A LAMP TO MY FEET. A LIGHT FOR MY PATH.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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The Lord your God carried you,

just as one carries a child,

all the way that you travelled

until you reached this place.

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– Deuteronomy 1:31 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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It is good for us

to divide our life into distinct periods;

to give thanks to God for the mercies we have received in each.

.

It is good for us to thank the Lord our God for carrying us through,

often without our knowledge

and most times without even uttering a “thank You” to Him.

.

It is good to confess our lackings,

and to seek His forgiveness

for the times when we did not acknowledge Him as Lord.

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It is good to thank God for bringing us to where we are today;

for the many blessings received;

to declare our love for Him;

and to fervently accept His salvation

and surrender ourselves to His service.

.

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PRAYER…

.

Father God,

thank You for carrying me through life.

Thank You for listening to the petitions of those who loved me

and who entrusted me to You in prayer.

.

Now that, through Your amazing grace,

I have recognised Your unfailing love

and can heartfully acknowledge Your parenthood,

I can truly be thankful to You

for always having been by my side.

.

Father, from here on

I want to stay with You wherever You lead me,

I want to always do Your will,

I want to disregard all that is in opposition to You,

and to bring others to taste and see how good You are.

.

I so want to love You, O God.

Grant that I will forever cling to my faith,

to Your truth,

and to Your promised blessings.

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Amen.

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Thank You, Lord God.

I love You, Lord God.

Forgive me, Lord God.

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YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

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Faith is a personal act

– the free response of the human person

to the initiative of God who reveals Himself.

.

But faith is not an isolated act.

No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone.

You have not given yourself faith

as you have not given yourself life.

.

The believer has received faith from others

and should hand it on to others.

.

Our love for Jesus and for our neighbour

impels us to speak to others about our faith.

Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers.

.

I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others,

and by my faith I help support others in the faith.

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[CCC 166]

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Read the “Lamp” on-line – click on >> www.alamptomyfeet.org. Share the link with your family and friends.

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Unsubscribe? Please e-mail ChristTheKingPrayerGroup and write “No thanks” in the subject box.

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“I tell you solemnly,

unless you change and become like little children

you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

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– Matthew 18:3 (JB)

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REFLECTION…

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Our Lord wants us to be like little children

because…

children are incapable of hating anyone

and are totally innocent of vice,

particularly of pride, which is the worst vice of all.

Besides, children are full of trust for those who love them.

.

But let us not be mistaken,

spiritual childhood is not about being weak, soft or ignorant,

rather, when practised by an adult, it involves resilience,

and it demands a strong will,

proven maturity,

and an open and firm character.

.

Humility is one of the main pillars of the Christian life

and Jesus rejoices

when He sees humble people

trusting and accepting the Word of God.

.

It is such humble trust and acceptance

that leads towards knowing God,

and to the resultant inner joy and peace.

.

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QUOTES…

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“If you ask me what is the essential thing

in the religion and discipline of Jesus Christ,

I shall reply: first humility, second humility and third humility”

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– St. Augustine

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“To become children

we must renounce our pride and self-sufficiency,

recognising that we can do nothing by ourselves.

We must realise that we need grace,

and the help of God our Father

to find our way and keep it.

.

To be little,

you have to abandon yourself as children do,

believe as children,

beg as children beg”

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– St. Josemaria Escriva

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PRAYER…

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Abba, make me like a child,

give me humility

which realises ignorance,

admits mistakes,

recognises needs,

welcomes advice,

accepts rebuke.

.

O Father, help me always be full of Your joy,

expressing Christian praise rather than criticism,
being sympathetic rather than discouraging;

building for Your Kingdom rather than destroying;
and seeing You in others rather than rejecting them.
.

For this I pray with all my heart.
.

Amen.

…..…..

[Source: adaptation of a prayer by William Barclay]

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Father, remove my pride and make me humble.

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YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

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[…] a humble and trusting heart … enables us to turn and become like children:

for it is to “little children” that the Father is revealed.

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“Our Father: at this name love is aroused in us …

and the confidence of obtaining what we are about to ask. …

What would He not give to His children who ask,

since He has already granted them the gift of being His children?”[St Augustine]

[CCC 2785]

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen

and who feasted sumptuously every day.

And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus,

covered with sores,

who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table;

even the dogs would come and lick his sores.”

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– Luke 16:19-21 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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In my own comforts,

am I complacent about other people around me

who lack,

who suffer…?

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How truly Christian am I?

.

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QUOTE…

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“…a danger that all of us face. […]

The danger of complacency, comfort,

worldliness in our lifestyles and in our hearts,

of making our well-being the most important thing in our lives.

.

Whenever material things, money, worldliness, become the centre of our lives,

they take hold of us,

they possess us;

we lose our very identity as human beings. […]

.

The rich man in the Gospel has no name,

he is simply ‘a rich man’.

Material things, his possessions, are his face;

he has nothing else. […]

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Security in material things…ultimately rob us of our face, our human face.

This is what happens when we become complacent,

when we no longer remember God. […]

Life, the world, other people,

all of these become unreal, they no longer matter,

everything boils down to one thing: having.

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When we no longer remember God, we too become unreal,

we too become empty;

like the rich man in the Gospel, we no longer have a face.

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Those who run after nothing become nothing.”

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– Pope Francis

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PRAYER…

.

Jesus,

my Teacher, my Mentor,

my Saviour, my Lord,

I so want to love You

and I know I cannot truly do so

unless I love and am charitable to my neighbour.

.

Help me see You in every single person I come across;

help me find You in everyone,

especially in the poor, the sick, the lame, the less fortunate.

.

Remove any misguided pride from deep inside of me,

and all prejudices I may harbour against others.

Take away my selfishness

and my fears,

and, Lord, use me as You will.

.

Amen.

.

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Lord, help me share Your blessings, and Your love, with the needy.

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YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

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The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of “friendship” or “social charity,”

is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood.

.

[CCC 1939]

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The differences among persons belong to God’s plan,

who wills that we should need one another.

These differences should encourage charity.

.

[CCC 1946]

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Solidarity is an eminently Christian virtue.

It practices the sharing of spiritual goods even more than material ones.

.

[CCC 1948]

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TODAY’S WORD…

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I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more,

together with true knowledge and perfect judgment,

so that you will be able to choose what is best.

Then you will be free from all impurity and blame

on the Day of Christ.

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– Philippians 1:9-10 (GNT)

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QUOTE…

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“There is a deeper war that all of us must fight!

It is the tough and courageous decision to reject evil and its seductions

and to choose the good,

ready to pay personally.

.

This profound war of fighting evil is following Christ!

This is carrying our cross!”

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– Pope Francis

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PRAYER…

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Come Holy Spirit,

You are welcome in my heart.

Come and help me understand what really matters.

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Holy Spirit,

I want to know Jesus more and more,

fill me with His love till I overflow,

make me more like Him,

and fill me with Your fruit

so that I may live a pure and righteous life

for the glory of God.

.

Holy Spirit,

grant me the wisdom to always choose good over evil,

and give me the strength to carry my cross.

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Amen

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Come Holy Spirit, help me understand what really matters.

.

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YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

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Faced with a moral choice,

conscience can make either a right judgment

in accordance with reason and the divine law

or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.

…..

[CCC 1786]

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Man is sometimes confronted by situations

that make moral judgments less assured and decision difficult.

But he must always seriously seek what is right and good

and discern the will of God expressed in divine law.

…..

[CCC 1787]

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To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience and the signs of the times

assisted by the virtue of prudence,

by the advice of competent people,

and by the help of the Holy Spirit and His gifts.

…..

[CCC 1788]

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“’…I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat,

I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

I was a stranger and you did not invite me in,

I needed clothes and you did not clothe me,

I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’”

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– Matthew 25:43 (NIV)

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Jesus said,

“…when you give a banquet,

invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

and you will be blessed.

Although they cannot repay you,

you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

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– Luke 14:13-14 (NIV)

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QUOTE…

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“Today there is an inescapable duty

to make ourselves the neighbour of every man, no matter who he is,

and if we meet him, to come to his aid in a positive way,

whether he is an aged person abandoned by all,

a foreign worker despised without reason,

a refugee,

an illegitimate child wrongly suffering for a sin he did not commit,

or a starving human being who awakens our conscience by calling to mind the words of Christ:

‘As you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Mat 25:40)”

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– Gaudium Et Spes

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PRAYER…

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O Lord, my God,

I thank You for all the blessings You have bestowed upon me,

and especially for the gift of faith.

.

Lord, grant that I reciprocate Your love for me

in a manner that is pleasing to You.

.

Lead me, Lord,

and grant that I will do Your will

and go and find You in the poor and the hungry,

in the sick, the lame and the crippled,

in the socially excluded,

in those on the fringes of society.

.

Help me, Lord,

to look beyond myself, my family, and my own direct interests,

so that I will share my blessings

as well as Your love, joy, peace and hope

…also with those others who are less fortunate than me.

.

Amen.

.

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, help me share Your love with the needy.

.

.

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YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

“For the poor will never cease out of the land;

therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother,

to the needy and to the poor in the land.'” (Deut 15:11)

.

Jesus makes these words His own:

“The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” (Jn 12:8)

In so doing He … invites us to recognise His own presence in the poor who are His brethren:

.

When her mother reproached her

for caring for the poor and the sick at home,

St. Rose of Lima said to her:

“When we serve the poor and the sick, we serve Jesus.

We must not fail to help our neighbors, because in them we serve Jesus.”

[CCC 2449]

.

.

.

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TODAY’S WORD…

.

A person who isn’t spiritual

doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s Spirit.

He thinks they’re nonsense.

He can’t understand them

because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them.

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– 1 Corinthians 2:14 (GW)

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REFLECTION…

.

The person who acts only by using his or her human faculties (intelligence and will) can be wise only in the things of this world.

The spiritual person is the Christian reborn by the grace of God.

Grace elevates the faculties of such persons

to enable them to perform actions which have a supernatural value

– acts of faith, hope and love.

.

Persons who are in the state of grace

are able to perceive the things of God,

because they carry with them the Spirit in their soul in grace,

and they have Christ’s mind,

and Christ’s attitude.

.

.

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QUOTES…

.

“We have no alternative.

There are only two possible ways of living on this earth:

either we live a supernatural life, or we live an animal life.

And you and I can only live the life of God, a supernatural life.”

.

– St. Josemaria Escriva

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.

“He who has sight sees everything, including the person who has no sight;

but the sightless person cannot see the things of the person who has sight.”

.

– St. John Chrysostom

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“A conscious person

rightly perceives both that he is awake and that the other person is asleep;

but the person who is asleep

cannot form a correct judgment concerning either himself

or the one who is awake.

Therefore, things are not the way they are seen by someone asleep:

they are as they appear to be to a conscious person […].”

.

– St. Thomas Aquinas

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PRAYER…

.

Spirit of the Living God,

O Amazing Grace,

thank You for coming into my heart,

for counselling and teaching me,

for showing me the way,

and for making me conscious of those bonds and desires

that lead me away from the Truth.

.

O Amazing Grace,

I once was lost,

but now I am found;

I was blind,

but now I see.

.

O Lord, my God

strengthen my faith,

reinforce my understanding

and, now that I have found You,

increase my determination to never let You go

…never.

.

Amen.

.

.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

O Amazing Grace, strengthen my faith

and my love for You.

.

.

.

YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

He who believes in Christ becomes a son of God.

This filial adoption transforms him

by giving him the ability to follow the example of Christ.

It makes him capable of acting rightly and doing good.

.

In union with his Saviour,

the disciple attains the perfection of charity which is holiness.

Having matured in grace,

the moral life blossoms into eternal life in the glory of heaven.

.

[CCC 1709]

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.

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TODAY’S WORD…

.

Jesus asked,

“Who do you say I am?”

.

– Luke 9:20 (GNT)

.

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QUOTE…

.

“Why does Jesus want to know what people think about Him?

Why does He want to know what His disciples think about Him?

.

Jesus wants His disciples

to become aware of what is hidden in their own minds and hearts

and to give voice to their conviction.

At the same time, however,

He knows that the judgment they will express will not be theirs alone,

because it will reveal what God has poured into their hearts

by the grace of faith.
.

This is what faith is all about!

It is the response of the rational and free human person

to the word of the living God. […].

It is Jesus in fact, that you seek when you dream of happiness;

He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you;

He is the beauty to which you are so attracted;

it is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness

that will not let you settle for compromise;

it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life;

it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices,

the choices that others try to stifle.

.

It is Jesus who stirs in you

the desire to do something great with your lives,

the will to follow an ideal,

the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity,

the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society,

making the world more human and more fraternal.”

.

– Pope John Paul II

.

.

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PRAYER…

.

Jesus,

You are my Lord.

You are the Rock of my salvation.

You are my strength.

You are my life.

.

Lord, hold me by the hand

and lead me to wherever You want me to go,

to do whatever You want me to do,

that I may always be with You,

that I may always love and serve You above all

…for You are my God!

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Jesus, You are my God!

.

.

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YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

When St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God,

Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come “from flesh and blood”,

but from “my Father who is in heaven”. (Mt 16:17)

.

Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by Him.

.

“Before this faith can be exercised,

man must have the grace of God to move and assist Him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit,

who moves the heart and converts it to God,

who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.” (Vatican II “Dei Verbum”)

[CCC 153]

.

.

.

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TODAY’S WORD…

.

Those who consider themselves religious

and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues

deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless

.

– James 1:26 (NIV)

.

.

.

QUOTE…

.

“I don’t know why, but there is a dark joy in gossiping.

Sometimes we begin by saying nice things about another,

but then we slip into gossip,

making the object of our chatter merchandise to be bartered.
.

Let us ask forgiveness because when we do this to a friend,

we do it to Jesus, because Jesus is in this friend.

.

Those who live judging their neighbour,

speaking ill of their neighbour,

are hypocrites,

because they lack the strength and the courage

to look to their own shortcomings.

.

[…] If you speak ill of your brother, you kill your brother.

And every time we do this,

we are imitating that gesture of Cain, the first murderer in history. …

.

Gossip always has a criminal side to it.

There is no such thing as innocent gossip …

[Rather than gossiping about a person] go and pray for him!

Go and do penance for her!

And then, if it is necessary, speak to that person

who may be able to seek remedy for the problem.

But don’t tell everyone!

.

[…] We ask for grace so that we and the entire Church

may convert from the crime of gossip

to love, to humility, to meekness, to docility,

to the generosity of love towards our neighbour..”

.

– Pope Francis

.

.

.

PRAYER…

.

O God, my Creator,

Almighty Father,

have mercy on me.

.

Grant, O Lord,

that all I do will be an acceptable offering to You.

Grant that all I say will be a sweet sound in Your ear.

.

Lord, help me always keep a tight rein on my tongue,

that I may use it only to express and spread love

and not to cause harm and destroy.

.

Have mercy on me, O God,

forgive me my sins,

heal my iniquities

and make me strong in You.

.

Amen.

.

.

.

REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

.

Lord, heal my iniquities

and make me strong in You.

.

.

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YEAR OF FAITH 2012-2013

FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH…

.

Christ’s disciples have "put on the new man,

created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."(Eph 4:24)

.

By "putting away falsehood,"

they are to "put away all malice and all guile

and insincerity and envy and all slander."(1 Pet 2:1)

.

[CCC 2475]

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