceful it is! Whether I truly live this Christian life of which St. Paul speaks, I do not know, nor can I know with certainty. But I hope that I do, and I trust in God's goodness to help me."
— Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet
Daily Catholic Wisdom
Let us look to the cross and be filled with peace, knowing that Christ has walked this road and walks it now with us and with all our brothers and sisters.
—St. Teresa of Avila
A Prayer from Notre Dame University
Rev. Paul Kollman, C.S.C.
Father in heaven, while Judas looked for an opportunity to betray him, your Son anticipated his betrayal with steadfast faithfulness to your will. With the days when we commemorate his life-giving death and resurrection nearly upon us, help us to enter into the Triduum with prayerful attentiveness to these stories of our salvation. May our participation in these upcoming liturgies help us to mirror his faithfulness, who lives and reigns with you and the Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
The Abbot’s Daily Lectio Divina
Abbot Austin Murphy, O.S.B., St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, IL
Matthew 26:17-19
Reading
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'" The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.
Meditation
Who is this 'certain man' whose room the Lord uses for the Last Supper? Jesus identifies Himself as 'the teacher' to the man; so, the man apparently understood himself to be a student of Jesus. Further, Jesus speaks to him of an 'appointed time;' so, the man seems to have had a sense that his service would be needed in the future. Shouldn’t every believer be this way, seeing him- or herself as a student of Christ, ready to serve Christ?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, give me a teachable soul that is ready to serve You, so that You may use what I have to offer. In Your Name I pray. Amen.
Contemplation…