I noted yesterday that the price of Brent crude oil was $46, a recent record low! I would not have thought that a crude oil price would sink that low ever again! I’m amazed.

]]> http://www.reachthepoor.org/2008/12/reach-the-poor/feed/ http://www.reachthepoor.org/2008/12/todays-thought/ http://www.reachthepoor.org/2008/12/todays-thought/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:01:54 +0000 Brian http://www.reachthepoor.org/?p=2295 For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. ~ James 2:26 (N.A.B.)

See my Advent season history lecture in the pages listed at right –>

In heaven (and in heaven on earth, the sanctified soul), our will conforms to God’s, not God’s to ours. The reason the saint’s desires are satisfied and he has joy is not that God is a divine dispensing machine and the saint has learned to press the right buttons, but that he has learned to desire “the one thing necessary,” God’s will, and therefore always gets what he desires, for God’s will is always done.

“Thy will be done” is the infallible road to total joy.

page 158 of Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing by Peter Kreeft

God’s Influence

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven - Mt. 10:32

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Just knowing about God, going to church or reading your bible does not qualify us as “acknowledging” Him.

Acknowledging God means more than that. It means that you allow God to influence every area of your life. It means you rely on His expertise, His ways, His hand to lead you forward. In Proverbs, we are told that if we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He would direct our paths. It is not enough to just know God or spend an hour in worship to Him during the weekends. It means having a lifestyle that speaks of His involvement in your life. It means that when men stare at you, they see the life of Jesus Christ.

~from the book “The Journey” written by: Liony Batista, Food For The Poor Projects Coordinator

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Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. ~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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Patience is the root and guardian of all the virtues.  ~  Pope Saint Gregory

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The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!   ~  Numbers 6:24-26

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Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echos are truly endless.  ~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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If your treasure is on earth, you are going from it; if it is in heaven, you are going to it.

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make straight your paths.  ~ Proverbs 3 (RSV)

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Please pray for the soul of Eric Sansoni, who died in a car accident. Please pray also that the Lord consoles Eric’s family as they struggle with the sudden loss of their beloved.

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It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving. ~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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….Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself; do not go out and look for a successful
personality and duplicate it. ~ Bruce Lee

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If you judge people, you have no time to love them. ~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile. ~ Brian Tracy

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Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift
to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.
~ Elie Wiesel

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Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up. ~ Jesse Jackson

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It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which,
more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.

~ philosopher William James

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Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.
~ Napoleon Hill

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John 10:10
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

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The best way to raise positive children in a negative world is to have positive parents who love them unconditionally and serve as excellent role models. ~ Zig Ziglar

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

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I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale. ~ Thomas Jefferson

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Two young men were discussing the account of the resurrection of Jesus. They agreed that such a thing was impossible. Seeing an old Christian gentleman they knew approach them, one of them asked him, “Sir, will you tell us why you’re so sure that Jesus rose from the dead?” The old man replied, “Well, for one thing, I was talking with Him this morning.” ~ anonymous

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Don’t give until it hurts. Give until it feels good. ~ James Kidd

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He who is the Bread of Life began His ministry hungering. He who is the Water of Life ended His ministry thirsting. Christ hungered as a man, yet fed the hungry as God. He was weary, yet He is our rest. He paid tribute, yet He is the King. He was called a devil, but He cast out demons. He prayed, yet He hears prayer. He wept, and He dries our tears. He was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeems sinners. He was led as a lamb to His slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd. He gave His life, and by dying He destroyed death. ~ anonymous

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Our whole life should be so angled towards God that whatever strikes upon us, whether sorrow or joy, should be deflected upwards at once into his presence. ~ J. A. Motyer

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I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. ~ Leonardo Da Vinci

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The mind is like a fertile garden in which anything that is
planted, flowers or weeds, will grow. ~ Bruce Lee

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The next time you are called to suffer, pay attention. It may be the closest you’ll ever get to God. ~ Max Lucado

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Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting. ~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. ~ John Shedd

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I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever. ~ Thomas Jefferson

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Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other. ~ Brian Tracy

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It is chiefly in your actions that your faith should shine forth. ~ Saint John Baptist de LaSalle

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Christian men are but men. They may have a bad liver, or an attack of bile, or some trial, and then they get depressed if they have ever so much grace. But what then? Well, then you can get joy and peace through believing. I am the subject of depressions of spirit so fearful that I hope none of you ever gets to such extremes of wretchedness as I go to. But I always get back again by this: I know I trust Christ. I have no reliance but in Him. Because He lives, I shall live also, and I spring to my legs again and fight with my depressions of spirit and my downcast soul and get the victory through it. So may you do, and so you must, for there is no other way of escaping from it. In your most depressed seasons, you are to get joy and peace through believing. ~ Charles Spurgeon

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The greatest designs of God upon a soul are only achieved through opposition. Exterior and interior trials invigorate the soul. ~ Saint John Baptist de LaSalle

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The place to be happy is here; The time to be happy is now; The way to be happy is to make others so. ~ John Walker

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Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. ~ Isaiah 2:3

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Think of the number of trees and blades of grass and flowers, the extravagant wealth of beauty no one ever sees! Think of the sunrises and sunsets we never look at! God is lavish in every degree.

Oswald Chambers

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At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.” Hungry not only for bread- but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing- but naked of human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a home of bricks- but homeless because of rejection.

~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Psalm 32:8 (R.S.V.)

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.We cannot get away from God, though we can ignore Him. ~ James Cabot

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.The storms of life no more indicate the absence of God than clouds indicate the absence of the sun. ~ John Blanchard

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Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Romans 12:11 (R.S.V.)

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God may call you to endure difficulties, but he will never cause you to experience defeat.

John Blanchard

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1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (R.S.V.)

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

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Example makes a much greater impression on the mind and heart than words. ~ Saint Jean Baptiste de LaSalle

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If your treasure is on earth, you are going from it; if it is in heaven, you are going to it.

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But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ~ Matthew 6:6 (RSV)

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You must strive to multiply bread so that it suffices for the tables of mankind, and not rather favor an artificial control of birth, which would be irrational, in order to diminish the number of guests at the banquet of life. ~ Pope Paul 6

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It is better for us to reach eternal bliss after a few difficulties than to go down into the depths of hell after brief joy. ~ Saint Caesarius of Arles

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Pain and suffering are not necessarily signs of God’s anger; they may be exactly the opposite. ~ John Blanchard

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If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one. ~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans ~ 8:16-18

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. Brothers and sisters:
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing
compared with the glory to be revealed for us.

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Letter from Saint James ~ 2:8

If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.

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Love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind, is as essential as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel. ~ Pope Benedict XVI