Jesus is looking at me as once he did upon blind Bartimaemus: “What wilt thou that I do to thee?” Lord, that I may see myself as You see me. Lord that my eyes may be open to the shortness of life. Lord, that I may understand the value of one degree of merit, and so heap up many.
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May 25, 2024
I had been along the front line as usual to give the men a General Absolution which they are almost as anxious to receive for the comfort it will be for their friends at home, should they fall, as for themselves. I was coming down to the advanced dressing station, when I learned that a small party had ‘gone over the top’ on our right, though I had been told …
May 23, 2024
Are you not foolish in wishing to be free from these attacks of impatience, etc.? I know how violent they can be, since they sweep down on me at all hours without any provocation. You forget the many victories they furnish you with. COMMENT: Each one of us has our own temperament. Some are timid and quiet. Some are very goal-oriented and work hard. Others are easily excited. Fr Willie …
May 22, 2024
A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows sharper with use. COMMENT: How correct Fr Willie’s assessment is! The more we criticise others, the more critical we can become. Like all vices, the more we engage in them, the easier and easier it becomes to keep engaging in them, and to grow worse over time. That is why big sins don’t normally arise out of thin air – …
May 21, 2024
We have here an astonishing little old Father; little by name and little by stature. He is 85; but is active as a man of 30 – and he never stops preaching retreats. Several times I have tried to get to the Chapel before him at 4:00 AM, but he is always there first. He is a kindly and holy old man, whose faith and simplicity are quite extraordinary. In …
May 20, 2024
A devotion which does not consist in any special form of prayer nor in doing anything in particular more than to listen to inspirations, is devotion to the Holy Spirit of God…For, as the work of Creation belongs preeminently to the Father and that of the Redemption to the Son, so the work of our Sanctification and Perfection is the work of the Holy Ghost. We honour Him when we …
May 19, 2024
If there is any certain mark of the abiding presence of the Holy Ghost in the soul, if there is any visible pledge of future happiness destined for man, assuredly it is lightness of heart and joy of spirit. COMMENT: One of the most striking things about O’Rahilly’s biography of Fr Willie was the level of detail he revealed about his asceticism. It is debateable whether it was good to …
May 18, 2024
Do we realise the infinite possibilities of grace which lie hidden in the Tabernacle? Jesus only awaits our coming: and even before we have begun to beg His help, He has opened the treasures of His Sacred Heart and filled our hands with precious gifts. What monarch ever rewarded his subjects as Jesus repays us for the little trouble it costs us to visit Him even for one short moment. …
May 17, 2024
Are you weary of the fight already and willing to give in to the enemy? Never mind, come back, begin again, Jesus wants you. There are millions of pagans to be saved, a hundred thousand dying sinners every day to be rescued. COMMENT: Today’s quote captures the essence of Fr Willie’s spirit – he was a real fighter given over to spiritual combat, and he was a true missionary …
May 16, 2024
I feel ashamed at times that I do not profit more by His nearness, but I know that he makes allowances for weak, inconstant nature. COMMENT: Fr Willie occasionally wrote about what he called the “abuse of grace” – the idea that we fail to profit from all of the graces that God gives us. We are all almost certainly guilty of this failing to one degree or another. In …
May 15, 2024