May 8

Daily Thought from the Saints

"Have caution in not allowing yourself to be struck down by adversity nor becoming vain by prosperity."

— St. Clare of Assisi

Daily Scripture Verse

"The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him."

Psalm 37:39-40

Daily Meditation

"Do you know what it is to be truly spiritual? It is for men to make themselves the slaves of God—branded with His mark, which is the Cross. ... Unless you make up your minds to this, never expect to make much progress, for as I said humility is the foundation of the whole building and unless you are truly humble, Our Lord, for your own sake, will never permit you to rear it very high lest it should fall to the ground. Therefore, sisters, take care to lay a firm foundation by seeking to be the least of all and the slave of others, watching how you can please and help them, for it will benefit you more than them. Built on such strong rocks, your castle can never go to ruin. I insist again: your foundation must not consist of prayer and contemplation alone: unless you acquire the virtues and praise them, you will always be dwarfs; and please God no worse may befall you than making no progress, for you know that to stop is to go back—if you love, you will never be content to come to a standstill."

— St. Teresa of Avila

Daily Catholic Wisdom

The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother.

—St. Thérèse of Lisieux

A Prayer from Notre Dame University

Rev. Bryan Williams, C.S.C.

Lord, Your Son, Jesus Christ, came to make His dwelling among us. Help us to center our hearts on the desire to abide with him. May this dispose us to call others, through word and deed, to dwell with Christ. Amen.

The Abbot’s Daily Lectio Divina
Abbot Austin Murphy, O.S.B., St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, IL

John 14:22-24

Reading

Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”

Meditation

Keeping Jesus’ word is to keep His commands, especially the command to love as He did. But notice that we all fail at times to keep His commands. Does that mean that God will not dwell with us? It depends. Even when we fail at Jesus’ commands, there remains a command that we can keep. It is His command to repent. So, if we repent, we keep His word and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell with us.

Prayer

Keep me mindful that I fail often, so that I may repent of my sins and see the progress I still need to make. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Contemplation…