"Thus, the matter in which the Carmelites follow the gospel takes on a deeply Marian character. Mary: magnifies the Lord and exults in the wonders of his merciful love (cf. Lk 1:46); listens to and ponders in her heart all the things concerning Jesus (cf. Lk :19, 51); identifies herself with her people, especially those in need, the spirtually and materially po…
Read more"Isn’t it a shame that we live in a society that so fears silence. We turn the radios on in our rooms, the TVs on in our dens, the stereos on in our cars, and when we are not near any of these places, we plug iPods into our ears—anything to avoid silence. Yet silence itself is the language of God! I’ll let you in on something I just recently learned: set aside a…
Read more"There is a risk of taking on more than one could handle and end up discouraged. A relatively short time (twenty minutes or half an hour), spent faithfully on mental prayer every day, is better than two hours now and then." page 84 This is a gentle reminder that faithfulness beats quantity. A moment in prayer daily beats hours of prayer that leads to dis…
Read more"When you meet a wise person, listen to him and you will learn wisdom; when you meet a foolish person, listen to him and you will learn patience; when you are alone, listen to God, and you will learn everything else." Phil sent me this recently. I thought it was a handy little image and wanted to share it with you. When it comes to the Word, we must realiz…
Read moreAn Exorcist Tells His Story by Fr. Gabriele Amorth Living with the Monks by Jesse Itzler Brick by Brick by David Robertson Lego Ninjago Season 11 by William N. Andrews Lego Ninjago School for Crooks by Meredith Rusu Friends 2 by Lego Friends Friends 1 by Lego Friends The Lego Story by Jens Andersen Learning Humility by Richard J. Foster Inheritance by Katharine McG…
Read more"Experience shows that to pray well and to be brought to the state of passive prayer in which God and the soul communicate in depth, the heart must be pierced—pierced, that is, by the love of God, wounded by thirst for the Beloved. Only through such a wound can prayer truly descend into the heart and lodge there. God must touch us at such a deep level of our b…
Read more"I think how little children please their parents just as much when they are asleep as when they are awake; I think how doctors put patients to sleep in order to do operations. And finally, I think how 'the Lord sees our weakness, he remembers that we are but dust'" page 52 'the Lord sees our weakness, he remembers that we are but dust' How …
Read more"Remember: the value of mental prayer is not measured by how many things we do. On the contrary: the closer prayer comes to that simple act of love, the more it is worth. Normally, too, prayer becomes more simple the further we progress in the spiritual life." page 57 "St. Teresa of Avila says, 'In prayer, what counts is not to think a lot but to l…
Read more"What matters in mental prayer is not so much what we do, as what God does in us. It is enormously liberating to know this, for sometimes we can do nothing at all in mental prayer. Really, though, it doesn’t matter much, because even if we can’t do anything, God can. In fact, he is always acting in the depths of our soul, even if we don’t realize it. The essenti…
Read more"What feels best for you may not be best for the people around you. For that matter, it may not be good for you either. Someone with genuine self-esteem understands that self-fulfillment is not about self-satisfaction. Thus he is willing to deny his own desires for the sake of the future, for the sake of the people around him, and for the sake of his immortal so…
Read more"Let those who are fully taken up with activity, who imagine they can move the world by their preaching and their other external works, reflect here for a moment; they will easily understand that they would be much more useful to the Church, and more pleasing to the Lord, not to mention the good example they would set around them, if they dedicated half their …
Read moreHoly Thirst by Paraclete Press Catechesis and Ritual: The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis Misled by Allen Parr Majesty by Katharine McGee American Royals by Katharine McGee On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak Too Much Money by Dominick Dunne The Microstress Effect by Ro…
Read more"THE PROBLEM OF NOT ENOUGH TIME 'I’d really like to do mental prayer, but I don’t have the time.' How often this has been said! And in a hyperactive world like our own, the difficulty is a real one and should not be underestimated. But time is not always the real problem. That real problem is knowing what really matters in life. As a contemporary aut…
Read more"Regarding this problem of time, we should make an act of faith in Jesus’ promise: 'There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time!' (Mk 10:29). It is legitimate to apply this to chronological time as well: whoever giv…
Read more"It is God who by His presence creates the holy ground which man discovers by recollecting himself and where, having done so, he stands. God shows man the place where he really belongs, where he will find himself and his true world; where the call can reach him and where he must answer it. Recollectedness, therefore, is the condition which enables man to say, …
Read more"We have mentioned here the 'night of the spirit,' the great trial of passive purification, by means of which God works in the very depths of the soul, and thus prepares her for the supreme ascent and final transformation. This trial is a terrible one, a veritable purgatory here below, according to St John of the Cross, who has described the angu…
Read more"And a fourth and last meaning: to recollect oneself is to awaken. With people who are not recollected there is always something tense, some preoccupation; and as soon as this preoccupation and tension lessens, they become all of a sudden empty and listless. When there is no object which draws them, no motive which pushes or stimulus which agitates them, then t…
Read more"To imitate Jesus is no longer copy Jesus, but to be transformed into Jesus, to become Jesus. It is no loner to bring out in herself the features of the beloved Model, but to allow Christ to develop and reproduce himself in her. It is the imitation ab intra . There is no question of becoming merely like Jesus, but of being one with Jesus, the God-Man... …
Read more"No sooner has he started to pray than conjured up by his inner unrest, all sorts of other things clamor for attention: a task at work, a conversation, an errand, a newspaper, a book. All these suddenly appear most important, and prayer seems a sheer waste of time. But no sooner has he stopped praying than there is plenty of time, and he fritters it away with …
Read more"Each flower, each blade of grass, each insect says to her, 'See how beautiful God is!...'" page 35 "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 If the beauty that is around us is seeing in a mirror dimly, how Beautiful is …
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