“Always come to me as a little child. I am the most loving of fathers who understands and prepares you” (Interior Word).
Showing all posts in August 2025
Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist
Jer 1:17-19
Reading corresponding to the memorial of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist
In those days, I received this word from the Lord: Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command thee. Be not afraid at their presence: for I will make thee not to fear their countenance. For behold I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to the princes thereof, and to the priests, and to the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.
A true conversion
It is with great joy that we look today at St. Augustine, whose conversion brought so much blessing to the Church. We can be sure that the prayer of his mother, St. Monica, and her struggle for him played an important role in Augustine’s finally finding the way to God. He himself wrote down his struggle in his so-called “Confessions”, a book that is always worth reading. He began to write it after the light of faith had shone on him; after he had understood how to live the following of Christ.
LOVE CARRIES THE BURDEN
“Without love, we are a burden to ourselves. Thanks to love, we bear one another.” (St. Augustine)
THE CHURCH MUST PERMEATE THE WORLD
“The Church must permeate the world and not allow herself to be permeated by it” (Interior Word).
On hypocrisy
Mt 23:27-32
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones, and of all filthiness. So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just; but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; that build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just, and say: If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Read More
Human respect
1 Thess 2:1-8
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our visit to you was not in vain; but though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the face of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from error or uncleanness, nor is it made with guile; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please men, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never used either words of flattery, as you know, or a cloak for greed, as God is witness; nor did we seek glory from men, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
NEVER TASTE THE SWEET POISON
“Beware of the first stumbling block; if not, more will follow, and finally, the habit will turn into sin. Never taste the sweet poison, even if it is served to you in golden cups, for death is the inevitable consequence” (St. Joseph Calasanz).
The blindness of the shepherds
Mt 23:13-22
‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut up the kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go who want to. ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and anyone who becomes one you make twice as fit for hell as you are. ‘Alas for you, blind guides! You say, “If anyone swears by the Temple, it has no force; but anyone who swears by the gold of the Temple is bound.” Fools and blind! For which is of greater value, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? Again, “If anyone swears by the altar it has no force; but anyone who swears by the offering on the altar, is bound.”
THE MARTYRDOM OF LOVE
“My love for you will grow even more in your heart” (Inner Word).