On one occasion, Saint Gertrude asked the Lord why He had allowed certain people to frighten her. The Lord replied: “When a father’s hand wants to reprimand a child, the rod cannot resist. Therefore, I would like my chosen ones never to blame the people through whom they are purified, but rather to see my fatherly love behind them, for I would never allow even the slightest wind to blow against them if I did not have their eternal salvation in mind. Instead, they should have compassion on those who are stained while they themselves are purified.” Read More
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The Power of Prayer
James 5:13–20
Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
PERSIST IN PRAYER
“Even though it may seem useless, we must not abandon prayer because of distractions or restlessness of spirit. Those who persevere throughout the time they have set aside for prayer and gently call their spirit back again and again to the object of their prayer will reap great benefits” (St. Philip Neri).
Exhortation to Perseverance
James 5:7–12
Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble, brethren, against one another, that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the doors. As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation.
Responsibility before God
James 4:13–5:6
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain”; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
GOD’S SCALES
“Without inner love, all external works are useless. On the other hand, what is done out of love is great and produces abundant fruit, however insignificant and contemptible it may seem in the eyes of men. For, in God’s scales, what motivates you to act weighs much more than the action itself” (cf. Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ).
This is a key phrase for the spiritual life! Certainly, some of us have felt the desire to do great works for the Lord, and perhaps we are saddened when, despite our sincere efforts, we manage to accomplish only small works—or practically none at all—from our perspective.
I AM YOUR RESISTANCE
“I fight within you, and I am your endurance. The torment you experience in combat I turn into gold for your benefit and for all those who need to be freed from this plague” (Inner Word).
Today’s phrase encourages us to resist, with God’s help, the various battles we face. Our heavenly Father may allow strong temptations or circumstances to come upon us that are difficult for us to understand. These struggles—and the defeats we sometimes experience—can discourage us. Yet God fights within us and is our endurance. St. Catherine of Siena heard a similar word from the Lord after suffering terrible temptations against purity. God consoled her and helped her understand that it was He Himself who had placed in her heart the repugnance for impurity. In this way, her struggles served to free others from the yoke of this plague.
The key to true peace
James 4:1–12
What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. Unfaithful creatures! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is in vain that the scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
Wisdom from above
James 3:1-18
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness. For we all make many mistakes, and if any one makes no mistakes in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. If we put bits into the mouths of horses that they may obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Look at the ships also; though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell.
GOD DOES NOT DECEIVE!
“His wisdom is infinite, and when I ask Him for advice, I am not deceived!” (St. Pius X)
Once again, St. Pius X accompanies us into the new year.
In these difficult times, we need good counsel on how to live our faith fruitfully. Who could advise us better than our Heavenly Father? Who could share His infinite wisdom with us better than the One who is Wisdom itself?