Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Not my will, but Yours

Scripture: Matthew 8:28-34
Grace: To surrender to His Will


"If we are to discover God's Will in everything that happens in life, even in the least pleasant things - in those things that have harmed us or annoyed us; if we are to follow Christ whatever the circumstances, we must be thoroughly detached from ourselves, from our intellectual talents, our health, our good name, our noble ambitions, our triumphs and our successes.

I would also include...the high ideals that lead us to seek only to give glory to God and to praise him. We can ensure our detachment by tailoring our will to this clear and precise rule: 'Lord, I want this or that only if it pleases you, because if not, I'm not the slightest bit interested.' By acting in this way, we are dealing a mortal blow to the selfishness and vanity that lurk in every conscience. At the same time we will find true peace of soul through this selfless conduct that leads us to an ever more intimate and intense possession of God."
--from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, pp. 37-8

Monday, June 28, 2010

Follow Me

Scripture: Matthew 8:18-22
Grace: absolute surrender

Jesus said: Follow me. There is an urgency to responding to the call to follow Him. He didn't promise comfort and security, didn't allow for waiting until everything else was settled and in order, just come, follow me. To surrender completely to that call promises first trial, rejection and difficulties, but in the end -- Him.

"The purpose of the struggle against our passions, the practice of the virtues, recollection, prayer, the practice of the presence of God, and frequent reception of the Sacraments, is to foster union with God and the growth of charity. The interior life is a secret hearth where a soul in contact with God is inflamed with His love, and precisely because it is inflamed and forged by love, it becomes a docile instrument which God can use to diffuse love into the hearts of others. Therefore, it is very important to recall frequently this great principle: the interior life is the soul of the apostolate. A deep interior life will generate intense love and intimate union with God, and, therefore, from it will spring a fruitful apostolate, a true sharing in Christ's work of saving souls; on the other hand a mediocre interior life can produce only a feeble love and union with God; hence, the resultant apostolate cannot have an efficacious influence on souls. Where there is little or no interior life, charity and friendship with God are in danger of being extinguished; and if this interior flame be extinguished, then the apostolate will be emptied of its substance and reduced to mere external activity which may make a great noise, but will not bring forth any fruit." --from Divine Intimacy, #321 (p. 966 in the one volume)

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Faith

"O blessed faith, you are certain but you are also obscure. You are obscure because you make us believe truths revealed by God Himself, and which transcend all natural light. Your excessive light, radiance of the divine truths, becomes for me thick darkness because the greater overwhelms the lesser, even as the light of the sun overwhelms all other lights and even exceeds my power of vision....Make me comprehend, O Lord, that to be joined in union with You I must not walk by understanding, neither may I lean upon experience or feeling or imagination, but I must believe in Your infinite Being, which is not perceptible to my understanding." --- St. John of the Cross

"My intellect does not need the concurrence of my will to believe that two and two make four. The truth is evident and I see it. In the case of divine truths, on the contrary, my intellect remains free to give its assent or not, simply because these truths are not evident to me; and I believe only because I will to believe. In the case of natural truths that I can verify, such as mathematical truths, my adherence to them depends upon the power of my intellect: the deeper my knowledge and comprehension of them, the stronger my conviction. But in the presence of supernatural truths, my adherence depends upon the power of my will: the intellect is moved by the will. A free upright will, which loves its God, fully believes all that He reveals, not with a cold acceptance, but with a loving adherence which involves all the powers of the soul.

However, since evidence is lacking, doubt may always arise in the mind, and I should not be astonished at this. It is natural for the human intellect to doubt what it does not see and does not understand. Sometimes doubts are caused by ignorance, in which case we have a duty to seek further instruction; but at other times they will be mere temptations which must be overcome by an act of the will: Lord, I believe because I want to believe; I believe, even if I am in darkness, if I cannot see or understand; I believe solely on your word." --from Divine Intimacy #242 (p. 723 in the one volume)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Narrow Road - (the road less travelled)

Scripture: Matthew 7:6, 12-14
Grace: To enter the narrow gate

"Two roads there are, two attitudes to life. One is to look for the most comfortable and agreeable way, to pamper the body and avoid sacrifice and penance; the other to seek the will of God even though it takes an effort to guard the senses and keep the body in check. It is either to live like pilgrims who, since they are only passing through, have what they strictly need and do not attach much importance to material things, or to be chained down by comfort-seeking, by pleasure and material goods which are seen as ends in themselves and not simply as means." -- from In Conversation With God, vol. 3, p. 652.


"Don't draw back, and worse still, don't stop going up the Calvary of life. Jesus will extend His hand to steady you. The thought of the sustaining grace of God and the prize that Jesus has reserved for you will be a sweet comfort."

-- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

Friday, June 18, 2010

Our Treasure

The spiritual man must learn to leave himself and all other things for the love of God. He must possess nothing with any tenacious affection of heart. He must remember that not only bad things, but even those that are good, may become hindrances if they are loved or sought inordinately...He must in everything give up his own self-will, resigning it to God, wholly pouring it forth into God and making it perfectly one with God's will...In everything he must seek God and his honor and will, so that to his very prayers, and pious desires he must join a humble self-denial and resignation of himself, desiring that not his own, but God's will should be done. All things that happen to him he must refer to the divine will, and take them just as they are from the hand of the Lord...In prosperity as well as adversity, in losses, injuries, calumnies, reproaches, scornful insults or contempt, in pains of body and anxiety and heaviness of heart, in grief and in interior desolation and woe...he must praise God, believing that he both can and will advance his salvation by all these things. Blosius The Venerable (1566)
taken from Magnificat, June 2010

Where is your heart?

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-21
Grace: To break free from selfishness

"Our heart is made for God, and for the noble things of this earth in him. It is useful for us to ask ourselves frequently: What do I give my heart to? Exactly where is my treasure? What is the focal point of my most intimate concern? Is it God, present in the Tabernacle...or could it be unsatisfied selfish dreams..."
--from In Conversation With God, vol. 3 p. 615

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Lord, teach us to pray

Scripture: Matthew 6:7-15
Grace: To pray and never lose heart

"Along with vocal prayers, the soul needs the daily food of mental prayer. Thanks to these moments of meditation and to our vocal prayer and aspirations, we will be able to turn our whole day into a continuous praise of God,k in a natural way and sithout any outward display. Just as people in love are always thinking about each other, we will beaware of God's presence. And all our actions, down to the most insignificant, will be filled with spiritual effectiveness. The Lord will look on them with satisfaction and will bless them. --from In Conversation With God, vol. 3, p. 614.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Called to holiness

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48
Grace: To desire sanctity

"All Sacred Scripture is a calling to holiness, to the fullness of charity, but Jesus makes it quite explicit in the Gospel of today's Mass: You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. And Christ is not addressing his words to the Apostles or to just a few of his followers, but to everyone...Today, we implore this of God: Lord, grant us a lively desire for sanctity that we may be exemplary in our duty of loving you more each day. Help us to spread your doctrine everywhere...

Our Lord is not happy with a lukewarm life and a half-hearted dedication...And so the Master purifies his own, permitting them to experience trials and contradictions...All the pain God allows, whether it be of body or of mind, serves to purify the soul so that it may yield more fruit. It is the mystery of suffering that we have to see it always as a grace from Heaven." -- from In Conversation With God, vol. 3 pp.596-598

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Forgiveness of sins

Scripture: Luke 7:36-8:3
Grace: To love much, having been forgiven much

Thoughts from today's sermon:

Faith shapes us interiorly. We are not saved by our good works, but by surrendering to Christ and the redemption He won for us.

Why do we come to Jesus? Do we come from abject and humble necessity, knowing it is the only source of grace and forgiveness? Do we acknowledge our need for grace, or are we self-sufficient (like Simon, the pharisee)?

Think about the two figures in the gospel, Simon and the woman.
Which one are you?
Which would the Lord prefer?
What are you going to do about it?

Friday, June 11, 2010

Fountain of All Graces

Scripture: Luke 15:3-7
Grace: To trust fully in the love of His Sacred Heart

"Even our shortcomings, our limitations, and our weaknesses must lead us back to the Heart of Jesus. His divine Heart calls to our hearts, inviting us to come out of ourselves, to abandon our human certainties to trust in him and, following his example, to make of ourselves a gift of love without reserve." (Pope Benedict XVI) quoted in Magnificat June 2010, p. 146

"Christians, Jesus gives us his Heart, and what does he ask of us in return? He asks us for ours. "My Son," he says, "give me your heart." Our heart must give itself to some object, for it cannot live without loving. On one side the world claims its affections to make of our poor heart a living hell; on the other, Jesus desires ardently to take possession of it, in order to transform it even during this life into a paradise of delights To whom then shall we give it? To you, Jesus! God of love! To you alone I give my whole heart without return, without reserve, in life and in death, in time and eternity." -- from Magnificat, June 2010 p. 152

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Come after Me...

Scripture: Mark 8:34-35
Grace: To take up my cross and follow Him

"He (Our Lord) now asks for a deeper detachment. One must renounce self, one's own ego, and what is most personal. But for a disciple of Christ every act of self-giving includes an affirmation: to cease living for oneself so that Christ may live in me (Gal 2:20)...The whole of Christian living is an affirmation of life, love and friendship. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Christ offers us divine filiation and a sharing in the intimate life of the Most Blessed Trinity. What stands in the way of that wonderful promise is simply attachment to our own ego, our love of comfort, well-being and success. Thus mortification is necessary. It is not something negative, but rather detachment from self in order to allow Jesus to live in us. Hence the paradox: to Live we must die. We must die to ourselves in order to live a supernatural life." --from In Conversation With God, vol. 3, pp.-

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

True Prophet

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-19; 1Kings 18:20-39
Grace: To hear the Word of the Lord

"Seek your place of refuge in the Divine Heart, the haven of tranquility. Within that furnace of saintly love, become evermore inflamed with love for God." St. Gaspar del Bufalo (quoted in Magnificat, June 2010, p. 107)

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Salt of the Earth

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16
Grace: To know Him and to be transformed by that knowledge

"If we are to help the people around us, it is not enough for us to have a vague and superficial knowledge of the way. We need to walk along it ourselves and to have firsthand knowledge of the obstacles that lie in our path and have to be surmounted. We need to have interior life, to enter daily into personal conversation with Jesus. We need to know his doctrine ever more deeply; to struggle with still more determination to overcome our own defects...
...Lukewarmness destroys the strength and endurance of the Faith, and is the soulmate, in both a personal and a collective way, of compromise and of a spirit of comfort-seeking..... In many spheres, the 'normal Christian' now generally means someone who is lukewarm and mediocre.

When love grows cold and faith falls asleep, the salt loses its savour and is no longer good for anything. It is just something for throwing away. What a pity if a Christian were to become as useless as this!
...We will be the true salt of the earth if we keep up our daily conversation with God and if we go with ever-greater faith and love to receive the Holy Eucharist. -- from In Conversation With God, vol. 3, pp 546-7

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Scripture: Luke 9: 11-17
Grace: To worthily receive Him today

"This is the Blessed Sacrament! It may be said to contain all the splendor of the creation, incarnation, and redemption, the whole life of Jesus, and to present it all to the faithful as their daily nourishment of love, prayer, and contemplation." --Blessed John XXIII, quoted in Magnificat, June 2010, p. 79

What better nourishment for the life of the Spirit within us than the food provided by the Lord Himself!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Poverty of Spirit

Scripture: Mark 12:38-44
Grace: To be poor in spirit - and give from that poverty

"Save us by the power of your hand, Father, for our enemies have ignored your words. May the fire of your word consume our sins, and its brightness illumine our hearts." --psalm prayer from this morning's Liturgy of the Hours

I am struck this morning by the idea of giving from our poverty. What we can give that is of value is only what we are filled with "by the fire of His Word", inother words, when we are emptied of ourselves and self concern and filled with His love.

Friday, June 4, 2010

The light of the Word

Scripture: Mark 12:35-37
Grace: To hear what He speaks

"God our Father,
you conquer the darkness of ignorance
by the light of your Word.
Strengthen within our hearts
the faith you have given us;
let not temptation ever quench the fire
that your love has kindled within us.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever."
--from today's Morning Prayer

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Love the Lord, your God

Scripture: Mark 12: 28-34
Grace: To know the love of God

"This is the sign by which the soul can clearly see whether it loves God or not, with a pure love: if a person loves God, his heart will not be centered in on himself, it will not be concerned only with achieving its own likes and comforts. It will give itself to seeking the honor and glory of God and to pleasing Him. The more a heart keeps for itself, the less it has for God. We want to have our heart placed in God and in the people and the tasks that we do through Him and with Him." -- from In Conversation With God, vol 3, p. 502, quoting St John of the Cross.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Heaven - our true home

Scripture: Mark 12: 18-27
Grace: To hope in heaven.

"We should not forget for a moment what it is we are travelling towards. We should not forget the true value of the things that cause us so much concern. Our goal is Heaven. To be with Christ, soul and body, is what God created us for. This is why here on earth Our last word? It can only be a smile... a merry song. On the other side Our Lord is waiting for us, with his hands held out in a welcoming gesture." from In Conversation With God, vol. 3, p. 495.

"Your hope must be in heaven, not on earth." Saint Augustine, quoted in Magnificat, June, 2010, p. 44.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Obedience

Scripture: Mark 12: 13-17
Grace: To be silent before Him

"the life of a priest leads the way for the Christian flock, but leads by obedience. For the quieting of the will to make one's opinions known is like a sweet curfew, a shutting of doors, a surrender to what is good and loving. How many of us cannot hear, because we will not cease talking! And what good does all our talking do, by comparison with an hour of listening, or a single act of love undertaken in silence? Surrender to the Lord, and our very silence will speak." Anthony Esolen, in Magnificat, June 2010, p. 6

Novena to the Holy Spirit

"Wait for the promise of the Father...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Acts 1:5,6

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.