A Thought for Today 30-09-2010

Romans 14:17-19

The kingdom of God does not mean eating or drinking this or that, it means righteousness and peace and joy brought by the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ in this way you will please God and be respected by men. So let us adopt any custom that leads to peace and our mutual improvement.

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.
(C. S. Lewis)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhOJW4Uwy3c

A Thought for Today

Genesis 28:12-13

Jacob had a dream: a ladder was there, standing on the, ground with its top reaching to heaven; and there were angels of God going up it and coming down. And the Lord was there, standing over him, saying, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac.’

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
(C. S. Lewis)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtAmlO4cdhc

A Thought for Today 28-09-2010

Luke 9:51-56

As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village.

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.
(Saint Augustine)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Fou0-q00g&feature=related

A Thought for Today 27-09-2010

Luke 9:46-50

An argument started between the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus knew what thoughts were going through their minds, and he took a little child and set him by his side and then said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the least among you all, that is the one who is great.’

John spoke up. ‘Master,’ he said ‘we saw a man casting out devils in your name, and because he is not with us we tried to stop him.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for you.’

May not the complaint, that common people are above their station, often take its rise in the fact of uncommon people being below theirs?
(Charles Dickens)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpYFygz7aqQ

A Thought for Today 24-09-2010

Luke 9:18-22

One day when Jesus was praying alone in the presence of his disciples he put this question to them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’ And they answered, ‘John the Baptist; others Elijah; and others say one of the ancient prophets come back to life.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ It was Peter who spoke up. ‘The Christ of God’ he said. But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone anything about this.

‘The Son of Man’ he said ‘is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’

I gave in, and admitted that God was God.
(C. S. Lewis)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTVwaVYXamM

A Thought for Today 23-09-2010

Luke 9:7-9

Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that was being done by Jesus; and he was puzzled, because some people were saying that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared, still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. But Herod said, ‘John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see Jesus.

A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.
(Charles Dickens)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=othmFqaw0Yk&feature=related

A Thought for Today 22-09-2010

Tobit 4:14-15,16,19

Be careful, my child, in all you do, well-disciplined in all your behaviour. Do to no one what you would not want done to you. Give your bread to those who are hungry, and your clothes to those who are naked. Whatever you own in plenty, devote a proportion to almsgiving. Bless the Lord God in everything; beg him to guide your ways and bring your paths and purposes to their end.

Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
(Charles Dickens)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPWT-byaogg

A Thought for Today 21-09-2010

Ephesians 2:19-22

You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.

Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came and in his compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on the top of the wall.
(Saint Patrick)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQO5ZCViswY

A Thought for Today 20-09-2010

Luke 8:16-18

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘No one lights a lamp to cover it with a bowl or to put it under a bed. No, he puts it on a lamp-stand so that people may see the light when they come in. For nothing is hidden but it will be made clear, nothing secret but it will be known and brought to light. So take care how you hear; for anyone who has will be given more; from anyone who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away.’

If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples; even though some of them still look down on me.
(Saint Patrick)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hXCFdWStLg

A Thought for Today 17-09-2010

Galatians 2:19-20

I have been crucified with Christ, and I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in this body I live in faith: faith in the Son of God who loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake.

I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.
(Francis of Assisi)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE&feature=related

Weekly Blessing:

http://www.francescoproductions.com/weeklyblessing.asp

A Thought for Today 16-09-2010

Romans 8:18-21

What we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us. The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons. It was not for any fault on the part of creation that it was made unable to attain its purpose, it was made so by God; but creation still retains the hope of being freed, like us, from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same freedom and glory as the children of God.

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
(Francis of Assisi)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkdniYsUrM8

A Thought for Today 15-09-2010

John 19:25-27

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son. Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home.

From Mary we learn to surrender to God's Will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone. From Mary we learn to love Christ her Son and the Son of God!
(Pope John Paul II)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzIEqmoCbIg&feature=related

A Thought for Today 14-09-2010

John 3:13-17

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

‘No one has gone up to heaven

except the one who came down from heaven,

the Son of Man who is in heaven;

and the Son of Man must be lifted up

as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,

so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost

but may have eternal life.

For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world,

but so that through him the world might be saved.’

A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.
(Bob Dylan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbCfyZHSQbE&ob=av2e

A Thought for Today 13-09-2010

Luke 7:1-10

When Jesus had come to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into Capernaum. A centurion there had a servant, a favourite of his, who was sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus they pleaded earnestly with him. ‘He deserves this of you’ they said ‘because he is friendly towards our people; in fact, he is the one who built the synagogue.’ So Jesus went with them, and was not very far from the house when the centurion sent word to him by some friends: ‘Sir,’ he said ‘do not put yourself to trouble; because I am not worthy to have you under my roof; and for this same reason I did not presume to come to you myself; but give the word and let my servant be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found faith like this.’ And when the messengers got back to the house they found the servant in perfect health.

An Adult faith does not follow the waves of fashion and the latest novelties.
(Pope Benedict XVI)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAMbEPZfWCY

A Thought for Today 09-09-2010

1 Peter 4:10-11

Each one of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others. If you are a speaker, speak in words which seem to come from God; if you are a helper, help as though every action was done at God’s orders; so that in everything God may receive the glory, through Jesus Christ, since to him alone belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.
(Albert Einstein)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH6pfPmiB4Q

A Thought for Today 08-09-2010

Romans 8:28-30

We know that by turning everything to their good, God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those he has called according to his purpose. They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory.

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.
(Pope John Paul II)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN1MvK7Y-iY&feature=related

A Thought for Today 07-09-2010

1 John 4:14-15

We ourselves saw and we testify that the Father sent his Son as saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God.

Humility is to make a right estimate of one's self.
(Charles Spurgeon)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K7s5cyQokQ&feature=related

A Thought for Today 06-09-2010

James 2:12-13

Talk and behave like people who are going to be judged by the law of freedom, because there will be judgement without mercy for those who have not been merciful themselves; but the merciful need have no fear of judgement.

Who could refrain that had a heart to love and in that heart courage to make love known?
(William Shakespeare)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGE6Davndh0

A Thought for Today 03-08-2010

Luke 5:33-39

The Pharisees and scribes said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from them; that will be the time when they will fast.’

He also told them this parable, ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak; if he does, not only will he have torn the new one, but the piece taken from the new will not match the old.

‘And nobody puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and then run out, and the skins will be lost. No; new wine must be put into fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants new. “The old is good” he says.’

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
(Winston Churchill)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldcLBcRr_g4

A Thought for Today 02-09-2010

Romans 14:17-19

The kingdom of God does not mean eating or drinking this or that, it means righteousness and peace and joy brought by the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ in this way you will please God and be respected by men. So let us adopt any custom that leads to peace and our mutual improvement.

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.
(Winston Churchill)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06AgY5Xoavw