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"Father in heaven, form in us the likeness of your Son and deepen his life within us. Send us as witnesses of gospel joy into a world of fragile peace and broken promises. Touch the hearts of all men with your love that they in turn may love one another. we ask this through Christ our Lord."
--from Liturgy of the Hours, Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Voluntary Attachments
From Divine Intimacy, #79
"'To be perfectly united to God by love and will, the soul must first be cleansed of all appetites of the will, even the smallest.' (Ascent of Mt Carmel I, 11,3)... There is a real mushroom-bed of 'appetites' and disordered inclinations from which the soul will not free itself, precisely because it is attached to the meager satisfaction which it finds in these wretched things. It is 'attached' to them; that is why it cannot make the decision to give them up completely. These are precisely the 'habitual voluntary appetites' of which St. John of the Cross says, 'One single unmortified appetite is sufficient to fetter the soul.'"
"My God, give me the light necessary to recognize in myself all that keeps me from union with You. Grant me the light to recognize all the attachments which still bind me to creatures, and especially those which are most displeasing to You because they proceed directly from pride and self-love. In the secrecy of my heart You teach me sweetly and gently, You show me clearly that I am still far from conforming my will to Yours, in all things and for all things....You know, O Lord, that I have great need of Your help, for I am too attached to myself to be capable of struggling against my disordered affections, of giving up so many little pleasures which feed my egotism. I love myself too much to sacrifice what separates me from You. Then, let me present myself to You, O Lord, as a sick person to a surgeon; plunge the knife into my soul, cut away and destroy all that displeases You and that is not in accord with Your will."
"'To be perfectly united to God by love and will, the soul must first be cleansed of all appetites of the will, even the smallest.' (Ascent of Mt Carmel I, 11,3)... There is a real mushroom-bed of 'appetites' and disordered inclinations from which the soul will not free itself, precisely because it is attached to the meager satisfaction which it finds in these wretched things. It is 'attached' to them; that is why it cannot make the decision to give them up completely. These are precisely the 'habitual voluntary appetites' of which St. John of the Cross says, 'One single unmortified appetite is sufficient to fetter the soul.'"
"My God, give me the light necessary to recognize in myself all that keeps me from union with You. Grant me the light to recognize all the attachments which still bind me to creatures, and especially those which are most displeasing to You because they proceed directly from pride and self-love. In the secrecy of my heart You teach me sweetly and gently, You show me clearly that I am still far from conforming my will to Yours, in all things and for all things....You know, O Lord, that I have great need of Your help, for I am too attached to myself to be capable of struggling against my disordered affections, of giving up so many little pleasures which feed my egotism. I love myself too much to sacrifice what separates me from You. Then, let me present myself to You, O Lord, as a sick person to a surgeon; plunge the knife into my soul, cut away and destroy all that displeases You and that is not in accord with Your will."
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Our Lady of Lourdes
"Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; Then will the lame leap like a stage, then the tongue of the dumb will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water." Is. 35:5-7
There are special graces offered on feast days. Ask and you shall receive...
Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes 2-11
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