Thursday, April 11 : Saint John-Mary Vianney

My children, the Word of God is no small thing! Our Lord’s first words to his Apostles were these: “Go and teach” so that we might understand that teaching comes before everything else. What enabled us to know our religion? The teachings we heard. What gave us fear of sin, caused us to perceive the beauty of virtue, stirred up in us the desire for heaven? Teaching. My children, why are we so blind and ignorant? Because we don’t give any importance to the Word of God. With an educated person there is always a resource. That person may well stray into all sorts of bad ways, it may still be hoped they will return to the Good God sooner or later, even though not until the hour of death. Whereas someone uninstructed in their religion is like a sick person in their last agony; they know neither the enormity of sin, nor the beauty of their soul, nor the worth of virtue. They are led on from sin to sin. An educated person always has two guides going ahead of it: counsel and obedience.
maronite readings – rosary,team