“The most excellent method he had found of going to God was that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing men, and (as far as we are able) purely for the love of God.” Br. Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

“Let each of us accept the truth of the following statement and try to make it our most fundamental principle: Christ’s teaching will never let us down, while worldly wisdom always will. Christ Himself said that this sort of wisdom was like a house with nothing but sand as its foundation, while His own was like a building with solid rock as its foundation.” — St. Vincent de Paul

St. Andre Bessette (1845–1937) was born the eighth of twelve children to a poor working class family in Quebec, Canada. He was weak and sickly from his birth. When he was nine, his father died in a lumber accident; when he was twelve, his mother died of tuberculosis. He then worked at various odd jobs until he entered the Congregation of the Holy Cross as a lay brother at age 25, serving as porter for Quebec’s Notre Dame College for much of his life. Andre welcomed and prayed for the people he met, especially those who were ill or suffering. When an epidemic of sickness broke out, Andre demonstrated the gift of healing. He gave all the credit to St. Joseph, to whom he had a great devotion. Over the years, when word of his sanctity spread, tens of thousands of people came to Bessette for prayer and healing. He worked all day to receive them in person or answer their letters. When his Order wanted to purchase land on Mt. Royal, Bessette buried St. Joseph medals on the property. The owners yielded, the land was sold to the Order, and Andre worked to have a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph built on the property. It is still in use to this day. When he died at the age of 91, it is said that a million people visited his coffin. St. Andre Bessette’s feast day is January 6th.

This year….everyone….get a jar

Every week, put a piece of paper into a jar.

On one side, write the GOD’S biggest gift to you in the past week.

On the other side, write YOUR biggest gift to God from the last week.

Do this every week during 2020! It will be neat to look at the end of the year!

You could do it every day.

God is SO generous with us.  We must be SO generous with God.

“If I had to advise parents, I should tell them to take great care about the people with whom their children associate . . . Much harm may result from bad company, and we are inclined by nature to follow what is worse than what is better.”

“Afflictions are the steps to heaven.”

“Can you expect to go to heaven for nothing? Did not our Savior track the whole way to it with His tears and blood? And yet you stop at every little pain.”

“The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will.”

“Disorder in the society is the result of disorder in the family.”

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. -E.M. Forster