Your Shepherd Calls

"Precisely because He loves me, Jesus calls me by name:  He calls me when in prayer He opens to me new horizons of the spiritual life, or when He enables me to know my faults and weaknesses better;  He calls me when He reprimands me or purifies me by aridity, as well as when He consoles and encourages me by filling me with new fervor;  He calls me when He makes me feel the need of greater generosity, and when He asks for sacrifices or gives me joys, and still more, when He awakens in me a deeper love for Him.  Hearing His call, my attitude should be that of a loving sheep who recognizes the voice of its Shepherd and follows Him always."  -- from Divine Intimacy, #154.

Prayer

"It is significant that the Apostles acknowledge the importance of both prayer and works of charity, yet clearly give priority to prayer and the proclamation of the Gospel. In every age the saints have stressed the deep vital unity between contemplation and activity. Prayer, nourished by faith and enlightened by God’s word, enables us to see things in a new way and to respond to new situations with the wisdom and insight bestowed by the Holy Spirit. In our own daily lives and decisions, may we always draw fresh spiritual breath from the two lungs of prayer and the word of God; in this way, we will respond to every challenge and situation with wisdom, understanding and fidelity to God’s will." -- Pope Benedict XVI (Wednesday audience)

Divine Intimacy

"So where do we go from here?  How do we begin to seek the renewal of our hearts and the union God wills for us?  Let us begin by acknowledging that this is all grace.  Nothing is ultimately ours.  There can be no growth without God's willing and granting it.  Beg the Father of tenderness to make you evermore his child and to send you the fullness of his Spirit...

"First off, do not be afraid!  Where do you secretly fear God's closeness?...

To love at all is to be vulnerable  Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.  If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal...lock it up safe in the casket coffin of your selfishness.  But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change.  It will not be broken;  it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable." (C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves)

"Personal union always demands that we make space in our heart for another..."  taken from Union With God - Living the Christ Life, by Fr. David VIncent Meconi, SJ, pp. 43-44.

Resurrection Life

"The experience of the disciples invites us to reflect on Easter’s meaning for us. Let us allow ourselves to be encountered by the Risen Jesus! He, living and true, is always present among us; He walks with us in order to guide our lives and to open our eyes. Let us trust in the Risen One, who has the power to give life, and to give us rebirth as children of God, capable of believing and of loving. Faith in Him transforms our lives; it frees them from fear, gives them sure hope and enlivens them by what gives full meaning to life, God’s love."  - Pope Benedict XVI

Divine Mercy Sunday

"Unless you be converted..."   Each wave of grace purifies and cleanses our soul from sin and its roots, giving us rebirth to a new life in Christ, a pure, innocent life, which craves only "the pure spiritual milk" of the doctrine of Christ, His love, and His grace.  Today, however, the Church wishes to turn our desires in a very special way toward faith:  that faith which makes us cling to Jesus so as to be taught by Him, and nourished and guided toward eternal life... Let us draw near to Jesus with the simple, sincere faith of a little child, and He will give us the abundance of His grace as a pledge of eternal life.  --Divine Intimacy #147.

Prayer

"O Lord, I come to ask of You the true spirit of prayer."

"Prayer is essentially an intimate conversation with God in which the soul seeks His presence, so that it may speak with Him in a friendly and affectionate way. ..From its very nature, then, prayer is something intimate and interior...

"Whatever form it takes, true prayer is not complicated or constrained; it is the breath of the soul that loves its God, the habitual attitude of the heart which tends toward God...Prayer understood in this way is always possible, in all kinds of circumstances and in the midst of varying occupations;  furthermore, for a soul who really loves God, it would be as impossible for it to interrupt prayer as it would be for it to stop breathing."  --Divine Intimacy #146.


Divine Mercy Novena Day #9:  Today bring to Me souls who have become lukewarm, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. 

Divine Mercy Novena Day #8: Today bring to Me the souls who are detained in purgatory and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy.  Novena prayers here.