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"Lord have mercy on me and bless that person."When I say it (quite often through righteously clenched teeth) I am forced to remember all the times that I have annoyed people just as greatly as I am now being annoyed. I remember that in asking God to bless that person that it is also an invitation to me to love and forgive them as St. Augustine mentions here.
That your enemies have been created is God's doing; that they hate you and wish to ruin you is their own doing. What should you say about them in your mind? "Lord be merciful to them, forgive them their sins, put the fear of God in them, change them!" You are loving in them not what they are, but what you would have them to become.That prayer works. By the time that I have repeated it several times not only have I calmed down but I am able to practice a much truer form of charity than I would have by merely mouthing nice words while being madder than a wet hen.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.Maybe this is why I have such a fondness for Scripture and quotes that remind me to have a more charitable outlook. I know my need for help in this area. Here are some that have resonated with me and perhaps y'all will find them useful as well if you suffer from a similar weakness.John 15:12
Since you have forsaken the world and turned wholly to God, you are symbolically dead in the eyes of men; therefore, let your heart be dead to all earthly affections and concerns, and wholly devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ. For you must be well aware that if we make an outward show of conversion to God without giving Him our hearts, it is only a shadow and pretence of virtue, and no true conversion.
Any man or woman who neglects to maintain inward vigilance, and only makes an outward show of holiness in dress, speech, and behavior, is a wretched creature. For they watch the doings of other people and criticize their faults, imagining themselves to be something when in reality they are nothing. In this way they deceive themselves. Be careful to avoid this, and devote yourself inwardly to His likeness by humility, charity, and other spiritual virtues. In this way you will be truly converted to God.Walter Hilton
If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.1 Corinthians, Chapter 13, New American Bible
Human beings are very much like icebergs -- we only see a small portion of them, and nothing of the hidden currents which drag them this way and that.
I fancy that we would not sit and judge our neighbor so frequently as we do, did we but ponder well over the small amount of data we possess. We perceive only the external act, but nothing of the motive activating it.Father David McAstocker
Some people change every food they absorb into a bad mood, even if the food is healthy. The fault does not lie in the food but in their temperament, which changes the food. Even so, if our soul has a bad disposition, everything harms it; it transforms even useful things into things that are harmful to it. If you throw a little bit of bitter herbs into a pot of honey, won't they change the whole pot by making all the honey bitter? That is what we do: we spread a little of our bitterness and we destroy our neighbor's good by looking at him according to our bad disposition.
Other people have a temperament that transforms everything into a good mood, even bad food. Pigs have a very good constitution. They eat pods, date seeds and garbage. But they transform that food into succulent meat. In the same way, if we have good habits and a good state of the soul, we can benefit from everything, even from what is not beneficial. The Book of Proverbs says it very well: "The one who sees with gentleness will obtain mercy." And in another place: "For the foolish person, everything is contrary."
I heard it said of a brother that if, when he went to see someone else, he found his cell in a state of neglect and in disorder, he told himself: "How happy is this brother to be completely detached from earthly things and to carry his spirit on high so well that he doesn't even have the time to tidy his cell!" If he then went to another brother and found his cell tidy, clean, and in good order, he told himself: "This brother's cell is as clean as his soul. As is the state of his soul, so is the state of his cell!" He never said of anyone: "This one is untidy," or: "That one is frivolous." Because of his excellent state, he benefited from everything. May God in his goodness also give us a good state so that we might benefit from everything and never think badly of our neighbor. If our malice inspires us to pass judgment or to be suspicious, let us quickly transform that into a good thought. For with God's help, not seeing what is bad in our neighbor brings forth kindness.Dorotheus of Gaza (around 500 - ?),
Monk in Palestine, via The Daily Gospel
Then you'd get to see one of these banners using humor to sell My Life with the Saints. They're trying to get drivers' attention on the busy Kennedy Expressway in Chicago to take a new look at the saints in their lives. The campaign starts officially today at 3:00 p.m.The first Christians were true salt of the earth, and they preserved people and institutions -- the whole of society -- from corruption. What can it be that has happened in so many nations? Why is it that Christians should now be giving the sad impression that they are unable to slow down and halt that wave of corruption that is burning in on the family, on schools, and on institutions ...? The Faith is still the same. And Christ lives among us now just as He did previously. His power is still infinite -- divine. Only the lukewarmness of so many thousands, indeed millions, of Christians, explains how we can offer to the world the spectacle of a Christianity that allows all kinds of heresies and destroys the strength and endurance of the Faith, and is the soulmate, in both a personal and a collective way, of compromise and of a spirit of comfort-seeking (P. Rodriguez, Faith and Life of Faith). It is difficult to explain many of the things that happen nowadays at a personal and at a public level, if we do not bear in mind that so many people who should be awake, watchful and attentive have allowed their Faith to fall asleep; love has been snuffed out in so many hearts. In many spheres, the "normal Christian" now generally means someone who is lukewarm and mediocre. Among the first Christians the "normal Christian" meant one who lived the heroism of every day, and when the occasion presented itself, accepted martyrdom itself: it could and did mean very often the surrender of one's very life in defense of the Faith ...
Let us fervently ask God for the strength to react. We will be the true salt of the earth if we keep up our daily conversation with God and if we go with ever-greater faith and love to receive the Holy Eucharist. Love was, and is, the moving force in the life of the saints. It is the whole raison d'etre of every life dedicated to God. Love gives us wings with which to soar over any personal barriers to our advance, or any obstacles presented to us by our surroundings. Love makes us unyielding when confronted by set-backs ... Love for God ... makes a molehill out of a mountain; it transforms the soul, gives it new lights and opens up new horizons for it; it makes the soul capable of achieving its highest desires and gives it capacities it had never as much as dreamed of possessing.
Funny, smart, orthodox , good housekeeper, lousy cook, and I love monthy python movies and sports. I am the whole package. Who wouldn't want me as their loving loyal wife?And she's not kidding ... check it out y'all!
Dear Youth, you tell me that you often think the Church is an institution that does nothing but promulgate rules and laws... And you conclude that there is a deep discrepancy between the joy that issues from the word of Christ and the feeling of oppression that the Church's rigidity gives you.. But the Gospel shows us a very demanding Christ who invites to a radical conversion of the heart, to detachment from the goods of the earth, to forgiveness of offenses, to love of the enemy, to patient acceptance of persecutions and even to the sacrifice of one's own life out of love for our neighbor. Where the particular area of sexuality is concerned, we know the firm position he took in defending the indissolubility of marriage and his condemnation even as regards the simple adultery committed in the heart. And could anyone not be impressed when faced with the precept to "tear out one's eye" or to "cut off one's hand" when these members are an occasion of "scandal"? ...
Moral licentiousness does not make people happy. Similarly, the consumer society does not bring joy of heart. The human being only fulfills himself to the extent to which he is able to accept the demands which flow from his dignity as a being created "in the image and likeness of God" (Gen 1:27). That is why, if the Church today says things that are not pleasing, it is because it feels obliged to do so. It does so out of a duty to fidelity...
So is it not true that the gospel message is a message of joy? On the contrary! It is absolutely true. And how is that possible? The answer can be found in one word, one single word, one short word, but its contents are as vast as the sea. And that word is love. It is perfectly possible to reconcile the stringency of the precept and joy of heart. The person who loves does not fear sacrifice. And he even seeks in sacrifice the most convincing proof of the authenticity of his love.John Paul II
Discourse to young people in the Netherlands, May 14, 1985
Via The Daily Gospel
For all our technological advances, people haven't really changed much since the time of Jesus. Nowhere is this more evident than in the way most people view the Beatitudes. Then as now, they represent what the world would consider weakness and softness. After all, who wants to be poor, meek, and persecuted? ...
But when we look at Jesus, we realize that he is the both the perfect example of the Beatitudes lived out and also the strongest and most secure person who walked the earth. Jesus was nobody's fool and he was certainly no shrinking violet. At the same time, he was constantly mourning over those who didn't know God. In silent strength -- meekness -- he taught his disciples by example, by parable, by reaching out to everyone who would accept him.
Perhaps if we thought more about Jesus, or tried to place ourselves among the crowds who heard him teach and saw him minister, we would change our point of view... We might see that living the Beatitudes requires a good amount of strength and decisiveness.Word Among Us
2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11.Sign up here. Via My Domestic Church.
On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers will join together for a tribute to the victims of 9/11. Each person will pay tribute to a single victim.
We will honor them by remembering their lives, and not by remembering their murderers.
... the tributes should celebrate the lives of these people–kind of like a wake. Over the last 5 years we’ve heard the names of the killers, and all about the victim’s deaths. This is a chance to learn about and celebrate those who died. Forget the murderers, they don’t deserve to be remembered. But some people who died that day deserve to be remembered–2,996 people.
For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.Who knew that Malachi 1:11 was so popular? Not me, considering I never heard of it until I went to see where one of the new pieces of the liturgical translation might originate.NAB, Malachi 1:11
God gives us a heart, a human heart like Christ's. I don't have one heart for loving God and another for loving people. I love Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit and Our Lady with the same heart with which I love my parents and my friends. I shall never tire of repeating this. We must be very human, for otherwise we cannot be divine.I saw this vividly displayed in Hannah's friends' generous behavior. These kids have got heart y'all! They rallied round to distract her, support her, and keep her too busy to dwell on her problems too often. Just when she'd be sinking very low, one of them would be on the phone or at the door with another plan of action ... a movie, a cd made just for her, swing dancing lessons, going shopping, whatever it took. I was so grateful that she had such good friends who obviously cared so much. (Because, let's face it, nothing her family could do was going to have the same effect.)
Human love, the love we experience on earth when it is really genuine, helps us to savor divine love. That is how we grasp the love by which we rejoice in God and which we will share in heaven when the Lord is "everything to everyone." If we begin to understand God's love, we will feel impelled to become increasingly more compassionate, more generous, more dedicated.
We must give what we receive, we must teach what we learn. Very simply, without any kind of conceit, we must help others to share in the knowledge of God's love.St. Josemaria Escriva
From age to age you gather a people to yourself, so that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name...Becomes in the new translation:
…you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure oblation may be offered to your name”In Mass this week I noticed a few of spots that will be changed when the new liturgical translation is used. One was the above quoted "east to west" line.
For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.NAB, Malachi 1:11
