St. Patrick's Cathedral in the diocese of El Paso in the United States was vandalized. A statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was destroyed.
♦️The king’s forgiveness invites our forgiveness
“At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.”
In face of sincere repentance, God treats us in this way, overflowing with goodness, extending to us an infinitely greater mercy than we could anticipate. For this, He places only one condition: “a broken and contrite heart”.
Our Lord substitutes the talion penalty with a new approach: loving one’s neighbour as oneself, for love of God.
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias
New Insights on the Gospels II, pp. 337-338
“At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.”
In face of sincere repentance, God treats us in this way, overflowing with goodness, extending to us an infinitely greater mercy than we could anticipate. For this, He places only one condition: “a broken and contrite heart”.
Our Lord substitutes the talion penalty with a new approach: loving one’s neighbour as oneself, for love of God.
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias
New Insights on the Gospels II, pp. 337-338
🔸Saint Joseph of Cupertino - September 18
He commonly saw people in the form of animals that represented the state of their souls. If he met someone whose soul was not clean, he smelled the bad odor of sin and warned: "You stink, go wash yourself". After they had made a good Confession, he smelled a pleasant scent of perfume.
Carlos Toniolo, Heralds of the Gospel Magazine
He commonly saw people in the form of animals that represented the state of their souls. If he met someone whose soul was not clean, he smelled the bad odor of sin and warned: "You stink, go wash yourself". After they had made a good Confession, he smelled a pleasant scent of perfume.
Carlos Toniolo, Heralds of the Gospel Magazine
♦️The Gospel Commentary for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Gnawing Worm of Envy
Envy is venom that corrodes souls, and it is more noxious still when it revolts against spiritual favours granted by God to neighbour, a moral vice called envy of fraternal grace.
Read the commentary: https://donalucilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/25th-Sunday.pdf
Audio of Gospel Commentary: https://donalucilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/25th-Sunday_Ordinary-Time_YrA.mp3
The Gnawing Worm of Envy
Envy is venom that corrodes souls, and it is more noxious still when it revolts against spiritual favours granted by God to neighbour, a moral vice called envy of fraternal grace.
Read the commentary: https://donalucilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/25th-Sunday.pdf
Audio of Gospel Commentary: https://donalucilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/25th-Sunday_Ordinary-Time_YrA.mp3
⚜️ Confident and Humble Prayer
If we truly knew how to pray, if we had the confidence and humility that makes man's prayer pleasing to God, we would be omnipotent. The confident and persevering prayer of the just attains everything. The history of the Church is above all the narration of the triumphs which it has attained by the prayers of the faithful.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Legionário, January 14, 1945
If we truly knew how to pray, if we had the confidence and humility that makes man's prayer pleasing to God, we would be omnipotent. The confident and persevering prayer of the just attains everything. The history of the Church is above all the narration of the triumphs which it has attained by the prayers of the faithful.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Legionário, January 14, 1945
✨Unshakable goodness
A certain wealthy client once wrote to Dr. Antônio complaining that she had fallen ill and had no one to care for her. Since she was also a good friend, he and Dona Gabriela invited her to stay for a time at their home, where their daughters would look after her.
Lucilia, overflowing with kindness, promptly responded and spared no effort in tending to the patient, whose treatment entailed much toil. After a few days had passed, a member of the household, noticing that the patient was not deserving of that degree of dedication said:
“Lucilia, don’t be foolish, putting yourself out so to take care of this woman. Do you know what will happen? When she gets better and is about to leave, she won’t even be grateful; she’ll say simply ‘Thank you very much’ and then forget all about you... It’s me she’ll show appreciation to, even though I only spent a few minutes with her, telling her some funny stories!”
Lucilia serenely answered:
“That may be so, but I am doing this because Papa requested it, and for love of God. The work of mercy will have been fulfilled.”
The guest finally recovered, and as she was leaving, she bid a curt farewell to her benefactor:
“Goodbye, Lucilia, thank you.”
To the other, she gushed: “I am so grateful to you! You were an angel to me! I was so entertained with those amusing stories; you really picked up my spirits!”
When the ingrate had departed, the one who had been heaped with praise commented:
“You see? Didn’t I tell you? Don’t make such efforts in catering to good-for-nothings, because you will only receive a slap in the face in return.”
“But the good done remains,” replied Lucilia, unperturbed.
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias
Dona Lucilia, pg. 87
A certain wealthy client once wrote to Dr. Antônio complaining that she had fallen ill and had no one to care for her. Since she was also a good friend, he and Dona Gabriela invited her to stay for a time at their home, where their daughters would look after her.
Lucilia, overflowing with kindness, promptly responded and spared no effort in tending to the patient, whose treatment entailed much toil. After a few days had passed, a member of the household, noticing that the patient was not deserving of that degree of dedication said:
“Lucilia, don’t be foolish, putting yourself out so to take care of this woman. Do you know what will happen? When she gets better and is about to leave, she won’t even be grateful; she’ll say simply ‘Thank you very much’ and then forget all about you... It’s me she’ll show appreciation to, even though I only spent a few minutes with her, telling her some funny stories!”
Lucilia serenely answered:
“That may be so, but I am doing this because Papa requested it, and for love of God. The work of mercy will have been fulfilled.”
The guest finally recovered, and as she was leaving, she bid a curt farewell to her benefactor:
“Goodbye, Lucilia, thank you.”
To the other, she gushed: “I am so grateful to you! You were an angel to me! I was so entertained with those amusing stories; you really picked up my spirits!”
When the ingrate had departed, the one who had been heaped with praise commented:
“You see? Didn’t I tell you? Don’t make such efforts in catering to good-for-nothings, because you will only receive a slap in the face in return.”
“But the good done remains,” replied Lucilia, unperturbed.
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias
Dona Lucilia, pg. 87
♦️Tightly woven doctrine
“Every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life”.
As the “hundredfold” refers to the present life, Our Lord’s wording leads us to the simple conclusion that we are promised two distinct rewards: one on earth, the other in eternity. This offers great encouragement to all followers of Christ, to never stray from the right path.
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias
New Insights on the Gospels II, pp. 346-347
“Every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life”.
As the “hundredfold” refers to the present life, Our Lord’s wording leads us to the simple conclusion that we are promised two distinct rewards: one on earth, the other in eternity. This offers great encouragement to all followers of Christ, to never stray from the right path.
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias
New Insights on the Gospels II, pp. 346-347
🔷 On this day, 32 years ago, Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira prayed for his work in front of Our Lady of Good Counsel, in Genazzano.