Stop storing up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, 
where moth and vermin ruin
and where thieves dig through (your walls) and steal. 

But store up treasures in heaven for yourselves
where neither moth nor vermin ruin
and where thieves do not dig through and steal. 

For where your treasure is, there also will be your heart. 

The light of the body is the eye. 
So if your eye is healthy,
the whole of your body will be full of light. 
But if your eye is bad, 
the whole of your body will be in darkness.

So if the light which is in you is darkness –
how great the darkness!

No one can slave for two masters.
For they will hate one and love the other.
Or they will be loyal to one, and despise the other. 

You cannot serve God and wealth.

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

Whenever you fast, 
do not be sad  like the hypocrites,
for they make their faces unsightly 
to be seen by people, 
while they are fasting.

Truly I say to you they receive their reward in full. 

But you, while fasting, put oil on your head, 
and wash your face,
so you are not seen fasting by people
but by  your father who is in secret,
and your father who sees in secret
will reward you.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

Stop judging
  so  that you will not  be judged.
For by the judgement you judge
  you will be judged
and by the measure you measure
  it will be measured to you.

So why
do you see
        a splinter in your brother /sister’s eye
but
         a log which is in your eye
you do not consider?

or how
do you say to your brother/sister
‘Let me take away the splinter from your eye,’
and, behold! the log in your eye?

Hypocrite! 
First take away 
from your eye, the log,
and then you will see clearly
to take away the splinter
from the eye of your brother /sister.

Do not ever give
a holy thing to the dogs,
nor throw your pearls in front of pigs,
so that they will not trample them under their feet
and having turned round, attack you!

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

So, praying, do not babble as the pagans do,
for they suppose that by their many words they will be heard. 

So do not be like them.

For your Father knows what you need
before you ask him. 

So in this way  you pray:

Our Father in the heavens,
Let your name be treated as holy,
Let your kingdom come,
Let your will take place. 
as in heaven, so on earth.

The bread we are going to need 
give to us this very day.

And forgive us our debts,
as also we forgive our debtors.

and let us not enter into a time of testing
but rescue us from the evil one. 

For if you forgive people  their wrongdoings,
Your heavenly Father will also forgive your wrongdoings.

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

And whenever you pray, you will  not be like the hypocrites, 
because they love to pray
if they stand  
        in the synagogues
        and in the  street corners
to be seen by people.

Truly I say to you,
they receive in full their reward. 

But when you pray, 
go into your storeroom
and closing the door,
pray to your Father
who is in secret, 
and your Father who sees in secret will  repay you.

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

Make it your habit to avoid practising your righteous deeds in front of  people,
      to be seen by them. 
otherwise  it is certain
you will not have a reward in the sight of  our Father in the heavens.

Whenever  you are giving alms, do not sound a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the  synagogues,
and in the streets,
to be praised by people. 

Truly I say to you, they receive in full their reward. 

When you give alms, don’t let  your left hand know 
what your right hand is doing
so that your gift is  in secret,
then your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

You have heard it declared: ‘”Love your neighbour .” and hate your enemy.’

But I say to you all  ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’

So you will be the children of our Father in heaven,
because he causes his sun to  rise on the evil people
and the good people
and he sends rain upon the righteous
and the unrighteous.

For if you love those who love you,
what sort of  reward do you have?
Do not even the tax collectors do the same thing?

And if you only love your sisters and brothers, 
what more do you do?
Do not even the pagans do the same thing?

So you all be perfect as your Father who is  in heaven is perfect. 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

You have heard that it was declared:
‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’

But I say to you all,
do not oppose in court an evil person. 

And whoever slaps you on your right cheek,
turn to them the other as well. 

And to the one who wishes to sue you to take your shirt, 
let them take the coat too.

And whoever dragoons you to go one mile, 
continue with them two. 

To whoever asks, give,
and do not refuse the one  who wishes to borrow from you. 

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)

And it has been declared
‘Whoever divorces his wife, will give her a divorce certificate’.

But I say to you that every man who divorces his wife,
except for a matter of sexual immorality 
causes her to be adulterous
and whoever marries a divorcee commits adultery. 

Again  you all  have heard that it has been declared to our ancestors:
‘You will not swear falsely,, but keep your oaths to the Lord.’

But I say to you do not make oaths at all.
Neither by the heavens, because it is the throne of God
nor  the earth, because it is the footstool of his feet
nor  towards Jerusalem because it is the city of the great King;
neither swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.. 

Your word will be ‘yes, yes’ or ‘no no’. 
More than this is from the Evil One.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

You have heard it declared ‘You shall not  commit adultery.’

But I say to you that every man
who looks at a woman
to desire her
already has committed adultery with her in his heart. 

If your right eye causes you to stumble,
pull it out and throw it away from you. 
For it is better for you to lose one part of your body
than your whole body be thrown in to Gehenna,

And if your right hand causes you to stumble,
cut it off and throw it away from you. 
For it is better for you to lose one part of your body
than your whole body go to Gehenna. 

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.