Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Build An Oratory Within Yourself

Build an oratory within yourself, and there have Jesus on the altar of your heart. Speak to Him often of His holy love, of His holy sufferings and of the sorrows of Most Holy Mary. - St. Paul of the Cross

Monday, May 12, 2014

Make The Treasures And The Glory Of Heaven The End Of All Your Efforts

If your heart craves joy, raise it to the contemplation of that Good which contains in Itself all joys.  If you are in love with this created life, consider the eternal life which awaits you above.  If the beauty of creatures attracts you, live that you may one day possess the Source of all beauty, in whom are life, and strength, and glory, and immortality, and the fullness of all our desires.  If you find happiness in friendship and the society of generous hearts, consider the noble beings with whom you will be united by the tenderest ties for all eternity.  If your ambition seeks wealth and honors, make the treasures and the glory of Heaven the end of all your efforts.  Finally, if you desire freedom from all evil and rest from all labor, in Heaven alone can your desires be gratified.  – The Sinner’s Guide (Chapter 9, Paragraph 21)

Monday, March 31, 2014

Why Your Body Matters for Prayer

Christian prayer is embodied prayer. In C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters we discovered an experienced devil giving lessons to a young temptor. At one point, the veteran orders his young charge to encourage his 'client,' a budding Christian, to envision prayer as something very 'interior' and 'mystical,' having little to do with posture or the position of the body. He wants the poor Christian to think that whether he stands, slouches, sits, or kneels is irrelevant to the quality of his communication with God. This, of course, is the Cartesian voice, the belief that our bodies and souls are independent and have little to do with each other.

But then consider the view of William James. In his Principles of Psychology, James writes that it is not so much sadness that makes us cry as crying that makes us feel sad. The body in a significant sense precedes the mind.

The same dynamic occurs when we pray. It is not so much keen feelings of devotion that force us to our knees as kneeling that gives rise to keen feelings of devotion.

If you're having difficulty in prayer today, try kneeling, or bowing, or making some sort of reverent gesture. The body often leads the mind into a deeper spiritual space. - Fr Robert Barron

Thursday, February 13, 2014

We Must Have A Real Living Determination To Reach Holiness...

We must have a real living determination to reach holiness. I will be a saint means I will despoil myself of all that is not God; I will strip my heart of all created things; I will live in poverty and detachment; I will renounce my will, my inclinations, my whims and fancies, and make myself a willing slave to the will of God. - Blessed Mother Teresa

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Rebel Against This Culture That Sees Everything As Temporary

Pope Francis said: “Today, there are those who say that marriage is out of fashion; in a culture of relativism and the ephemeral, many preach the importance of ‘enjoying’ the moment. They say that it is not worth making a life-long commitment, making a definitive decision, ‘forever,’ because we do not know what tomorrow will bring.”

“I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believe that you are incapable of responsibility, that you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you. Have the courage ‘to swim against the tide.’ Have the courage to be happy,” the Pope added.


http://www.rappler.com/world/35077-pope-youth-marriage