Illuminated by Joy - a Group for Catholic Teens discussion

The posts for lent are from Lent meditations by St Thomas Aquinas
Ash Wednesday
. If for some wrongdoing a man is deprived of some benefit once given to him, that he should lack that benefit is the punishment of his sin.

Now in man's first creation he was divinely endowed with this advantage that, so long as his mind remained subject to God, the lower powers of his soul were subjected to the reason and the body was subjected to the soul.

But because by sin man's mind moved away from its subjection to God, it followed that the lower parts of his mind ceased to be wholly subjected to the reason. From this there followed such a rebellion of the bodily inclination against the reason, that the body was no longer wholly subject to the soul.

Whence followed death and all the bodily defects. For life and wholeness of body are bound up with this, that the body is wholly subject to the soul, as a thing which can be made perfect is subject to that which makes it perfect. So it comes about that, conversely, there are such things as death, sickness and every other bodily defect, for such misfortunes are bound up with an incomplete subjection of body to soul.

2. The rational soul is of its nature immortal, and therefore death is not natural to man in so far as man has a soul. It is natural to his body, for the body, since it is formed of things contrary to each other in nature, is necessarily liable to corruption, and it is in this respect that death is natural to man.

But God who fashioned man is all powerful. And hence, by an advantage conferred on the first man, He took away that necessity of dying which was bound up with the matter of which man was made. This advantage was however withdrawn through the sin of our first parents.

Death is then natural, if we consider the matter of which man is made and it is a penalty, inasmuch as it happens through the loss of the privilege whereby man was preserved from dying.

3. Sin--original sin and actual sin--is taken away by Christ, that is to say, by Him who is also the remover of all bodily defects. He shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwelleth in you (Rom. viii. II).

But, according to the order appointed by a wisdom that is divine, it is at the time which best suits that Christ takes away both the one and the other, i.e., both sin and bodily defects.

Now it is only right that, before we arrive at that glory of impassibility and immortality which began in Christ, and which was acquired for us through Christ, we should be shaped after the pattern of Christ's sufferings. It is then only right that Christ's liability to suffer should remain in us too for a time, as a means of our coming to the impassibility of glory in the way He himself came to it.

Thursday: Fasting


1. We fast for three reasons.

(i) To check the desires of the flesh. So St. Paul says in fastings, in chastity (2 Cor. vi. 5), meaning that fasting is a safeguard for chastity. As St. Jerome says, " Without Ceres, and Bacchus, Venus would freeze," as much as to say that lust loses its heat through spareness of food and drink.

(ii) That the mind may more freely raise itself to contemplation of the heights. We read in the book of Daniel that it was after a fast of three weeks that he received the revelation from God (Dan. x. 2-4).

(iii) To make satisfaction for sin. This is the reason given by the prophet Joel, Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning (Joel ii. 12). And here is what St. Augustine writes on the matter. "Fasting purifies the soul. It lifts up the mind, and it brings the body into subjection to the spirit. It makes the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of desire, puts out the flames of lust and the true light of chastity."

2. There is commandment laid on us to fast. For fasting helps to destroy sin, and to raise the mind to thoughts of the spiritual world. Each man is then bound, by the natural law of the matter, to fast just as much as is necessary to help him in these matters. Which is to say that fasting in general is a matter of natural law. To determine, however, when we shall fast and how, according to what suits and is of use to the Catholic body, is a matter of positive law. To state the positive law is the business of the bishops, and what is thus stated by them is called ecclesiastical fasting, in contradistinction with the natural fasting previously mentioned.


3 . The times fixed for fasting by the Church are well chosen. Fasting has two objects in view:

(i) The destruction of sin, and

(ii) the lifting of the mind to higher things.


The times self-indicated for fasting are then those in which men are especially bound to free themselves from sin and to raise their minds to God in devotion. Such a time especially is that which precedes that solemnity of Easter in which baptism is administered and sin thereby destroyed, and when the burial of Our Lord is recalled, for we are buried together with Christ by baptism into death (Rom. vi. 4). Then, too, at Easter most of all, men's minds should be lifted, through devotion to the glory of that eternity which Christ in His resurrection inaugurated.

Wherefore the Church has decreed that immediately before the solemnity of Easter we must fast, and, for a similar reason, that we must fast on the eves of the principal feasts, setting apart those days as opportune to prepare ourselves for the devout celebration of the feasts themselves.

Friday: The Crown of Thorns


Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart.--Cant. iii. n.

This is the voice of the Church inviting the souls of the faithful to behold the marvellous beauty of her spouse. For the daughters of Sion, who are they but the daughters of Jerusalem, holy souls, the citizens of that city which is above, who with the angels enjoy the peace that knows no end, and, in consequence, look upon the glory of the Lord?

1. Go forth, shake off the disturbing commerce of this world so that, with minds set free, you may be able to contemplate him whom you love. And see king Solomon, the true peacemaker, that is to say, Christ Our Lord.

In the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him, as though the Church said, "Look on Christ garbed with flesh for us, the flesh He took from the flesh of His mother." For it is His flesh that is here called a diadem, the flesh which Christ assumed for us, the flesh in which He died and destroyed the reign of death, the flesh in which, rising once again, He brought to us the hope of resurrection.

This is the diadem of which St. Paul speaks, We see Jesus for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour (Heb. ii. 9). His mother is spoken of as crowning Him because Mary the Virgin it was who from her own flesh gave Him flesh.

In the day of His espousals, that is, in the hour of His Incarnation, when He took to Himself the Church not having spot or wrinkle (Eph. v. 27), the hour again when God was joined with man. And in the day of the joy of his heart. For the joy and the gaiety of Christ is for the human race salvation and redemption. And coming home, He calls together His friends and neighbours saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost (Luke xv. 6).

2. We can however refer the whole of this text simply and literally to the Passion of Christ. For Solomon, foreseeing through the centuries the Passion of Christ, was uttering a warning for the daughters of Sion, that is, for the Jewish people.

Go forth and see king Solomon, that is, Christ, in His diadem, that is to say, the crown of thorns with which His mother the Synagogue has crowned Him; in the day of His espousals, the day when He joined to Himself the Church; and in the day of the joy of His heart, the day in which He rejoiced that by His Passion He was delivering the world from the power of the devil. Go forth, therefore, and leave behind the darkness of unbelief, and see, understand with your minds that He who suffers as man is really God.

Go forth, beyond the gates of your city, that you may see Him, on Mount Calvary, crucified.

Tuesday After First Sunday of Lent

Christ underwent every kind of suffering

"Every kind of suffering." The things men suffer may be understood in two ways. By "kind" we may mean a particular, individual suffering, and in this sense there was no reason why Christ should suffer every kind of suffering, for many kinds of suffering are contrary the one to the other, as for example, to be burnt and to be drowned. We are of course speaking of Our Lord as suffering from causes outside himself, for to suffer the suffering effected by internal causes, such as bodily sickness, would not have become him. But if by "kind" we mean the class, then Our Lord did suffer by every kind of suffering, as we can show in three ways:

1. By considering the men through whom He suffered. For He suffered something at the hands of Gentiles and of Jews, of men and even of women as the story of the servant girl who accused St. Peter goes to show. He suffered, again, at the hands of rulers, of their ministers, and of the people, as was prophesied, Why have the Gentiles raged; and the people devised vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together against the Lord and against his Christ (Ps. ii. i, 2).

He suffered, too, from His friends, the men He knew best, for Peter denied Him and Judas betrayed Him.

2. If we consider the things through which suffering is possible. Christ suffered in the friends who deserted Him, and in His good name through the blasphemies uttered against Him. He suffered in the respect, in the glory, due to Him through the derision and contempt bestowed upon Him. He suffered in things, for He was stripped even of His clothing; in His soul, through sadness, through weariness and through fear; in His body through wounds and the scourging.

3. If we consider what He underwent in His various parts. His head suffered through the crown of piercing thorns, His hands and feet through the nails driven through them, His face from the blows and the defiling spittle, and His whole body through the scourging.

He suffered in every sense of His body. Touch was afflicted by the scourging and the nailing, taste by the vinegar and gall, smell by the stench of corpses as He hung on the cross in that place of the dead which is called Calvary. His hearing was torn with the voices of mockers and blasphemers, and He saw the tears of His mother and of the disciple whom He loved. If we only consider the amount of suffering required, it is true that one suffering alone, the least indeed of all, would have sufficed to redeem the human race from all its sins. But if we look at the fitness of the matter, it had to be that Christ should suffer in all the kinds of sufferings.

Wednesday After First Sunday of Lent

How Great was the Sorrow of Our Lord in His Passion?

Attend and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. Lam. i. 12.

Our Lord as He suffered felt really, and in His senses, that pain which is caused by some harmful bodily thing. He also felt that interior pain which is caused by the fear of something harmful and which we call sadness. In both these respects the pain suffered by Our Lord was the greatest pain possible in this present life. There are four reasons why this was so.


1. The causes of the pain.

The cause of the pain in the senses was the breaking up of the body, a pain whose bitterness derived partly from the fact that the sufferings attacked every part of His body, and partly from the fact that of all species of torture death by crucifixion is undoubtedly the most bitter. The nails are driven through the most sensitive of all places, the hands and the feet, the weight of the body itself increases the pain every moment. Add to this the long drawn-out agony, for the crucified do not die immediately as do those who are beheaded.


The cause of the internal pain was:

(i) All the sins of all mankind for which, by suffering, He was making satisfaction, so that, in a sense, He took them to Him as though they were His own. The words of my sins, it says in the Psalms (Ps. xxi. 2).

(ii) The special case of the Jews and the others who had had a share in the sin of His death, and especially the case of His disciples for whom His death had been a thing to be ashamed of.

(iii) The loss of his bodily life, which, by the nature of things, is something from which human nature turns away in horror.


2. We may consider the greatness of the pain according to the capacity, bodily and spiritual, for suffering of Him who suffered. In His body He was most admirably formed, for it was formed by the miraculous operation of the Holy Ghost, and therefore its sense of touch that sense through which we experience pain was of the keenest. His soul likewise, from its interior powers, had a knowledge as from experience of all the causes of sorrow.

3. The greatness of Our Lord's suffering can be considered in regard to this that the pain and sadness were without any alleviation. For in the case of no matter what other sufferer the sadness of mind, and even the bodily pain, is lessened through a certain kind of reasoning, by means of which there is brought about a distraction of the sorrow from the higher powers to the lower. But when Our Lord suffered this did not happen, for He allowed each of His powers to act and suffer to the fullness of its special capacity.

4. We may consider the greatness of the suffering of Christ in the Passion in relation to this fact that the Passion and the pain it brought with it were deliberately undertaken by Christ with the object of freeing man from sin. And therefore He undertook to suffer an amount of pain proportionately equal to the extent of the fruit that was to follow from the Passion.

From all these causes, if we consider them together, it will be evident that the pain suffered by Christ was the greatest pain ever suffered.

Thursday After First Sunday

It was fitting that Christ should be Crucified with the Thieves

Christ was crucified between the thieves because such was the will of the Jews, and also because this was part of God's design. But the reasons why this was appointed were not the same in each of these cases.

1. As far as the Jews were concerned Our Lord was crucified with the thieves on either side to encourage the suspicion that he too was a criminal. But it fell out otherwise. The thieves themselves have left not a trace in the remembrance of man, while His cross is everywhere held in honour. Kings laying aside their crowns have broidered the cross on their royal robes. They have placed it on their crowns; on their arms. It has its place on the very altars. Everywhere, throughout the world, we behold the splendour of the cross.

In God's plan Christ was crucified with the thieves in order that, as for our sakes he became accursed of the cross, so, for our salvation, He is crucified like an evil thing among evil things.

2. The Pope, St. Leo the Great, says that the thieves were crucified, one on either side of Him, so that in the very appearance of the scene of His suffering there might be set forth that distinction which should be made in the judgment of each one of us. St. Augustine has the same thought. "The cross itself," he says, " was a tribunal. In the centre was the judge. To the one side a man who believed and was set free, to the other side a scoffer and he was condemned." Already there was made clear the final fate of the living and the dead, the one class placed at His right, the other on His left.

3. According to St. Hilary the two thieves, placed to right and to left, typify that the whole of mankind is called to the mystery of Our Lord's Passion. And since division of things according to right and left is made with reference to believers and those who will not believe, one of the two, placed on the right, is saved by justifying faith.

4. As St. Bede says, the thieves who were crucified with Our Lord, represent those who for the faith and to confess Christ undergo the agony of martyrdom or the severe discipline of a more perfect life. Those who do this for the sake of eternal glory are typified by the thief on the right hand. Those whose motive is the admiration of whoever beholds them imitate the spirit and the act of the thief on the left-hand side.

As Christ owed no debt in payment for which a man must die, but submitted to death of His own will, in order to overcome death, so also He had not done anything on account of which He deserved to be put with the thieves. But of His own will He chose to be reckoned among the wicked, that by His power He might destroy wickedness itself. Which is why St. John Chrysostom says that to convert the thief on the cross and to turn him to Paradise was as great a miracle as the earthquake.

Friday After First Sunday

The Feast of the Holy Lance and the Nails of Our Lord

One of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water.--John xix. 34.

1. The gospel deliberately says opened and not wounded, because through Our Lord's side there was opened to us the gate of eternal life. After these things I looked, and behold a gate was opened in heaven (Apoc. iv. i). This is the door opened in the ark, through which enter the animals who will not perish in the flood.

2. But this door is the cause of our salvation. Immediately there came forth blood and water a thing truly miraculous, that, from a dead body, in which the blood congeals, blood should come forth.

This was done to show that by the Passion of Christ we receive a full absolution, an absolution from every sin and every stain. We receive this absolution from sin through that blood which is the price of our redemption. You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver, from your vain conversation with the tradition of your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled (i Pet. i. 18).

We were absolved from every stain by the water, which is the laver of our redemption. In the prophet Ezechiel it is said, I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleaned from all your filthiness (Ezech. xxxvi. 28), and in Zacharias, There shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for the washing of the sinner and the unclean woman (Zach. xiii. i).

And so these two things may be thought of in relation to two of the sacraments, the water to baptism and the blood to the Holy Eucharist. Or both may be referred to the Holy Eucharist since, in the Mass, water is mixed with the wine. Although the water is not of the substance of the sacrament.

Again, as from the side of Christ asleep in death on the cross there flowed that blood and water in which the Church is consecrated, so from the side of the sleeping Adam was formed the first woman, who herself foreshadowed the Church.

So, I don't honestly think the St Thomas meditations are going that great (no offense to you St Thomas) I don't read them as I post, or if I do, I don't find they help me spiritually. I think I'll try writing some myself for everyday, but you'll all have to tell me what you think.

Write so I'm going to try and unite daily quote, challenge and meditation together, we'll see how it goes... Speaking of that I'm going to make a poll on this subject.. stay tuned

"Silence is the beggining of the purifying of the soul."
St Basil the great.
Silence. It's an interesting word. For me silence used to scare me, did it mean I could never speak? And yet the saints talk about how necessary silence is. To understand this, we must know what silence looks like for the lay Catholic. Most importantly it means always listening to God and not letting his voice be drowned in the noise of technology and a world that despises silence. The Lord sounds like 'the whistling of a gentle wind' (1 kings 19: 12)
And not the 'strong wind' the earthquake or the fire. So listen to God, and in doing so you will separate yourself from the world and purify your soul of the things of this world.

Saint of the day: St Alphonsus of Liguori. St Alphonsus was born in 1696 in Naples. A lawyer who became a priest, St Alphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). He was a fervent preacher, and a moral theologian of eminence, who opposed the rigours of Jansenism. He was much in demand as a confessor, seeking to win back the sinful by gentle and direct appeal to the Gospel. He wrote many works of devotion which became very popular. He was made bishop of Sant’ Agata dei Gotti, but after thirteen years returned to his congregation. He died in 1787.

Quote: "Know also that you will probably gain more by visiting the Blessed Sacrament for fifteen minutes than by all other spiritual exercises of the day."

Meditation: I think a lot of the time we take Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for granted. He's just there. But take a moment to think about it. Jesus, the son of the living God, not only died for our sins on the cross, but also gave himself, from the Last Supper until the end of this world, in the Blessed Sacrament. Knowing he would be abused, mocked, denied, knowing he would face indifference, forgetfulness, lukewarmness. He did this for us, out of love. He did it for the few who would come to Him, who would love Him with all their hearts. Do you want to be one of those few?

Challenge: If, (like me) you can't visit the Blessed Sacrament today, try and set aside fifteen minutes of the day, to put yourself in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

(Note, on the format. The saint of the day is not a saint whose feast day is today, and the quote will always be by him/her.

Theme: Courage
Saint of the day: St Teresa of Avila. St. Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, original name Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, (born March 28, 1515, Ávila, Spain—died October 4, 1582, Alba de Tormes; canonized 1622; feast day October 15), Spanish nun, one of the great mystics and religious women of the Roman Catholic Church, and author of spiritual classics. She was the originator of the Carmelite Reform, which restored and emphasized the austerity and contemplative character of primitive Carmelite life. St. Teresa was elevated to doctor of the church in 1970 by Pope Paul VI, the first woman to be so honoured.

Quote: "To have courage for whatever comes in life- everything lies in that."

Meditation: We all make plans for what we want to happen in life. We study, we work for our goals. We suffer for them, we sacrifice for them, we give them are all. And they fail. Something
happens to throw them off. Our whole life crumbles around us. This, more than any other time, is when we need courage and trust. God knows what He is doing. And whatever he does will be for the best. But we need courage to except that, courage to be open minded to God's Will, and courage to accept it, whatever it is.

Challenge: Accept whatever unexpected turns come into your day with courage and trust.
Perhaps a family member wants some of your time and you are busy with your own projects. Give it to them cheerfully.

Theme: Relinquish

Saint of the day: St John Henry Newman. John Henry Newman C.O. (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, scholar and poet, first an Anglican priest and later a Catholic priest and cardinal, who was an important and controversial figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century. He was known nationally by the mid-1830s,[11] and was canonised as a saint in the Catholic Church in 2019.

Quote: "They alone are able truly to enjoy this world, who begin with the world unseen. They alone enjoy it, who have first abstained from it. They alone can truly feast, who have first fasted; they alone are able to use the world, who have learned not to abuse it; they alone inherit it, who take it as a shadow of the world to come, and who for that world to come relinquish it."

Meditation: This is what Lent is truly about. "Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose it, shall preserve it." Luke 17: 33.
In Lent we fast, practice mortification, give up things, to become detached from them, so that in relinquishing them we will gain so much more. We must keep this in focus in Lent, if we let our Lenten practices become mere habit, they will profit us nothing.

Challenge: if there's something you really want to do today, but it's not necessary, relinquish it, as a gift and reparation to God.

Theme: Fiat.

Saint of the day: Mary, mother of God. I don't think anyone needs a biography here.

Quote: "Behold the Handmaid of the Lord! Be it done to me according to thy word."

Meditation: With those words, the whole world was irreparably changed forever. The Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity came into the womb of a human girl. He came into her womb not to live, but to die. That is the purpose for which he was born. Think of it, God became man, whom he had created. But not to live among them as a king, not to lord it above them, but to die a humiliating and painful death so that we might be happy. With her fiat our Lady accepted whatever pain might be hers as the mother of the saviour, but also whatever praise might be hers as well. For, a truly humble and holy soul shrinks from praise and admiration, but our Lady accepted this also, because it was the Will of God, but also to help us by her powerful intercession.

Challenge: Obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit in some small matter I matter how much you don't want to. Also do something extra for Mary as a thank you for saying fiat, and a petition to help us do the same.

(a funny thing is that, as I've said before, for the theme I use a random Catholic word generator, and it just happened to be Fiat today.)

Theme: Purity of intention
Saint of the day: St Augustine. St. Augustine was the bishop of Hippo (now Annaba, Algeria) from 396 to 430. A renowned theologian and prolific writer, he was also a skilled preacher and rhetorician. He is one of the Latin Fathers of the Church and, in Roman Catholicism, is formally recognized as a doctor of the church.
Quote: "God bestows more consideration on the purity of the intention with which our actions are performed than on the actions themselves."
Meditation: God's ways are not our ways. God does not think like we do, for our minds are corrupted by sin. At the moment, it is seen as good by the world to donate to places, to support charities and such things, but how many people do so from a pure motive? There are three main 'levels' of motive. The first is to look good to people, and if something is done from that motive it would be better not to have done it at all. The second is from genuine love or pity for your fellow human beings, and this is good, but not strong. The third is from a love of God, and this is as hard as a rock, and as pure as a lily.
Challenge: do something nice for someone and keep yourself focused on doing it only for love of God.

Theme: Rejoicing in suffering.
Saint: St Therese of Lisieux. Thérèse of Lisieux, born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin, also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite nun who is widely venerated in modern times.

Quote: “I want to suffer and even rejoice for love, for this is my way of scattering flowers."

Meditation: Lent is all about suffering, our sufferings, Christ's sufferings, so why is this, the fourth Sunday of Lent, called Laetare, rejoice, Sunday? Well, take a look on the quote above and think of Mathew chapter 6. But we shouldn't just rejoice in appearance, but also from our hearts, for lent is a time of deep joy. I like to think true joy and detachment are very similar things, you cannot be truly joyful unless you are detatched from worldly things. And that is just what we do in Lent, practice detatchment from the things of this word. Laetare!

Challenge: rejoice! Not in the way one would rejoice at Easter, but in a quiet way, remembering what is to come, but having deep peace and joy inside. Smile at people you pass today as much as you can.

Theme: Prompt obedience.

Saint: St Benedict. St. Benedict was a religious reformer who lived in Italy in the late 400s and early 500s. He is known as the “father of Western monasticism,” having established a Rule that would become the norm for innumerable Christian monks and nuns. He is the patron saint of Europe.

Quote: The first degree of humility is prompt obedience.

Meditation: St
It makes sense that according to St Benedict obedience is the first degree of humility, for it does take being humble for a man to submit himself to another, and not just at some point, but now, as soon as told. This is something I certainly struggle with, and humility is something I'm working on, so perhaps this will help. Sometimes, we don't realize the importance and value of obedience. Our Lord himself obeyed the Jewish laws, his parents, and even the mandates of Caesar. For though as God he is above the law, as man he is subject to it, and our Lord is our model in humility. But it is crucial in the spiritual life, and for growth as a Catholic teen.

Challenge: Make sure to obey all orders as quickly as possible in a spirit of humility.

Theme: Conversion

Saint: St Joseph Cafasso. Joseph Cafasso was born at Castelnuovo d'Asti in the Piedmont, Italy, of peasant parents. He studied at the seminary at Turin, and was ordained in 1833. He continued his theological studies at the seminary and university at Turin and then at the Institute of St. Franics, and despite a deformed spine, became a brilliant lecturer in moral theology there. He was a popular teacher, actively opposed Jansenism, and fought state intrusion into Church affairs. He succeeded Luigi Guala as rector of the Institute in 1848 and made a deep impression on his young priest students with his holiness and insistence on discipline and high standards. He was a sought-after confessor and spiritual adviser, and ministered to prisoners, working to improve their terrible conditions. He met Don Bosco in 1827 and the two became close friends. It was through Joseph's encouragement that Bosco decided his vocation was working with boys. Joseph was his adviser, worked closely with him in his foundations, and convinced others to fund and found religious institutes and charitable organizations. Joseph died on June 23 at Turin and was canonized in 1947. His feast day is June 23rd.

Quote: "Heaven is filled with converted sinners of all kinds, and there is room for more."

Meditation: This is a great quote, but is it really that applicable to us, as good Catholics? I don't know about you, but I certainly feel much more to the sinner side than to the saint. Most of us have these few 'bad habits' of sorts that we can't seem to get rid of. Every day we are in need of a new conversion, a new resolution to do God's Will in all things, God will never give up on us, He will accept our new conversion with patience and love. We must never give in to apathy, thinking we are good enough the way we are. We aren't, and God knows that. He is patient.

Challenge: Do you have some bad habit still clinging on? Some din you find you commit on a daily basis? Work extra hard against it today, freshly converting again to our God.

Theme: Trust

Saint: St Catherine of Siena. Catherine of Siena was a Dominican tertiary and mystic who lived in Italy in the 1300s. She was known for her holiness, asceticism, and spiritual visions and was said to have received stigmata. She was also a reformer and political activist, and she was influential in religious and political affairs of the church.

Quote: "He will provide the way and the means, such as you never could have imagined."

Meditation: Sometimes it is so easy to give up, to say, I'm done. This isn't possible. Maybe you know that God could do it, but you say He won't. Well, maybe He won't do it your way, but that doesn't mean he won't do it at all. He will do it in His Way, and His way of will be better than you 'could have imagined.'
Maybe you can't conquer a certain bad habit, maybe you can't keep good habits, maybe you want courage and you just can't seem to get it. Whatever it is, God will help you to gain it in His way and time of you trust Him and be open to His Grace.

Challenge: Trust in God. When something doesn't go your way, Trust Him, just whisper Jesus I trust in You at least once an hour.

Theme: Perseverance.

Saint: St Josemaria Escriva. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest. He founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness by God and that ordinary life can result in sanctity.

Quote: "To begin is for everyone, to persevere is for saints."

Meditation: Every person, at least once in their life, probably made an effort to be a better person. But, did they succeed? I think the amount of bad people in this world, the amount of people in Hell, should tell you the answer. It is hard to persevere, but that is what makes us saints. No matter how many times we fall, we need to pick ourselves up. Like Jesus on Calvary, we need to pick up our crosses and follow him, firm in the belief that we are not alone.

Challenge: Persevere. Keep going, even and especially when you don't feel like it. Particularly be steadfast in prayer, for God will help us if we ask Him.

Theme: The Passion of our Lord.

Saint: St Anthony of Padua: Anthony was born into a wealthy family and was raised in the church. He joined the Augustinian canons in 1210 and probably became a priest. In 1220 he joined the Franciscan order, hoping to preach to the Saracens (Muslims) and be martyred. On his way to Morocco, he became seriously ill and was forced to return home. However, his ship back to Portugal was blown off course and eventually landed in Sicily. Because of his continuing poor health, he was not allowed to pursue his missionary work among the Saracens. Instead, he taught theology at Bologna, Italy, and at Montpellier, Toulouse, and Puy-en-Velay in southern France. He won great admiration as a preacher and was noted for his simple yet profound teaching of the Catholic faith. He died en route to Padua, Italy, where he is buried.

Anthony was the most celebrated of St. Francis of Assisi’s followers and had the reputation of a miracle worker. On January 16, 1946, Pope Pius XII declared him a doctor of the church. In art he is shown with a book, a heart, a flame, a lily, or the child Jesus. Among his authentic writings are sermons for Sundays and feast days, published at Padua in three volumes.

Quote: Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey. They must have the Passion of Christ deeply embedded in their minds and hearts, because only from it can they derive peace, grace, and truth. - St. Anthony of Padua

Meditation: Christ died for our sins. He was wholly and complelty innocent but he died the death of a sinner. Take a moment, think about it, too often we take for granted what Jesus has done for us. But imagine if he hadn't. Look at the crucifix, Jesus didn't have to do that. But he did, out of love. That is why we must have His Passion 'deeply embedded in (our) minds and hearts' because if we think of all God has done for us, how can we but do His Will? We are now approaching Passion Sunday, really think about all this and try and really know Christ's life and death in your heart.

Challenge: Say the stations of the cross, and really try and meditate on the stations as you do. Try and imagine that you were actually there.

Theme: Meditation on the Passion: (I'm going to continue this theme until Easter.)

Saint: St Augustine. St. Augustine was the bishop of Hippo (now Annaba, Algeria) from 396 to 430. A renowned theologian and prolific writer, he was also a skilled preacher and rhetorician. He is one of the Latin Fathers of the Church and, in Roman Catholicism, is formally recognized as a doctor of the church.

Quote: "A single year shed at the remembrance of the Passion of Christ is worth more than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem or a year spent fasting on bread and water."

Meditation: This quote is so encouraging for the ordinary people like you and me. A single tear shed because of our sins and Christ's suffering is worth more than great things. A single tear. Try and vividly recall the details of Christ's Passion, and perhaps a tear will come. But it is not so much the year that counts as the pity, sorrow, and desire for amendment that accompany it. Especially at this time of year it is of the utmost importance to mediate on Christ's Passion.

Challenge: Spend fifteen minutes in meditation on the Passion.

Theme: God's Mercy

Saint: St Faustina Kowalski
Maria Faustyna Kowalska, also known as Saint Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament and popularly spelled Faustina, was a Polish Roman Catholic nun and mystic. Her apparitions of Jesus Christ inspired the Roman Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy and earned her the title of "Secretary of Divine Mercy.

Quote: "All of my nothingness is drowned in the sea of Thy Mercy."

Meditation: Do you ever feel like all you do is mess up? Like whenever your spiritual life seems to be going well it comes crashing down? Don't be discouraged. It is actually pride that makes us discouraged, because that means we think it's about us. It's not. It's about God. We need to entrust ourselves to His Mercy, lose ourselves in it. If we rely entirely on His Mercy we will never be discouraged because he will always forgive us, and give us the graces we need.

Challenge: Say the Divine Mercy chaplet, and ask God to let you rely entirely on His Mercy.

Theme: Doing God's Will

Saint: St Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc, who called herself "Joan the Maiden" and is now nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans", is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War. She was convicted and burnt at the stake as a heretic, her conviction was later overturned.

Quote: "All battles are first won or lost in the mind."

Meditation: Spiritual battles, we have so many of them, even over the smallest things. And we lose so many of them, and seem to win so few. It can be discouraging, but remember, trust in God's Mercy and carry on, and you will start winning more, even if you do not perceive it. Remember the thing it always said in children's catechism books, that in order to go to heaven we had to 'know, love, and serve God"? This is actually very insightful. We want to serve God right? But before we can do that we must love Him, and before we can do that we must know Him.

Challenge: So today, read the Bible, a book about the life of Christ, or something pertaining to God, so you can get to know Him better, so you can Love Him better, so you can serve Him better.

Theme: silence.

Saint: Bl Henry Suso:
Famed German Dominican mystic wrote many classic books. Born Heinrich von Berg in Constance, Swabia, he entered the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, at an early age. Undergoing a conversion, he developed an abiding spiritual life and studied under Meister Eckhart in Cologne from 1322-1325. He then returned to Constance to teach, subsequently authoring numerous books of spirituality. As he supported Meister Eckhart who was then the source of some controversy and had been condemned by Pope John XXII in 1329 Henry was censured by his superiors and stripped of his teaching position. He subsequently became a preacher in Switzerland and the Upper Rhine and was a brilliant spiritual advisor among the Dominicans and the spiritual community of the Gottesfreunde . He endured persecution right up until his death at Ulm. Pope Gregory XVI beatified him in 1831.

Quote: "I have often repented of having spoken, I have never repented of silence."

Meditation: Silence is often a rather disagreeable word in our modern world. Perhaps it conjures up images of grim faced monks and nuns, never saying a word. But that is not what silence is at all! Silence for the lay person consists of several things, most importantly, I think, in restraining oneself from saying anything uncharitable, and in a silence of the soul to the voice of God. Remember God speaks in 'the whistling of a gentle air' and how can we hear it if our minds are full of noise? So, in this time before practise silence and listen to God's voice in your soul.

Challenge: when you go to bed tonight, talk to God, but most of all, listen to Him.

Theme: Presence of God

Saint: St Gianna Molla: In less than 40 years, Gianna Beretta Molla became a pediatric physician, a wife, a mother and a saint!

She was born in Magenta near Milano, the tenth of Alberto and Maria Beretta’s 13 children. An active member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and a leader in the Catholic Action movement, Gianna also enjoyed skiing and mountain climbing. She earned degrees in medicine and surgery from the University of Pavia, eventually specializing in pediatrics. In 1952, Gianna opened a clinic in the small town of Mesero, where she met engineer Pietro Molla.

Shortly before their 1955 marriage, Gianna wrote to Pietro: “Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put into the soul of men and women.” In the next four years the Mollas had three children: Pierluigi, Mariolina, and Laura. Two pregnancies following ended in miscarriage.

Early in her final pregnancy, doctors discovered that Gianna had both a child and a tumor in her uterus. She allowed the surgeons to remove the tumor but not to perform the complete hysterectomy that they recommended, which would have killed the child. Seven months later in April 1962, Gianna Emanuela Molla was born at the hospital in Monza, but post-operative complications resulted in an infection for her mother. The following week Gianna Molla died at home, and was buried in the cemetery of Mesero.

Gianna Emanuela went on to become a physician herself. Gianna Beretta Molla was beatified in 1994 and canonized 10 years later. Her liturgical feast is celebrated on April 28.

Quote: "If one were to consider how much Jesus suffered, one would not commit the smallest sin."

Meditation: if, every minute of our lives, we had the suffering and death of Jesus uppermost in our mind, it would be safe to assume we would never sin. But, unfortunately as humans we forget. We don't think, we know not what we do. But, we can work on that, by keeping the memory of Jesus' Passion foremost in our mind, and try to not sin.

Challenge: Try to save "By the sake of Your Sorrowful Passion Have mercy on us an on the whole world" once every hour.

Theme: The cross and love

Saint: St Maximilian Kolbe. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, venerated as Saint Maximilian Kolbe, was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II.

Quote: "The cross is the school of love."

Meditation: This holy week, really learn from the cross. There is an endless amount it can teach about love. For the love of Jesus on the cross is endless. Mediate on Jesus' words on the cross, day the stations of the cross, just look at a crucifix. But learn from the cross, learn of love.

Challenge: Listen to or read a sermon or book on something to do with the Passion.

Theme: The Rosary

Saint: St Louis de Montfort. Confessor, Marian devotee, and founder of the Sisters of Divine Wisdom He was born Louis Maie Grignon in Montfort, France, in 1673. Educated at Rennes, he was ordained there in 1700, becoming a chaplain in a hospital in Poitiers. His congregation, also called the Daughters of Divine Wisdom, started there. As his missions and sermons raised complaints, Louis went to Rome, where Pope Clement XI appointed him as a missionary apostolic. Louis is famous for fostering devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary. In 1715, he also founded the Missionaries of the Company of Mary. His True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin remains popular. Louis died at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre. He was canonized in 1947.

Quote: The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who loves His Mother.

Meditation: there is a saying that if we knew the power of one Hail Mary we would forever be saying them. If this is true, it can surely be said even more for the rosary, since the rosary has not only the Hail Mary, but also the Our Father and Meditations on the lives of Jesus and Mary. The Rosary is the greatest gift we can give Mary, who in turn gives it to her Son.

Challenge: Say the full rosary today, and then say it also as you fall asleep tonight.

Theme: spiritual warfare

Saint: St Athanasius. Athanasius, also known as Athanasius the Great and Athanasius the Confessor, was a bishop and doctor of the church. He is called the "Father of Orthodoxy," the "Pillar of the Church" and "Champion of Christ's Divinity." Athanasius became one of the most dedicated opponents of the heresy of Arianism. Much of his life was a testimony to the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Quote: "Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer.”

Meditation: People sometimes make the mistake of thinking spiritual warfare is easy, or at least, not very hard. This in completely false. Spiritual warfare is much, much harder than any physical warfare. Honestly there is so much to say that I don't feel equal to saying it, so I'll just leave you with some quotes from St Paul, and the encouragement to never give up!
"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places." -Ephesians 6: 12
"Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice,

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace:

16 In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.

17 And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God)."
Ephesians 6: 13-17.

Challenge: Read all of Ephesians chapter 6 and meditate on it.

Theme: living the faith.

Saint of the day: St Gregory Nazianzen. Gregory of Nazianzus (Greek: Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Grēgorios ho Nazianzēnos; c. 329 – 25 January 390,), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen, was a 4th-century Archbishop of Constantinople and theologian. He is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age.

Quote: "Grace is given not to them who speak [their faith] but to those who live their faith."

Meditation: Haven't we all heard 'actions speak louder than words' and 'practise what you preach' dozens of times? It can be easy to dismiss them 'yeah I know that, of course'. It's obvious to do that. A temptation can be to not preach at all, and therefore you don't need to practise anything either. This is very popular in today's world. But we, as Catholics do need to speak out about the injustice of the world, but that is not what being a Catholic is. Are you living in a way that if someone looked at your life, they could see you following the path of Christ? If you suddenly lost your voice, would someone be able to tell there was something different about you? Search your heart and see

Challenge: try and life your life for your faith today. Offer everything to God, and keep his presence fixed in your mind.

(sorry for the long absence)
Theme: Rebirth

Saint: St Maximus the Confessor.
Maximus the Confessor, also known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople, was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, Maximus was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius. He gave up this life in the political sphere to enter the monastic life

Quote: Christianity is an entirely new way of being human.

Meditation: the modern world likes to think that Christianity is 'just another religion', just like all of the others that came before and after it. But that is simply not true. Christianity is something completely different and unique. Catholism is the truth, and we are all Catholics. But do you feel that in your life you have lived the truth of this quote? Are you really living your life the 'new way of being human'?
Our Lord will change us, and help us live the truth that is the Catholic Faith if we but ask Him. Ask Him when you receive Him today, and you will be answered.

Challenge: Ask Our Lord to help you mold your life after His in Holy Communion and spend fifteen minutes praying after you receive Him.

Theme: Faithfulness.
Saint: St Angela Merci.

Quote: Strive to be faithful to that which God has called you.

Meditation: maybe at the moment God hasn't called us to anything great, yet. But we can be faithful in the small things so that we will be entrusted with great things, in this world or the next. If at the moment God has just called us to do our duties and grow in his love, that is enough. Strive to be faithful.

Challenge: do a duty that you really don't want to do, and have perhaps been putting off.