Jesus said to the crowds:“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the landand would sleep and rise night and dayand the seed would sprout and grow,he knows not how.Of its own accord the land yields fruit,first the blade, then the ear, then …
“In our own times Little Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face is the great example of this exercise of the presence of God, expressing itself in her devotion to the Holy Face. This devotion was also always characteristic of her sister, St. Teresa of Avila. In many of our old churches we …
Jesus said to his disciples,“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basketor under a bed,and not to be placed on a lampstand?For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible;nothing is secret except to come to light.Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.”He also told them, “Take care …
Today, January 27, is the memorial of Saint Angela Merici. Foundress of the Company of Saint Ursula (Ursulines). Angela Merici was born on a farm near Deserzano del Garda, Italy in 1474. Both Angela and her sister became orphans at a very young age and were adopted by their uncle. Her sister suddenly died, and …
“We need not say that this practice of the presence of God is not confined entirely to the Order of Carmel. It is at the root of all spiritual life and though methods may differ, all spiritual writers lay it down as an essential element in religious development. But in Carmel it takes a special …
Today, January 26, is the memorial of the Martyred Family of Constantinople. It was the 5th century when this holy family lived: husband and wife Saint Xenophon and Saint Mary, and their sons Saint John and Saint Arcadius. They were a very wealthy family of senatorial rank in imperial Constantinople. In those times, being a …
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The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two other discipleswhom he sent ahead of him in pairsto every town and place he intended to visit.He said to them,“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;so ask the master of the harvestto send out laborers for his harvest.Go on your way;behold, I am sending you like lambs among …
On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea.A very large crowd gathered around himso that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down.And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.And he taught them at length in parables,and in the course of his instruction he said to them,“Hear this! …
“This living in the presence of God, this placing himself before the face of God, is a characteristic which the children of Carmel have inherited from the great Prophet: Conversatio nostra in coelis est. ‘Our conversation is in heaven.’ Elias was not taken up to heaven, but here on earth he lived in heaven and …
Today, January 25, is the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me that he has made me his servant and judged me faithful. I was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, a man filled with arrogance, but I have been treated mercifully.” (1 Timothy 1:12-13, Daytime …