Never be surprised by weakness

January 22
“True charity consists in putting up with one’s neighbor’s faults, never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the least of his virtues.”
-St. Therese of Lisieux
Today’s Reflection:
Can we love our neighbor as we love ourselves even when he is irksome, irritable, annoying, or just plain grumpy? How do we show the true face of God’s love despite the battle raging within us?
  

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Love your neighbor

January 28
“The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
-Mark 12:28-31
Today’s Reflection:
The passage reveals an important truth to us about the virtue of charity: true love of neighbor flows from true love of God. Jesus tells the scribe that the first commandment is to love God with the entirety of our being. Then we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. The love of God is a prerequisite for love of neighbor and for every charitable action.
Practicing the corporal works of mercy is a practical way to grow in the virtue of charity. Seek at least one way that you can do so this week.
(1) Feed the hungry.
(2) Give drink to the thirsty.
(3) Clothe the naked.
(4) Shelter the homeless.
(5) Visit those in prison.
(6) Comfort the sick.
(7) Bury the dead.
  

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If one member suffers

January 27
“If one member suffers, all suffer together.”
-1 Corinthians 12:26
Today’s Reflection:
In the Mystical Body, we are one in Christ Jesus. Even when it is not consciously experienced, suffering — the common denominator of the human condition — unites us with an unbreakable bond. But suffering itself begs us to ask questions. Why do we suffer? Why does God permit suffering to exist? What is suffering’s purpose? Ponder them during your time of prayer today.
  

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Beacon of hope

January 26
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”
-2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Today’s Reflection:
How can your personal testimony be a beacon of hope and a light of faith illuminating the way to forgiveness through Christlike love and compassion?
  

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True charity

January 22
“True charity consists in putting up with one’s neighbor’s faults, never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the least of his virtues.”
-St. Therese of Lisieux
Today’s Reflection:
Can we love our neighbor as we love ourselves even when he is irksome, irritable, annoying, or just plain grumpy? How do we show the true face of God’s love despite the battle raging within us.
  

If you enjoy Daily Gracelines, please prayerfully consider making a donation to support and sustain our apostolate so that we may continue to provide this and all of our resources designed to nourish and grow your Catholic faith.
DONATE

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Love your neighbor

January 28

“The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

-Mark 12:28-31

 

Today’s Reflection:

The passage reveals an important truth to us about the virtue of charity: true love of neighbor flows from true love of God. Jesus tells the scribe that the first commandment is to love God with the entirety of our being. Then we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. The love of God is a prerequisite for love of neighbor and
for every charitable action.

Practicing the corporal works of mercy is a practical way to grow in the virtue of charity. Seek at least one way that you can do so this week.

(1) Feed the hungry.
(2) Give drink to the thirsty.
(3) Clothe the naked.
(4) Shelter the homeless.
(5) Visit those in prison.
(6) Comfort the sick.
(7) Bury the dead.

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In her heart

January 23

“[She] kept all these things in her heart.”

-Luke 2:51

 

Today’s Reflection:

Prayer is the answer. Prayer is what the Blessed Virgin Mary did when she faced the contradictions of her life as Mother of the Messiah. It was in her heart that Our Lady found the grace and consolation she needed. In our barren times, how do we need to pray more, not less?

Dearest Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

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Obedience and Surrender

“All that is done by obedience is meritorious . . . It is obedience, which, by the light of Faith, puts self-will to death, and causes the obedient man to despise his own will and throw himself into the arms of his superior . . . Placed in the bark of obedience, he passes happily through the stormy sea of this life, in peace of soul and tranquility of heart. Obedience and faith disperse darkness; he is strong because he has no longer any weakness or fears, for self-will, which is the cause of inordinate fear and weakness, has been destroyed.”

-Saint Catherine of Siena

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Our Ultimate Longing

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. 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 country and to help others to do the same.

C.S. Lewis

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