Blessed Titus Brandsma
a Dutch carmelite, martyr (1881-1942)
Invitation to heroism in faith and love
"But I say to you... pray for those who persecute you"
You have often heard it said that we are living through a marvellous time, a time of great men... It is easy to understand why people long for a strong and capable leader to arise... This kind of neo-paganism [Nazism] believes all nature to be an emanation of the divine...; it admires a race that is nobler and purer than any other... From this comes the cult of race and blood, the cult of its own people's heroes.
By starting out from so mistaken an idea, this view of things can lead to capital errors. It is tragic to see how much enthusiasm, how many efforts are placed at the service of such an erroneous and baseless ideal! However, we can learn from our enemy. We can learn from his deceitful philosophy how to purify and improve our own ideal; we can learn how to develop great love for this ideal, how to arouse immense enthusiasm and even a readiness to live and die for it, how to strengthen our hearts to incarnate it in ourselves and in others...
When we talk about the coming of the Kingdom and pray for its coming we are not thinking of a discrimination according to race or blood but of the brotherhood of all, for all men are our brothers – not excluding even those who hate and attack us – in a close bond with the one who causes the sun to rise on the good and the bad alike (Mt 5:45).
Daily Marriage Tip for March 16, 2019:
There aren’t too many ways to say I love you! Leave a note for your spouse in his or her lunch box or briefcase/purse as a reminder of how much you love him or her.