source: "Holy Textures"

Forgive them until it works

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

source: www.catholicnewsagency.com

Annual World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly 

"How much we need a new bond between young and old,.. so that the sap of those who have a long experience of life behind them will nourish the shoots of hope of those who are growing. In this fruitful exchange we can learn the beauty of life, build a fraternal society, and in the Church, be enabled to encounter one another and dialogue between tradition and the newness of the Spirit." Pope Francis

""Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up he cross and follow me is not worthy of me.…"  Matthew 10, 27

"What would Jesus do" ... "what will I do, based on the life and message left to us by Jesus?"
It is good to ask ourselves "what would Jesus do?" It is a question that will challenge and stretch us. I will admit that when I do it, I often find myself wondering if I would recognise Jesus at all if he was here and active among us.  (source: www.oblates.ie)

"Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you – for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart… … go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love."  (source: www.oblates.ie)

                                                                                                             "True love is never up to a certain point, and is never satisfied; love always goes beyond, it cannot do otherwise. (...) love one another like Heloved us. (...) This is the love that gives fulfilment to the Law, to faith, to true life!"  Pope Francis

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in me. I will take you to the place where I am going. If you know me, you know the Father too. It is the Father living in me, who is doing this work. Whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself. Maybe even greater works because I am going to the Father where I can work on your behalf."

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"God never imposes his will (...) He "wants to be loved and not feared" (...) love can only be lived in freedom.

To learn to live one must learn to love, and for this it is necessary to discern, (...)  to invoke the Holy Spirit when we have choices to make."

Pope Francis

source: www.oblates.ie

We meet God, as Jesus did, in the human realities of our lives."You are my child, my beloved..." he will say to us, "... my favour rests on you."

Fr Brian Maher OMI

source: www.oblates.ie

"We were conceived in the heart of God,

and for this reason each of us is the result of a thought of God.

Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary."

Laudato Si, 65

'He is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.'"

Luke 20:38

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Jesus said .... come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today"

Luke 19:1-10

"Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world.Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world."

St. Therese of Avila

invites us to acknowledge God's gifts with wonder and gratitude

Pope Francis

When human history seems to develop contrary to the will of God, "we are called to live this period as a season of trial, of hope and in vigilant waiting for the harvest". The Kingdom grows mysteriously; its power is hidden in a small seed that is filled with "victorious vitality". When times are dark, we need to trust in "God's quiet but powerful action," and "remain anchored in God's faithfulness, in his presence which always saves".

Pope Francis

We ask the Lord today for the grace of not falling into indifference, the grace that all the information we have about human suffering might penetrate our hearts and move us to do something for others.

Pope Francis

God is watching, and waiting, and hoping. God rejoices beyond measure when we restore dignity and value to even one human life.

Fr Brian Maher, OMI

"Jesus tells us that in order to follow him, to be his disciples, one must deny oneself - that is, the claims of one's own selfish pride - and take up one's very cross. (...) Then he gives everyone a fundamental rule. And what is this rule? 'Whoever wants to save his life will lose it.'"

Pope Francis

"Let us ask the Virgin Mary - who was humble all her life - to lead us every day on the way of humility, so that we are capable of making our own gestures of welcome toward and solidarity with the marginalised, seeking nothing in return, so that we might become worthy of the divine reward."

Pope Francis

"The lamp of faith needs to be nourished continuously, with a heart to heart encounter with Jesus in prayer, and in listening to His Word". "True faith opens the heart to one's neighbour, and spurs us on to concrete communion with our brothers and sisters, especially with those in need".

Pope Francis

Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous;

Teach me to serve you as you deserve,

To give and not to count the cost,

To fight and not to heed the wounds,

To toil and not to seek for rest,

To labor and not to seek reward,

Except that of knowing that I do your will.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

CHOOSIING THE BETTER PART

"The most important task in life is to pray, not to pray with many words ... but to pray with the heart" 

to gaze upon the Lord, to listen to the Lord, and to ask the Lord for what we need". "And we know that prayer can work miracles".

Pope Francis

"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."

Luke 10

"The Eucharist is the sacrament of love: it signifies love, it produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life."

St. Thomas Aquinas: 

"The Holy Spirit makes Jesus present in us, beyond the barriers of time and space, to make us His witnesses in the world," 

Pope Francis

What will you do when your nets are full?

She explains the situation to him and he seems to dismiss her; but she is not giving up that easy! She then goes to servants and confidently tells them, 'Do whatever he tells you.'

"no prophet is accepted in his hometown"

'Do whatever he tells you.'

 Image by Jesuit Fr. Marko Rupnik

May Mary help us to keep and ponder all things. 

Pope Francis