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Never believe anything bad about anybody unless you positively know it to be true; never tell even that unless you feel that it is absolutely necessary - and that God is listening while you tell it.
- William Penn
(That would be the end of gossip if everyone practiced these principles. Resolve to use your power of speech lovingly this day.)
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Acts 22:30; 23:6-11; Psalm 16:1-2a and 5, 7-11
Jn 17:20-26
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.”
Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain, 2018 (3rd ed.)
John 1 7:20-26 (Jesus prays for us)
We often forget that Jesus is as concerned about our own walk in faith as he was for his disciples. By writing about this prayer of petition Jesus made on our behalf, John reminds us that Jesus continues to intercede for us before the Father.
• An old saying proclaims that our problem is not that we are not good, but that we settle for less than the best. Do you believe this? Are you striving to become the best person you can be? Are you satisfied with your present level of spiritual growth?
• Pray for the grace to appreciate God’s commitment to loving you.
Treatise on the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
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BOOK II: THE HISTORY OF THE GENERATION AND HEAVENLY BIRTH OF DIVINE LOVE
Chapter 21: How our Savior's loving attractions assist and accompany us to faith and charity
In this way, my dear Theotimus, the divine inspiration comes to us, and prevents us moving our wills to sacred love. And if we do not repulse it, it goes with us and keeps near us, to incite us and ever push us further forwards; and if we do not abandon it, it does not abandon us, till such time as it has brought us to the haven of most holy charity, performing for us the three good offices which the great
angel Raphael fulfilled for his dear Tobias: for it guides us through all our journey of holy penitence, it preserves us from dangers and from the assaults of the devil, and it consoles, animates, and fortifies us in our difficulties.
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