St Lucy It is scarcely necessary to state that deliberate sin in any shape or form utterly destroys the interior life. COMMENT: It is a well accepted principle of Catholic spirituality that we must fight against sin. Naturally we must exert all of our will in the battle against deliberate mortal sin, which utterly destroys the life of grace in our soul and puts our salvation in jeopardy. But we …
Virtues
December 13, 2011
The desire to be a saint has been growing in my heart all during this year, especially the last couple of months. God has given me this desire; He will not refuse the grace, if only I am faithful in the future. How good you have been to me, O my God, waiting so patiently for me to return to You! Help me now generously to do all You want …
December 10, 2011
You must trust entirely in our Lord. He alone can help you. Give God His time. Be generous with Him and He will be so with you. COMMENT: The effectiveness of a message is often determined by the credibility of the person delivering it. Toothpaste companies try to feature dentists in their ads. Similarly, ads for household cleaning products will feature busy housewives who seem concerned for the welfare of …
December 5, 2011
You seem to be suffering, my dear child, from a very common religious malady – discouragement and want of patience with yourself, looking for and expecting to see great results from your efforts to become holier. You forget what a clog the body is on the soul, and how in spite of the most generous intentions and determination, it prevents us, time after time, from carrying out our plans. You …
December 1, 2011
It is scarcely necessary to state that deliberate sin in any shape or form utterly destroys the interior life and even gives a loathing and disgust for its practice. It is not so evident that deliberate imperfections, and for religious repeated violation of rule, have the same result. These are the “little foxes,” attractive and apparently harmless creatures, which must be hunted down and destroyed…if the vineyard is not …
November 30, 2011
Fr Doyle struggled to give up butter on his bread Your desire for penance is an excellent sign…But have a fixed amount to be done each day and do not be doing it in fits and starts. Anything like what you call “frenzy” ought to be suspected and resisted. COMMENT: Fr Doyle’s life of penance has been a stumbling block for some people. It is true that he lived a …
November 18, 2011
Meditating on the Particular Judgement, God gave me great light. I realised that I should have to give an exact account of every action of my life and for every instant of time. To take only my seventeen years of religious life, what account could I give of the 6,000 hours of meditation, 7,000 Masses, 12,000 examinations of conscience, etc.? Then my time: how have I spent every moment? …
November 17, 2011
Holiness and perfection depend on yourself, not on the actions of others. COMMENT: How easy it is for us to blame others, or the circumstances of our lives, for our own lack of holiness. Yes, we may live or work with annoying and frustrating people, but there is always a choice on our part to control our annoyance or frustration. Fr Doyle’s life and example shows us one way of …
November 16, 2011
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez is a striking example of one who, though in a lowly station in life, devoid of all that in the eyes of the world makes for greatness, yet did a mighty work for God. With a heart burning with zeal, which prayer alone could not satisfy, he saw in the young ardent Peter Claver a ready instrument for the work he longed to do. With burning …
October 31, 2011
Solid virtue is so called because it is formed by amassing together a facility in repeated acts. Hence the practice of any virtue is not the less meritorious because it is easy. Quite the contrary. The merit depends on the intention we had when we determined to practise the virtue, and not on the amount of pain it costs. COMMENT: Here we see once again the tremendous balance of Fr …
October 8, 2011