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"Your prayer, says St. Augustine, is like a conversation with God. When you read, God speaks to you; when you pray, you speak to him. God speaks to us in many ways when we read the Gospels...
It does our soul a lot of good to use the Gospel frequently as the source of topics for our prayer. On occasions, perhaps, we can try to enter the scene as someone joining a little group gathered around Jesus, or stopping in a doorway to hear the Master teaching, or standing by the shore of the lake....
Every day, as we read the Gospel, Jesus passes beside us. Let us never fail to see and hear him, like those disciples who met him on the road to Emmaus. 'Stay with us, it is toward evening...' The prayer of Cleophas and his companion was effective.
How sad it would be if you and I were not able to 'detain' Jesus who is passing by. What a shame not to ask him to stay!"
--from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp. 529-530
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Feast of St Augustine
O eternal Truth, true Love, and beloved Eternity, you are my God, and for you I sigh day and night. As I first began to know you, you lifted me up and showed me that, while that which I might see exists indeed, I was not yet capable of seeing it. Your rays beamed intensely on me, beating back my feeble gaze, and I trembled with love and dread. I knew myself to be far away from you in a region of unlikeness, and I seemed to hear your voice from on high: “I am the food of the mature: grow, then, and you shall eat me. You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me”.
Accordingly I looked for a way to gain the strength I needed to enjoy you, but I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who is also God, supreme over all things and blessed for ever. He called out, proclaiming I am the Way and Truth and the Life, nor had I known him as the food which, though I was not yet strong enough to eat it, he had mingled with our flesh, for the Word became flesh so that your Wisdom, through whom you created all things, might become for us the milk adapted to our infancy.
Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
Lo, you were within,
but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in you.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you;
I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me, and I burned for your peace.
--from Confessions by St. Augustine, found in the Litugry of the Hours, Office of Readings
Accordingly I looked for a way to gain the strength I needed to enjoy you, but I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who is also God, supreme over all things and blessed for ever. He called out, proclaiming I am the Way and Truth and the Life, nor had I known him as the food which, though I was not yet strong enough to eat it, he had mingled with our flesh, for the Word became flesh so that your Wisdom, through whom you created all things, might become for us the milk adapted to our infancy.
Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
Lo, you were within,
but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in you.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you;
I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me, and I burned for your peace.
--from Confessions by St. Augustine, found in the Litugry of the Hours, Office of Readings
Friday, August 27, 2010
Perseverance
"Even when God has forgiven us, there remain in us the remnants of sin, evil roots ever ready to spring up and bring forth evil fruits...If then we wish divine life to develop greatly in our souls, we must labor unceasingly to diminish these remnants of sin, to weaken these evil roots." -- Blessed Columba Marmion, quoted in Magnificat, p. 362
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Watch...
Matthew 24:42-51
"The whole Gospel is a call to us to remain awake, watchful and on guard against the enemy who never sleeps, as we await the Lord's arrival...
Our Lord warns us in many ways, in different parables, against negligence, carelessness and half-hearted love. A loving heart is a vigilant heart, both over itself and over others, because God also expects us to be watchful and on guard over those who are especially united to us by the bonds of faith, of blood and friendship.
When Our Lord speaks about the coming of the thief in the night...He is teaching us not to allow ourselves to be distracted from the great enterprise of our salvation. He doesn't want us to think of vigilance merely as something negative - to watch doesn't just mean to stay awake for fear of what might happen if we fall asleep. To watch means being alert, on the qui vive; it means craning your neck out of the window in hope that you will be the first to cry out, 'Look! He's coming!' To watch means to look forward with eager expectation to Our Lord's coming."
--from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp 481-482
"The whole Gospel is a call to us to remain awake, watchful and on guard against the enemy who never sleeps, as we await the Lord's arrival...
Our Lord warns us in many ways, in different parables, against negligence, carelessness and half-hearted love. A loving heart is a vigilant heart, both over itself and over others, because God also expects us to be watchful and on guard over those who are especially united to us by the bonds of faith, of blood and friendship.
When Our Lord speaks about the coming of the thief in the night...He is teaching us not to allow ourselves to be distracted from the great enterprise of our salvation. He doesn't want us to think of vigilance merely as something negative - to watch doesn't just mean to stay awake for fear of what might happen if we fall asleep. To watch means being alert, on the qui vive; it means craning your neck out of the window in hope that you will be the first to cry out, 'Look! He's coming!' To watch means to look forward with eager expectation to Our Lord's coming."
--from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp 481-482
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Acting Justly
"Proper regard for the rights of others begins with the just ordering of civil law...But this...isn't enough. Every day we encounter many opportunities to be honest in our relations with our fellow men - for example, when making judgements about others, how easily and how readily we sometimes fall into rash judgement in the most elementary ways! In speech we have to avoid not only calumny and false accusations, but also detraction, gossip that needlessly reveals our neighbor's genuine defects and diminishes his standing among his colleagues or acquaintances and in society at large...
Acting justly toward our neighbor is not simply a question of avoiding doing him or her harm...Being just toward those with whom we have daily contact means, among other duties, respecting their right to their good name, to privacy, to a sufficient financial remuneration...
Calumny, backbiting and gossip can be real and flagrant manifestations of injustice, because among temporal goods, the integrity of one's reputation appears to be the most important, and through its loss man is deprived of doing much good (St. Thomas Aquinas). The Apostle St. James says that the tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, it can serve to praise God, to converse with him, to communicate with one another, or it can do incalculable harm unless there is a determined effort on our part never to speak badly of anyone." --from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp 469-471
Acting justly toward our neighbor is not simply a question of avoiding doing him or her harm...Being just toward those with whom we have daily contact means, among other duties, respecting their right to their good name, to privacy, to a sufficient financial remuneration...
Calumny, backbiting and gossip can be real and flagrant manifestations of injustice, because among temporal goods, the integrity of one's reputation appears to be the most important, and through its loss man is deprived of doing much good (St. Thomas Aquinas). The Apostle St. James says that the tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, it can serve to praise God, to converse with him, to communicate with one another, or it can do incalculable harm unless there is a determined effort on our part never to speak badly of anyone." --from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp 469-471
Sunday, August 22, 2010
The Narrow Gate
Luke 13:22-30
"Jesus warns that all are invited to feast in God's kingdom, but not all will choose to come. The gate is narrow, the road is hard, and we are sometimes tempted to sit at home in comfort and dine at the table of our own will rather than make the attempt. Let us pray for the grace to accept Jesus' call to us to become good and faithful disciples, walking in his ways." (Magnificat, p. 309)
As Father pointed out in Mass today, the disciplines we experience are to strengthen us so we will be strong enough to enter the narrow gate.
"Jesus warns that all are invited to feast in God's kingdom, but not all will choose to come. The gate is narrow, the road is hard, and we are sometimes tempted to sit at home in comfort and dine at the table of our own will rather than make the attempt. Let us pray for the grace to accept Jesus' call to us to become good and faithful disciples, walking in his ways." (Magnificat, p. 309)
As Father pointed out in Mass today, the disciplines we experience are to strengthen us so we will be strong enough to enter the narrow gate.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Humility
Matthew 23:1-12
The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
"In good truth, without being earnest in constant and diligent self-denial and mortification, whatever else a man may do, he will never progress...
When a man, for God's sake, fights against and mortifies the indulgence of his own senses and his own self-will, even in the least things, he does a thing more pleasing to God than if he were to recall many dead men to life." --Blosius the venerable, in Magnificat, p. 302
The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
"In good truth, without being earnest in constant and diligent self-denial and mortification, whatever else a man may do, he will never progress...
When a man, for God's sake, fights against and mortifies the indulgence of his own senses and his own self-will, even in the least things, he does a thing more pleasing to God than if he were to recall many dead men to life." --Blosius the venerable, in Magnificat, p. 302
Friday, August 20, 2010
Love of God
"Fear not, I am with you; I am your God." Is 41:10a
"Now, as in the first century, wherever Christ is present, he is at work, freeing, healing, setting right what has been set wrong, for Christ is God's saving love abiding in our midst." from Magnificat, p. 282
"Loving God is not just something very important for man. It is the one absolutely important thing, the one for which man was created, and so it is his fundamental task on earth and will be his sole occupation forever in heaven. It is the means whereby he attains happiness and complete fulfillment. Its absence makes man's life empty....
..God is not asking for a bit of room in our heart, in our soul or in our ind, for just a share in our love: he wants it all -- not just a little love, some part of our life, but all we have got." --taken from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp 431-432
"Now, as in the first century, wherever Christ is present, he is at work, freeing, healing, setting right what has been set wrong, for Christ is God's saving love abiding in our midst." from Magnificat, p. 282
"Loving God is not just something very important for man. It is the one absolutely important thing, the one for which man was created, and so it is his fundamental task on earth and will be his sole occupation forever in heaven. It is the means whereby he attains happiness and complete fulfillment. Its absence makes man's life empty....
..God is not asking for a bit of room in our heart, in our soul or in our ind, for just a share in our love: he wants it all -- not just a little love, some part of our life, but all we have got." --taken from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp 431-432
Monday, August 16, 2010
Can you give Me everything?
Matthew 19:16-22
"I think of the story of the rich young man who asked Jesus how he might gain eternal life. When Jesus told him to keep the commandments, he answered that he had done so from his youth. Jesus, looking at him with love, said, 'Sell all you have, give the money to the poor, and follow Me.' The young man looked at Jesus sadly and went away.
Jesus has shown that particular soul what its next step towards Him, towards perfect union with Him, was. What is mine? What is it that might cause me to walk away from Him sadly if He asked, either that I give or that I do? Whatever that might be, from giving him my life to forgiving someone, that is what lies between us. That is what I must overcome with His help in order to be in perfect union with Him.
O Lord, please grant me the grace to trust You with everything, to give You everything. May nothing be more important to me than You and Your will. Please grant me this grace that we may be together both here on earth and forever in Heaven." -- from The Light of Love, by Patricia Devlin, p. 300.
"I think of the story of the rich young man who asked Jesus how he might gain eternal life. When Jesus told him to keep the commandments, he answered that he had done so from his youth. Jesus, looking at him with love, said, 'Sell all you have, give the money to the poor, and follow Me.' The young man looked at Jesus sadly and went away.
Jesus has shown that particular soul what its next step towards Him, towards perfect union with Him, was. What is mine? What is it that might cause me to walk away from Him sadly if He asked, either that I give or that I do? Whatever that might be, from giving him my life to forgiving someone, that is what lies between us. That is what I must overcome with His help in order to be in perfect union with Him.
O Lord, please grant me the grace to trust You with everything, to give You everything. May nothing be more important to me than You and Your will. Please grant me this grace that we may be together both here on earth and forever in Heaven." -- from The Light of Love, by Patricia Devlin, p. 300.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Assumption of Our Lady
"O Mother of God and of men, we beg you to purify our senses, so that we may begin to enjoy God here on earth and Him alone, in the beauty of creatures." (Pope Pius XII)
"Mary's Assumption shows us the route we must follow in our spiritual ascent: detachment from the earth, flight toward God, and union with God.
Our Lady was assumed body and soul into heaven because she was Immaculate; she was all-pure -- free not only from every shadow of sin, but even from the slightest attachment to the things of earth, so that she 'never had the form of any creature imprinted in her soul, nor was moved by such, but was invariably guided by the Holy Spirit.' (John of the Cross, Ascent III 2,10)
The first requirement for attaining God is the fruit of total detachment. The Blessed Virgin, who lived her earthly life in absolute detachment from every created thing, teaches us not to allow ourselves to be captivated by the fascination of creatures, but to live among them, occupying ourselves with them with much charity, but without ever letting our heart become attached to them, without ever seeking our satisfaction in them.
In her Assumption Mary speaks to us of flight toward heaven, toward God. It is not enough to purify our heart from sin and all attachment to creatures, we must at the same time direct it toward God, tending toward Him with all our strength...Our earthly life has value for eternal life insofar as it is a flight toward God, a continual seeking after Him, a continual adherence to His grace. When this flight fails, the supernatural value of our existence lessens. --from Divine Intimacy, p. 1150
"Mary's Assumption shows us the route we must follow in our spiritual ascent: detachment from the earth, flight toward God, and union with God.
Our Lady was assumed body and soul into heaven because she was Immaculate; she was all-pure -- free not only from every shadow of sin, but even from the slightest attachment to the things of earth, so that she 'never had the form of any creature imprinted in her soul, nor was moved by such, but was invariably guided by the Holy Spirit.' (John of the Cross, Ascent III 2,10)
The first requirement for attaining God is the fruit of total detachment. The Blessed Virgin, who lived her earthly life in absolute detachment from every created thing, teaches us not to allow ourselves to be captivated by the fascination of creatures, but to live among them, occupying ourselves with them with much charity, but without ever letting our heart become attached to them, without ever seeking our satisfaction in them.
In her Assumption Mary speaks to us of flight toward heaven, toward God. It is not enough to purify our heart from sin and all attachment to creatures, we must at the same time direct it toward God, tending toward Him with all our strength...Our earthly life has value for eternal life insofar as it is a flight toward God, a continual seeking after Him, a continual adherence to His grace. When this flight fails, the supernatural value of our existence lessens. --from Divine Intimacy, p. 1150
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sacrifice
"My penance consisted in breaking my will, always so ready to impose itself on others, in holding back a reply, in rendering little services without recognition."
St. Therese of Lisieux
taken from the Society of the Little Flower, August 10, 2010
St. Therese of Lisieux
taken from the Society of the Little Flower, August 10, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Unless a grain of wheat dies...
John 12:24-26
"St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, preached the Gospel by his love for the poor, his courage under torture by fire, and his unswerving love for Christ" (from Magnificat, p.133)
"Every morning and evening a man who really takes care of his heart must rewind it for God's service." St. Francis de Sales (quoted in Magnificat, p. 132)
"St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, preached the Gospel by his love for the poor, his courage under torture by fire, and his unswerving love for Christ" (from Magnificat, p.133)
"Every morning and evening a man who really takes care of his heart must rewind it for God's service." St. Francis de Sales (quoted in Magnificat, p. 132)
Monday, August 9, 2010
They were overwhelmed with grief
Matthew 17: 22-27
"The world is in flames. The conflagration can also reach our house. But high above all flames towers the cross. They cannot consume it. It is the path from earth to heaven. It will lift one who embraces it in faith, love, and hope into the bosom of the Trinity...
The eyes of the crucified look down on you asking, probing. Will you make your covenant with the crucified anew in all seriousness? What will you answer him.? 'Lord, where shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'" -- St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (from Magnificat, August 2010, pp.128-9)
"To God the darkest depths of the human heart are as clear as the page of a book lying open in the sunlight. He knows us thorough and through -- and loves us as deeply as he knows us! Rather than hide from him, let us put our life in the hands that fashioned us and allow him to lead us in the path of life eternal." (Magnificat, p. 122)
"The world is in flames. The conflagration can also reach our house. But high above all flames towers the cross. They cannot consume it. It is the path from earth to heaven. It will lift one who embraces it in faith, love, and hope into the bosom of the Trinity...
The eyes of the crucified look down on you asking, probing. Will you make your covenant with the crucified anew in all seriousness? What will you answer him.? 'Lord, where shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'" -- St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (from Magnificat, August 2010, pp.128-9)
"To God the darkest depths of the human heart are as clear as the page of a book lying open in the sunlight. He knows us thorough and through -- and loves us as deeply as he knows us! Rather than hide from him, let us put our life in the hands that fashioned us and allow him to lead us in the path of life eternal." (Magnificat, p. 122)
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Perfection
We must keep our eyes fixed on God in everything we say, do, or undertake. We must make a firm resolution to overcome, with God's grace, all the difficulties inherent in the spiritual life. God wants to humble by means of a multitude of internal and external troubles and trials.
A soul depends on grace in proportion to its desire for greater perfection.
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1691)
taken from Magnifiicat July 21, page 298-299
A soul depends on grace in proportion to its desire for greater perfection.
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1691)
taken from Magnifiicat July 21, page 298-299
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Who do you say that I am?
Matthew 16:13-23
"Christian living consists in loving, imitating and serving Christ. The heart has an important role in this life to such an extent that if, through lukewarmness or a hidden pride, our life of piety suffers it becomes almost impossible to move ahead. To follow Christ closely means to be his friends. That friendly, intimate union leads us to follow even the smallest of his precepts: love is expressed in deeds. After many attempts - all in vain - to find Christ, St Augustine shares with us his experience: 'I looked all around for the strength I needed to delight in You and could not find it, until I at last embraced the Mediator between God and man: the Man, Jesus Christ...' We are to love a man - Jesus Christ!...
When in the intimacy of our hearts our Lord asks, And you, who do you say that I am?, we should respond with the faith of Peter: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Way, the Truth and the Life... Without him my life would be completely empty and I would be lost.
(from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp.319-320)
"Christian living consists in loving, imitating and serving Christ. The heart has an important role in this life to such an extent that if, through lukewarmness or a hidden pride, our life of piety suffers it becomes almost impossible to move ahead. To follow Christ closely means to be his friends. That friendly, intimate union leads us to follow even the smallest of his precepts: love is expressed in deeds. After many attempts - all in vain - to find Christ, St Augustine shares with us his experience: 'I looked all around for the strength I needed to delight in You and could not find it, until I at last embraced the Mediator between God and man: the Man, Jesus Christ...' We are to love a man - Jesus Christ!...
When in the intimacy of our hearts our Lord asks, And you, who do you say that I am?, we should respond with the faith of Peter: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Way, the Truth and the Life... Without him my life would be completely empty and I would be lost.
(from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp.319-320)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Eyes Fixed on the Lord
Matt 14:22-36
"The difficulties that surround us don't matter if we walk with faith and confidence toward Jesus, who is waiting for us. It doesn't matter if the waves are high and the wind strong, or that it's not natural for man to walk on water. If we look to Jesus, we can do anything; and looking at him is the virtue of piety. If through prayer and the sacraments we remain close to Jesus, we will remain on the right path. If our gaze wanders away from Jesus, we will sink; we will be incapable of even a single step, even on firm ground.
...At times, God asks for things which seem apparently impossible, but which become a reality when we act with faith, with our sight fixed on the Lord...
...Peter would have remained firm on the waters and would have reached the Lord if he had not separated his confident gaze from the Lord. All the tempests put together, those within the soul and those arising from outside, cannot shake us as long as we have firm recourse to prayer. To abandon prayer, to pray with little intimacy or sincerity, exposes us to sink into discouragement, pessimism and temptation." (from In Conversation With God, vol.4, pp 304-306)
"The difficulties that surround us don't matter if we walk with faith and confidence toward Jesus, who is waiting for us. It doesn't matter if the waves are high and the wind strong, or that it's not natural for man to walk on water. If we look to Jesus, we can do anything; and looking at him is the virtue of piety. If through prayer and the sacraments we remain close to Jesus, we will remain on the right path. If our gaze wanders away from Jesus, we will sink; we will be incapable of even a single step, even on firm ground.
...At times, God asks for things which seem apparently impossible, but which become a reality when we act with faith, with our sight fixed on the Lord...
...Peter would have remained firm on the waters and would have reached the Lord if he had not separated his confident gaze from the Lord. All the tempests put together, those within the soul and those arising from outside, cannot shake us as long as we have firm recourse to prayer. To abandon prayer, to pray with little intimacy or sincerity, exposes us to sink into discouragement, pessimism and temptation." (from In Conversation With God, vol.4, pp 304-306)
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