Persevere and go along they way of humble submission to God's good pleasure

"The real test and end of prayer is union with God, and the real test of that is acceptance of His will. But there is no denying that this is not the inevitable result of prayer; there is a type which, practically speaking, appears to lead no one any farther. Our Mother begged me quite severely on no account to practise that sort; she said it was no good at all in the religious life. It may be a source of great pleasure to those practising it, but they keep it, as it were, in a separate compartment of their head, or their heard, or somewhere, and it never gets anywhere near the will, either God's or their own. She said that Christ did not teach us to pray like that: He taught us to pray, 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,' and we poor mortals just could not imagine how perfectly it was done in heaven because it was so far above us. Still, we could struggle towards it, towards the perfection of surrender to the will of God that is, and that was the whole use and meaning of things like holy poverty, and mortification, and detachment.

Prayer itself and its effects must keep constantly in step, and where the prayer begins to leave the effects far behind, so that we are practising a prayer, not one or two, but four or five degrees beyond our display of practical virtue, it is time to do something about it or we run the danger of ending up in delusion. She pointed out that the proper way was not in the least to slow down or stop the prayer, but only to speed up the practice of virtue.

Then she became quite serious; she began to tell me about the people who have real difficulty praying, and real darkness in their souls. It sounded quite awful as she described it; awful and yet marvelous. Of course, one reads St John of the Cross, but that is a saint writing about wonderful experiences in the Middle Ages, and this was an old nun talking of that she seemed to think quite every day happenings... She  described how such people will sit in church or choir for an hour on end, trying to concentrate, trying to find their way to God through the dark, and everything remains completely blank. They can, of course, still pray vocally, but they do not want to pray vocally. They could, of course, meditate, but unfortunately they do not want to mediate. What they want - and want with their whole souls - is to find God: to find Him in heaven, or to find Him within themselves, they do not care where or how, so long as they find Him. And they cannot.

But if they persevere, one day, she said, they will. If they go on quietly stepping along they way of mortification, of patience, of humble submission to God's good pleasure; if they follow the star which is leading them, even though it is always unaccountably disappearing over the edge of their world; if they follow it, not only trying to pull it down to them but by climbing slowly and painfully towards it, towards the clearer skies above, it will lead them to that real communion with God for which their souls long. All paths in prayer lead to Him, provided that they are the up-paths of solid virtue, and not mere cul-de-sacs of pious fancy and the end of which we shall find nothing more exciting than ourselves."

--  A Nun's Answer by A Carmelite Nun

Parents and children are meant to be a source of mutual grace

“[There are many parents] who judge themselves to be failures … (or who at least wonder whether God sees them that way). Many Catholics are confused and upset because their grown children, in spite of receiving a Catholic education and a good example from their parents, have left the Church or remain only as nominal members, but no longer practice the Faith. Inadequate catechesis, youthful rebellion, the allurements of the world, the bad influence of peers and role models, selfishness, and laziness all play their part. Sometimes parents themselves fail not by living out their Faith in a genuine, committed way; but even living out their Faith sincerely is no guarantee that their children will remain true to the Faith.

If you mourn over a grown child who has let go of or rejected the Faith, it may console you to know that even some of the saints had this struggle or disappointment. They, more than anyone, knew the importance of teaching their children to love God and neighbor. Some of them succeeded; others failed.

One of [St Elizabeth Ann Seton’s’] two sons lived an immoral life, in spite of her ceaseless prayers and sacrifices on his behalf.

The sixth-century queen St Clotilda, widow of the Frankish king Clovis, suffered greatly as a result of her sons’ quarreling over the royal throne; one of them was killed in battle, and another tried to secure the throne for himself by murdering his nephews (Clotilda’s grandsons).

Something similar occurred several centuries later in the life of St Matilda. The widow of King Henry I of Germany, she was the mother of St Bruno (who caused her little trouble) and of Emperor Otto I and Prince ‘Henry the Quarrelsome’ (both of whom caused her considerable grief). Matilda, perhaps unwisely, favored Henry, which caused Otto to treat her poorly. Henry, instead of being grateful for her support, also treated her badly. The one thing the two brothers agreed on was that Matilda was much too generous to the poor and to the Church. She ignored their complaints, treated them with patience, and eventually died with the affection and respect of the common people.

Children can cause their parents grief by ignoring God’s call, but sometimes these roles are reversed. In the eleventh century, the future St Anselm, discerning a religious vocation, wanted to enter a monastery at the age of fifteen; his father strictly forbade this. Anselm rebelled by going to the opposite extreme: he abandoned religion altogether and lived in a carefree, irresponsible manner. Thus, an unsupportive parent was partly to blame for a youth’s rebelliousness. Fortunately, Anselm later repented and thereafter answered his calling.

It’s God’s will that parents raise their children in righteousness and help prepare them for their spiritual pilgrimage. This means that parents must have a living faith, and as St Francis Xavier observed, ‘No man ever really finds out what he believes until he begins to instruct his children.’ Our children are precious to us, for they have been entrusted to us by God. We want the very best for them, and so it’s only natural for us to be distressed if they ignore or reject their moral and religious upbringing. In such a case, the Lord wants us to remain loving and accepting toward them, but also unceasing in our prayers and unyielding in our Faith.

Parents and children are meant to be a source of mutual grace and encouragement, helping one another to come closer to God. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. Your children may have caused you grief by their unrestrained lives or their leaving the Church. But the example of St Monica speaks of the need to persevere in hope and in prayer. God can work miracles of grace at an instant’s notice and in the most unexpected ways, and He rejoices in those loving parents who seek to cooperate with Him on their children’s behalf.”

-- Saintly Solutions to Life’s Common Problems by Fr Joseph Esper

Do you have 15 minutes as a gift to scriptural reading?

"To regularly read the Bible takes time, and time is a scarce commodity. So we think! Human beings have an unusual capacity always to find time for nonessential things but not for what will give them true happiness. We leave the most important to the last. Intentions can be good. When we have washed the dishes and cleaned the house, when everything in its place and the whole house is in order, then we can devote ourselves to prayer and reading in peace. But a house is never completely in order, new things constantly emerge that should and could be done.

We find time for most things. But we lack the time intended to devote to Bible-reading, just ten or fifteen minutes. The days is precisely fifteen minutes too short! Would it help if the day were somewhat longer? Not at all. At least once a year we get an extra hour, when we leave summer time in October and return to normal time. Do we then find more time to pray?

How often does it not happen that we suddenly gain one or two hours because something we intended to do was unexpectedly done by another or because an invited guest sent regrets? All at once, there was an entire afternoon unexpectedly at our disposal. But immediately masses of new things to do offer themselves to fill the vacant time. Just imagine if we gave all the time we get in this was as a gift to prayer or scriptural reading? The words of Christ would really live in us in all riches and with all his wisdom (Col 3:16).

John Crysostom (c 345-407) speaks hard words to those who don't think that Bible-reading is so important:

All of you perhaps say: 'I'm not a monk.' But you're mistaken when you believe that the Scriptures only concern monks while you, ordinary believers, need it much more. There is something which is more serious and sinful than not to read the Scriptures, namely to believe that scriptural reading is unnecessary and serves no purpose.'"

-- Nourished by the Word: Reading the Bible Contemplatively by Fr Wilfrid Stinissen, ocd


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The "I don't have time" or "I have too much to do" problem is also endemic to religious life, from the active to the cloistered. Sad, but true. It is so easy to get all caught up in "I need to do this", "I should do that"... That Scripture reading, and even prayer at times, can be neglected. This is more so for lay persons, particularly those married with children (in my opinion). There will always be things to be done. Is there anything at all that can be pushed back for 15 minutes without there being a catastrophe? Then try to do so, and offer those minutes to God, to listen to His word speak to YOU.

Make God happy: voluntarily sacrifice some time to listen to his word

"With prayer and reading the Bible, it like all else is healthy and desirable: it goes more easily when it is done with a certain regularity. Regularity is a concrete expression for the faith which is an essential element in love. It is something other than iron-hard discipline but also something other than carelessness. Faithfulness causes me to pray or read not only when it feels good, and it means also that one can make an exception when there is reason for it. God doesn't want us to ask the impossible of ourselves, but he becomes happy when we voluntarily sacrifice some of our time to listen to his word, even if we just now don't feel any special desire to do it.
There are periods and situations when we lack the strength or quite simply the possibility to pray or read. But we often have more strength than we think. There is truly nothing wrong in making a little more order in our ife. It is very fruitful to make an extra effort to get over the threshold to try to overcome a certain adversity or apathy.

Love does not consist only of spontaneous movements and events; it means also hard work with yourself. Those who endeavor to discipline themselves will, it is true, often fail - those who don't try never fail! - and accuse themselves for this, often with justice. But why should we be afraid to fail? There is no progress without many failed attempts. And to the extent that our failure is dependet on fault on our part, there is forgiveness. Our failures create a greater need for forgiveness and can in this way lead us nearer to God. Nor is it so bad to undervalue oneself a as Christian. Haven't all the saints done it? It is part of love that that it never loves enough, and always wants to love more. You are never a complete Christian; at best you will become one."

-- Nourished by the Word: Reading the Bible Contemplatively by Fr Wilfrid Stinissen, ocd

Transform me so that through me all may know Christ

"As the consecration of the Mass draws near our Lord is equivalently saying to us: "You, Mary; you, John; you, Peter; and you, Andrew-you, all of you-give Me your body; give Me your blood. Give Me your whole self! I can suffer no more. I have passed through My cross, I have filled up the sufferings of My physical body, but I have not filled up the sufferings wanting to My Mystical Body, in which you are. The Mass is the moment when each one of you may literally fulfill My injunction: 'Take up your cross and follow Me.'"

On the cross our Blessed Lord was looking forward to you, hoping that one day you would be giving yourself to Him at the moment of consecration. Today, in the Mass, that hope our Blessed Lord entertained for you is fulfilled. When you assist at the Mass He expects you now actually to give Him yourself.

Then as the moment of consecration arrives, the priest in obedience to the words of our Lord, "Do this for a commemoration of me," takes bread in his hands and says "This is my body"; and then over the chalice of wine says, "This is the chalice of my blood of the new and eternal testament." He does not consecrate the bread and wine together, but separately.

The separate consecration of the bread and wine is a symbolic representation of the separation of body and blood, and since the Crucifixion entailed that very mystery, Calvary is thus renewed on our altar. But Christ, as has been said, is not alone on our altar; we are with Him. Hence the words of consecration have a double sense; the primary signification of the words is: "This is the Body of Christ; this is the Blood of Christ;" but the secondary signification is "This is my body; this is my blood."

Such is the purpose of life! To redeem ourselves in union with Christ; to apply His merits to our souls by being like Him in all things, even to His death on the Cross. He passed through His consecration on the Cross that we might now pass through ours in the Mass. There is nothing more tragic in all the world than wasted pain. Think of how much suffering there is in hospitals, among the poor, and the bereaved. Think also of how much of that suffering goes to waste! How many of those lonesome, suffering, abandoned, crucified souls are saying with our Lord at the moment of consecration, "This is my body. Take it"? And yet that is what we all should be saying at that second: I give myself to God. Here is my body – take it. Here is my blood – take it. Here is my soul, my will, my energy, my strength, my property, my wealth – all that I have: it is yours – take it! Consecrate it! Offer it! Offer it with thyself to the Heavenly Father in other that He, looking down on this great sacrifice, may see only, His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased. Transmute the poor bread of my life into thy divine life, swirl the wine of my wasted life into thy divine spirit; unite my broken heart with thy heart; change my cross into a crucifix.

Let no my abandonment and my sorrow and my bereavement go to waste. Gather up the fragments, and as the drop of water is absorbed by the wine at the offertory of the Mass, let my life be absorbed in thine; let my little cross be entwined with the great cross so that I may purchase the joys of everlasting happiness in union with thee.

Consecrate these trial of my life which would go unrewarded unless united with thee; transubstantiate me so that like bread which is now thy body, and wine which is now thy blood, I too my be wholly thine. I care not if the species remain, or that, like the bread and the wine I seem to all earthly eyes the same as before. My station in life, my routine duties, my work, my family — all these are but the species of my life which remain unchanged; but the substance of my life: my soul, my mind, my will, my heart – transubstantiate them, transform them wholly into thy service, so that through me all may know how sweet is the life of Christ."

-- Calvary and the Mass by Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Memorial of St Clare of Assisi

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St Clare. For a nice mini biographical sketch, please visit this site. The following is from a letter of St Clare of Assisi to Ermentrudes of Bruges.

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"This labor of ours is brief, but the reward is eternal; let the noises of the fleeting world and its shadow not confound you; let the empty specters of the deceiving world not drive you mad; shut your ears to the whispers of hell and, strong, break down its attempts [against you]; willingly bear adverse evils and let provident goods not puff you up; for the one requires faith, the other demands it; what you promised God, faithfully render, and he will repay you.

O dearest, look on heaven that invites us, and bear the cross and follow Christ who preceded us; indeed, after various and many tribulations we shall enter through him into his glory. Love with your whole heart God and Jesus, his son, crucified for our sins, and never let his memory escape your mind; make yourself mediate continually on the mysteries of the cross and the anguish of the mother standing beneath the cross.

Pray and be always vigilant. And the work that you began well, finish and the ministry you assumed, fulfil in holy poverty and sincere humility. Do not fear, daughter, God is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works, he will pour out his blessing on you and your daughters; and he will be your helper and your best consoler; he is our redeemer and our eternal reward.

Let us pray God for each other, for in bearing each other's burden of charity we shall fulfil the law of Christ."