abundant grace

We know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life.

We know that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.

~ St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

true holiness

True holiness does not mean a flight from the world; rather it lies in the effort to incarnate the Gospel in everyday life, in the family, at school, and at work, and in social and political involvement.

~Bl John Paul II  11.9.96

unbending to evil

Be submissive to good,
unbending to evil,
gentle in generosity,
untiring in love,
just in all things.

~St. Columbanus

your chief study

Let your chief study be to acquaint yourself with God, because it is the only knowledge which can fill the heart with a peace and joy which nothing can disturb.

~St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

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

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

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

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)

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)

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.

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