Wednesday, 15th NOVEMBER St Albert the Great, bishop and Doctor of the Church. Give thanks to God. .

Wednesday, 15th NOVEMBER
St Albert the Great, bishop and Doctor of the Church
Luke 17:11-19

As Jesus entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.
"Show yourselves to the priests."

We all have sins and we can all be made clean by going to Jesus. All the saints (except Our Lady) had to be forgiven. All of them had committed sins and needed to ask for forgiveness. And they were all forgiven. Jesus can touch a leper and cure him; He can touch a sinner and make him a saint. And Jesus can decide to do it the way He wants, because He is God.

Jesus could have chosen a different way: He could have said: 'Dig a hole, say your sins there and bury them' or 'Go to this wall and tell your sins there'. And yet, a wall doesn't hear, a wall doesn't understand, a wall doesn't console, a wall doesn't encourage, a wall doesn't guide you. But a man can do all that. "Show yourselves to the priests," He says.

Many saints went to confession as often as once a week, like St Josemaría, St Padre Pio, St John Paul II, St Faustina, St Teresa of Calcutta, St Francis and so many others... not because they were saints, but because they were sinners. 

Thank You, Lord, for the Sacrament of Confession; thank You because You always forgive all sins, and forgive everything completely; thank You for Your priests.

"Go to confession to the Blessed Virgin, or to an angel; will they absolve you? No. Will they give you the Body and Blood of Our Lord? No. The Holy Virgin cannot make her Divine Son descend into the Host. You might have two hundred angels there, but they could not absolve you. A priest, however simple he may be, can do it; he can say to you, "Go in peace; I pardon you." Oh, how great is a priest!" (St John Mary Vianney) "Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: 'Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.'" (St John Chrysostom)

I pray through your intercession, Holy Mary, Mother of Priests, that there will be an abundance of priests - of holy priests!

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Commentary of the day :

Life of St Francis of Assisi known as the "Compilation of Pérouse" (c.1311)
§ 43

"Give thanks to God"

Two years before his death the blessed Francis was already ill, suffering especially from his eyes… He had been fifty days or more without being able to stand the sunlight by day nor the brightness of the fire by night. He remained continually in his cell, in the gloom at the interior of the house… 

One night, while he was thinking about all the trials he was enduring, he felt sorry for himself and said interiorly: "Lord, help me in my infirmities so that I can have the strength to bear them patiently!" And suddenly, in his mind, he heard a voice: "Tell me, brother: if you were to be given a great and precious treasure in return for your sufferings and trials…, would you not rejoice?… Be joyful and happy in the midst of your infirmities and trials: from now on live in as much peace as if you were already sharing my Kingdom."

The next day he said to his companions…: "God has given me such grace and blessing that, in his pity, he has deigned to assure me – me, his poor, unworthy servant still living here below – that I shall share in his Kingdom. Therefore, for his glory, for my own consolation and the edification of my neighbour, I should like to compose a new "Praise of the Lord" for his creatures. Every day these serve our needs; without them we should not be able to live, and humankind greatly offends the Creator with them. Every day, too, we fail to acknowledge so great a blessing by not praising the Creator and Dispenser of all these gifts as we should…".

These "Praises of the Lord", which begin with: "Most high, most powerful and good Lord", he called the "Canticle of Brother Sun". For indeed, it is the most beautiful of all creatures, that which, more than any other, we might compare to God. And he said: "At sunrise everyone ought to praise God for having created this star that gives light to our eyes by day; in the evening, everyone should praise God for that other creature, our brother Fire, who enables our eyes to see clearly in the darkness. We are all like blind men and it is through these two creatures that God gives us light. That is why we ought to praise most particularly their glorious Creator for these creatures and for those others that serve us each day."

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Thought for the day:-

"You are great if you can find your own faults;
greater if you can remove or reduce them...

But you are the greatest if you accept & love others with their faults!"  
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