Daily Thought from the Saints
"It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption."
— Pope St. John Paul II
Daily Scripture Verse
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few."
Matthew 7:13-14
Daily Meditation
"The divine activity permeates the whole universe, it pervades every creature; wherever they are it is there; it goes before them, with them, and it follows them; all they have to do is to let the waves bear them on. Would to God that ... all men could know how very easy it would be for them to arrive at a high degree of sanctity. They would only have to fulfill the simple duties of Christianity and of their state in life; to embrace with submission the crosses belonging to that state, and to submit with faith and love to the designs of Providence in all those things that have to be done or suffered without going out of their way to seek occasions for themselves. ... This is the spirituality of all ages and of every state. No state of life can, assuredly, be sanctified in a more exalted manner, nor in a more wonderful and easy way than by the simple use of the means that God, the sovereign director of souls, gives them to do or to suffer at each moment."
— Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade
Daily Catholic Wisdom
Sex is a gigantic force in our lives and unless controlled becomes unbridled lust under which woman is victim and suffers most of all.
—Servant of God Dorothy Day
quoted in Terrence Wright’s book “Dorothy Day: An Introduction to Her Life and Thought”
A Prayer from Notre Dame University
Rev. Andrew Gawrych, C.S.C.
Lord, you know all too well that it is so easy for us to hold on to resentments, to live with anger even at the slightest of offenses. Help us to forgive and reconcile with each other, so that we may come to know and accept your mercy in our lives and extend that same mercy to others. Amen.
The Abbot’s Daily Lectio Divina
Abbot Austin Murphy, O.S.B., St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, IL
Matthew 5:20
Reading
[Jesus said to his disciples:] “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.“
Meditation
This teaching shows that there are standards of righteousness that are insufficient for entry into heaven. The scribes and Pharisees had such a one. The fact that they were socially accepted suggests that their standard of righteousness was socially accepted. So, even socially acceptable standards of righteousness can be insufficient for heaven. We need a righteousness not of and approved by this world, but of and approved by God.
Prayer
Lord, soften the hardness of my heart through repentance, so that I may receive your righteousness, instead of my own. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Contemplation…