Daily Thought For January 15, 2017

-
Confidence In The Midst Of Conflict
   The Christian life is a spiritual battle. The charismatic experience of the Spirit does not place believers above or beyond the reach of this conflict but actually makes it more intense, because it makes us aware of living between two worlds, equally real but always in contention one against the other. The Spirit asks us to live “according to the Spirit” while we are still living “in the flesh.”
     The confidence that we enjoy in the midst of this conflict is such, thanks to the Holy Spirit, that it is not lessened even in the face of defeat. We read in the stories of the Desert Fathers of a certain monk who often, in the dark of night, gave way to sins of the flesh, but for all that he did not give up praying, and prayed with great intensity after every fall. Once, no sooner had he sinned than he got up and started praying the daily office, whereupon the devil, “astonished at his persistent trust,” appeared to him and asked whether he was not ashamed to appear before God in his present condition. The monk answered him, “I swear that I will not tire of asking God to help me against you until you stop your attacks on me, and we will see who wins: you, or God.” The story continues, “And the devil stopped tempting him from that very moment, because he saw that the temptations served only to increase the monk’s crown.”
from Come, Creator Spirit - Meditations on the Veni Creator by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa p.301

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