Tag: alms
God Knows Our Hearts
Mammon is the Hebrew word for “riches;’ just as in Punic the word for “profit” is mammon. What are we to do? What did the Lord command? “Make yourselves friends with the mammon of iniquity [dishonest wealth], so that they too, when you begin to fail, may receive you into eternal shelters:” It is easy,… Read More ›
For the greatest thing is charity
Do you see that our practice has more power to do good? By practice I mean, not your fasting, nor yet your strewing sackcloth and ashes under you, but if you despise wealth, as it ought to be despised; if you be kindly affectioned, if you give your bread to the hungry, if you control… Read More ›
Pope calls for concrete acts of mercy this Lent
Vatican City, Jan 26, 2016 / 04:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his 2016 Lenten message, Pope Francis called the faithful to place special emphasis on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy this Lent, taking into account the current Jubilee Year of Mercy. “God’s mercy transforms human hearts; it enables us, through the experience of… Read More ›
You cannot be a judge and a sifter of hearts
“It is easy, of course, to understand that we must give alms and a helping hand to the needy, because Christ receives it in them…We can understand that we have to give alms and that we must not really pick and choose to whom we give them, because we are unable to sift through people’s… Read More ›
Ash Wednesday
The palms once green used in procession to honor the Christ before his passion began, are now black ashes, their life having run it course, sitting before us asking us what we see in the dark silent fruit of their now extinct lives. So placed on our foreheads in prophetic utterance they speak, pointing to… Read More ›
Charity toward our neighbor
One day the patriarch John (the Almsgiver) gave to one of his servants who had been reduced to extreme poverty two pounds of gold with his own hands so that no one might know of it. When his servant said, “After this gift I shall no longer have the courage to look you in the… Read More ›
Be Ever Vigilant
In the nearby desert there is an elderly brother called John who excels everybody in his life, his customs, and his abstinence. When her first came to the desert he stood underneath a protruding rock face for three years continuously, always praying, never sitting or lying down. He took only what sleep he could standing… Read More ›
Praying for Them
Weep for those who die in their wealth and who with all their wealth prepared no consolation for their own souls, who had the power to wash away their sins and did not will to do it. Let us weep for them, let us assist them to the extant of our ability, let us think… Read More ›
Five Paths of Repentance
Would you like me to list also the paths of repentance? They are numerous and quite varied, and all lead to heaven. A first path of repentance is the condemnation of your own sins: Be the first to admit your sins and you will be justified. For this reason, too, the prophet wrote: I said:… Read More ›
Lenten Alms
At the Oblate meeting in January it was agreed to maintain our tradition of giving a donation to AIM-USA. AIM as sent us a brochure as well and I have uploaded it to the site. We usually make this donation together in the name of the Abbey. Please send any checks to Gail Warlick, Office… Read More ›