Daily Thought For December 21, 2015

-
Power In Weakness

ONLY WHEN I DISCOVER that [God] loves me in spite of all my infidelities, when I really discover the mercy of God to me, only then shall I discover the true, compassionate face of Jesus: only then shall I discover that I was a captive, I was the oppressed. He comes to break the yoke. I am the one who had the yoke on my shoulders and yet, did not know it: I was blind. 

 Now you have liberated me ... ; you have made me free .... [Jesus] comes to make us free, to give us the freedom of the Spirit. He takes' away the yoke which crushes our shoulders. This, doesn't mean that he liberates us from worries or administration, these are our problems. But he renders these problems very light if we let the Spirit come into us. "Come to me, all you who labor, and rest." All you who labor in administration, put your worries in the hands of Jesus. 
If we are firmly convinced how weak and incapable we are, how our decisions are frequently tainted by egocentric motivations, how unfaithful we are to the Spirit, how sinful and unloving we really are, he will transform our hearts and give us a new strength. Conscious of our weakness, we must at the same time maintain a living and burning hope, and a confidence that he is with us; that he helps us, that he loves us and guides us. Then we can begin to live without too much worry. 

 Jean Vanier (from The Magnificat Year of Mercy Companion p.23)

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Thought For October 23, 2022

-
  Powerful Reflection from The Word Among Us Let’s not get off on the wrong foot with the Pharisee in this parable. He seemed to be doing pretty well spiritually. He was not greedy, dishonest, or adulterous. He fasted twice a week and went so far as to pay tithes on all his income. He prayed at the Temple regularly. That was better than most people. So why did Jesus say he didn’t go home justified? Because the Temple was a place of encounter with God. A holy location where God and his children came together. This Pharisee seemed to be missing that connection with the Lord. Instead of speaking his prayer to God, he prayed “to himself” (Luke 18:11) and itemized his accomplishments. By focusing on his righteous acts, he was not really making himself present to God. He wasn’t inviting God to be present to him either. So he missed the chance to encounter God and receive his mercy and grace. In that sense, the Pharisee left the Temple basically the same way he had entered. The tax collector,
Read more

Daily Thought For May 12, 2016

-
With God Setbacks Become Opportunities EVERY TIME something thwarts your plans or desires, use that as a reminder to communicate with Me. This practice has several benefits. The first is obvious: Talking with Me blesses you and strengthens our relationship. Another benefit is that disappointments, instead of dragging you down, are transformed into opportunities for good. This transformation removes the sting from difficult circumstances, making it possible to be joyful in the midst of adversity.  Begin by practicing this discipline in all the little disappointments of daily life. It is often these minor setbacks that draw you away from My Presence. When you reframe setbacks as opportunities, you find that you gain much more than you have lost. It is only after much training that you can accept major losses in this positive way. But it is possible to attain the perspective of the apostle Paul, who wrote:  Compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, I consider eve
Read more