Thursday, October 17, 2024
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Feast of St. Marguerite d'Youville
(1701-1771)
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila
When Teresa was 14, her mother died, causing the girl a profound grief that prompted her to embrace a deeper devotion to the Virgin Mary as her spiritual mother. Along with this good resolution, however, she also developed immoderate interests in reading popular fiction (consisting, at that time, mostly of medieval tales of knighthood) and caring for her own appearance.
Monday, October 14, 2024
Grateful
There is always something to be grateful for even when life is hard and times are tough.
Everyday is a blessing,
and in each moment there are many things that we can be grateful for. The world
opens up to us when we live in a space of gratitude. In essence, gratitude has
a snowball effect. When we are appreciative and express that gratitude, the
universe glows a bit brighter and showers us with even more blessings.
There is always
something to be grateful for, even when life seems hard. When times are tough,
whether we are having a bad day or stuck in what may feel like an endless rut,
it can be difficult to take the time to feel grateful. Yet, that is when
gratitude can be most important. If we can look at our lives, during periods of
challenge, and find something to be grateful for, then we can transform our
realities in an instant. There are blessings to be found everywhere. When we
are focusing on what is negative, our abundance can be easy to miss. Instead,
choosing to find what already exists in our lives that we can appreciate can
change what we see in our world. We start to notice one blessing, and then
another.
When we constantly
choose to be grateful, we notice that every breath is a miracle and each smile
becomes a gift. We begin to understand that difficulties are also invaluable
lessons. The sun is always shining for us when we are grateful, even if it is
hidden behind clouds on a rainy day. A simple sandwich becomes a feast, and a
trinket is transformed into a treasure. Living in a state of gratitude allows
us to spread our abundance because that is the energy that we emanate from our
beings. Because the world reflects back to us what we embody, the additional
blessings that inevitably flow our way give us even more to be grateful for.
The universe wants to shower us with blessings. The more we appreciate life,
the more life appreciates and bestows us with more goodness.
Sunday, October 13, 2024
A Prayer of Trust
We are, quite naturally, impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new;
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability –
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you,
your ideas mature gradually – let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
And accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin S.J.
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Friday, October 11, 2024
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
You may be wondering how 14 Cows for America relates to today's
readings. Our gospel, Mark 10: 17 - 30,
tells the story of the rich man who runs up to Jesus, kneels before him and
asks, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" After going through the commandments, Jesus
tells the man "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." We all know this story. The man walks away from Jesus sad because
"he had many possessions."
Jesus looks around at his disciples and remarks, "Children, how
hard it is to enter the
For the Maasai people "the cow is
life." Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah and
the people of his village sacrificed a major proportion of their livelihood to
help build the
You know, O God, our thoughts and intentions,
and from your sight no creature can hide.
Pierce our inmost heart
with the two-edged sword of your Word.
Enlightened by your wisdom,
and freed from preoccupation with this world's wealth,
may we welcome the presence among us of signs of your kingdom,
a treasure beyond compare.
We ask this through Jesus,
the high priest who sympathizes with our weakness,
for he is with you and the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
AMEN.
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Pope John XXIII
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Beautiful Words
Someone has written these beautiful words. One must read and try to understand the deep meanings in them. They are like the Ten Commandments to follow in life all the time.
Monday, October 7, 2024
Spiritual Hunger
Forgotten to feed myself?
I was slowly starving.
Getting lost in busy days,
Tossing aside the hunger
That chewed away inside.
By some quiet miracle
I made it to the moment
Of truth:
That I failed to feed.
It was my spirit,
Left alone for days
Without nourishment or care.
I paused to look within,
Shocked at what I found:
So thin of faith,
So weak of understanding,
So needy of encouragement.
And then I read John’s gospel chapter 6.
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Unfolding the Rose
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Serenity Prayer
accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.