Leonard Goffiné

“ Shall evil be rendered for good, because they have digged a pit for my soul? Remember that I have stood in Thy sight, to speak good for them, and to turn away Thy indignation from them. Therefore deliver up their children to famine, and bring them into the hands of the sword: let their wives be bereaved of children, and widows: and let the husbands be slain by death: let their young men be stabbed with the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard out of their houses: for Thou shalt bring the robber upon them suddenly: because they have digged a pit to take me, and have hid snares for my feet. ”

“ Why was the Saviour of the world born in a stable?
To show, from His very birth, that He had not come to establish a splendid worldly kingdom, but a kingdom of grace, justice, and peace, and to lead us to imitate His example of poverty, humility, and contempt of the world.
Why was the birth of Christ first announced to the poor shepherds, and not to the high priests?
To show that God does not distribute His graces through respect for persons: He exalts the humble, and humbles those who exalt themselves. ”

“ O Lord, Lord, Almighty King, for all things are in Thy power, and there is none that can resist Thy will, if Thou determine to save Israel. Thou hast made heaven and earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven. Thou art Lord of all, and there is none that can resist Thy majesty. Thou knowest all things, and Thou knowest that it was not out of pride and contempt, or any desire of glory, that I refused to worship the proud Aman. (For I would willingly and readily for the salvation of Israel have kissed even the steps of his feet.) ”

“ No exercise of our lives is more salutary than meditation on the life, death, doctrines, and example of our divine Saviour. It is milk to children, nourishing food to adults, medicine to the sick, salvation to sinners, consolation to those of little faith, strength to the penitent, counsel to the just. To the perfect it opens secret mysteries, and gives to the faithful grace in time and happiness in eternity. ”

“ O Jesus, Who hast sown the good seed of Thy divine word ,n our hearts, grant that it may bring forth in us, many fold, the fruit of eternal life. Defend us against the enemy, that he may not sow in us false and wicked doctrines to destroy our good works; preserve us from the sleep of sin and sloth, that we may watch against the temptations of the world, the devil, and the flesh, and, having overcome them, may die happily. ”

“ I have no husband. Jesus said to her: Thou hast said well, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands: and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. This thou hast said truly. The woman saith to him: Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet. Our fathers adored on this mountain, and you say that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore. Jesus saith to her: Woman, believe Me, that the hour cometh when you shall neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem adore the Father. You adore that which you know not: we adore that which we know; for salvation is of the Jews. ”

“ Neither is there at this time prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first-fruits before Thee, that we may find Thy mercy: nevertheless in a contrite heart and humble spirit let us be accepted. As in holocausts of rams, and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs: so let our sacrifice be made in Thy sight this day, that it may please Thee: for there is no confusion to them that trust in Thee. And now we follow Thee with all our heart, and we fear Thee, and seek Thy face. ”

“ At that time Jesus said to His disciples: You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy: but I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: that you may be the children of your Father "Who is in heaven, Who maketh His sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? ”

“ Thou shalt not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind: but thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, because I am the Lord. Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly. Respect not the person of the poor, nor honor the countenance of the mighty. But judge thy neighbor according to justice. Thou shalt not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the people. Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbor. I am the Lord. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, but reprove him openly, lest thou incur sin through him. ”

“ If thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee, and cease to stretch out the finger, and to speak that which is good for nothing. When thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry, and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noonday. And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water whose waters shall not fail. ”

“ O Lord, grant that Thy peace, which Thou hast given us, and which the world knows not, may keep our hearts and minds in Thee. O wisdom! proceeding from the mouth of the Highest, and reaching to the ends of the world, who governest with power and grace, come and direct us all, that we may walk in the path of wisdom and of the peace which surpasseth all understanding. ”

“ O God, Who givest us joy by the annual expectation of our redemption, grant that we may securely see Him coming as our Judge Whom we joyfully receive as our Redeemer, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reignest with Thee for ever. ”

“ Abba, Father, all things are possible to Thee, remove this chalice from Me, but not what I will, but what Thou wilt. And He cometh, and findeth them sleeping. And He saith to Peter: Simon, sleepest thou? couldst thou not watch one hour? Watch ye, and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. ”

“ To meditate rightly on the passion of Christ consider what Jesus suffered from the Jews, the gentiles, and even His own disciples, who all forsook Him. Then earnestly reflect that He, the Son of God, holiness and innocence itself, suffered not for His own sake, but to deliver mankind from sin, death, and hell, to free them of guilt and punishment, and to convert them from being children of the devil to be children of God. He came into the world, suffered, and died that we might have life. ”

“ It is enough: the hour is come: behold the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Else up, let us go. Behold, he that will betray Me, is at hand. And while He was yet speaking, cometh Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the ancients. ”

“ Yea, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: Behold I send My angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.
Why was St. John cast into prison?
Because he rebuked King Herod, who was living in adultery with the wife of his stepbrother. This teaches us that we should not be deterred from our duty, though great suffering and misfortune should thereby befall us. Is it not nobler and more profitable to our salvation to be a martyr for truth, as St. John was, rather than to gain favor with the world by timidly looking on, or by deceitful flattery? ”

“ How did the grace of God appear to all men?
Through the incarnation of His Son, Whom, in His infinite love, He made like unto us, to be our brother and teacher, that we might become children and heirs of God, and co-heirs with Jesus Christ. ”

“ The mystery of suffering meets us on every hand, and in Him we are taught " that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come. Yet so, if we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified with Him. In fine, He is a light to our faltering feet whilst in the way, and our reward exceeding great when death shall have been swallowed up in victory. ”

“ Would that we had never abused the precious time of our life to sin! but, alas! it is done, and we therefore pray Thee, through Thy Son, and through the precious blood He this day shed in His circumcision, to look, not upon the multitude of our sins, but upon Thy infinite mercy; we promise to be henceforth pious, just, and virtuous; strengthen us in our weakness; increase in us faith, hope, and charity; keep us, by Thy powerful grace, from all sin, dangers, temptations, and adversities of soul and body ”

“ She alone has preserved unity in faith and in the holy sacraments, and is subordinate to one visible head, the Pope. She alone can trace her derivation from the apostles to the present day, and can demonstrate this origin as well by her doctrine, as by the succession of her popes and bishops. She alone has all the means of salvation, and she alone has produced saints. Finally, she alone embraces all ages, and shines, as St. Augustine says, from one end of the world to the other, in the splendor of one and the same faith, inviting all to her bosom, to bring them to Jesus. ”

“ Why did Mary and Joseph wonder at these things?
They were filled with joyous wonder that Simeon was enabled by divine inspiration to recognize the child Jesus as the promised Messias, and to say such great things of Him.
What does it mean to bless? To give or wish something good to any one; in the first of these senses God alone blesses, because all goods of soul or body which we have, or wish to have, come from Him; in the second sense, angels and men may bless us, in wishing us what ever is good, and in praying for it to God. ”

“ At that time Jesus said to the Pharisees: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the hireling and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep, and flieth: and the wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep: and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling, and he hath no care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd: and I know Mine, and Mine know Me. ”

“ I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done: in his justice which he hath wrought, he shall live. Is it My will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live? But if the just man turn himself away from his justice, and do iniquity according to all the abominations which the wicked man useth to work, shall he live? all his justices which he had done, shall not be remembered: in the prevarication, by which he hath prevaricated, and in his sin, which he hath committed, in them he shall die. ”

“ For One is your master, and all you are brethren. And call none your father upon earth: for One is your father Who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for One is your master, Christ. He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. ”

“ Be ye subject therefore to every human creature for God's sake: whether it be to the king as excelling: or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of the good: for so is the will of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not as making liberty a cloak for malice, but as the servants of God. Honor all men. ”

“ What was the baptism of John, and what was the effect of it?
It was a baptism of penance, for the forgiveness of sins; thus it was a preparation for the Baptism of Christ, through which sins are actually forgiven, and the Holy Ghost received (Mark i. 4, 5) . What are we further taught by this gospel?
We are taught to always speak the truth, like St. John; not to desire to appear more, or better, than we are; and, in particular, to make a good and sincere confession. We should, therefore, before confession often ask ourselves, "Who am I? How do I live? How do I stand before God? ”

“ O Lord Jesus Christ, Who became man for us, grant that we may in all things comply with the admonitions of this epistle; that we may arise from the slumber of our sins, and walk in the light of grace by the diligent performance of good works, and adorn our souls by putting on Thee, through the imitation of Thy virtues. ”

“ Let the Word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. ”

“ Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver, nor shall you make to yourselves gods of gold. You shall make an altar of earth unto Me, and you shall offer upon it your holocausts and peace-offerings, your sheep and oxen, in every place where the memory of My name shall be.
GOSPEL. Matt. xv. 1-20.
At that time there came to Jesus from Jerusalem scribes and Pharisees, saying: Why do Thy disciples transgress the traditions of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. ”

“ When, therefore, the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen? They say to Him: He will bring those evil men to an evil end: and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, that shall render him the fruit in due season. Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this hath been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes. Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. ”

“ OUR blessed Lord is the visible expression of God's truth and of God's love to men, and His temporal mission contemplated the establishment of that truth and of that love in the hearts of men. In His redeeming blood we have been given " the power to become the sons of God "; and His life and teachings must be the object of frequent meditation for all those who have their spiritual advancement seriously at heart. Deep down within our being we experience a longing to know which would embrace the universe in its compass. ”

“ Thus Christ was, indeed, yet a stranger in their hearts, and chose to appear to them as such, to free those who loved Him from their false notions, to convince them of the necessity of His passion, and to reveal Himself to them, as soon as their understandings should be enlightened, and their hearts filled with desire. Thus God orders the disposal of His graces according to our dispositions; according to our faith and trust; according to our love and fidelity. ”

“ O God, Who by sin art offended, and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people, making supplications to Thee, and turn away the scourges of Thy anger, which we deserve for our sins. ”