12 August 2022
Let him who does not pray expect nothing whatsoever from God — neither
salvation nor renewal no direction nor grace. Rather, he is consigned to the
whims and fancy of his own mind, the will of his own ego, and the direction of
his own thinking. He is like one who has rejected the intervention of the Lord
Jesus in his life, like one who hides himself from the Spirit of God. A man who
does not pray is one who is content with his own condition. He wishes to remain
as he is and not be changed, renewed or saved. His life unconsciously changes
from bad to worse. He recedes spiritually day after day. The ties that bind him
to the earth and to the flesh increase without his awareness. His ego remains
the source of all his desires and ambitions.
Matthew the Poor (1919-2006)
Cultivate One Desire
11 August 2022
Even the holiest desires, whether they refer to the salvation of souls or the needs of the Church, which are very great, should be consumed in the fire of the love of God, whence they proceed, and await God’s time for their fulfillment. Meanwhile cultivate one only desire, the most perfect of all; that is, to please God more and more, and to nourish yourself with His will.
Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
Even the holiest desires, whether they refer to the salvation of souls or the needs of the Church, which are very great, should be consumed in the fire of the love of God, whence they proceed, and await God’s time for their fulfillment. Meanwhile cultivate one only desire, the most perfect of all; that is, to please God more and more, and to nourish yourself with His will.
Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
On Love
10 August 2022
Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
On Prayer
9 August 2022
For many of us prayer means nothing more than speaking with God. And since it usually seems to be a quite one-sided affair, prayer simply means talking to God. This idea is enough to create great frustrations. If I present a problem, I expect a solution; if I formulate a question, I expect an answer; if I ask for guidance, I expect a response. And when it seems, increasingly, that I am talking into the dark, it is not so strange that I soon begin to suspect that my dialogue with God is in fact a monologue. Then I may begin to ask myself: To whom am I really speaking, God or myself? The crisis of our prayer life is that our mind may be filled with ideas of God while our heart remains far from him.
Henri Nouwen
For many of us prayer means nothing more than speaking with God. And since it usually seems to be a quite one-sided affair, prayer simply means talking to God. This idea is enough to create great frustrations. If I present a problem, I expect a solution; if I formulate a question, I expect an answer; if I ask for guidance, I expect a response. And when it seems, increasingly, that I am talking into the dark, it is not so strange that I soon begin to suspect that my dialogue with God is in fact a monologue. Then I may begin to ask myself: To whom am I really speaking, God or myself? The crisis of our prayer life is that our mind may be filled with ideas of God while our heart remains far from him.
Henri Nouwen
On Temptation
8 August 2022
If temptation comes upon you in the place where you are living, do not to abandon the place where temptation came upon you; otherwise, no matter where you go, you will be confronted there by that from which you are fleeing. So wait patiently until the temptation is past so that there be no scandal attached to your withdrawal and that your departure does not occasion any offense to those who are living in the place.
The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
If temptation comes upon you in the place where you are living, do not to abandon the place where temptation came upon you; otherwise, no matter where you go, you will be confronted there by that from which you are fleeing. So wait patiently until the temptation is past so that there be no scandal attached to your withdrawal and that your departure does not occasion any offense to those who are living in the place.
The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
Wrong is Wrong
7 August 2022
Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it, and right is right even if nobody is doing it.
Saint Augustine
Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it, and right is right even if nobody is doing it.
Saint Augustine
Be A Success
5 August 2022
I will be a success if when I stand at the beginning of eternity, God remembers my life on earth with a smile.
Donald X. Burt (1929-2014)
I will be a success if when I stand at the beginning of eternity, God remembers my life on earth with a smile.
Donald X. Burt (1929-2014)
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