St. Benedict July 11
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St. Benedict is The founder of Western Monasticism
And his motto was work and prayer;
For when one works more than one prays,
One begins to rely upon oneself too much.
And when one prays more than one works
Then one expects God to do all the work!
This is why Benedict always taught to strive for a balance between work and prayer.
It begins at home Mt. 10:1-7
Why did Jesus send His disciples out not to the Samaritans or the Gentiles
But first to the House of Israel.
Becasue somethings must begin at home!
The Faith begins at home n the family.
Love begins at home in the family.
Forgiveness begins at home in the family.
If these things do not begin in the home,
Then there is nothing to take out into the world.
The harvest is abundant Mt. 9:32-38
Look out into the fields and see the corn grow!
What if there was no one to bring in the harvest
And it all went to waste?
This is what is happening to the crowds.
There are people everywhere who do not know Jesus
Or have left the church.
Who will bring them back?
What will happen to their souls.
Pray to God to send labourers into the harvest.
Pray to God to send you!
Into the Desert Hos. 2:16-22
Sometimes we stray from God in search of other things.
And one of the ways that God brings us back is to lead us into the desert. Hos. 2:16
For in the desert we are separated from everything except God and ourselves so that we can see more clearly.
And we can return to the One Who loves us
And be espoused to God in Love and Mercy. Hos. 2:22
My Grace is enough 2Cor 12:7-10
How do you know when you have enough?
Enough money?
Enough Time?
Enough food?
Enough clothes and shoes?
Enough Love?
Enough good health?
Enough of anything ?
The truth is we never seem to have enough.
Life seems to leave us wanting more.
St. Paul experienced suffering, a thorn in his side.
He thought if he could only get God to take that thorn away,
It would be enough for him.
So three times Paul begged God to take it away.
Do we have thorns in our life and think,
If only God would take them away?
But God did not take the thorn away from Paul.
Rather God told Paul that His grace was enough for him.
As a young man Ignatius of Loyola had everything
until a cannonball shattered his leg.
It was at that time that he found out that God’s grace was enough for him, as he wrote his famous prayer.
“Give me only your love and your grace,
That’s enough for me!”
In their weakness, Paul and Ignatius realized that God’s grace was enough for them.
When life becomes difficult;
And we feel as if we do not have enough of whatever it is we think we need.
Ask God to give you His grace and His love
And like Paul and Ignatius you will find it is enough;
More than enough!
Why The Daily Rosary?
Our Lady has 117 titles. She selected this title at Fatima: “I am the Lady of the Rosary”.
St. Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying is: “Pray the Rosary”
St. Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome, Italy on just the Hail Mary.
St. John Vianney, patron of priests, was seldom seen without a rosary in his hand.
“The rosary is the scourge of the devil” - Pope Adrian VI.
“The rosary is a treasure of graces” - Pope Paul V.
Padre Pio the stigmatic priest said: “The rosary is THE WEAPON”
Pope Leo XIII wrote 9 encyclicals on the rosary.
Pope John XXIII spoke 38 times about our Lady and the Rosary. He prayed 15 decades daily.
St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort wrote: “The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who so loves His Mother.”
Hunger for the Lord Amos 8:9-12
When we wake up in the morning we are hungry.
At night we want to know what’s for dinner.
And in between we are always looking for something to snack on.
The prophet Amos told the people
That God was going to send a famine on the land.
Not a famine of bread or water.
But For hearing the word of God.
A famine, a spiritual emptiness,
So that they would hunger for God.
If only we would hunger to fill our souls with the Body and Blood of Christ
As much as we hunger to fill our stomachs,
The world would be a paradise once again.
