Called

"This is my only comfort, that of being associated with Jesus in the Divine Sacrifice and in the redemption of souls." - St. Pio of Pietrelcina

 

We must always pray for those appointed to serve us in this journey. They are human just like us, but they have heard and obeyed the call of Jesus to serve Him in a very unique way. Their faults will be magnified. We must pray for them often, and encourage them when we can. If we disagree with them, we must do so in love. We must be patient and trust the Lord, for they have been called to the wondrous service of administering His Sacraments.

 

wkm

 

A Roman Catholic priest, Saint Josemaría Escrivá,

 

 

 

 

Heaven is full of slum people...

Now heaven is full of slum people. Jesus must be very happy to have those thousands coming to Him, with love from Calcutta---Please pray for me that I be only all for Jesus through Mary.---Mother Teresa, from "Come Be My Light"

 

God's desire for the souls of men is relentless. Jesus, Who is the second Person in the Trinity, Who is God from God, Light from Light, Who is the Word by which all things are made, took on flesh through the Virgin Mary. We could meditate on this alone for eternity and never truly understand its depth. She was chosen long before that moment Gabriel appeared to her. She was "full of grace" from her conception, long before Gabriel said, "Hail, Full of Grace!" We must see and try to grasp as much as we can of this Truth. It had never happened before and it will never happen again! All for your soul and mine, He left His Father's side to come here to walk this earth, feel hunger, thirst, weariness, temptation...  He came to suffer, die, and rise again. He comes gently, with simple humility. Satan, in his pride, tempted the woman and she grasped, and then Adam grasped with her. Jesus comes to us through a woman who says "fiat", "let it be done unto me according to Your will", she did not grasp. And Paul tells us that Jesus did not grasp, instead, He emptied Himself.  We must bring this message to those around us, we must make sure we have done all we can to help those we meet know this incredible news. Mother Teresa did this, and she teaches us still to see Him in the lonely. Lord, have mercy on us!

 

wkm

 

 

Graititude!

...for unless in humility He had come down to us, none of us by our own merits could ever go up to Him.---St. Leo the Great, pope, 5th century

 

Thank You Jesus! Thank You Father! Thank You Holy Spirit!! What an amazing plan of love our God is working out in us daily! Baptism begins our journey, we are to quote Jesus, "born again of water and Spirit", we begin anew by the Holy Spirit's regenerating power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead! Think of it, we are no longer slaves to ego and sin, and as "new creatures", we must battle ego and sin until the end. It is by His grace that we battle.  This is why we need His Sacraments for they affect the actual grace they represent in our little lives when we join them to our faith. We need His Body and Blood, for this is how He said to abide in Him, and to know Life! We need His forgiveness, we need the penance and humility these Sacraments bring. The Holy Spirit of love is the One working in these gifts given through the Church. It is His work in man. He came down to us in humility so that we could go up to Him in humility. Diablo hates humility. Praise You Jesus, our Beloved!

 

wkm

 

Resolution

Rejoice! -----St. Peter

 

Nothing changes on New Year's Day.---Bono

 

The new year begins. What is new about it? We still have the same bills to pay, the same weight to lose, the same car to drive, the same ailments and challenges as before. So what is new about this day? Actually very little. But a new year is not why we rejoice. We rejoice for we are known fully, and loved madly by the Triune God. Each new day is His gift to all. This is reason enough to rejoice. But no, there is more, each new day is full of mercy, and grace, and help for our weary souls as we fight the good fight. Father doesn't take a day off, not even a moment does He forget us. The "new year" is symbolic of a new beginning. So, let's use this day, when the 8 became 9, to turn our hearts and minds more passionately to our Lord. Let's decide, with His help, to give Him the next 365 days, from dawn till dusk. Let us say to Him, " This is our resolution Lord, to move closer to Your Sacred Heart of love, to take up our crosses and follow in Your steps, and by Your grace, to be like Mary, the Mother of God, who always says yes to Your will. This is our resolution sweet Lord, please help us, for apart from You we can do nothing."

 

wkm

 

Unto Me

Teach us to give and not to count the cost.---St. Ignatius of Loyola

 

I hope our New Year's resolutions are not about us this year. I hope they are about losing our lives for His sake, instead of losing weight. I hope we can make them about the Theo-Drama and not the ego-drama. What if we make this new year the year of giving? What if we decide, by grace, to make it our goal to have less stuff and money by this time next year than we have today? What if we try the impossible, to outgive God in the new year? It would be scary at times. It would require courage, a little recklessness, and Holy reason; and, it would require a faith we may not truly understand at the moment. Money and stuff hits home. Jesus said we cannot serve God and mammon, for we "would hate one and love the other." Which one do we love today? This could be the greatest and most exciting year of our little lives if we surrender them to Jesus and to those around us with need. He said, "When you do it to the least of these, you do it unto Me." What if we made this new year the year of "Unto Me"?

 

wkm

 

Upside Down

If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the cross, which Christ used for His own great sacrifice of boundless charity.--- Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

 

Heavy. This is a heavy thought. How incredible it must be, to be so dead to self, that one rejoices in suffering! That one finds great joy in being humiliated or broken, or considers one's self favored highly by God when life becomes a trial. This is a bizarre way to live. It is upside down, foreign to our culture, and to our modern Christianity of sweet blessings, and God fixing everything for us when we want it fixed. In fact, when we truly study the words of our Lord they sound very much like St. Ignatius of Loyola, "If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in my footsteps." (Matt 16:24)" This also sounds like the apostle Paul, " I rejoice in my sufferings.." Weird. God's Kingdom is so upside down to our thinking. Someone asked Thomas Merton one day what he wanted to be now that he was Catholic. He said, "I guess I want to be a good catholic", to which his friend replied, "no, you should want to be a saint." This changed Merton's life. It should challenge ours as well.

 

wkm

 

Deeper Prayer...

"How important it is for us to try to grow with Jesus and increase our knowledge and love of Him. This book is meant to do exactly that. These prayers will help you understand how Christians throughout the ages have lifted their hearts and minds to Jesus Christ." — Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.

 

I encourage you to read this book of prayer put together by Fr. Groeschel, to keep it on your desk, or by your bed. One of the great treasures of our faith are the prayers of those who have loved and followed Jesus throughout the centuries. It is so encouraging to understand that we are never alone in this journey. We have so "great a cloud of witnesses", and in this book by Fr. Groeschel, we have some of their thoughts and prayers. These kind of collections bring such depth to our walk, why in the world would we not want to read and meditate on anything that exists only to bring us closer to Jesus, our Beloved? In this moment, think of your favorite Saint, now ask him or her to help you be more devoted to Jesus, as they were while they walked through this valley of tears. You my be surprised by the results of their prayers for you.

 

wkm

Fr. Groeschel's Praying To Our Lord Jesus Christ: Prayers and Meditations Through the Centuries