Daily Thought from the Saints
"The stillness of prayer is the most essential condition for fruitful action. Before all else, the disciple kneels down."
— St. Gianna Molla
Daily Scripture Verse
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight."
Proverbs 9:10
Daily Meditation
"God gives prayer growth precisely according to our degree of readiness for it. He forces no one. According as we are more or less receptive, He bestows more or less depth of communion. In the same manner, five hundred people in a parish church all hear the same sound waves during the homily, but they profit from it exactly as they are or are not disposed for the message. Jesus taught the same truth in his parable of the sower: from the word of God some hearers yield nothing at all, while others yield thirty or sixty or a hundredfold."
— Fr. Thomas Dubay
Daily Catholic Wisdom
It’s absolutely necessary that I not lose the little time I have left to live, these are days of salvation that will never come again, and so I must make the most of them.
—St. Zélie Martin
quoted in the book, “A Family of Saints”
A Prayer
Pope Francis
Mother, help our faith! Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call. Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise. Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith. Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature. Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One. Remind us that those who believe are never alone. Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord! Amen.
The Abbot’s Daily Lectio Divina
Abbot Austin Murphy, O.S.B., St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, IL
Genesis 3:9-11
Reading
The LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”
Meditation
People are not embarrassed simply by being naked – or they would be embarrassed when taking a shower. People are embarrassed when naked AND seen by another. Adam seems to hide because he is worried about how God sees him: Does God look on him with disapproval? Actually, God looks on him and all human beings with favor. Disbelieving this, Adam sinned. In turn, he fails to see the kindness of God that would, if he accepted it, clothe him.
Prayer
Almighty God, help me to believe in the loving kindness You have toward us, especially as it is offered to us through the New Adam, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Contemplation…