Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

We Must Never, Ever Tell a Lie

To tell a lie is always evil and sinful.  No end ever justifies a sinful means.  Even if we were to suppose that a person had the very highest of all motives – which is to promote the glory of God – that would still never justify a lie.

Here is the very striking way in which St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Catholic Church, teaches this truth:

A lie must be shunned to such an extent that, even if it seemed that the lie would increase the glory of God, we should still not tell a lie.[1]

Let us consider an example:  Suppose a pagan were on his deathbed with only minutes to live.  Suppose also that we happen to know that he would convert to the Catholic Faith and agree to baptism if we were to tell him a small (so-called) “harmless” lie, such as that the dog he loved would go to heaven.  We can never justify even such a (so-called) “white” lie even to save his soul.

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

Let Us Be Always Faithful to Our Faithful Divine Friend!

Concerning Our Lord Jesus Christ, My Imitation of Christ urges us in these words:

Love Him and keep Him for thy Friend, Who, when all go away, will not leave thee nor suffer thee to perish in the end.

My Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, (c)1982, Confraternity of the Precious Blood, 5300 Fort Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11219, Bk.2 ch.7.                                                                          

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

Let Us Fight Darkness of Mind by Fighting Self-Indulgence!

Nothing so darkens the mind as being made soft by earthly things.

St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Catholic Church, quoting St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, in The Catena Aurea on St. John’s Gospel, on Ch. 1, v.10.

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

Let Us Not Be Self-Indulgent and Impulsive!

Blessed is he who, setting aside his own liking and inclination, considers things according to reason and justice before doing them.

Quoted from Prayer Of A Soul Taken With Love, #42, by St. John Of The Cross, Mystical Doctor of the Church

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

The Mystical Doctor of the Catholic Church reminds us that God Protects Us during the Darkness of our Times.

Words of St. John of the Cross:

Live in Faith and Hope even though you are in darkness, because it is in these darknesses that God protects your soul.  Cast your care upon God, for He watches over you and will not forget you.  Do not think that He leaves you alone; that would be an affront to Him.

St. John of the Cross in a letter to a Discalced Carmelite nun shortly before Pentecost, 1590.

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

Do we seek the glory of Christ?
If so, then we must seek the cross.

St. John of the Cross, Mystical Doctor of the Church, teaches:

He who seeks not the cross of Christ seeks not the glory of Christ.

Maxims on Love, #23.

If the above words of the great Mystical Doctor inspire you to seek to be more generous with Our Lord Jesus Christ, you might be aided by praying this short prayer every day:

Dear Lord, I freely choose and beg Thee for a life completely full of trials and tribulations, crosses and difficulties, to imitate Thee, to please Thee, out of pure love for Thee and for the greater honor and glory.

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

Prepare thyself like a man to resist the wicked attacks of the devil; bridle gluttony, and thou shall the easier restrain all carnal inclinations.

My Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, (c)1982, Confraternity of the Precious Blood, 5300 Fort Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11219, Bk. 1 ch.19.                                                                          

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

God is more pleased by one work, however small, done secretly, without desire that it be known, than a thousand done with the desire that people know of them.  Those who work for God with purest love not only care nothing about whether others see their works, but do not even seek that God Himself know of them.  Such persons would not cease to render God the same services, with the same joy and purity of love, even if God were never to know of these.

St. John of the Cross, Saying of Light and Love, #20 (emphasis added).

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

We must Show Ourselves to be Valiant Members of the Church Militant And Not Cowards and Quitters.

The teaching of the Mystical Doctor, St. John of the Cross:

Though the path is plain and smooth for people of good will, those who walk it will not travel far, and will do so only with difficulty if they do not have good feet, courage, and tenacity of spirit.

St. John of the Cross, Saying of Light and Love, #3 (emphasis added).

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

Let Us Carry Our Crosses Courageously and Not Shrink Back from Them

And here it ought to be pointed out why so few reach this high state of perfect union with God.  It should be known that the reason is not that God wishes only a few of these spirits to be so elevated; He would rather want all to be perfect, but He finds few vessels that will endure so lofty and sublime a work. Since He tries them in little things and finds them so weak that they immediately flee from work, unwilling to be subject to the least discomfort and mortification, it follows that not finding them strong and faithful in that little [Mt. 25:21, 23], in which He favored them by beginning to hew and polish them, He realizes that they will be much less strong in these greater trials.  As a result, He proceeds no further in purifying them and raising them from the dust of the earth through the toil of mortification.  They are in need of greater constancy and fortitude than they showed.

There are many who desire to advance and persistently beseech God to bring them to this state of perfection.  Yet when God wills to conduct them through the initial trials and mortifications, as is necessary, they are unwilling to suffer them and they shun them, flee from the narrow road of life [Mt. 7:14] and seek the broad road of their own consolation, which is that of their own perdition [Mt. 7:13]; thus, they do not allow God to begin to grant their petition.

St. John of the Cross, Mystical Doctor of the Church, Living Flame of Love, Stanza 2, #27 (emphasis and bracketed words added).

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

The Power of the Sign of the Cross

Let us remember that each time we make the Sign of the Cross:

❖  We offer the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ to the Eternal Father;

❖  We thank Our Lord for dying for us on the Cross; and

❖  We offer the infinite merits of the Passion for our own souls and for the salvation of the world.

Each time we make the Sign of the Cross this way:

➢  we console the Heart of Jesus;

➢  we obtain pardon for our sins; and

➢  we help to save the world from great evils.

Taken from An Easy Way to Become a Saint, Fr. Paul O’Sullivan, O.P., Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., Rockford, Ill., 1990, Ch. 5. p. 36.

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

Trust in Divine Providence

The Voice of Christ:

My child, allow me to do what I will with you.  I know what is best for you.

The Disciple:

Lord, what You say is true.  Your care for me is greater than all the care I can take of myself.

Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis; Book III, Ch. 17.