God's eternal quest:

God's eternal quest must be the tracking down of souls. You should join Him
in His quest. Glorious to follow where the Leader goes. You are seeking
lost sheep. You are bringing the good news into places where it has not been known before. You may not know which soul you will help, but you can leave
all results to God. Just go with Him in His eternal quest for souls. -
--From Twenty-Four Hours a Day

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September 22nd - St. Thomas of Villanova, Archbishop

by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876

Among the many Saints, celebrated on account of their virtues and
miracles, who adorned the Catholic Church at a period when a great
number of heretics revolted against her, one of the most famous was
St. Thomas of Villanova. He was born 1488, in Castile, and received
his surname from the city where he was educated....

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

I. The whole life of St. Thomas was a continued practice of charity to
the poor and sick. For this he consumed almost his entire revenues.
How much do you use, weekly, monthly, or yearly, in deeds of Christian
charity? Do you not use much more in vanity, intemperance in eating
and drinking, maintaining useless animals, or in various forbidden
pleasures? Will this give you consolation in your last hour? Will you,
acting thus, be able to justify yourself before God? "What will you
answer to your Judge," says St. Basil,"if you have covered the walls
of your house, but have allowed the poor to go bare and naked? if you
have richly decked your horses, but despised your brother because of
his torn garments? if you have allowed the corn to rot, but have not
fed the hungry? You have not opened your house to the poor; therefore
will the gates of heaven remain closed against you." Consider what,
according to your circumstances, you are able to do for the poor.
Follow the admonition Tobias gave to his son: "According to thy
ability, be merciful. If thou have much, give abundantly; if thou have
little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little." (Tob. iv.)

II. St. Thomas led a holy life, and yet feared he would not be able to
justify himself before God. Faith teaches you that you will have to
render account, to an omniscient, just, and omnipotent Judge, of all
your thoughts, words, actions, and omissions. This account will be
much more difficult for you than for thousands of others, because you
have received more benefits from God than thousands of others. "To
whom much is given, of him much will be required," is a sentence
pronounced by the Almighty. "With the increase of the gifts or
benefits of God, increases also the account we have to render of
them," says St. Gregory. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha have,
according to the words of Christ, not to render so heavy an account on
the day of judgment, as those of Corozain and Bethsaida; because the
latter received more graces than the former. (Matt xi.) For this
reason the Jews and heathens have less to account for than the
Christians. And, for the same reason, you have more to account for
than thousands of other Christians. Is it possible then, that you do
not fear this responsibility, this account?

The Saints have feared, and yet you do not, although you lead an
indifferent, perhaps even a sinful life! Can this be possible? And
whence comes it that you do not fear? Perhaps because you do not
earnestly think of it, or because you imagine that the time to give an
account is still very far off. In the first you are wrong, because you
ought to think frequently of it, as so much depends on the issue. In
the second you err no less; for, you do not know how near or how far
your death may be; and, hence, the account which you have to render.
"Behold the judge standing before the door," says St. James. (James,
v.) Should He, however, still tarry a long time, you ought
nevertheless often to think of it, and prepare yourself for His
coming. You ought to regulate your life in such a manner, that you can
justify yourself to your God. How must you conduct yourself? Listen to
the words of St. Chrysostom: "Let us keep the judgment of God
continually before our eyes, and we shall surely endeavor to be truly
pious; for, as he who forgets it, falls into vices, so will he who
keeps it in mind, walk continually in the path of virtue."

See more at: http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/St.%20Thomas%20of%20Villanova%20popup.html


Saint Quote:
"Dismiss all anger," says St. Thomas of Villanova, "and look a little
into yourself. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your
brother, and as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a
saint, notwithstanding his present weakness. You may fall into the
same faults or perhaps into a worse fault. But supposing you remain
upright, to whom are you indebted for it, if not to the pure mercy of
God?"
--Readings with the Saints.

Bible Quote:
God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the strong.
(I Cor. 1:27)

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On Certain Temptations Against Humility

It is not easy to be humble when we are praised and flattered. Our
self-love sucks in with eagerness the words of compliment. We think
they must be partly true, or at least we are tempted to exult in the
high opinion that others profess of us. Such occasions are very
perilous to humility. We should do well to think of Herod when the
people listened to his oration, and shouted out: "It is the voice of a
god and not of a man." We read that because he took the glory to
himself instead of giving it to God, he was smitten down by the Angel
of the Lord and died miserably. (Acts xii.)

Yet we cannot help being pleased when others speak kindly of us, and
we ought to be pleased when our superiors commend us. But we must
observe certain precautions. (1) We must take care to rejoice rather
in the kindness of others than in their praise. (2) We must strive and
forget ourselves, and raise our heart to God, and offer Him our
success. (3) We must make an act of humility at the thought that if
those who praise us saw us as God sees us, they would despise, not
honor us.

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