St John Bosco One month of the new year has passed away, leaving behind it the memory of what has been done for God and the unavailing recollection of what might have been achieved. Unavailing regret? No. For the failings and shortcomings of the month that has gone will only serve as a stimulus to a generous soul to spur him on to greater efforts in the service of his …
January 6th, 2012
January 31, 2012
Lent is almost upon us – in fact, Ash Wednesday is in three weeks from tomorrow. One important aspect of our Lenten practice should be spiritual reading. I can think of no better book to read during the holy season of Lent than Professor Alfred O’Rahilly’s biography of Fr Doyle. And the great news is that the publishers have a 20% sale until this coming Friday, so this is a …
January 31, 2012
A kind word goes far. I stopped to say a few words to a group of men at a street corner in Kinsale, and as I walked away, I heard one of the men say to his companions: “Wasn’t it kind of him to speak to us? He’s a grand man entirely!” COMMENT: Jesus tells us that we shall be known as His disciples by the love we have for …
January 30, 2012
Abandon yourself completely into the hands of God, and take directly from Him every event of life, agreeable, or disagreeable. Only then can God make you really holy. COMMENT: We love to stay in control. We find it hard to no longer be in charge of our own affairs. This is part of the human condition. But we are not called to live naturally, we are called to live supernaturally. …
January 29, 2012
St Thomas Aquinas As to any practice of piety there is a double danger: recommending it as infallible, or condemning it as useless. I always make a point of saying that all things are not for all people. Characters differ so much. COMMENT: Here we see the wonderful balance of Fr Doyle. He was a man of very definite personal devotion, but he was equally convinced that his way was …
January 28, 2012
Each look of love to the Tabernacle causes a beat of grace-laden love in the Sacred Heart. COMMENT: The Lord awaits us in the Tabernacle. Fr Doyle drew much strength from regular prayer before the Lord – often he could be found in prayer right through the night, especially when he was busy preaching a retreat. It seems that the busier he was, the more he approached the Lord …
January 27, 2012
Conversion of St Paul by Caravaggio Every grace we get enlightens the understanding and strengthens the will. When the understanding is enlightened, we have the awful alternative of cooperating with or rejecting the inspirations of grace. This we are either doing or not doing all the day long. God will not compel us, He will not interfere with our freedom, it must be our own choice. St. Paul was struck …
January 25, 2012
There is nothing better than the practice of aspirations, steadily growing in number. Keep a little book and enter them once a day. . . . I would like you to keep count of these little acts like the aspirations, but don’t go too fast; build up and do not pull down. COMMENT: The use of spiritual aspirations – short heartfelt prayers which remind us that we are in …
January 24, 2012
Life is too short for a truce. COMMENT: How typical is this pithy statement from Fr Doyle! We are here for a short time and we must love God and our neighbour during this short time. We must do our best to overcome our weakness and sinfulness in the few short years that we have on earth. There is no time for a truce, there is no time to …
January 23, 2012
I should examine all my actions, taking Jesus as my model and example. What a vast difference between my prayer and His; between my use of time, my way of speaking, walking, dealing with others, etc., and that of the child Jesus! If I could only keep Him before my eyes always, my life would be far different from what it has been. COMMENT: The incarnation was one of …
January 22, 2012