The Friendship of the World

"All its compliments are false pretenses with which it deceives and entices the reckless. Although now it will show itself to you as a friend, in the time of need you will find it an enemy. In the greatest anguish it will leave you alone, and in the fire of tribulation you will know how vain is the glory of the world, for you will have nothing then. The friendship that the world shows you is deceitful, and although now it shows you a cheerful face and you may be prosperous and rich, the hour is near when you will be left without all these things that you love. "

Friar Diego de San Cristóbal, 'Tratado de la vanidad del mundo', Vol. 1, 1908, pp. 374.

______________________________________

Motherhood

"Now, a woman's function, a woman’s way, a woman’s natural bent is motherhood. Every woman is called to be a mother: mother in the physical sense, or in a more spiritual and more exalted, yet real none the les.”

-H.H. Pius XII, excerpts from “Questa grande”, dated October 21, 1945. Address to the Delegates of the Catholic Women's Associations of Italy.

_________________________________________

If We Are Like Sheep, We Overcome; but if We Turn into Wolves, We Are Overcome

"Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves." (Mt. 10:16)

As long as we are sheep, we overcome and, though surrounded by countless wolves, we emerge victorious; but if we turn into wolves, we are overcome, for we love the shepherd’s help. He, after all, feeds the sheep not wolves, and will abandon you if you do not let him show his power in you.

What he says is this: “Do not be upset that, as I send you out among the wolves, I bid you be as sheep and doves. I could have managed things quite differently and sent you, not to suffer evil nor to yield like sheep to the wolves, but to be fiercer than lions. But the way I have chosen is right. It will bring you greater praise and at the same time manifest my power”. That is what he told Paul: My grace is enough for you, for in weakness my power is made perfect. “I intend”, he says, “to deal in the same way with you”. For, when he says, I am sending you out like sheep, he implies: “But do not therefore lose heart, for I know and am certain that no one will be able to overcome you”.

The Lord, however, does want them to contribute something, lest everything seem to be the work of grace, and they seem to win their reward without deserving it. Therefore he adds: You must be clever as snakes and innocent as doves. But, they may object, what good is our cleverness amid so many dangers? How can we be clever when tossed about by so many waves? However great the cleverness of the sheep as he stands among the wolves – so many wolves! – what can it accomplish? However great the innocence of the dove, what good does it do him, with so many hawks swooping upon him? To all this I say: Cleverness and innocence admittedly do these irrational creatures no good, but they can help you greatly.

What cleverness is the Lord requiring here? The cleverness of a snake. A snake will surrender everything and will put up no great resistance even if its body is being cut in pieces, provided it can save its head. So you, the Lord is saying, must surrender everything but your faith: money, body, even life itself. For faith is the head and the root; keep that, and though you lose all else, you will get it back in abundance. The Lord therefore counselled the disciples to be not simply clever or innocent; rather he joined the two qualities so that they become a genuine virtue. He insisted on the cleverness of the snake so that deadly wounds might be avoided, and he insisted on the innocence of the dove so that revenge might not be taken on those who injure or lay traps for you. Cleverness is useless without innocence.

Do not believe that this precept is beyond your power. More than anyone else, the Lord knows the true natures of created things; he knows that moderation, not a fierce defense, beats back a fierce attack.

Saint John Chrysostom

______________________________________

Don’t Think You Know Betther than God What is Better for You and When Should it Happen

Pray, ask, insist, over and over, don't give up. If God considers it convenient, he will grant it to you in a timely manner, but don't believe that you know perfectly what is best and when it should happen. Don’t try to compete with He who who knows everything. Surrender with confidence to His Will. And Bless Him always. He loves you sweetly and watches over you.

If through prayer we could get what we ask for right away, piety would become a business. Sometimes God allows everything to get dark, without solution, because then He will shine with an unexpected solution.

_______________________________________

The Devotion to Mary, Sign of Salvation

1. 

"God revealed to Saint Catherine of Siena, 'in His goodness, and on account of the Incarnate Word, He had granted to Mary, who was His Mother, that no one, not even a sinner, who devoutly recommends himself to her should ever become the prey of Hell.'"

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, The Glories of Mary, Ch. VIII, 1

__________________________________________

Unless Your Justice Abound More Than That of the Scribes and Pharisees, You Shall Not Enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt. 5:20)

If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee; Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.

_____________________________________

The Purpose