Daily Thought

Faithful To Prayer Jesus gave me to understand how a soul should be faithful to prayer despite torments, dryness, and temptations, because oftentimes the realization of God's great plans depends mainly on such prayer. If we do not persevere in such prayer, we frustrate what the Lord wanted to do through us or within us. (Diary, 872)  Reflection  It's nice to think we have it made once we reach some kind of spiritual plateau that pleases us. But it just isn't so. The old "torments, dryness, and temptations" can return. And new ones can be worse. Then − like putting one foot in front of the other to move ahead  −  we need to say one prayer after another. To, like Jesus, in our anguish, "pray longer."  Prayer  Help me persevere in prayer, Dear Lord. Especially when You seem distant.  Jesus, I trust in You.  From Day By Day With Saint Faustina 365 Reflections p.23

Showing Mercy To Our Neighbor Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue. St. Faustina Kowalska ** The next Daily Thought will be Saturday, August 31 **

God Saves Us By Coming Into Our Broken World ⎻ We Must Do The Same God saves us, then by making himself little, near and real. First God makes himself little. The Lord, who is “meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29), especially loves the little ones, to whom the kingdom of God is revealed (Mt 11:25); they are great in his eyes and he looks to them (cf. Is 66:2). He especially loves them because they are opposed to the “pride of life” that belongs to the world (cf. 1 Jn 2:16). The little ones speak his own language, that of the humble love that brings freedom. So he calls the simple and receptive to be his spokespersons; he entrusts to them the revelation of his name and the secrets of his heart. Our minds turn to so many sons and daughters of your own people, like the martyrs made the defenseless power of the Gospel shine forth, like those ordinary yet remarkable people who bore witness to the Lord’s love amid great trials, and those meek and powerful heralds of mercy who were Sa...

Living Books Thanks To The Holy Spirit! The Apostles did not come down from the mountain like Moses with stone tablets in their hands. They emerged from the Cenacle carrying the Holy Spirit in their hearts and offering everywhere treasures of wisdom and of grace as spiritual gifts flowing from a gushing spring. They went preaching to the whole world, they themselves being the living law, as if they were books animated by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  St. John Chrysostom In Mt. Hom., 1, 1:PG 57-58, 15.

What Freedom In Christ Looks Like The hardest war is the war against oneself. One must disarm. I waged this war for years, it was terrible. But now I am disarmed. I’m no longer afraid of anything, because love banishes fear. I am disarmed of the need to be right, to justify myself by judging others. I am no longer on guard, jealously clutching my wealth. I accept and share. I do not particularly care about my ideas, my projects. If somebody suggests better ones — no, I should say good ones not better ones — I accept without regrets. I have stopped making comparisons. What is good, true, real, is always best for me. That’s why I’m not afraid anymore. When we have nothing left, we have no fear. If one disarms oneself, if one dispossesses oneself, if one opens oneself to the Love that makes all things new, then that Love erases the bad past and makes for us a new time where everything is possible. Patriarch Athenagoras of Athens (b.133-d190)

In Difficult Times Don't Forget The Resurrection Remember that the passion of Christ ends always in the joy of the Resurrection, so when you feel in your own heart the suffering of Christ, remember the Resurrection has to come, the joy of Easter has to dawn. Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of the Risen Christ! St. Teresa of Calcutta

Let Charity Be Your Guide Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them bravely, remembering whom you are trying to follow. Do no be afraid. Love one another, bear with on another, and let charity guide you all your life. God will reward you as only he can.”  St. Mary MacKillop

Seasons of Life All of the seasons of life come together in the soul. Sometimes we feel winter's sterility, distraction, distaste, and boredom, sometimes spring's dew, with the fragrance of holy blossoms, and sometimes a burning desire to please our good God. What remains is autumn, and even then we may see no great harvest.  Yet it often happens that in threshing the wheat and pressing the grape we find a greater yield than we had expected. We want it always to be spring and summer, but there must be vicissitudes of the interior life as well as the exterior.  Only in heaven will everything be springtime in its beauty, autumn in its fruitfulness, and summer in its ardor. There will be no winter there; but here winter is necessary for the work of abnegation and for the thousand minor but beautiful virtues that we exercise in a fallow time.  Let us, then, continue to put one foot in front of the other. Provided our hearts be true, we will walk aright.  fro...

The Assumption ⎼ The Fulfillment Of Human Desire In this regard I would like to reflect on an aspect of the affirmation of the dogma where assumption into heavenly glory is mentioned. All of us today are well aware that by the term "Heaven" we are not referring to somewhere in the universe, to a star or such like; no. We mean something far greater and far more difficult to define with our limited human conceptions. With this term "Heaven" we wish to say that God, the God who made himself close to us, does not abandon us in or after death but keeps a place for us and gives us eternity. We mean that in God there is room for us. To understand this reality a little better let us look at our own lives. We all experience that when people die they continue to exist, in a certain way, in the memory and heart of those who knew and loved them. We might say that a part of the person lives on in them but it resembles a "shadow" because this survival in the heart of...

Meditation Leads To Prayer Is meditating already a form of praying, too? “Meditation is above all a quest” (CCC 2705). Meditation means, first of all, reflection about the articles of faith. Therefore to meditate is not yet to pray, but it should lead to prayer. For in pondering what God has to say to us through his Word, through the things in nature and the events in history, prayer can be “enkindled”, and meditation can become prayer. Father Leppich, the great Jesuit preacher and founder of “Action 365”, encouraged Christians to make even the daily newspaper an occasion for meditation. This of course demands serious thought about the events in the world, reflection that does not merely take the news as grist for an insatiable curiosity, but rather seeks God’s purpose and method in all things. What does God want to say to us through this earthquake, through that war, perhaps through a small, seemingly “insignificant” item among the announcements of the day? The Bible is the gre...

Trust In God Alone Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." But don't I need to rely on my own strength too?  Padre Pio's assurance: "A soul who felt its weakness and had recourse to God for help has never fallen. On the contrary, the soul is only defeated and overcome when, trusting in what it believes to be its abundant strength, thinks it can always sustain and bear temptations. Thus, it happens that the poor thing, out of presumption, believing it was touching the heavens, suddenly finds itself falling right to the doors of hell.  "Trust, therefore, and take heart. Don't let Satan's prolonged war frighten you; don't lose heart at the weakness you feel, because the soul that fears does not trust [itself], but stays awake and prays because of its weakness, and thus it becomes strong. But on the contrary, as unfailingly happens to those who trust in themselves, as if they were a god, they don't have t...

Showing Forth God's Concern Through Our Concern For Others Show yourself grateful, sincere, and interested in others and in the things that concern them, first of all in their families. Reveal to all whom I send you My Heart and My Face.  from In Sinu Jesu When Heart Speaks to Heart (The Jounral Of A Priest At Prayer - A Benedictine Monk p. 107e

Finding Balance & Listening to The Lord Dear Brothers and Sisters, We are now in the heart of summer, at least in the northern hemisphere. This is the period in which schools are closed and the greater part of the holidays are concentrated. Even the pastoral activities in parishes are reduced and I myself have suspended the Audiences for a while. It is therefore a favourable time to give priority to what is effectively most important in life, that is to say, listening to the word of the Lord. We are also reminded of this by this Sunday's Gospel passage with the well known episode of Jesus' visit to the house of Martha and Mary, recounted by St Luke (10: 38-42). Martha and Mary are two sisters; they also have a brother, Lazarus, but he does not appear on this occasion. Jesus is passing through their village and, the text says, Martha received him at her home (cf. 10: 38). This detail enables us to understand that Martha is the elder of the two, the one in charge of t...

From The Surrender Novena Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace;  close your eyes and do not think of the present,  turning your thoughts away from the future  just as you would from temptation.  Repose in me, believing in my goodness,  and I promise you by my love that if you say  "You take care of it,” I will take care of it all;  I will console you,  liberate you and guide you. from Day 8 of the Surrender Novena (Father Don Dolindo Ruotolo ✝ 1882-1970)

Faith Helps Us Through Difficult Times When faith diminishes, difficulties seem greater: Living faith depends on my ability to respond to God, who calls  me and wants to treat me as a friend, as One who is the great witness of my life. So if I respond to him and love him, and if he is someone familiar in my life, if I live close to him, I am safeguarding my faith, because my faith is founded on God. . . On the other hand, if I keep my distance from God, if I forget him, if I keep him outside my life and am submerged in merely human and material things, if I let myself be carried away by what is immediately in front of me and God fades from my soul, then how will I have a living faith? If I don't speak with Christ, what is there left of my faith? That is why, in the final analysis, all obstacles to a life of faith may be reduced ⎼ in their root  ⎼  to a withdrawal, a separation from God: we cease to deal with him face to face. Then it is that temptations and obstacles ...

Prayer Is An Act Of Love Prayer is an act of love; words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love. St. Teresa of Avila

Allowing The Holy Spirit To Guide Us Trust in the guidance of the One whom I have sent to befriend you, the Holy Spirit, your Advocate. Learn to listen to His gentle leading. The more you follow Him, the more will you understand where and how He is leading you. This is the secret of holiness: to be led by the Holy Spirit in all things. Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit actively. Call upon Him, for He is, at every moment, available to you. He dwells with Me and with My Father in the sanctuary of your soul. He is your Advocate against the world, the flesh, and the Evil One, the accuser. He is your Advocate with My Father.  It is the Holy Spirit who unites your soul to Mine, your heart to My Heart in such wise that when you pray, it is My own prayer that ascends to the Father as a fragrant incense. The Holy Spirit comes to the aid of your infirmity, for, it is true, you do not know how to pray as you ought. The unseen work of the Holy Spirit is to bring souls into accor...

St. Francis of Assisi & Taming Wolves However beautiful and various the created world may be, it is also, as Tennyson wrote famously, “red in tooth and claw.” Which brings us to the matter of wolves. According to several sources, Francis helped the peasants of Greccio protect themselves from the ravening wolves who attacked both man and beast in winter by taming the wolves. The most famous story of wolves in relation to Saint Francis is the charming tale recounted in the Little Flowers of Saint Francis about the wolf of Gubbio. Gubbio is a small Umbrian town northeast of Assisi where Francis stayed early in his wanderings. According to the story, a ferocious wolf attacked both people and beasts in the Umbrian town of Gubbio. Francis went outside the town, spoke to the wolf who agreed to stop his attacks (Francis shook his paw as a sign of assent) for which, in turn, the people of the town would provide food for the wolf. Brother Wolf observed his part of the bargain for two ...

Even-Keeled We do not very often come across opportunities for exercising strength, magnanimity, or magnificence; but gentleness, temperance, modesty, and humility, are graces which ought to color everything we do. There may be virtues of a more exalted mold, but... these are the most continually called for in daily life. St. Francis de Sales

Confidence In Prayer Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends. Speak to Him often of your business, your plans, your troubles, your fears - of everything that concerns you. Converse with Him confidently and frankly; for God is not wont to speak to a soul that does not speak to Him. St. Alphonsus Liguori