The holy obedience of Mary  

Micah 5:1-4a

Thus says the Lord: “But you (Bethlehem) Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, from you will come for me a future ruler of Israel whose origins go back to the distant past, to the days of old. Hence Yahweh will abandon them only until she who is in labour gives birth, and then those who survive of his race will be reunited to the Israelites. He will take his stand and he will shepherd them with the power of Yahweh, with the majesty of the name of his God, and they will be secure, for his greatness will extend henceforth to the most distant parts of the country. He himself will be peace! Should the Assyrian invade our country, should he set foot in our land, we shall raise seven shepherds against him, eight leaders of men”.

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PROOFS OF OUR LOVE

“The time to prove our love is short, and we only have one life” (St. Maximilian Kolbe).

You are right, dear Maximilian Kolbe. Time is short and we are often lazy and slow to do good. This is because we do not yet love our Heavenly Father enough, and we fail to understand the incredible opportunity we have to be a light in the midst of darkness, thus honoring God and serving mankind. Indeed, every day is a gift to prove our love.

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The wisdom of giving oneself to the Lord  

Wis 9: 13-18

“For who can learn the counsel of God? Or who can discern what the Lord wills? For the reasoning of mortals is worthless, and our designs are likely to fail; for a perishable body weighs down the soul, and this earthy tent burdens the thoughtful mind.  We can hardly guess at what is on earth, and what is at hand we find with labor; but who has traced out what is in the heavens?  Who has learned your counsel, unless you have given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?  And thus the paths of those on earth were set right, and people were taught what pleases you, and were saved by wisdom.”

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Firm in faith  

Col 1:21-23

You were once estranged and of hostile intent through your evil behaviour; now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body, to bring you before himself holy, faultless and irreproachable-as long as you persevere and stand firm on the solid base of the faith, never letting yourselves drift away from the hope promised by the gospel, which you have heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become the servant.

Through His Son, God did everything to reconcile humanity to Himself. This is the immutable message which has been entrusted to the Church down the centuries and which is to reach all creatures. Regardless of the situation in which people find themselves, there are no hopeless cases! God has compassion on even the greatest of sinners. He loves them and wants them to be with Him. It is up to us to accept the offer of grace we receive from the Lord.

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NOTHING MORE NOBLE AND EXALTED THAN TO SERVE GOD

“Observe the commandments of the Lord. There is nothing more noble and exalted than serving God” (St. Lawrence Justinian).

These words were spoken by St. Lawrence Justinian, Patriarch of Venice, whose feast we celebrate today according to the traditional calendar. They were his final words before he died. He died saying, “I come to You, O Jesus.”

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New ways on safe paths  

Lk 5:33-39

They then said to him, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees, too, but yours go on eating and drinking. ‘Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then, in those days, they will fast. ‘He also told them a parable, ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak; otherwise, not only will the new one be torn, but the piece taken from the new will not match the old. ‘And nobody puts new wine in old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and run to waste, and the skins will be ruined. No; new wine must be put in fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants new. “The old is good,” he says.’ Read More

TRUE UNITY    

“Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us?” (Mal 2:10)

Beloved Father, in these words, we catch a glimpse of the unity among all people, as you have ordained. We are all created in Your image and likeness and are all called to be with You in eternity. However, this can only happen if we live according to the order you have established. Since you created us with free will, we can fail to reach our goal if we abuse the freedom you gave us.

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By your word…  

Lk 5:1-11

Now it happened that he was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats at the water’s edge. The fishermen had got out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ Simon replied, ‘Master, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled both boats to sinking point.

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THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL

“The more we read the Gospel, the stronger we will be” (St. Pius X).

To assimilate the Lord’s words, internalize them, and put them into practice is the sure compass on our journey in pursuit of Christ, provided we do so in accordance with the authentic Magisterium of the Church. It is the Word of God — not human reflection. It has the power to enlighten and strengthen us, as the Scriptures themselves affirm:

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