Saint Jude

Daily prayer
to St. Jude

O kindSaint-Jude, our faithful intercessor to Jesus, receive the following special intentions : to present them to the Almighty Lord, Root of all good. Above all, grant us an increase of our faith in His love. May each day find us closer in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. KindSaint-Jude, you who has revived hope in our hearts, you whose model merits and life bring us the divine blessings and graces, be our advocate, and lead us to Jesus and Mary. With you, blessed apostle, we give thanks and praise God with all our heart for His innumerable kindnesses. Amen.

The Monthly Note

February 2005

To live under God’s gaze

by Fr. Émery Désilets, OP

God sees everything. Nothing escapes His gaze.
This is an invitation for us to live in truth and openness.
This is why Jesus invites His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,
that is to say hypocrisy (Mk 8, 15; Lk 12, 1; Mt 16, 6).

  • Hypocrisy resting on the fact of insisting on an exterior practice that is not based on the love of God and your neighbour.

  • Hypocrisy that corrupts the most commendable of religious practices, such as almsgiving, prayer and fasting.

  • Hypocrisy that consists in a behaviour of drawing attention to oneself, rather than to please God.

  • Hypocrisy that consists in honouring God with ones lips, without having Him in ones heart.
    On the contrary, Jesus invites us to separate ourselves from these pretences and live in all simplicity under God’s gaze. God sees everything. Nothing escapes His gaze. That is an invitation to live in truth and openness.

This is also an invitation for us to live in hope, because God’s gaze is one of a father who loves his children and watches over them.

It is the parable’s merciful father’s gaze on his two sons, the youngest and the oldest. A gaze that is filled with kindness, tenderness and love.

  • It is Jesus’ gaze on Zaccheus.

  • It is Jesus’ gaze on Peter after the denial.

  • It is Jesus’ gaze on the Samaritan woman.

  • It is Jesus’ gaze on the good thief.

  • It is Jesus’ gaze on all of us.

This is a reason to give thanks to the Lord for inviting us to live under His gaze, in truth and in openness, in simplicity of the heart and in hope.

Émery Désilets,o.p., Director