http://www.all.org/rss_ewords.php Encouraging Words, American Life League RSS Feed en-us Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:40:33 EST Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:40:33 EST http://www.all.org webmaster@all.org webmaster@all.org http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12608 2010-03-09 09:50:00 “When I look at the crucifix, I shall feel all my difficulties dissolve.”    
(Blessed John XXIII, Magnificat, Feb. p 364) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12604 2010-03-08 09:45:00 “To strive for perfection is not the privilege of some, but an obligation for all the members of the Church.”   
(Pope John Paul II, Daily Lenten Meditations, page 25) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12600 2010-03-05 09:34:00 “THE WILL OF GOD WILL NEVER TAKE YOU WHERE THE GRACE OF GOD WILL NOT PROTECT YOU.”  
(Anonymous) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12597 2010-03-04 09:21:00 “Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers.  Rather, the law of the LORD is their joy; God's law they study day and night. They are like a tree planted near streams of water that yields its fruit in season; its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers."    
(Psalm 1:1-3) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12594 2010-03-03 09:47:00       Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense. Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me. For I know my offense; my sin is always before me. Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight That you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn. True, I was born guilty, a sinner, even as my mother conceived me. Still, you insist on sincerity of heart; in my inmost being teach me wisdom. Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow. Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt. A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit. Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me your holy spirit. Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit. I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you. Rescue me from death, God, my saving God, that my tongue may praise your healing power. Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise.  
(Psalm 50:3-17, http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm51.htm) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12590 2010-03-02 09:49:00 A pure heart create for me, O God; put a steadfast spirit within me. Amen.  
(JB) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12587 2010-03-01 09:23:00 "If you try to find rest in this world, how will you ever reach that rest which is life everlasting?  It is not long hours of rest you must be prepared for here, but for long hours of patient endurance.  True peace must be sought not on earth, but in heaven; not in men, nor in other forms of creation, but in God alone.  For the love of God you ought to endure with gladness all that befalls you: toil and sorrow, temptations, afflictions, anxiety, want, weakness, injury and slander, rebuke, humiliation, shame, correction and scorn.  All these things are aids to holiness … "  
(Thomas aKempis, Imitation of Christ, III:35:2 quoted in communiqué, 9/5/97) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12582 2010-02-26 10:18:00 “The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.  The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will but also with the gift of peace.”  
(Pope Saint Leo the Great, http://www.catholicradiodramas.com/Saints_Works_K) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12579 2010-02-25 09:37:00 “Let us not so anxiously or so proudly busy ourselves in the occupations of this present life as not to struggle, with the whole affection of our hearts, to be conformed with our Redeemer through his example.  He did nothing and suffered nothing that was not for our salvation.”  
(Saint Leo the Great, quoted in Magnifact, February, page 246 ) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12576 2010-02-24 10:04:00 "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets" (Luke 6: 2- 22). The Beatitudes challenge us to choose: to live Christianity or to live by the standards of the world. Do you want to give in to the demands of a worldly way of life, or have you decided to live true and authentic Christianity? The choice to live the Gospel changes our entire life. It tells us how we are to act, how we are to dress, how we are to speak, and how we are to interact with people. The choice to live the Gospel penetrates every aspect of our entire existence.  
(From the Sunday, February 14th sermon by Father James Farfaglia, http://don) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12572 2010-02-23 10:20:00 “God gives us no more than we can bear, and he gives us patience first.”  
(St. Teresa of Avila, 1515-1582 AD, http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12569 2010-02-22 09:36:00 Christ said, "I am gentle and humble of heart."  (Matthew 11:29) "There is what you have got to get hold of and it’s certainly little enough.  We are striving for great things; let's lay hold of little things, and we shall be great.  Do you wish to lay hold of the loftiness of God?  First catch hold of God’s lowliness.  Deign to be lowly and humble on the same account, yours, not his own.  So catch hold of Christ’s humility, learn to be humble, don’t be proud."  
(St. Augustine of Hippo, quoted in Magnificat, Feb pg 121) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12566 2010-02-19 10:25:00 "Keep your eye on the crucifix,    for Jesus without the cross       is a man without a mission;          and Jesus without the cross             is a burden without a reliever."  
(Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen quoted by Fr. Michael Deusterhaus) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12564 2010-02-18 09:09:00 ‘No one can be the slave of two masters; he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn.  You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.’  
(Matthew 6:24) http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12561 2010-02-17 09:37:00 “If conscience is to preserve its proper nature as a truth-seeking faculty, it must preserve this attitude of humility.  Pride is always trying to assert itself.  If it is permitted to do so, it will tend to adopt an attitude of domination toward the truth.  And it is then that conscience emerges with the pretensions of a truth-creating faculty.  
(Cormac Burke, Conscience and Freedom, page 12)