10 Catholic Things that Caught My Eye Today (July 10, 2015)

1. From Magnificat today:

2.

Confession under the Cross, the "inexhaustible spring of divine Love" https://t.co/hw9JlQJa1q

— Fr Lawrence Lew OP (@LawrenceOP) July 10, 2015

3. Do not let the day go by without spending a little time with Saint Clement today:

Beloved, see what a marvellous thing love is; its perfection is beyond our expression. Who can truly love save those to whom God grants it? We ought to beg and beseech him in his mercy that our love may be genuine, unmarred by any too human inclination. From Adam down to the present time all generations have passed away; but those who were perfected in love by God’s grace have a place among the saints who will be revealed when the kingdom of Christ comes to us. As it is written: Enter your chambers for a little while, until my wrath and anger pass away; and I shall remember a good day and raise you from your graves. We are blessed, beloved, if we fulfill the commands of the Lord in harmonious, loving union, so that through love our sins may be forgiven. For it is written: Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes not iniquity, and in whose mouth there is no deceit. This is the blessing that has been given to those who have been chosen by God through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
We should pray then that we may be granted forgiveness for our sins and for whatever we may have done when led astray by our adversary’s servants. And for those who were the leaders of the schism and the sedition, they too should look to the common hope. For those who live in pious fear and in love are willing to endure torment rather than have their neighbor suffer; and they more willingly suffer their own condemnation than the loss of that harmony that has been so nobly and righteously handed down to us. For it is better for a man to confess his sins than to harden his heart.
Who then among you is generous, who is compassionate, who is filled with love? He should speak out as follows: If I have been the cause of sedition, conflict and schisms, then I shall depart; I shall go away wherever you wish, and I shall do what the community wants, if only the flock of Christ live in peace with the presbyters who are set over them. Whoever acts thus would win great glory for himself in Christ, and he would be received everywhere, for the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. Thus have they acted in the past and will continue to act in the future who live without regret as citizens in the city of God.

4.

Lord Jesus, you consoled especially the poor and troubled: look with mercy on those in any kind of need. – Come, Lord Jesus. #vespers

— Fr. Patrick Brennan (@Pathound) July 10, 2015

5. It’s quite stunning to watch some of the scenes from the pope’s Latin American whirlwind tour. As often happens when watching the man, it’s hard not to be drawn into deeper prayer — and more work! That’s the Holy Spirit at work in and through the Holy Father and the Body of Christ, the Church. We’re called to be the Christians we say we are and he’d leading us in that.

Look at Christ crucified … in his wounds there is a place for our own wounds. They are soothed, washed cleaned, healed. — @Pontifex

— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) July 10, 2015

Read this and this and this for a start. More to come …

The awesome thing about Pope Francis is he reminds us who we are, who Christ calls us 2b. It's challenging, exciting, excruciating, joyous.

— Kathryn Jean Lopez (@kathrynlopez) July 10, 2015

6. How now are we to live? Same as it ever was — follow Christ! Be converted. My friend Ed Mechmann addresses this here.

7. And Fr. Lawrence Lew preaches:

we Christians are called to live in the world knowingly, with full knowledge that we will find ourselves in conflict with the others. We’re not spoiling for a fight but rather, we should be wise enough to know that opposition and persecution will come so we should be prepared.
But the wisdom of the serpent, it is said, is that it knows how to evade being captured. But I don’t think this is quite right. Rather, the serpent is a symbol of healing, and so as Chesterton said, we’re called to be a medicine, an antidote to the ills of our time. We do this by applying the wisdom of the Gospel, of the saints, to our contemporary situation. And we’re to be as innocent as doves. This is often taken to mean that we speak and behave in an inoffensive or harmless way. However, more pertinently, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. So, I think we’re called to be filled with the Spirit, and so, we witness to the Gospel without arrogance or a sense of moral superiority, but with the humility and innocence that comes from being an instrument of God’s love in the world. Thus Jesus calls us to follow him, to become like him, to share in his Cross. The result, if we do, is that we also share in his glory, in the triumph of love which overcomes the world (cf Jn 16:33).

8. And Father José Medina.

9. Sent Out By The Good Shepherd As Sheep Among Wolves

10.

"Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves." -Mt 10 http://t.co/W11cbFwlCj

— Daughters of St Paul (@DaughterStPaul) July 10, 2015