Daily Thought For January 22, 2021
Four Things That Bring Great Peace
Christ
My child, now I will teach you the way of peace and true freedom.
Disciple
Do as you say, Lord. This pleases me very much.
Christ
Try, my child, to do the will of another rather than your own. Always choose to have less rather than more. Always seek to take the last place, and to be subject to everyone. Always desire and pray that the will of God may be perfectly fulfilled in you. You will see that if you are disposed to do this you will find peace and serenity.
Disciple
Lord, your words have such perfection in them: few words, but so full of meaning and promise. If I would faithfully observe them, I would not be troubled so easily. I realize that whenever I find myself disquieted and disturbed, it is because I have strayed from your teachings.
Lord, you who can do all things and always love the good of my soul, increase your grace in me, so that I can put your words into practice and fulfill the work of my salvation.
A PRAYER AGAINST EVIL THOUGHTS
O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me (Ps 71:12), for all kinds of evil thoughts have risen up in me, and great fears trouble my spirit. How shall I pass through them unharmed? How shall I overcome them?
Christ
“I will go before you and level the mountains” (Isa 45:2). I will open the doors of the prison and reveal to you the most hidden secrets.
Disciple
Lord, do as you say so that in your presence all evil thoughts will flee. My only hope and consolation is to run to you in every trial, to confide in your help, to call on you wholeheartedly, and patiently await your consolation.
PRAYER TO OBTAIN ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE MIND
Enlighten me, good Jesus, with the brightness of the eternal light and chase from my heart all darkness. Restrain my many wandering thoughts and destroy the temptations that do me violence. Fight strongly for me and overcome the wicked beasts, that is, the alluring desires of my senses, so that peace may be obtained by your power and your praise may ring out from your holy temple (see Ps 122:7–8), that is, from my pure conscience.
Command the winds and storms, saying to the sea, “Be still!” (see Mk 4:39), and to the north wind, “Do not blow,” and a great calm shall ensue.
“O send out your light and your truth” (Ps 43:3) to shine upon the earth. Enlighten me, because without you I am a sterile and desert land. Pour your grace from above, water my heart with heaven’s dew, and send down the waters of devotion to irrigate the face of the earth, so that it may bring forth fruit that is good and perfect.
Lift up my mind, which is oppressed by the weight of sin, and lift up my desires toward heavenly things, so that, having tasted the sweetness of eternal happiness, I may regret thinking too much about worldly things.
Deliver me from the fleeting consolations of creatures, because created things can neither quiet nor fully satisfy my desires, nor can they console me. Join me to yourself with the indissoluble bond of love, for you alone can satisfy my love. Without you all other things are frivolous.
—From Book 3, Chapter 23 (nos. 1–10)
Thomas à Kempis. (2010). Solace in Suffering: Wisdom from Thomas à Kempis. (M. L. Hill, Ed.) (pp. 55–58). Boston, MA: Pauline Books & Media.