Readings from Fr. John Furniss

[Brigid]

I like that idea, Therese.

Brigid, I'm also going to try to frequently pray the prayer "Jesus, Mary, I love you.  Save souls."  I'd love to use more ejaculations/acts of love this Lent.

!!!!

[Shin]

We can work on being simple, meek and humble this Lent.  We could even pray daily to be simple, meek, and humble.  The prayer "Jesus, meek and humbe of heart, make my heart like yours" (or "like unto thine") would be a good prayer to pray every day.

Yes, I will say this and "Jesus, Mary, I love you. Save souls." too.

[martin]

"Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours" (or "like unto thine") would be a good prayer to pray every day.

Yes... I will say this prayer too. Thank you Theresa.

When offering a little penance or some inconvenience I often say, "All for Thee O Sacred Heart of Jesus, All for Thee."
I hope to be able to say it more often during Lent. 

[Therese]

"Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours" (or "like unto thine") would be a good prayer to pray every day.

Yes... I will say this prayer too. Thank you Theresa.

When offering a little penance or some inconvenience I often say, "All for Thee O Sacred Heart of Jesus, All for Thee."
I hope to be able to say it more often during Lent. 

I'd like to pray this prayer too!  Thanks, Martin!

[Therese]

Yes, I will say this and "Jesus, Mary, I love you. Save souls." too.

Great!  Sr. Consolata Betrone is the mystic/victim soul who Jesus inspired to repeat this prayer over and over all day in a continual act of love.  I read Jesus is most pleased by this continual act of love.

[Shin]

6. There was a great town called Milan; the bishop of this town became sick and died. As soon as the bishop was buried, all the people met together, and began to quarrel and dispute among themselves who should be the next bishop. Among the crowd were some little children, and all at once one of those children cried out: "Ambrose, bishop." As soon as the people heard the little child say those words, they felt in their hearts that these words of the child came from God, and so they all began to cry out along with the little child: "Ambrose, bishop." Ambrose was made bishop, and he became one of the greatest bishops of the Church. Thus you see that when God wishes to do some great and wonderful thing, he sometimes makes use of a poor, weak little child to do it, because everybody sees that a weak little child could not do any great thing of itself, but that it is the almighty power of God in the child which does it. Besides, when the great, wise people see that God chooses a little child rather than themselves, they learn to be humble, "The foolish things of this world hath God chosen to confound the wise.' 1 Cor. i.

7. About one hundred years since there was living in Rome a poor beggar. His clothes were rags, his dinner an old dry crust. He had made himself poor for the love of Jesus. He was a very holy man, and when he died, his death was precious in the sight of God. He died the death of a saint. Scarcely anybody knew that he was a saint, for when he was alive he had concealed all his good works as much as he could. But when people try to make themselves little in the eyes of others, God tries to make them great, for "he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." Matt. xxiii. So God wished that the hidden sanctity of this good man should be known by all the world. If it had pleased God, he might have employed the bishops of his Church to make known his sanctity; but it pleased him rather that the tongues of little children should make it known to the world. The morning after he died some children happened to come to the street where he had lived, and all at once they began to cry out: "The saint is dead, the saint is dead." These children scarcely knew why they were crying out these words, but it was God who put this cry into their hearts. The cry of these little children went from street to street, from town to town; and so by the tongues of little children the world knew that there was another saint in Heaven. The name of this blessed man was Benedict Joseph Labre.

8. A few years since a wonderful thing happened in France. Many people in that country used to blaspheme the holy name of God; and they did not keep the Sunday holy. One day the dear blessed Virgin Mary, our Lady, the Mother of Jesus Christ, was seen on the hills of that country. The light of Heaven shone around her. She came, with tears in her eyes, to tell the people that if they did not repent of their sins, the hand of her son Jesus would strike them; and to whom, do you think, the blessed Virgin Mary spoke? "Perhaps to some great, some wise, some learned man." No. God wished rather that she should speak to children. So she spoke the message of the Almighty to two little children of the country, and she bade them take the message to the people. How true, then, are the words of the Holy Scripture: "Though hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones." Matt. xi. The place where the blessed Virgin spoke to these children is called La Salette.

9. God often makes children little apostles for the conversion of others.

A person in Paris gave the following account of his conversion: "I had been brought up," he said, "in ignorance of the truth, with no respect for religion, and hating the Catholic Church. I had a little child, which was wild, passionate, and stupid. I was cross and severe to this child. Sometimes my wife used to say to me: 'Wait a little, the child will be better when it makes its first communion.'

I did not believe it. however, the child began to go to Catechism, and from that time it became obedient, respectful, and affectionate. I thought I would go myself to hear the instructions on the Catechism, which had made such a wonderful change in the child. I went, and I heard truths which I had never heard before.

My feelings towards the child changed. It was not so much love as respect I began to feel for the child. I was inferior to it, it was better and wiser than I was. The week for the first communion was come: there were but five or six days remaining. One morning the child returned from Mass, and came into the room where I was alone. 'Father,' said the child, 'the day of my first communion is coming, and I cannot go to the altar without asking your blessing and forgiveness for all the faults I have committed and the pain I have often given you. Think well of my faults, and scold me for them all, that I may commit them no more.' 'My child,' I answered, 'a father forgives every thing.' The child looked at me with tears in its eyes and threw its arms around my neck. 'Father,' said the child again, 'I have something else to ask you.'

I knew well, my conscience told me, what the child was going to ask. I was afraid, and said, 'go away now, you can ask me to-morrow.' The poor child did not know what to say, so it left me, and went sorrowfully into its own little room, where it had an altar with an image of the Blessed Virgin upon it. I felt sorry for what I had said; so I got up, and walked softly on the tips of my feet to the room door of my child. The door was a little open; I looked at the child, it was on its knees before the Blessed Virgin, praying with all its heart for its father. Truly, at the moment, I knew what one must feel at the sight of an angel. I went back to my room, and leaned my head on my hands, I was ready to cry. I heard a slight sound, and raised my eyes -- my child was standing before me, on its face there was fear, with firmness and love. 'Father,' said the child, 'I cannot put off till to-morrow what I have to ask you -- I ask you, on the day of my first Communion, to come to the holy Communion along with mamma and me.' I burst into tears, and threw my arms round the child's neck, and said, 'Yes, my child, yes this very day you shall take me by the hand and lead me to your confessor, and say, 'Here is Father.'"

So this child converted its father. Little child, if you have parents who do not lead a good life, God looks to you for their conversion. But what can you do? The good example of a child speaks to the heart of a parent. Then there is prayer -- will God turn a deaf ear to the prayer of a child, praying for the conversion of its father or mother? No; the Hail Mary, which you say every day for their conversion, the prayer you say for them each time you hear Mass, the holy Communions you offer for them, the sighs of your heart, all rise up before God, and are not forgotten by him; and the day will come when God will send down from Heaven the grace of conversion into the heart of your parents.

10. Then, my child, give your first years, your early years, to Almighty God. All first things and early things, are beautiful before God and men. The first rays of the sun, when it rises over the mountain tops -- the first white lily which is seen in early spring, when the snows are melting away -- the beautiful colors of the rosebud when it first opens -- but, above all, the early years of childhood -- please God. The infancy of Jesus is the glory and delight of the Christian Church. Mary, the mother of Jesus, consecrated her first years to God. Many hundreds and thousands of children there have been in this world who gave the years of their childhood to Almighty God. Many children there have been, who, pleasing God in their childhood, were taken out of the world into Heaven, because God foresaw that if they had lived to be older, perhaps malice would creep into their hearts, and they would not love him any more. Then, my child, "remember the Creator in the days of thy youth." Eccles. xii. Give the years of your childhood to God, who loves the years of childhood more than he loves any other years, and who gives joy to those who love him when they are little. Ps. xlii. 4. Be not wicked in your childhood: if you are wicked when you are young, you will be wicked when you grow old: for it is a proverb: "A young man according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it" -- Prov. xxii. : and then "his bones will sleep with him in the dust." Job xx. These years are passing away; hasten, then, and offer them to God -- say: "My God, I give you the years of my childhood. May they be as the years of the childhood of Jesus!"

Then my dear child, Almighty God is your Creator, and why did he create you? A bird is made to fly, a fish to swim, what are you made for yourself?

-- This question will be answered in the second book.

[Shin]

Almighty God loves little children.    :'(

[martin]

In the thick of the crowd stood a man somber, glowering, rage stamped on every feature: Near him was his wife with an infant in her arms, still at the breast. The man was devoured by a frenzy of jealousy. Brother Vincent saw him, saw what fire burned in him, and preached upon Jealousy. Suddenly he turned to the man.

"You doubt your wife's faithfulness, do you not? You think this child is not yours? Well, watch!" Then he cried in a great voice to the child: "Embrace your father!" The infant stirred, stood upright, turned towards the man and held out its arms. And thus was the man cured and the family peace restored.

Extract from stories of St Vincent Ferrer

[Shin]

That was strikingly moving. 

[Patricia]

How grateful the wife must have been to St. Ferrer!

[Shin]

Now we have proceeded through Almighty God and His Perfections, and Almighty God Loves Little Children. . .

The next book is 'The Great Question' . .

Between these works of Fr. Furniss's, is a little 'Rule of Life' he has for children.

Here follows the 'Rule of Life'. I think it is a good sort of thing to hang on one's wall or write in one's notebook.

[Shin]

KEEP THE RULE OF LIFE

I. In the morning before you get up, make the sign of the cross and say: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. For this you get 100 days' indulgence. Get up at a fixed time, remembering that God sees you.

II. Morning Prayers. When you are dressed, kneel down and say:

1. The prayers, Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed, or I believe.

(A Meditation)

2. The Morning Offering. (Say to yourself, "What shall I have to do from now till the evening?" Think for a moment what, and you will do each action well -- prayers, meals, school-duties, work, conversations, etc.) Then say, "O my God, I believe that you are present and I offer to you the thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings of this day, with those of Jesus Christ."

3. Examination about the sins of the day. (Say to yourself, "What is the greatest sin I commit, or what do I commit oftenest?" Think for a moment what sin is it, and how you will avoid it), then say, "O my God, keep me to-day from that sin. Amen."

III. Meal Prayers. Before and after meals, make the sign of the cross, and say grace.

IV. Night Prayers.

1. Say Our Father, Hail Mary, I believe.
2. Examine your conscience for a moment. (Say, "Did I miss my prayers or commit any sin to-day?" Think for a moment what sin), then say, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner."

V. When in bed, put your arms in the form of a cross, and say, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul.

VI. Daily Virtues.

1. Give every thing you do to Jesus. If you pray, eat, sleep, dress yourself, talk, sing, walk, sit down, take a message, light a candle, go to school, read, write, sew, work, in every action, little or great, say, at the beginning, or middle, or end of it, My Jesus, I do this for the love of you, or, All for you my Jesus.
2. If any thing happens to you which you do not like, say, My God, may your holy will be done.
3. Be kind to everybody.
4. Forgive those who offend you, and speak kindly to them.
5. Love, respect and obey your parents and masters.

VII. Good practices. Every day hear mass, visit the blessed sacrament, and some image or picture of the blessed Virgin, say the Rosary, at least one decade, read some good book, say the Angelus, morning, noon, and night, be in some pious confraternity, make a retreat every year, read their rule of life every Sunday.

VIII. Temptation.

1. If a temptation comes, turn away from it and say, Jesus and Mary, help me, or say the Hail Mary till it goes away.
2. Put a bad thought out of your heart quickly as you would shake a burning spark off your hand.
3. Keep your eyes, ears, tongue, and hands from what is bad.
4. Keep away from bad company, public houses, and whiskey-shops, bad dancing and singing houses, gambling-houses, theaters, bad wakes, bad books, novels, and romances.

IX. Sins to avoid. Missing your prayers, going to fortune-tellers, cursing, bad oaths, losing Mass on Sunday by your own neglect, bad conduct to parents, etc. hatred, drunkenness, immodest thoughts, words, actions, stealing, speaking ill of others, breaking the abstinence or fast, neglecting your Easter duties.

X. Sins committed. "He that loveth sin, hateth his own soul." Ps. x. 1. If you commit a mortal sin, make an act of contrition directly (see No. XIII.), and go to confession as soon as you can. 2. For a venial sin, strike your breast and be sorry.

XI. The Sacraments. Go to confession and holy communion at Easter, and at least once every month. Do not wilfully conceal a sin in confession.

XII. Prayer before and after holy communion, also for a spiritual communion at holy Mass, and for a visit to the blessed sacrament.

O Jesus, God the Son made man, I believe that thou art present in the blessed sacrament. I adore thee, I love thee. Sweet Jesus, come into my poor soul, and give me thy flesh to eat, and thy blood to drink. Amen. Blessed be Jesus in the most holy sacrament of the altar.

XIII. Death. Live every day as if you were to die that day. When you are dying, be sure to make an act of contrition, say, O my God, I am very sorry for having sinned against thee, because thou art so good, and I will not sin again. An act of contrition will save your soul if there is no priest to hear your confession when dying.

PRAISED BE JESUS AND MARY.

[Shin]

Here again is the Angelus.

A child or an adult can be very helped by a rule of life. One can take this, as the foundation, and work with it perhaps with one's Confessor if one has a good one, or one's father or mother, and follow it each day to become holier.

Every day one can arise, saying one's prayers and read the Rule of Life to refresh it in your mind, thankful for the holiness and goodness given to you by God through it.

[Therese]

That's a great rule of life! 

[Shin]

THE GREAT QUESTION.

---

CHAPTER I.

GOD HAS GIVEN YOU A BODY.

"The Lord God formed man out of the slime of the Earth." GEN. ii. 7.

WHAT is your body made of? The body is made of the slime and dust of the earth, and yet the body is one of the greatest works of God. St. Augustine says that people wonder at the rivers, and the mountains, but they ought rather to wonder at themselves. It is good, then, for a child to know what a wonderful thing the body is, that it may learn to thank God for giving it a body. (See the note below.*) "Your bodies are members of Christ, and temples of the Holy Ghost." 1 Cor. vi.

If the body is wonderful now, it will be far more wonderful at the general resurrection, at the end of the world. Then, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet, by an archangel -- 1 Thes. i. 4. -- the dead shall rise again out of their graves. See what will happen then to the bodies of those who have served God in this life! First, death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, for the former things are passed away -- Apoc. xxi. 4. Secondly, the body which is buried in corruption and frightful to look at, shall rise in glory, and shine like the sun in the kingdom of God -- 1 Cor. xv.; Matt. xiii. Thirdly, the body, like a spirit, will be able to pass through solid things, through the earth, stones, and doors -- Cor. xv. -- As Christ came into the room where the Apostles were, the doors being shut; John xx. Fourthly, the body will be able to pass from one place to another, however distant -- from the highest Heaven to the Earth in a moment, for it will become a spiritual body. Cor. xx. So "God will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory, according to the operation whereby also he is able to subdue all things unto himself." Phil. iii. Such is the wonderful body which God has created for you out of the slime and dust of the earth.

CHAPTER II

BE THANKFUL TO GOD FOR GIVING YOU A BODY

1. THERE are few people who ever thank God for their body, for the eyes they see with, for the feet they walk with; Acts iii.

It was the year in which Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven.

One day there was a poor man sitting at one of the gates of the temple of Jerusalem. He was lame; he had never been able to walk since the day of his birth. Each morning his people carried him in their arms, and set him down at this gate. There he sat all the day long, from morning till night. When the people went through the gate into the temple, he asked them to give him something. The people, seeing that he was lame, and not able to walk, had pity on him, and gave him sometimes a half-penny, sometimes a penny -- so the poor cripple was able to buy bread and live. One afternoon, about three o'clock, while he was sitting at this gate, there came two of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. St. Peter and St. John.

They were going into the temple to say their prayers. As they passed, the lame man saw them, and asked them to give him something. St. Peter looked at him, and said: "My good man, I have neither gold nor silver, but what I have, I give you. Therefore, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk." The people who stood near heard the words of St. Peter, and they looked at the lame man to see if he would be cured. The name of Jesus is a name of power and strength. Scarcely had the great name gone out of the mouth of St. Peter, when quick as a flash of lightning, life came into the dead feet of the poor man. He rose up, and with the new life which the name of Jesus enlivened his feet, he walked, following the Apostles into the temple of God.

His heart was filled with joy and thankfulness because he had got the use of his feet. With a loud voice he cried out, and thanked God, and all the people of the temple heard him praising and blessing God. Such was the thankfulness of this man, when he had only yet had the use of his feet for a few moments. You, my child, have had the use of your feet for years -- did you ever once thank God for it? Then, for the many blessings you received when God gave you a body, say sometimes: "My God, I thank you, because you gave me a tongue to speak with, and praise your holy name. I thank you, because you gave me ears to hear with, and listen to your blessed word. I thank you, because you gave me hands to work with, and do good works." God has given you a wonderful body, but he has also given you something else, a great deal more wonderful than the body.


* 1. THE BONES -- In the body are hard bones on which the body rests, like a house rests on pillars and props, and would fall down if they were taken away. There are in the body many bones of different sizes and shapes. If the hand, for example, was only one bone, you could not bend your fingers, or take hold of any thing; so in each hand there are 27 bones, beautifully joined together by gristle.

2. BREATHING. -- The air which you breath goes through the mouth and the nose into the throat; then it goes down the windpipe till it comes to the lungs, which are like bellows for breathing with. But what is the air for? Why do we breath? The air we breath mixes with the food which comes from the stomach into the heart, and turns it into blood. The air which your body breathes should remind you how God breathes into the soul the breath of life: Gen. ii.

3. THE VOICE. -- What is the voice? How do we speak and sing? The air we breath back again out of the lungs, goes up the windpipe in the throat. When the breath comes near the top of the windpipe, it strikes against two little strings of flesh less than an inch long. The striking of the breath against these two strings makes a sound, and that sound is the voice. The vowels, a e i o u, are made simply by the breath striking against these strings. The constants b c d t, &c, are not made till the breath gets into the mouth, and then they are made with the help of the tongue, teeth, and roof of the mouth, and the nose. For example, the letter t is made by breathing and putting the tongue against the roof of the mouth. Singing also is nothing but the sound which comes from the breath striking against the two little strings at the top of the windpipe. In singing, there may be 240 changes of the voice or tones, and in changing from one tone to another the breath passes over only 1-1200th part of an inch. So wonderful, and yet simple is the voice by which we can make known to others our secret thoughts. The thoughts of our heart are so secret that no creature on earth, no spirit in hell or heaven, except God himself, can know them. Ps. cxxxviii. "Thou has understood my thoughts afar off." So wonderful then is the voice of the body. But there is another voice much more wonderful -- it is the voice of the soul we speak to God. The voice of the soul is prayer. We say, "Our father, who art in heaven." and God listens to us.

4. FOOD. -- Why do we eat? The food becomes blood. Let us see how this is done. First -- Your hand puts the food on your tongue, which is flat like a plate, to hold it. The tongue can also tell the different tastes of food, that we may not eat what is bad for us. When you have put a slice of bread on your tongue, you want to divide what is inside of the mouth from what is outside; so in front of the mouth are twelve sharp teeth which, like a knife, cut a piece off the slice, and so you get a mouthful. But you could not swallow the mouthful, for it would be too large to go down the throat. Therefore, on each side of the mouth are ten teeth with flat tops. These flat teeth crush the food and grind it into powder, like millstones crush wheat and grind it into flour. But a dry powder would not go down the throat, so there are three wells of spittle or saliva in the mouth, two under the tongue and one on teh side of the right ear. While the teeth are grinding the food into powder, the spittle comes out of the three wells, mixes with the powder, and turns it into paste; so if a hungry man comes near a good dinner, they say his mouth waters. At a single meal six ounces of saliva are thus swallowed. When the food has been made into paste, the tongue pushes it backwards, and sends it into the throat. At the top of the throat is an opening, which is the windpipe, through which we breath. Now the food must pass over the windpipe, and yet if any of the food falls down into the windpipe we are choked. How then is the food to get over the windpipe? The providence of God has beautifully arranged it. Over the top of the windpipe is a lid or little door, and while the food passes, the lid shuts down, and so the food passes over it. The food then gets into the stomach, and in the stomach it is changed by digestion. Then the food goes into the heart, and mixing with the breath from the lungs, is changed into blood, and the blood feeds the body, which is always wearing out, and so we live. "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all for the glory of God." 1 Cor. x. You say in the Lord's prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread." When therefore, you eat the bread which is for the life of the body, think also of the bread which is the life of the soul. What is the bread for the life of the soul? Jesus Christ tells us, John vi."The bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world."

6. THE EYES. -- The eyes are in the head, the highest part of the body, that we may see things far off. The eye is a round white ball. In the middle of this ball is an opening, called the pupil of the eye, for light to pass through. Round this opening is a beautiful net or curtain, called the iris. When the light is too strong, this net becomes larger to let in less light. When there is little light, the curtain becomes smaller to let in more light. This net is black, or brown, or blue, or gray. So we say that a person has black, or brown eyes, &c. How, then, does the eye see things? You must, first of all, know that light travels 200,000 miles every second. The earth is 24,000 miles round, so that the light would go round the earth eight times in a second. The light then comes form a tree, or a house, or anything you are looking at, and brings on it a picture of the thing you are looking at. It passes through the opening or pupil of the eye, and leaves the picture on the back of the eye. The picture goes from the back of the eye to the brain, and from the brain it goes to the soul. In one moment you can see millions of things all at once, trees, leaves, men, houses, towns, &c. And the pictures of these millions of things are all at the same time on the space of half an inch at the back of the eye; and yet they do not get in one another's way. If a man had to paint a million pictures on half an inch of paper it would be all confusion; but the eye is the work of God; Ps. cxxii. "To thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in Heaven. Behold, as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God until he have mercy on us."

6. THE SOUL AND THE BODY. -- If a word comes to your ear, the soul knows it directly; if you see any thing, if you take hold of any thing, if something strikes your foot, or you have a pain, your soul knows all these things instantly. How is this? From the eyes, and the ears, and the hands, and the feet, and from every part of the body, fleshy strings called nerves, go up to the brain; and whatever comes to the eyes, ears, or body, passes along the nerves up to the brain, and there by some means, which we cannot understand, it is made known to the soul. You move your hand; or you move your foot and walk -- how is this done? The soul wills or determines to walk. This will of the soul is made known to the brain. From the brain, this will or determination of the soul passes quicker than lightning to the foot. The foot obeys and walks. Thus God has given your soul a wonderful power over your body. Your soul commands your foot to walk, and the foot obeys. There is no power on the face of the earth, except your soul, which could make your foot move of itself.

[Shin]

His heart was filled with joy and thankfulness because he had got the use of his feet. With a loud voice he cried out, and thanked God, and all the people of the temple heard him praising and blessing God. Such was the thankfulness of this man, when he had only yet had the use of his feet for a few moments. You, my child, have had the use of your feet for years -- did you ever once thank God for it? Then, for the many blessings you received when God gave you a body, say sometimes: "My God, I thank you, because you gave me a tongue to speak with, and praise your holy name. I thank you, because you gave me ears to hear with, and listen to your blessed word. I thank you, because you gave me hands to work with, and do good works." God has given you a wonderful body, but he has also given you something else, a great deal more wonderful than the body.

It's like the conclusion of the movement of a symphony, that he has been building up to. 

How unthankful we are for things that matter so much, that are so important to our daily lives.. and yet, we take them for granted.