Minute Meditations

[grazie7y]

The Good News     

The Good News of the Gospel is not that God came to take our suffering away, but that God wanted to become part of it.

[grazie7y]

I Am Not Alone     

I am, by the grace of God, full of joy and gladness because I am not alone--Christ is with me. In the midst of this storm I cast my anchor towards the throne of God, the anchor that is the lively hope in my heart.

[grazie7y]

Follow Jesus     

Jesus is a leader we can follow into our afflictions. We can take up our cross and follow him because he has been there before us.

[vje]

Love and Be Loved                          
Before we can give love away, we must know we are loved.

True--coz we couldn't give what we don't have. Love life, and it'll love you back!

[grazie7y]

True--coz we couldn't give what we don't have. Love life, and it'll love you back!

I agree, Bambi!

BTW, welcome to TB!  See you around. 

OT:  cousin diay mi ni Chemmene.

[grazie7y]

Safely Through the Storm     

We shall steer safely through every storm, as long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed in God.

[grazie7y]

The Evil of Pride 

Pride tells us that we know better than God; that we are better than others. When we believe this lie, chaos ensues.

[taga tigbao]

The Fallout From Sin  

The fallout from sin causes us to use one another instead of loving one another. Sin ruined and continues to devastate beautiful love relationships that God intended for us to enjoy from the beginning.

[hofelina]

this is somewhat long but observing how Pinoys discriminate each other, this is a good reflections;

Meditation by  Bert Thelen, S.J.

Today's readings call us almost irresistibly to look carefully at the relation between faith in God and worldly success.  The Prophet Ezekiel holds up the fabulously rich and prosperous Island City of Tyre as an example of an arrogant community for whom wealth has become a god.  It is idolatry personified!  After reading this  prophecy of the utter destruction of those who serve money rather than the living God, it should not surprise us to hear Jesus say that riches are an almost insurmountable obstacle to attaining eternal life. If we have it all here and now, there is nothing left for us hereafter. We become what we seek, what we serve, what we worship.  So a bloody and disastrous end to all our futile efforts to make ourselves immune from human frailty and mortality by amassing treasures on this earth is inevitable. Is earthly security and prosperity and good fortune really worth the sacrifice of our true self?

I think my prayer today should be a careful examination of my attitude toward and use of worldly goods.  Am I serving God or money?  (Or, rather, am I winning the battle to do this?)  Am I in pursuit of heavenly treasures or earthly comforts?  Am I willing to leave everything behind for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel?  Am I willing to be  last now in order to be first to enter eternal life?  Do I fully trust the promises of God?



In Jesus all things are possible. Grace is stronger than sin.  But we need to be much more than half-hearted.  God's Kingdom of love is all or nothing. Let us pray with all our hearts that we may be drawn by God's love (the power of the Holy Spirit) to desire and seek "the things that are above," where our lives are hidden in God through Christ Jesus.  For, in the clear and strong words of Jesus, "What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of the eternal self?"

[hofelina]

A New Creation     

As Christians we are a new creation. We are an Easter people whose praise of God is rooted in the resurrection.

[hofelina]

Community of Believers     

God’s original plan of uniting all mankind to Himself is now being fulfilled in Christ’s Church, or community of believers.

[hofelina]

The Gift of Jesus     

We praise and adore Him for all the gifts of creation, but especially for the gift of His only Son by whom we are redeemed.

[hofelina]

Proclaiming Praise     

Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. To you be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus from generation to generation evermore.

[Lorenzo]

Continue to Love. Love so you will be Loved.

[Lorenzo]

Forgive. Forgive those who trespass against you, as you will be forgiven for your own trespasses.


Beautiful Truth.

[Lorenzo]

Helping the weak, the frail, the helpless, and turning your ear to those who cannot support themselves brings mercy. For as much as you give mercy to those who are helpless, so will  you be given graces many times over by the King of Heaven. Bless so you may be blessed many times over.



The Lord is Good.

[Lorenzo]

Do not take advantage of those who are helpless, nor are innocent , for remember this, the Lord is not blind nor deaf.

Be merciful.

[Lorenzo]

Just as the wickedness of the tongue can hurt others, so can the tongue of others hurt you. Put away with petty fightings and bring unto the pains to the Eternal King of Heaven Jesus Christ. Put away with minuscule bickering and quarrels and bridge yourself with others.

Love your brother as you would have him love you.

[Lorenzo]

The pain that loss brings to you should not be kept nor should the sadness reign in your heart. Learn to release the pain to the Lord Jesus Christ--who has the power to save. You will see that a healthy and prayerful relationship with HIM can move the mountains in your life.


Walk daily with your LORD.

[Lorenzo]

We are all limited in our abilities, with frailties in the emotional, the physical and the spiritual aspect. However, these limitations are but aspects of the earthly bond. You will see that when you entrust to the Lord Jesus Christ your plans, your longings, you will succeed in what you desire through His Grace.


Learn to understand that you cannot do it alone. Let Him work through you.

[Lorenzo]

Arguments and quarrels breed division and distrust, however, forgiveness cements that division. A heart that seeks forgiveness must itself learn to forgive in order to find salvation one longs for.



If Christ can humble Himself by dying for sinners, as a man. Then we are capable of being like him in the spirit of mercy..


Be not a heart of stone, but heart that seeks humility through passionate mercy.

[hofelina]

We Are Redeemed  

We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessing of this life. But above all, we thank you for your infinite love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ.

[hofelina]

My Offering     

Good God, I offer thee every flower that ever grew, every bird that ever flew, every wind that ever blew, every flake of virgin snow, every spring of earth below, every human joy and woe.

[Lorenzo]

There is not a moment where the Lord Jesus Christ abandons you, even in the most delicate and hardest of times , His presence in one's life is never diminished. In difficult moments, He is behind you, besides you, before you as He is in moments of joy, and honor.



He will never abandon you.

[hofelina]

The Body of Christ     

The Church is the body of Christ. The head Christ and the members of the body belong together.

[hofelina]

New Life     

Christ’s salvation was a matter of deliverance from sin, but also a resurrection to new life, a participation in the life of God.

[hofelina]

August 27
Patron of Wives and Abuse Victims
387

St. Monica was married by arrangement to a pagan official in North Africa, who was much older than she, and although generous, was also violent tempered. His mother Lived with them and was equally difficult, which proved a constant challenge to St. Monica. She had three children; Augustine, Navigius, and Perpetua. Through her patience and prayers, she was able to convert her husband and his mother to the Catholic faith in 370· He died a year later. Perpetua and Navigius entered the religious Life. St. Augustine was much more difficult, as she had to pray for him for 17 years, begging the prayers of priests who, for a while, tried to avoid her because of her persistence at this seemingly hopeless endeavor. One priest did console her by saying, "it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish." This thought, coupled with a vision that she had received strengthened her. St. Augustine was baptized by St. Ambrose in 387. St. Monica died later that same year, on the way back to Africa from Rome in the Italian town of Ostia.

[hofelina]

The Name of Jesus

The name of Jesus is the glory of preachers, because the shining splendor of that name causes his word to be proclaimed and heard.

[hofelina]

I Love You God!    

My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath. 

[hofelina]

Practice What You Preach   

Share with all the word of God you have received with joy. Believe what you read. Teach what you believe. Practice what you teach. 

[hofelina]

His Glorification     

Shall we eat bread and give no wheat to be ground? Shall we drink wine and give no grapes to be crushed? The condition for incorporation into the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and into His glorification is incorporation into His death.

[hofelina]

Unity With Christ 

Eat this sacred food so that your bond of unity with Christ may never be broken. Drink this sacred blood, the price he paid for you, so that you may never lose heart because of your sinfulness.

[hofelina]

Grace of the Holy Spirit     

If you consider what it is for a man yet clothed in flesh and blood to approach that pure and blessed nature, you will easily understand to what a dignity the grace of the Holy Spirit has raised priests.

[hofelina]

The Intercession of Mary     

"Let us venerate Mary with every fiber of our being, from the deepest part of our heart, because this is the will of him who wanted us to receive everything through Mary." -St. Bernard of Clairvaux

[hofelina]

The Wish of Jesus 

"It is the most decided wish of her Son that we should come to Him through His Blessed Mother." -St. Louis de Montfort

[hofelina]

Due Reverence     

"My goodness has decreed that anyone at all, just or sinner, who holds Mary in due reverence will never be snatched or devoured by the infernal demon." -God's pledge through St. Catherine of Siena 

 

[hofelina]

Our Affection for Mary

We do not love the Blessed Virgin specifically because of what we obtain or hope to obtain from her; but we love her because she is worthy of our love.

[Lorenzo]

Due Reverence     

"My goodness has decreed that anyone at all, just or sinner, who holds Mary in due reverence will never be snatched or devoured by the infernal demon." -God's pledge through St. Catherine of Siena 

 

Amen. Amen.

Most Holy Virgin Mary never has it been known that  you would leave anyone who have recourse to you...pray for us o Most Holy Mother of God...

[hofelina]

His Gifts To Us     

Christ reserved his best, his most powerful and most effective gifts, for the end: the gift of himself in the Eucharist and the gift of his Blessed Mother.

[hofelina]

The Path to Christ     

"Mary is the way which leads to Christ, and that filial devotion to her takes nothing away from intimacy with Jesus. Indeed, it increases it and leads to the highest levels of perfection." â€"Pope John Paul II

[hofelina]

The Immaculate Conception     

God gives us the mystery of Mary the Immaculate Conception so that we will have the right way to approach all of reality. For everything that we do depends on how we conceive of things.

[hofelina]

Our Relationship With God  

God offers us, again and again unfailingly, what our first parents were so ready to throw away: a relationship with him, that is, our happiness.

[hofelina]

Father, Forgive Me

Jesus breathed on the apostles and gave them the power to forgive sins and also to retain themâ€"an awesome responsibility and one they saw as central to their mission.

[hofelina]

Make Reparation for Sin     

Confession is the necessary prerequisite to Communion. And not only confession but also making things right. It's not enough to confess the sin: The sin has to stop, and the damage has to be undone.

[hofelina]

Among the Saints

Wherever we go we have the company of people whose lives showed the truth of God's Word. Christians who died in the faith became part of that illustrious company.

[hofelina]

Lord, Help Me to Be Humble     

Everyone should be praised by the lips of his neighbor, and not by his own mouth. Everyone should be commended by the work he has done, not by what he wanted to do.

[Lorenzo]

Helping a brother,


when a brother comes to you and asks help, listen to his request , and help him to the best of your ability. It might be the same brother who will help you in your time of need.

[hofelina]

The Rule of Truth     

For the rule of truth is to do nothing to advance yourself that actually makes you go backward, and not to use whatever good you have to disgrace or blame someone else.

[hofelina]

Set A Good Example     

Tradition isn't just the past. It's what we pass on to the future as well. We are the witnesses future generations will turn to.

[hofelina]

The Truth Will Set Us Free     

If we stick with the Church, we’ll become part of that great cloud of witnesses who testify to the truth. And the truth will set us free, with many of our neighbors, our coworkers and our friends.

[hofelina]

Praise God!     

The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds. The lord supports all who fall and raises all who are bowed down.

[hofelina]

He Is My Redeemer     

It is he who forgives all your guilt, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion, renewing your youth like an eagle’s.

[hofelina]

God Be With Me!     

God be in my head and in my understanding. God be in mine eyes and in my looking. God be in my mouth, and in my speaking.

[hofelina]

Pleasing God     

My Lord God, I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

[hofelina]

LORD, take away the arrogance in us. Help us go back to the humble and righteous ways, where our real friends walk.

[hofelina]

God, Teach Me to Love 
   
I pray not for wealth, I pray not for honors, I pray not for pleasures, or even the joys of poetry. I only pray that during all my life, I may have love: that I may have pure love to love thee.

[hofelina]

Jesus, Strengthen Me!     

O tree of Calvary, send your roots deep down into my heart. Gather together the soil of my heart, the sands of my fickleness, the mud of my desires. Bind them all together and interlace them with thy strong roots, entwine them with the network of thy love.

[hofelina]

Lord, I Adore You!     

Let us adore forever the most holy Sacrament. O praise the Lord, all you nations; praise him, all you people. For his mercy is confirmed upon us; and the truth of the Lord remains forever.

[Lorenzo]

God is Love. Those who do not know Love , do not know God.

[Lorenzo]

Forgive us Lord for our sins, and continue to bathe us in your redemptive Love, which looks past our iniquities, and searches our hearts and tests our faith. Sanctify us with your Word, and the Spirit of Your Love. Calm us when we are angry, remind us when we forget, rebuke us when we are arrogant, embrace us when we are lonely, and most of all, Forgive us Lord. Forgive us, for we are prone to sin....

Forgive us, Lord...

[hofelina]

Conquering Pain     

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.

[hofelina]

God's Great Mercy     

God sent his Son into the world to save us and to redeem us from sin. Knowing that we would sin, he gave us a sacrament to forgive sin.

[hofelina]

The Greatest Sacrament     

The first and greatest sacrament that we receive is the Sacrament of Baptism. In this sacrament God adopts us and snatches us from the darkness of original sin.

[hofelina]

Sacraments Bring Us Life     

The sacraments are veins that flow with life. At every stage of our spiritual journey, they bring us life: supernatural life, the life of grace, which makes us holy.

[hofelina]

Sins Hurt Ourselves     

By sin we can’t hurt God. Christ is risen now, and he can’t suffer anymore. By sin we hurt each other.

[hofelina]

Faith in Christ's Presence     

In the sacraments Christ guarantees his presence. This doesn’t depend on feelings; it depends on faith. On each step of our journey, he meets us with the needs we have.

[hofelina]

Lord, Heal Us on Our Journey     

Many people forget that meeting with Jesus to ask for healing of sickness of soul will also bring great healing to the body and the mind. Jesus knew that, and that’s why he gave us the sacrament: to heal us on our journey.

[hofelina]

God Forgives, Then Forgets 

The tremendous truth about our God is that when he forgives, he forgets. It is hard for us to understand such great mercy.

[hofelina]

Our Spiritual Food     

We need food on our journey. Jesus knew that we would need spiritual food too. So what did he do? He instituted the Blessed Eucharist.

[hofelina]

Centered Prayer

Prayer centered on relationship with Christ, the Word of God incarnate, cannot help but change the life of the believer and the way one lives.

[hofelina]

Father, We Adore You! 

Loving Father, we thank you, we praise you, and we adore you for your love shown to us in Jesus our Savior. We thank you for the many beautiful ways you call us to come to you, the source of life.

[hofelina]

Overcoming Sin     

Christ heals us and gives us the strength we need to go out and fight sin in the world. The Eucharist gives us this strength.

[Lorenzo]

Amen, Manay.

Even when times are hard, always count on the Eucharist to strengthen us again..

[hofelina]

Faith in Christ's Power

The Sacrament of the Sick is not just for people who are dying. It’s for people who are alive. As with every encounter with Christ, we need to have a living, expectant faith in the power of Jesus to heal us.

[hofelina]

The Church is the Family of God     

We live in a family, the family of God, which is the Church. It has given us everything that we need for our inner journey.  Let us ask the lord to heal us if there is something that prevents us from being happy people of God.

[hofelina]

Mary's Intervention     

You are so inextricably tied to Christ, Blessed Mother, that we cannot help but beg and desire your prayers and to thank you profusely for hastening them to your Son's throne.

[Lorenzo]

Amen, Mother Mary Intercede for us who have recourse to you...

[hofelina]

The Role of Mary     

Mary, your life and your calling are almost beyond my comprehension. How blessed and holy you are! Faithless no longer, I want to find him through you.

[hofelina]

Bond of Love     

O Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain which unites us to God, bond of love which unites us to the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults of Hell, safe port in our universal shipwreck, we will never abandon you.

[hofelina]

The Work of the Holy Spirit     

I cannot fully grasp the breathtaking work of the Holy Spirit--in Mary's life or mine. But I know that he is real; he is at work in me.

[Lorenzo]

I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death;
I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life
to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

[Lorenzo]

But of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth:
the Blessed Sacrament ... There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity,
and the true way of all your loves on earth...
- JRR Tolkien

[hofelina]

Mary's Humility     

By her words and her silence the Virgin Mary stands before us as a model for our pilgrim way.

[hofelina]

The Power of the Rosary     

Some people do not like to take the medicine that would heal them, and call it nonsense. The rosary is exactly that medicine which cures an amazing deal of nonsense.

[hofelina]

Greatest Honor     

To serve Mary and to be her courtier is the greatest honor one can possibly possess, for to serve the Queen of Heaven is already to reign there, and to live under her commands is more than to govern.

[hofelina]

The Face of Christ 

To recite the rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ. Help me find time today, Lord, to sit in silence and contemplate your face. Mary, pray with me and for me.

[hofelina]

Contemplation in Christ 

No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. With Mary by my side, let me contemplate the face of Christ--in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in Adoration, in every person I meet.

[hofelina]

Our Bodies are Gifts     

Just as the body reveals the person, and as our bodies were made to be gifts to others by marriage or celibate virginity, so am I called to die to myself and live now completely and forever for others.

[hofelina]

The Real Man    

The real man is not massively muscular and well-groomed; he is bloody and weak on a cross.

[hofelina]

Sacraments of Persons    

We are not to be afraid of, disregard, or elevate our bodies; rather we our to embrace them for what they are: “sacraments of persons." Our bodies reveal our inner life; our bodies reveal us, just as Jesus in his own incarnate body revealed himself.

[hofelina]

Inner Reflections

This is one aspect of what it means to be a body-person: I should never allow the spiritual dimension of my lifeâ€"my interior selfâ€"to be split or unhinged from my bodily actions.

[hofelina]

Finding God in Others    

We are immersed in relationships and if we desire to follow the path of Jesus, we have to develop the capacity to see God in ourselves and othersâ€"all others, at all times.

[hofelina]

Religious Practices    

Religious practices give voice to spirituality, and spirituality gives meaning to our rites and rituals. Spirituality without religion is empty belief, and religion without spirituality is uninspiring.

[hofelina]

Seeing God in Others    

We must bend down to see God. We will find him there in the frailty of our humanity, among the poor, the sick, the lame and the blind. Yes, God is there and will always be there until the end of time.

[hofelina]

Vessels Of Love    

God needs human skin to live in the universe, vessels of passionate love. We have the capacity for God; we are made in God’s image.

[hofelina]

Love and Justice

A firm intention aligns us with the labor of God in God’s birthing of love and justice. God does this birthing repeatedly; we can participate and be changed in the process.

[hofelina]

Sacred Moments

Giving voice to concrete intention is a way to make ourselves conscious that, with God’s companionship, we can transform ordinary activities into sacred moments.

[hofelina]

Change For the Better    

In all cases we experience some shift in consciousness, some change in the way we see the world, ourselves and God. This is the point at which an authentic change of direction may begin, a change for the better, what Christians refer to as conversion.

[hofelina]

A Chance to Start Over    

Each day is a new beginning. A day to have wounds healed. A day to believe. A day to welcome home parts of ourselves that we have refused to embrace.

[hofelina]

The Joy of Suffering    

It is difficult to find a saint or a mystic whose life has not been touched significantly by disability or illness.