"Encouraged by this remembrance of the blessings of God and filled with confidence, the soul then makes its petitions. It prays for itself, begging God to have pity on its weakness and misery, telling Him of its sincere desire to belong entirely to Him and surrendering itself to all of God's designs. It prays for those who are dear to it, for the Church, for the Holy Father, for priests, for the conversion of sinners and unbelievers, for the spiritual and temporal needs which one has at heart; asking, in short that the name of God may be sanctified, that His kingdom may come, and His will be accomplished.
The soul unites its prayer with those of Christ, who continually offers for us His satisfactions and His merits and those of His Mother Mary."
-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by Fr François Jamart, ocd
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3 comments:
This fragment is a wonderful reminder of how humbling blessings can be. Without God, we would have accomplished nothing, understood little, seen only darkly. I love to be spoiled by God's blessings, but everyone reminds me of how weak and little I am and how dependent on Him.
I enjoy your site; the references are great.
St Thérèse teaches us that to be little and dependent on God is the best way to attain perfection: 'Can't I find an elevator which will take me up to Jesus, since I'm not big enough to climb the steep stairway of perfection?' So I looked in the Bible for some hint about the life I wanted, and I came across the passage where Eternal Wisdom says: 'Whosoever is a little one let him come to Me.' To that Wisdom I went; it seemed as if I was on the right track; what did God undertake to do for the child-like soul that responded to His invitation? I read on, and this is what I found: I will console you like a mother caressing her son; you shall be like children carried at the breast, fondled on a mother's lap. I could after all, be lifted up to heaven, in the arms of Jesus! And if that was to happen, there was no need for me to grow bigger, on the contrary, I must be as small as ever, smaller than ever."
So if everyone's reminding you "of how weak and little... and dependent on Him" you are, I'd venture to say you're right on track in the School of Thérèse! Let us be grateful for his countless graces and blessings... I'm glad you like the blog.
Telesia: Your last comment posted. There was a glitch with the comment feature but it was fixed several days ago. Glad to know you, too, enjoy the blogs.
Please pray for me.
Dear Sister,
Thank you for the explanation.
"Please pray for me."
Absolutely..you can count on it!
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