Note to God

Our work takes place every day amid the hundreds of people who cross our path from the time we wake up in the morning until the day’s end: relatives, domestic staff, colleagues, clients, friends. We must recognize Christ in each of these persons, and in each one of them we have to see Jesus as our brother. By doing so it will be easier for us to serve them generously, attentively, affectionately, with peace and joy.

"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven" Reading 1 : Zep 2:3; 3:12-13 Responsorial Psalm : Ps 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10 Reading 2 : 1 Cor 1:26-31 Gospel : Mt 5:1-12a _____________________________________________________________________________ Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12a 1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteo...

God is not to blame when the faith fails to spring up among men. The reason is to be found in the unreadiness of those who have heard the divine word(St Gregory Nazianzen, Oratio catechetica magna 31). Holy Scripture calls this resistance to grace hardness of heart (Ex 4:21; Rom 9:18). Men sometimes pose intellectual difficulties as inhibiting their growth in faith when the real problem lies in their lack of desire. Perhaps they just do not want to abandon some bad habit. They may not be willing to struggle seriously to overcome some defect that impedes their friendship with the Lord.

Perfection in ordinary things $12.  On the other hand, if there should arise the temptation to do strange and extraordinary things, overcome it. For us, that way of working is mistaken, the wrong track. I will say this with an example which will probably amuse you. Imagine that you go to a hotel and ask for hake. Some minutes go by, and the waiter brings you a dish. Looking at it, you are surprised to see that it is not hake, but rather a snake. Perhaps one of those great miracle-workers of old, whom I admire and whose lives were full of marvels, might have reacted by giving a blessing and transforming the reptile into a well-cooked hake. That approach merits all my respect, but it is not ours. Our way is simply to call the waiter and say clearly, “This is garbage. Take it away and bring me what I asked for.” Or perhaps, if there are reasons that make it advisable, you could make an act of mortification and eat the snake, well aware that it is a snake, offering this to God. Th...

We must be friends of work. Without work, we will not sanctify ourselves. The reason for this is that work is the material we have to sanctify and the instrument of our sanctification. Our work, as God's Children, must be carried out with the wisdom of an artist, the happiness of a poet, the confidence of a master, and a modesty that is more persuasive than any eloquence. We seek the good of all humanity by seeking out Christian perfection in our professions and state in the world.  

Mr Ong also alluded to research showing that the health impact of loneliness for a senior is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. "We must maintain or improve that share, and not inadvertently give them that equivalent of 15 cigarettes a day, and weaken their health and ability to live independently," he said.

 holiness does not consist in doing much but in loving much.

Our defence lies in the cry: ecce ego, quia vocasti me! (1 Sam 3:6), here I am for you have called me! We should not go against God’s call because we have shortcomings, but rather attack those shortcomings because God has called us. When difficulty and temptation arise, the devil often wants us to reason thus: “Since you have this shortcoming, it is a sign that God is not calling you; you cannot continue.” We should be warned about the sophistry of this reasoning and think instead: since God has called me, with God’s grace I can indeed continue, in spite of this error.