Friday, June 22, 2012

be open

God is not a show-off.

He sent the Holy Spirit to disturb our complacency and uproot our medicocrity!

He wants us to be open to further growth. 

Never settle for less than God wants to make of us.

~Pentecost Sunday, 2012

God's healing love

Never be afraid of the healing love that God wants to pour out on us.

Bite the bullet, and let Him work. 

Take courage...he really HAS counquered the world! 

fear not

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow.

The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and everyday.

Either he will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.

~St. Francis de Sales

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

2-part miracle

Confession is actually a 2-part miracle.

The first part of the miracle is that we are called to the sacrament (and have the good sense to listen).  Because we can not approach God without being first drawn to Him.

The second part, of course, is the forgiveness and absolution of sin.

nothing to fear except...

Our Lord tells us in many ways that we should be afraid of nothing except sin, which takes away our friendship with God.

Confronted with any difficulty, any situation, an uncertain future, we shouldn't feel afraid.  We should be strong and courageous as befits children of God.

A Christian cannot live in terror, but should have in his heart a holy fear of God, whom nonetheless he loves madly.

~In Conversation With God, Vol 2:93.3


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

prayer

In prayer, our will is identified with the Will of our Father, who always wants the best for his children. 

This trust in prayer makes us feel secure, unwavering, daring; it dissipates anxiety and the unease that comes from depending solely on our own strength, and it helps us to be serene in the face of difficulties.

~In Conversation With God, Vol 2:91.1




before you speak

T H I N K !

T - is it True?
H - is it Helpful?
I - is it Inspiring?
N - is it Necessary?
K - is it Kind?

ten ways to love

  1. Listen without interrupting.  (Proverbs 18)
  2. Speak without accusing.  (James 1:19)
  3. Give without sparing.  (Proverbs 21:26)
  4. Pray without ceasing. (Colossians 1:9)
  5. Answer without arguing.  (Proverbs 17:1)
  6. Share without pretending. (Ephesians 4:15)
  7. Enjoy without complaint. (Philippians 2:14)
  8. Trust without wavering. (Corinthians 13:7)
  9. Forgive without punishing.  (Colossians 3:13)
  10. Promise without forgetting.  (Proverbs 13:12)

the gift of counsel

To allow ourselves to be advised and guided by the Paraclete, we should want to belong entirely to God, not placing any limitations on the action of grace.

The gift of counsel is a great help in keeping a true conscience, and not letting it be deformed.  A person who ceases to apply moral norms to his behavior...does so because he places his own will before the will of God. 

If we are humble, if we recognize our own limitations, we will feel the need to seek advice at particular times.  Then we ought not simply go to the first person we meet, but to a person with the right qualities...someone who wants to love God sincerely...and tries to follow him faithfully.

~In Conversation With God, Vol 2:90

Monday, June 18, 2012

time set aside

This loving action of the Holy Spirit [wisdom] in our lives will only be possible if we take good care of the times especially set aside for God:  Mass, times of personal prayer, visits to the Blessed Sacrament.

These items must be given priority in our normal day, and even at times when we have far too much to do; when we are full of fervor and when we are spiritually dry; when journeying, or restng or suffering ill health....

~In Conversation With God; Vol 2  89.3

more wisdom

Wisdom is the chief element in happiness....

~ Sophocles (Antigone)

Sunday, June 17, 2012

the fruits of difficulties

...Our Lord always has more complete plans....

These early Christians were fervent, firm, coherent in their faith, full of goodness.... If the world hates you, know that is hated me first of all (John 15:18)... they would be given grace to face their difficulties....

These trials and difficulties can differ considerably....In any case, we should understand...that God is very close to us.  He helps us, with more graces, to mature in virtue.... God wants to purify us like gold in the furnace...leaving [our soul] more refined and valuable....

We must struggle against the current, relying on a life of personal prayer, strengthened by the presence of Jesus Christ in the Tabernacle... One of the greatest fruits we must draw from difficulties...is the need to be more aware of the Lord, to be more generous in prayer and sacrifice....

If...we were to give way in the face of difficulties, our soul would then retrogress....become full of sadness.... The devil usually makes good use...to intensify his attacks, and the soul can either draw nearer to God...or draw away from him.... The same difficulty...will have different effects according to the dispositions of the soul.... Fortitude is a key...virtue.

...we should be...serene and cheerful.... When we feel the weight of the Cross, our Lord invites us to go to him.... And then, by the side of Christ...everything that can be annoying and difficult becomes lovable....
Unity with God through adversity... is a grace that God is always willing to grant us...

We must not reject the means that God places within our reach.  We must be prepared to open our hearts in spiritual guidance if...the Cross gets particularly heavy.  "A gentle wind is not the same as a hurricane...."

Our Lord waits for us in the Tabernacle, to encourage us always....Alongside him we learn how to carry peacefully..."Everything may collapse and fail.... But nothing is gained by being perturbed."

~In Conversation With God, Volume 2

without prayer

The fruits which Our Lord expects from us are of many kinds.  But everything would be useless if we had no life of prayer....

~In Conversation With God, Volume 2

courage

Courage is a virtue that enables one to do good despite external threats.

f.e.a.r

FEAR = False
              Evidence
              Appearing
              Real

to know God...

The doctrine is not of compulsion; the word of life is of free will.... If you wish to heed the word of life, cut yourself off from evil things; the hearing of the word does no good to someone busy with sins....

First of all, trust in God, and then listen to his law.

You cannot hear his words while you do not know yourself....

....Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, these three will be a wall to you against divisions and quarrels.... See that you do not become another's for you have no other Lord....

You yourself are a chld of God who is high over all...


~St Ephrem the Syrian
Homily on Admonition and Repentance 1-2

sticking with the program

When you find yourself frustrated with God or frustrated with yourself when you don't see any progress in your spiritual life - remember that God knows what He is doing.  Our job is to "stick with the program".  "The program" includes:
  1. Prayer....be faithful to prayer
  2. Regular reception of the sacraments....especially the Eucharist and Penance
  3. Going outside of ourselves....in acts of loving service to others
Do not get discouraged when you do not see progress.  Discouragement is "the devil's sandbox" and leads to despair.

Have faith that just as the trees and the seeds grow, without knowing how it happens, so will we be transformed and changed more and more to the likeness of Jesus.

Friday, June 15, 2012

giving back

We give love back to the Lord in mercy and compassion (for our fellow humans). 

stone jars

There were six stone jars in Cana of Galilee containing water used for ritual ablutions; there are also 'six stone jars' of purification found in a soul which, motivated by love, converts from vice to virtue:
contrition, confession, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and sincere forgiveness.

~ St. Anthony of Padua

Thursday, June 14, 2012

little things

To the good God nothing is little because He is so great and we are so small - that is why He stoops down and takes the trouble to make those little things for us - to give us a chance to prove our love for Him. 

~Mother Teresa (Come, Be My Light)

anger

Anger is like a poison meant for someone else that we drink ourselves. 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

if you're happy and you know it

Cheerfulness is a sign of a generous and mortified person who forgetting all things, even herself, tries to please her God in all she does for souls.

Cheerfulness is often a cloak which hides a life of sacrifice, continual union with God, fervor and generosity....

~ Mother Teresa (from the book, Come, Be My Light)


patience

Commit your life to the Lord,
trust in him and he will act...

Be still before the Lord and wait in patience,
do not fret at the man who prospers;
a man who makes evil plots
to bring down the needy and the poor.

Calm your anger and forget your rage;
do not fret, it only leads to evil.
For those who do evil shall perish;
the patient shall inherit the land.

              ~Psalm 37


actions speak

Today is the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua.  A little wisdom from one of his sermons:

The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in different languages.  These languages are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such has humility, poverty, PATIENCE, and obedience; we speak in those languages when we reveal in ourselves these virtues to others.  Actions speak louder than words; let your actions speak and your words teach.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

walking the walk

When walking the Road of Conversion, there are 3 things that will help:
  • daily prayer - should be more listening than telling
  • regular confession - giving Jesus our weaknesses and imperfections turns us toward Him, regular confession is "preventive maintenance" for the soul
  • fruitful reception of the Eucharist  - not receiving out of routine habit, but giving our lives to Jesus as He gives us Himself 

1.23.11

joy - gotta have it...

...St. Thomas Aquinas says expressly that 'everyone who wants to make progress in the spiritual life needs to have joy.'

Sadness debilitates us...

This interior joy is also the state of mind necessary for perfectly complying with our obligations.  And the greater these are the greater must be our joy.

The greater our responsibility (parents, teachers, priests, superiors...) the greater our obligation to have this peace and joy to give to others, and the greater the urgency of recovering it when its habitual possession has been interrupted or disturbed.

In Conversation With God: Vol 2 p. 304

life's storms

We won't see God in the storms of our lives, if we don't seek Him in the quiet, ordinary moments of our lives.  When we come to experience Him on His terms, then we will find Him in the storms, too.

8.7.11

Sunday, June 10, 2012

confirmation wisdom

Last summer when I moved, we went through tons of accumulated papers and possessions.  One night, I found a note under the carport - it had escaped from a garbage bag.  It had been written to me 35 years earlier by my confirmation sponsor - a little old lady who lived across the street from me and invited the neighborhood kids over to say the Rosary and have cookies and KoolAid.

It said, in part...

In planning each probe into space, our scientist must reckon the physical laws of the universe in planning his venture.  So must we all acknowledge certain spiritual principals to find a proper relationship with God.  And in receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit - God promised you all you need.

12.77

before confession

Before we go to confession, we must trust.

We must trust that God's mercy is greater than anything that priest is going to hear.

Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus.  The truth is, they all scattered.  But the others accepted Jesus' forgiveness.  Judas was sorry, but he didn't trust Jesus to forgive him.

the greatest wisdom

This is the greatest wisdom -- to seek the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world...

The Imitation of Christ 1.1

Saturday, June 9, 2012

rest for the weary

When we seek Jesus, He finds us, and gives us rest. 

This is a joyful mystery, indeed, hidden from people who are arrogant and powerful, but revealed by God as a gift to people who are humble and childlike in faith.

(Missalette wisdom referring to Matt 13:1-23)

integrity of heart

About seeking God in integrity of heart:
  • Be truthful with/about ourselves.  Check our attitudes...
  • Come to Him in obedience.
  • Lead our lives so that they bring honor and glory to God

11.07
based on Wisdom 1:1-7

stay out of that sandbox!

Discouragement is the devil's sandbox.

Once you get in the sandbox, despair is the next step.

Do NOT become discouraged.

Give those things to God in confession.

11.07

read it again

Read scripture twice - once for the head; once for the heart.

11.07

change me

Lord, change my mind and my heart so I can live Your Truth with Your sincerity, humility, obedience, and love.

5.20.11

living a holy life - 3 simple rules

  • Never let a Sunday go by without an encounter with the risen Christ in the Eucharist; this is not an added burden, it is light for the entire week.
  • Never begin or end a day without at least a brief contact with God in prayer.
  • And along the pathway of our lives, follow the road signs that God has given us in the Ten Commandments, read in the light of Christ; they are nothing other than explanations of what is love in specific situations. 
4.13.11
B16

do it yourself

God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

He gives us the strength to do the things we can do.

He never, ever does for us the things we can do for ourselves.

11.15.10

focus

The Saints weren't born saints.  But they kept their focus. 

Keep listening....

following him

Jesus did not suffer and die to leave us where we are!

Following Him takes nothing less than everything!

9.4.10

what do they see?

Do we give God a good name or a bad name [by the way we live]? 

Our lives must stand for something. 

show me

Lord, show me the goodness you want me to become.

me or Jesus??

Do we want to be more like Jesus or more like ourselves?

Jesus reaches out to us.  The more we want to be like Him, the more we respond with humility and surrender.

7.10

true that!

Jesus came to proclaim the truth; not to make us feel good!

The truth will set you free, but it might make you miserable first.


entitled?

We are all beggars at the feet of Jesus.

He owes us nothing!  (But look what great love He had for us.)

9.18.11

but i haven't killed anyone....

All sin is offensive to God - not just mortal sins.

(So you don't have to wait until you are guilty of mortal sins to go to confession!)

God loves to forgive!

(Lucky for us.)


advice from Jesus' mom

Pray.  Pray.  Pray.

what God wants

God's deepest desire for us is that we are transformed; that we become the Gift we receive (the Eucharist).

6.6.10
Feast of Corpus Christi

Friday, June 8, 2012

super-size it

A little in our hands, is great in the hands of God. 

Said another way, God can do great things with the small sacrifices we offer Him.

only the good

Say only the good that needs to be said. ~ St Paul

Ephesians 4:29

(Repeat as necessary in challenging situations.)

could you make mine neon?

When we - like the people in Scripture - are asking God for signs, and God is not going along with our "script"...that is when surrender and faith are required.

When the externals - the signs - are stripped away - that's when faith grows.

4.10

confused?

Even if we are confused about what God is doing in our lives - God is not confused....

4.10

where it will

The Spirit is like wind.  Sometimes we try to control the Spirit and tell it where to blow and how hard.

But the Spirit knows what is is doing and it will go where it will and where it needs to go.

4-10

but you will...

Jesus said to him,, "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.  ~John 13:7

weather the storms

In a marriage that endures and weathers the storms, you end up married to a different person than you started with -- but better. 

12.09

take me

Today at the Consecration, when the Body of Jesus is lifted up - Look at Him!

When we pray, "This is my body...given up for you," tell Him, "Lord, take my  body; take my blood....Take me!"

11.09

100% - really??

Shouldn't God be happy with about 95% of us?  That's an A, afterall....

The 5% that we don't want to let go of, is what we most need to let go of.
When we give everything to God, we lose nothing, because He perfects it and gives it back.  

Is it easy?  No.

Does it require prayer?  Yes.

goodness vs greatness

We are not called to greatness, but goodness.  Part of God's goodness is his self-emptying love.  It is by goodness that we obtain greatness - in God.

9.19.09

Thursday, June 7, 2012

one word...

One word can make a difference.

One word from Jesus made a huge difference in the life of the deaf man he cured.

Before Communion we say (or at least we used to) "Only say the word and I shall be healed.  Jesus is THE word.

9.6.09

gossip

Do not speak evil of one another, brothers (and sisters).  ~ James 4:11

common sense

Actions have consequences!!!

Newsflash, I know.  But, yes, actions do have consequences - good and bad, alike.   Don't blame others when you are faced with the consequences of your actions.

about dwelling on past sins...

Jesus came so that we can walk in freedom.

He accepts our contrition and our sorrow, but then He wants us to move on to do His work.

When Peter said, "I am a sinful man," Jesus (who knew the extent of that sinfulness very well) did not reply, "You got that right, buddy!"  He loved him anyway and encouraged him to fish for men.

All of us - at the core of our being - have a desire to be "caught" by God.

9.30.09

happiness

God wants us to be happy.  But it must be on His terms, the only happiness that will last.

He tells us that He is the Bread of Life.  He tells us that He will give us food for the journey, let it be too long.  He gives Himself to us, so that we may become what we consume.

He has given us wisdom so that we can see ourselves, each other, and life as God sees it.

Who will we serve?

8.22.09

lent's purpose

Who knew?

The purpose of Lent is for us to prepare to renew our baptismal vows at Easter.  The church gives us a built-in 40-day retreat every year. 

Lent, 2011

radical

The most radical expression of God's love for us is His Mercy...

To receive God's mercy, we must show mercy to others.

heading back to school

"Keep bring Christ to the kids - especially the gangsters."

"Let the children teach you something."

gaining wisdom

Wisdom can't be taught, and it can't be learned from a book.  We gain wisdom through our experiences with God.

8.15.09

wisdom defined

wisdom -
1.seeing ourselves and others through the eyes of God,
2. seeing things as God sees them.

ways of seeking wisdom

1.  Read
  • Scripture
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church
  • Papal Encyclicals
2. Listen
  • To elderly people with a good moral foundation
  • To wise people - saints, for example
3.  Keep a journal of practical wisdom
 
From the Great Adventure study of James

seeking and surrendering

A year or so ago, I participated in a Bible Study on the Letter of James.  It was a very practical study with much practical application for our daily lives.  One of the suggestions was to search for wisdom in our daily lives and to keep a notebook with wisdom we wanted to remember.

I have found wisdom from several sources...from Scripture, from homilies, advice in the confessional, spiritual reading, and people who are much wiser than me.  My notebook is filling up, but there is little order to it.  This is an attempt to add a little organization. 

What seems wise to me at one moment in my life, may not have the same ring of wisdom for someone else.  I imagine it depends to some extent what challenges we are facing in our lives at that moment. 

Oh - and the seeking and surrendering...it is wisdom from the confessional.  I complained that I wasn't really "hearing" God, and I was wisely told - "When God is playing hide and seek...that's when He wants us to seek Him."  And so that is what we are to do....seek Him, and then surrender to His will for us.