March 28th
Ss Priscus, Malchus, and Alexander (d. 260), Martyrs; Palestine

"While the secure gate of heaven is open, shall we shut it against ourselves?  Shall we be so faint-hearted as not to suffer for the name of Christ, who died for us?  Our brethren invite us by their example: their blood is a loud voice, which presses us to tread in their steps.  Shall we be deaf to a cry calling us to the combat, and to a glorious victory?"


St Thomas More (1478-1535), Martyr; London, England; Feast day July 9th

"I need light and prudence to manage very difficult affairs, and every day I can consult Jesus in Holy Communion.  He is my great teacher."


St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Roccasecca, Italy; Feast day March 7th

"But we, who should walk in the footprints of God -- it is with difficulty that we agree from the heart to forgive a single small offense of one who implores our forgiveness!

"If it happens that we do forgive, we almost never forget; we rejoice in the embarrassment of our debtor; we have small pity for him in adversity; or else we love him less than we did before.  If we do not reproach him it is certain, however, that we exclude him from our intimacy, and that even in times of trial we refuse him our counsel and our support.

"We should, on the contrary, forget the offenses of our enemy, even though he neither repents nor amends, in imitation of Christ who prayed for those who crucified Him, and who, far from repenting, mocked Him.  Nothing makes us more like God, said Saint John Chrysostom, than to allow ourselves to be easily appeased and to be pitiful to the wayward and to those who harm us.  For the height of perfection is to love our enemies, and to pray for them as did the Lord Jesus."