Solemnity of Saint Michael the Archangel

At the beginning of the Creation, God made the angels. There were myriads and thousands of thousands. While being invisible to our eyes, they share our destiny and walk along with us on our road toward God. The world of the angels is fascinating, first, because of their very nature. As pure spirits, they don’t have to carry the weight of the infirmities of the flesh. Their intuitive intelligence is so piercing that they can comprehend directly the essence of things. Their world is also fascinating, because they have been raised by grace to the supernatural order and made citizens of the city of God. They are different than us as for nature, but they are our fellow-citizens as for the order of grace. They see the face of God, but this does not prevent them from taking care of us. In fact, they are useful helps in our pilgrimage toward the celestial Jerusalem and precious allies in our battle against the powers of darkness.

The powers of darkness! Who are they? Saint Paul tells us that we have to fight against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. (Eph.6:12) These are the devils, angelic creatures but who turned away from God. They have the same nature as the good angels, and as such, are redoubtable adversaries, more powerful and more intelligent than us. At their head, Lucifer stands. Lucifer, which means the light-bearer, was a magnificent creature. Created like any other rational creature to share the glory of God, he rejected it for one reason and declared: non serviam “I will not serve!”

This was the supreme trespass against the supreme authority of God: an act of full pride which made Lucifer deny the supremacy of God. But in his blind dementia, he also denies the love of God which was at the origin of his own creation. Created by love, now Lucifer, for one instant of pride has now become subject to hatred. Then, he and the angels who followed him in his rebellion were condemned. As Saint Peter reports, God delivered them, drawn down by infernal ropes to the lower hell unto torments, to be reserved unto judgment. (2 Pet.2:4)

All the angels may have followed Lucifer if one among them would have not stood to defend the honor of God. Quis us Deus is his name: Who is like God, or in Hebrew Michael. For his fidelity to God, Saint Michael deserved to be called Prince of the Angels. He is the captain of the celestial army, leading the faithful troops to the battle against the powers of darkness. For this reason, the men of the militant Church show a great veneration for the Archangel Michael. His devotion has always been spread in the world, especially throughout the Middle-Ages.

Today, here in this parish dedicated to the Archangel Saint Michael, we honor this great champion of Christian battle and we put ourselves under his protection. He is traditionally represented dressed with a cuirass, symbol of faith that protects us against the temptations of doubt or of rationalism. Like him, we certainly cannot understand the mysterious plans of the divine Providence, but with a humble faith, we believe that they are good and infallible. Who is like God? Who can understand them? Who can tell God that He is wrong and that there may be another way better than the one He proposes? The mystery of the Holy Trinity, the mystery of the Creation, the loving mystery of the Incarnation, all the mysteries of faith are great and inscrutable. Denying them is continuing the rebellion of Satan and the fallen angels. Accepting them with a humble submission is recognizing the highest wisdom of God. May Saint Michael help us to keep a deep and strong faith! It is, as Saint John says, our victory over the world. (I John 5:4)

We also depict Saint Michael with a sword with which he strikes down the dragon. The sword has a mystical significance in many civilizations, and especially in the Christian Middle-Ages. It is the weapon of the kings and of the knights which represents authority and justice. It also evokes war and the warlike virtues: strength, power, sacrifice. It separates the good from evil and as such establishes a balance. The sword, forged in iron and carried by a spirit symbolizes the war that we have to fight against the flesh in order to be reconciled with our spiritual dimension. As Saint Michael has defeated the dragon, we can overcome our flesh by the sword of mortification and of justice.
Another attribute that we often see with Saint Michael is the scale of justice. According to tradition, the Archangel stands between the soul and God at the time of death. He weighs the soul and the side on which the scale goes will determine its eternal destiny. Nothing will be forgotten. This thought should help us to make the scale incline on the good side by helping us to keep constantly in our mind that we have to do good and turn away from evil.

From all times, men, associations, confraternities and nations have been imploring Saint Michael’s protection and they have not been deceived. Today, with the same hope, we ask for his protection. Doing this does not dispense us of working on our own sanctification, but it brings us a precious comfort. I am sure that he will walk with us this afternoon during our pilgrimage, as he will walk with us each day of our life until the end of the great pilgrimage of our earthly life. Under the protection of his powerful sword, we can remain safe.
Let us give thank to Saint Michael for all the good work he does for us and let us turn to the Queen of the angels. Let us tell her that we proclaim our fidelity and that we are ready to fight the good battle of faith. It is our victory!

We hold the life !

The great miracle of life

How a human person comes to the existence

La Vie 6/9 - Amour et conception

About Professeur Jérôme Lejeune

Jérôme Lejeune was born in 1926 in Montrouge, a Parisian suburb. He studied medicine and became a research scientist with the CNRS (French National Scientific Research Organisation) in 1952. He became the French international expert on nuclear radiation.

In July 1958, whilst examining the chromosomes of a child suffering from "Down's syndrome", he discovered the existence of a chromosome too many on the 21st pair. For the first time in the world, a link was established between mental debility and a chromosomic aberration.

In 1964, he became the first professor of Fundamental Genetics at the Paris Medical Faculty.Whilst keeping himself readily available for the families of handicapped children who he treated, he took an active part in thousands of conferences world-wide.

In 1974, he became a member of the Pontifical Science Academy.

In 1981, he was elected as a member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences.

In 1983, he joined the National Medical Academy. He was made an honorary doctor, was granted membership or received awards from many other foreign academies, universities and learned societies.

In 1994, he was appointed President for life of the Pontifical Academy.

He died on 3rd April 1994, with the sad feeling of failing in his mission : "I was the doctor who was supposed to cure them and as I leave, I feel I am abandoning them."

Professor Lejeune received numerous awards for his work on chromosomic pathologies, among which :in 1962, the prestigious Kennedy prizein 1969, the William Allen Memorial Awardin 1993, the Griffuel prize, for his pioneering work on chromosomic anomalies in cancer

A scientist and a man of great faith

Rome, Feb. 20 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com)

- Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini has called for the opening of a cause for the beatification of the late French geneticist Jerome Lejeune. Cardinal Angelini made his proposal during the first day of a four-day meeting of the Pontifical Academy for Life. Lejeune was appointed by Pope John Paul as the first president of that body when it was created in 1994. The French physician died just 33 days after the appointment.

"He was a man of science who lived his Christian faith in his profession work, heroically, showing his faith with a simplicity and joy, serving life with a full devotion and complete disinterest," said Cardinal Angelini, the former president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care.

Born in 1926 in Montrouge, Jerome Lejeune gained international fame in 1958 when he discovered the Trisomy 21 genetic defect responsible for Down Syndrome. As he gained renown as a scholar, teacher, and researcher, he continued his work with children suffering from severe disabilities. In his later years he became an outspoken defender of human life, speaking out frequently against abortion in Europe and abroad despite the hostility of many of his medical colleagues.

Dr. Lejeune gave important professional testimony during abortion-related court cases in the US and during the Borowski case in Canada. Many pro-life activists who met the world-renowned geneticist were moved by the exceptional depth and warmth of the humble medical scientist. Jim Hughes, vice-president of International Right to Life and president of Campaign Life Coalition, Canada hosted Dr. Lejeune in Toronto in the 1980's. Hughes says that the doctor was an obviously holy man and recalled that "Before he would go out on speaking engagements he would contact various convents of nuns and ask for prayers for the success of the event".

Lejeune would usually attract an audience of a few thousand people to his pro-life talks, said Hughes, and his stories to large and small groups were usually "beautiful and inspiring".

During a 1997 visit to Paris for World Youth Day, Pope John Paul II made a point of visiting Lejeune's grave, paying homage to the illustrious French scientist.

Ordinations in Bordeaux

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos was in Bordeaux ( France ) last Saturday for

the first Ordinations

of the

Institut of the Good Shepherd.

Five priests were ordained. Let us give thanks to God for such a grace.

The pictures are available on the website of the Institut of the Good Shepherd :

http://www.institutdubonpasteur.org/albums/index.php?id_rub=8

Sermon for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost

Today’s introit, taken from Psalm 118 proclaims God’s justice: Thou art just, O Lord, and Thy judgment is right. The Divine justice is infallible and exerts itself in an immediate manner on each single person. No one can get away from it because God examines our hearts and nothing can be hidden from Him. The least of our sins will be punished and the least of our good actions will be rewarded and this includes our most secret thoughts since they are human acts which emanate from our will. It is certainly not useless to recall how important it is to examine our conscience on this subject. I can do a lot of good simply by my thoughts, for example when I think about someone in a positive way and bless him or her, asking God for His graces. I can also harm my soul and the mystical Body of Jesus by my bad thoughts even though nobody is aware of them. Do I hate my neighbor? Even though I keep this thought secret and appear in front of him with a great smile, I have sinned against charity. Do I look upon his wife? Even though I remain pure in my actions, I have already committed the sin of adultery, and the impurity of my eyes and my heart have blemished my soul.

Our enemy knows how much weakness we have in this area. He tries to introduce impurity to our hearts and our minds in order to keep us slaves of our passions. Saint John Marie Vianney said that it is the sin of impurity that leads most souls to hell. Today Satan has very few things to do in order to tempt us. The world is already doing the job for him: television and internet are almost open doors toward hell. It takes only one second to turn them on. It can take only one second to taint your heart. The consequences can last forever.

The Church, as a good mother, wants us to avoid such a terrible destiny and her desires are not vain. She has received from her Divine founder the necessary and sufficient means of sanctification that we need. Among them, the sacraments of Penance and of the Eucharist have a preeminent place. These two sacraments, as well as the five others, are effective by themselves and produce the grace. But this does not exempt us from a necessary preparation to their receptions. I will not bear many fruits of my Communions if I do not prepare my soul for such a great grace. I will not bear many fruits of my confessions if I do not prepare them by a good examination of conscience and if I do not leave the confessional with a real and firm purpose to amend my life.
In other words, my spiritual life should not be confined to the sacraments, but the sacraments should be the center and the source of my spiritual life. My morning prayer should be a preparation to my daily communion, and, if I cannot receive our Lord in a sacramental manner, it should include an explicit desire to receive Him. My daily meditation should be an intimate meeting with my God which will be totally completed by the reception of the Eucharist. My daily rosary should be a continuation of the life of Jesus through Mary in my own life and as such, should not be disconnected from the communion of the Bread of Life. My evening prayer should be a continuation of my prayers of thanksgiving that I have already offered to my Savior right after Mass.

There is a unity in the spiritual life. My prayers, my devotions, my spiritual exercises, my participation in the Liturgy, my works of charity and of mercy, my mortifications and penances have or should have Jesus as principle and end. As such, they all are connected to Holy Communion which gives me our Lord Himself.

Dear Brethren, this is important to realize. If you limit your spiritual life to just a few minutes of prayer a day, if your Communions are commanded more by a certain routine than by a true desire, if your confessions are just a time when you can tell your sins in order to get rid of them, I am afraid that your spiritual life is still superficial. Then it would be pretentious to think that you can resist temptations, especially those of impurity. Satan and the world are redoubtable adversaries, tough and well determined.
Our Mother the Church knows this when she prays in today’s collect: Grant, O Lord, unto Thy people, grace to avoid all contact with the devil, and with pure minds to follow Thee, the only God.


We have to follow our Lord with a pure mind and a pure heart. That means that we have to fight a battle in a world of impurity, not only moral, but also intellectual. There is absolutely no way to win this battle without a strong preparation and training. This is the way led by Jesus. He is the Just, by excellence, and we have to follow and imitate Him. It is certainly a difficult way, but, as Psalm 118 says again: Blessed are the undefiled in the way: who walk in the law of the Lord.
May Our Blessed Mother keep us in the law of the Lord, Her Son.

Walking in the law of the Lord!

( Pilgrimage of Chartres)

We hold the life !

Parts 4 and 5

(still in French)

La Vie 4:9 - Paroles de médecins

La Vie 5:9 - Je n'avorte pas ?

Sermon for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost

How admirable is the grandeur of soul of the Apostle Saint Paul! Facing great trials, he turns to God and offers them to Him, telling his brothers from Ephesus that they are their glory. Then, he takes advantage of this situation to comfort them in their Christian life: May Christ dwell in your hearts by faith.
The heart is the seat of our noblest feeling, which is love, and Our Lord wants to dwell in it. But we have to let Him come, first, by faith. Faith is an act of our intelligence but it calls to the deepest of our heart the act of another faculty: our will. We cannot really comprehend God without loving Him and cannot love Him in Truth without knowing Him. When I speak about knowing God, I mean the Supernatural knowledge of God named faith. And we can receive faith, which is a gift from God, only by bowing our reason in front of the mystery of the Divine Trinity.
It is certainly true that we can have faith without charity. This is the case when someone who, while being instructed in the mysteries of faith has fallen into a mortal sin. One single mortal is sufficient for expelling the love of God out of a soul. There might remain a certain natural love of God, but the supernatural virtue of charity is definitively absent from a soul who has committed one mortal sin and it can only be recovered by contrition which requires confession. Faith makes this person understand that he needs to confess as soon as possible. Omitting this would result in a terrible consequence if it should happen that death would come to take him in such a state. Faith tells him that dying without repentance would put him directly in Hell and that Hell is not a dark concept from the Middle-Age but a reality still taught today by the Church. Faith also teaches that, in order to have a true contrition, it is necessary to have a certain love of God even though this love would be still imperfect. At least, it would not be useless. But for sure, having faith without an ounce of charity would be useless.

This is the reason why Saint Paul desires that Our Lord dwell in our hearts by faith. Then he adds: being rooted and founded in charity, You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge: that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.
(Eph. 3:17-19)

In other words, if we want to grasp the measure of Divine Love, we must love too. I think that love can be understood only by love itself. Without it, our faith would be dry, mean, narrow and inhumane. It would be a Pharisaic faith nourished by an impudent pride instead of a loving faith established upon humility. Our Lord Jesus Christ has often denounced such faith. One day Jesus comes to the house of one of them and it is on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees watch Him. What a golden opportunity for them! Will he perform one of his miracles today? And they probably hope that He will, so that they can take Him and judge Him. But Jesus knows their thoughts. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?

Dear Brethren, let us not allow our faith to shrivel up because of a lack of charity but let us rather be purified by the fire of a loving heart. The Pharisees did not understand the law and neither do we if we do not love. The letters kills but the Spirit gives life! It is not the materiality of the accomplishment of the acts required by the law that saves, but the love that we put in our acts.
Jesus wants to dwell in our hearts. But first, He has to purify them. It is sorrowful, and we had a perfect example of this yesterday with the feast of the seven sorrows of Our Lady. Her heart was mystically pierced as the Heart of her Son was physically pierced. Jesus wants to dwell in our hearts but He has to pierce them in order to be in our hearts. So, let us ask our Blessed Mother to accept this work of purification. Then, our hearts will dilate and we will truly understand the full measure of the Divine Love and be filled unto all the fullness of God.

Amen!

We hold the life !

Here are the 3 first parts of an on-line documentary (in French) about abortion and its consequences.

The aim of this documentary is to create awareness of the “unmentionable” sufferings caused by abortions so as to see what is at stake in an abortion under a new light. In this film, we follow the development of the baby in the mother’s womb. Through a number of personal testimonies, we discover the pain and trauma related to abortion, which affect women but also men, the medical staff and siblings. The pain and trauma are more often ignored or at worst denied. And yet, they affect to various degrees one out of two women who have had an abortion. Later we look at the assistance available to women or couples facing difficulties and wishing not to go through abortion. We also look at certain religious aspects of the matter.

Colour, 56 minutes

Did you enjoy this DVD ?

The production, duplication and distribution of this film has been financed by your donations. Your generosity will enable more people to have access, like you, to clear and honest information on this crime which is a human tragedy and a social scourge.

La Vie est en nous

641 La Grangette 84170 MONTEUX

Virements,

SWIFT TRANSFERT :IBAN 1017 8000 3900 0001 2873 X81BIC CHAIFR2A

Visit the website:

http://perso.orange.fr/lesgrandesfamilles/lavieestennous.html

La Vie 1/9 - Aie ! Je suis enceinte

La Vie 2/9 - J'avorte ??

La Vie 3/9 - Et apre?s l'avortement

In memoriam

Sermon for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost

As usual, the Church uses the words of the apostle, Saint Paul in order to encourage us on our spiritual way towards God. Last week, we were told that it is necessary to reject the works of the flesh, because they are contrary to the Spirit. Now we have to walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is not simply an idea, but a reality. It means that we live according to God’s will, following the inclinations of the Holy Ghost. In fact, it even means more than this: it means that Christ lives in you, and if Christ lives in you, it is visible, because it changes your life. It makes you a saint.
Well, dear brethren, let us look at the saints. What does characterize them? It is certainly the heroic character of their virtues, and this is the mark of God in a soul. We are amazed when we see how they have practiced the virtue of temperance or humility or chastity or patience or any other virtue, all based upon the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity.

Charity! Let us take a look at this one. It is the most important one because it is the one which gives a real sense to all the others. You can practice all the other virtues to a high degree, but if charity is lacking, they are absolutely useless for eternal life.
So practicing virtues is undoubtedly necessary but still insufficient without charity. Charity is precisely the mark of the saints. It is so characteristic of them that the non-Christian could even recognize the disciples of Jesus by their love: "Look at how much they love each other." After 20 centuries of Christianity, there is no reason that we cannot be recognized in the world by our love for each other.
We are the saints of the XXI century, because we have been chosen by God. We are truly saints by our baptism and we now have to preserve the grace of our baptism, as we have to preserve the wonderful heritage of our elders. Our attachment to the traditional liturgy of the Church is not based on a pure motive of aestheticism or sentimentality. It is our heritage received after generations and generations of Christians. We have to keep it, not only for ourselves, but for the coming generations. Saint Paul says to the Corinthians: "Tradidi quod et accepi I delivered unto you that which I myself have received. "(1 Cor.11:23; 1Cor.15:3)

This is the principle of the Tradition. And the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the most precious gift that we have received. We cannot squander such a treasure. And, we, priests of the Fraternity of Saint Peter, have no other desire than to help you to keep our heritage. We have been founded for this reason; we have been approved and blessed by the Saint Peter speaking through Pope John Paul II and now Pope Benedict XVI who has finally recognized the legitimacy of the Antique Liturgy of the Latin Church. By this coming Friday, any priest of the Latin Rite will be able to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the traditional Missal of 1962.
For us, faithful Catholics of Arkansas, it is a reason to rejoice. We will celebrate this event Friday in a spirit of gratitude and joy. But let us not forget what we are first. We are a Catholic community living in a world which has rejected God. The world has already been judged by Christ. Now, our duty is to love God and to love each other so that we can fulfill the law of Christ as Saint Paul says. I have been here for three weeks now and I have already seen many good things. Many of you have a real desire for holiness and good inspirations. I give thanks to God for that. Now let us complete these desires and inspirations with a real and deep charity. And let us not content ourselves with what we have. We have to be missionaries. We have to spread the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and this task is huge. There are many things that we must do for the Kingdom of God. There is one thing which is certain: we will not do any good if we do not have charity. So, the best way to spread the gospel is certainly first to love each other for the love of God. Maybe one day people will say about us: look how much they love each other!

There is nothing more I can wish for us. Let us entrust this intention to our Blessed Mother. From her, we can learn how to love!

Formez le carré !

Amateurs de scrabble, à vos lettres !

Connaissez-vous le carré Sator, attribué à Saint Irénée ? Il existe des interprétations plus ou moins ésotériques et plus ou moins farfelues de ce fameux carré. Chacun y verra ce qu'il voudra bien voir. Il est vrai que rien n'est jamais le fruit du hasard et que l'on peut attribuer un sens spirituel et mystagogique aux nombres et aux lettres. Saint Augustin, parmi tant d'autres auteurs chrétiens, n'a pas craint de s'adonner à de telles explications. Le Livre de la Sagesse nous dit en effet que Dieu a tout disposé avec poids, nombre et mesure. (Sag 11,2)

Quoi qu'il en soit, et même si on ne veut en voir un sens caché et mystérieux, les amateurs de jeux de l'esprit pourront toujours s'offrir quelques rejouissances intellectuelles.

Voici une explication du carré magique qui reste assez sobre et cohérente !

Depuis l'antiquité, un cryptogramme célèbre - signe de ralliement secret pour les chrétiens persécutés - intrigue les savants. C'est le fameux carré « magique » dit de saint Irénée. Il a ceci d'unique qu'on peut le lire indifféremment de haut en bas, de gauche à droite, de bas en haut et de droite à gauche.

Quel est le sens de ces cinq mots mystérieux ?

En 1926 le pasteur Félix Grosser regroupait toutes ces lettres en forme de croix et obtenait ainsi deux fois PATERNOSTER et deux fois A-O (Alpha et Omega, symbole du Christ).

D'autre part les deux mots du centre (TENET) en forme de croix, se terminent à chaque bout par le T qui est également un symbole de la croix, et à chaque fois le T est entouré de A et O : le Christ en croix est notre Dieu.

Les latinistes ont traduit les cinq mots par : « Le semeur - à sa charrue - retient - avec soin - ses roues ». Mais on sait que dans l'évangile (Mt 13,37) le semeur est Jésus lui-même, et que la charrue, chez saint Justin et saint Irénée, symbolise la croix. Le sens final serait donc :

Le Christ

du haut de la Croix

Retient

Par son sacrifice

(son oeuvre par excellence)

Les roues du destin

Il est à noter qu'en outre, ce carré magique forme un palindrome, c'est a dire qu'on peut le lire dans un sens ou dans l'autre. Etonnant, non ?

Sermon for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost

Today’s liturgy is an encouragement to practice confidence toward God. It begins with an invocation taken from Psalm 83, Protector noster, O God, our Protector! I think we already have enough content with these two words for our meditation. God is our protector! This thought should put us into a state of peace and consolation. The Scriptures often praise the magnanimity of our God, who as a good Father, makes Himself our Refuge and our Protector. And it is good to hear or to read this, especially for us Christians of the XXI century, who live in an apostate world which has denied its Creator.
Listen to these verses from Psalm 62: "For he is my God and my Savior: He is my helper, I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: He is the God of my help, and my hope is in God. Trust in him, all ye congregation of people: pour out your hearts before him. God is our helper for ever. "
The Psalmist, inspired by the Holy Ghost, gives us here a deep and penetrating comfort. And we need it! We need it, because, as you already know, being a Christian is not something easy. The call of the Gospel is demanding and the obstacles are many. Even without the attacks from the world, we have to deal with our own inclinations which lead us into the works of the flesh. Saint Paul warns us: "For the flesh lusts against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh: For these are contrary one to another." (Gal. 5:17)
The flesh and the spirit are contrary one to another. In other words, it means that we have to choose one or the other, but we cannot choose both. The Divine Master Himself teaches us: "No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other." (Mt. 6:24)

So, we have to choose: the flesh or the spirit. It is one or the other, but it cannot be both. The flesh is what leads us towards death. It is not only the carnal and bodily sins but also the sins of the mind. Saint Paul numbers some of them, such as fornication, uncleanness or immodesty, but also enmities, dissensions or envies. These last ones can lead to other sins more grave, such as wrath and then murder. Most of the time, we certainly do not extend our anger to the extreme of physical murder, at least I hope not. But Jesus has promised the same punishment for those who are guilty of anger toward their neighbor. "Whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment." (Mt. 5:21-22)

And what about envy? Envy is also a work of the flesh that leads to death. It is certainly more frequent than physical murder and its consequences are wrenching. An envious person is a blind person who is ready to do almost anything in order to eliminate the one that he envies. Sometimes this elimination can be physical, as it was when Cain killed his own brother. The apostle Peter, who had certainly met some envious brothers, says that we have to lay away "all malice and all guile and dissimulations and envies and all detractions." (1Peter 2:1)

We have to recognize, my dear brethren, that it is obviously not easy. Who, among us, has never been tempted to envy his brother or never felt anger toward another person? Being tempted or feeling anger are certainly not yet sins, but let us not have confidence in ourselves. For from a temptation or a feeling to a sin, there is one step, and this step can be done quickly and easily. In fact, following our passions is easier than following Jesus.
For this reason, we need to be comforted in our life and in Jesus with an extraordinary insightful sense that teaches us and comforts us as we read in the gospel today. Be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, or for your body, what you shall put on. And then He explains how our Father takes care of us with a paternal affection. He even feeds the birds. Are not we of much more value than they? God is a good Father and I am afraid that we too often forget this fact. Yet, this thought is such a precious comfort for us. When we are tempted by discouragement or by doubt, when our cross seems to be too heavy, when we are assailed by the fire of our inordinate passions, let us turn to our Father and remember that it is good to confide in Him, as the Psalm of the Gradual says.
"Bonum est confidere in Domino - It is good to confide in the Lord, It is good to trust in the Lord. "(Ps.117:8-9) Yes, it truly is, because if you trust in Him and confide in Him, you have nothing to fear. Confidence brings peace. It does not mean that we no longer have a cross to carry, but that we carry it with peace and even joy. It does not mean that we are no longer threatened by the works of the flesh, but that, with the help of grace, we can overcome them because we live in the Spirit. It does not mean that we have nothing to do since our Father feeds even the birds, but that, providing that we are seeking first the Kingdom of God and its justice, He will give us what we need. It is not in vain that we ask Him to give us our daily bread.

God is Our Father and it is good and comforting to confide in Him. May Our Lady help us to remember this, she, who, being the most faithful child of the Father has deserved to become the Mother of the Son. Let us learn from her how to be good children.