Private Vows in The Laity/Spirituality

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POETRY OF ST JOHN OF THE CROSS

"With a Divine Meaning"

Part 3 of 6 (not 3)

For all the beauty that men sing

I'll never lose my way, if not

for some unknown I don't know what

that some most lucky chance may bring

 

To find in worldly goods delight

is at the most a weariness

and satiated appetite

and tired palate, more or less:

For all life's sweets that have their sting

I'll never lose my way, if not

for some unknown I don't know what

that some most lucky chance may bring

 

The noble hearted never turns

aside or flags while there are tasks

or something hard to overcome

to conquer, that is all he asks.

Nothing can stay his hungering,

his faith so ardent that his lot

will be to taste - I don't know what

that some most lucky chance may bring

 

 

 

 

 

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St Vincent de Paul Society

Daily Reflection – October 13

 

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“God is all powerful, while we are weak.

We make virtue consist in what it is not; it cannot be found in excesses.

How little the Son of God achieved; it was the apostles who had the greater results.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

 

Reflection "When I am tempted to put too much stock in success and find myself not getting the recognition I think I deserve, Lord, let me find comfort in the example of your life."

 

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Poetry of St John of The Cross

"With A Divine Meaning"

Part 4 of 6

The one who suffers from the touch

of God grows strangely ill from love

too great.  His likings change so much,

and unsought longings through him move

while like a fevered man he'll cling

to this, loathe that, both cold and hot,

craving for some I know not what

that some most lucky chance may bring.

 

Don't be amazed that this is so

or that the taste should suffer change,

because love's sickness is most strange

and how it comes we hardly know.

Parted, estranged from everything

which seems to him as if it's not,

yet he tastes that I know not what

that some most lucky chance may bring.

 

For if the soul has ever known

one touch of the Divinity,

it's held in thrall and his alone

and only he can set it free.

But this bright beauty is revealed

to faith, and only faith can see

and find it - in some mystery

that lucky chance still holds concealed.

[Guest]

Oh so very true! Pope Francis warns re Satan

If Satan cannot win a person over with sin and temptation, it can change its modus operandi and be sweet and even seemingly enlightening :

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2nd Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 11 :   " 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness."

This is one reason why obedience to The Church is of great importance.  One can come to think one knows better than The Church especially when others are like minded.  When one discovers the subterfuge, if one does, the temptation can be to deep discouragement even despair.

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St Vincent de Paul Society

Daily Reflection October 14

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"The will of God cannot be made known to us more clearly than when events happen without our concurrence or contrary to what we had asked."
St. Vincent de Paul

Reflection:  "When things dont go as I planned, Lord, help me to see with the eyes of faith, that what did occur is indeed your plan."

 

 

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"Reflect that your guardian angel does not always move your desire for an action, but he does always enlighten your reason."

Saint John of the Cross http://www.carmelite.com/

 

 

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I really took to the way these videos are introduced as "A Climbing Monk Production".  The image is of a Carmelite monk who walks a path and takes the first few carved steps towards the wild, but then he branches off into the wild where there is no path to walk nor carved steps to climb.

Carmelite videos (by Carmelite priests): http://www.carmeliteprioryoxford.com/carmelitemedia.asp

• St John of The Cross and The Living Flame of Love
• Scripture through the eyes of St Teresa of Avila (video below)
• 3 videos on St Teresa and the Adventure of Prayer (Parts 1, 2 and 3)

I found the above link on Catholic Answers in the Spirituality Forum I think it was.

Many more Carmelite videos on You Tube : HERE

 

A few things really struck me in the above video on St Teresa and Scripture:

1. The word of God (Scripture) cannot fail one.
2. St Teresa would see herself in Scripture.  She would put herself actively into the situations.
3. The subtle obstacle to passive prayer can be the failure to allow Love to overcome reason

St Teresa in the years of her maturity found a real Peace in being unable to do what she was want to do.  St Teresa of Avila please pray for those of us in advancing years.....especially me - I struggle with it, other than in passing times all too brief.  My core problem is, I think, that I am struggling to detach myself from the opinions of others, not as a known reality, rather only in my imagination.  Hence, possibly at the heart of my "core problem" is the fact that I listen to my imagination far too often.  But then I look at it as a bit of a (constantly) re-occurring suffering to endure as I can since, to date, I cannot overcome it.

This is one of the things that really appeals about our spirituality, there is no negative that cannot become a positive.

Perspective and Attitude

Deo Gratius Laudate Dominum. Fiat Voluntas Tua.

 

[Guest]

Another great Carmelite saint, Edith Stein - very easy to follow. 

 

 

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[Guest]

Interested in Edith Stein?

St Teresa Benedicta of The Cross (Carmelite OCD)

 

From the video.  Our baptism calls us to be saints.  We are all called to be saints.

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Poem written by Edith
on Good Friday 1938

Prayer of St Teresa

Benedicta of the Cross

Today I stood with you beneath the cross
And felt more clearly than I ever did
That you became our Mother only there.

But those whom you have chosen for companions
To stand with you around the eternal throne,

They must stand with you beneath the Cross,
And with the lifeblood of their bitter pains,
Must purchase heavenly glory for those souls
Whom God's own Son entrusted to their care.

 

Prayer of St Edith Stein

O my God, fill my soul with holy joy,
courage and strength to serve you.
Enkindle your love in me and then
walk with me along the next stretch
of road before me. I do not see very
far ahead, but when I have arrived
where the horizon now closes down,
a new prospect will open before me
and I shall meet with peace.

 

Edited October 16, 2017 by BarbaraTherese

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St Vincent de Paul Society
 

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Daily Reflection – October 16

 

“Our Lord wants us to serve him with judgment; all the rest is indiscreet zeal.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

(Reflection:  "It is hard, Lord, to make correct judgments. Be with me at those times when issues are serious and solutions hard to reach. Lord, you are my surety.")

 

 

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CHAT

Buddie, my little dog, must have a vet visit today - he has a terrible cough.  It will be the first time he has travelled by taxi and I am concerned how things will go with me more disabled now and with Buddie unfamiliar with taxi travel..........and me with funds really low.  A quick prayer please can work wonders.

I was drifting off to sleep last night thinking about how life can all of a sudden get messy, one is cruising along with all as it should be and all of a sudden....mess!..... - it might be small or it might be something major.  Life now and then gets messy.  It occurred to me that with the Incarnation, Jesus Son of God, becomes truly human in every single way except sin.  He not only has an overwhelming ardent desire to open Heaven for us returning us to God's friendship as a very personal God, He desires ardently to effect all this by entering into the messiness that human life can be.  Ultimately, He even embraced a shocking death to remain with us in cause and effect..........i.e. the human journey.  Thus is our redemption effected.  Love.  He even comes to us in sin, small or major, not with reprimand but with an ardent desire to forgive and forget, and get on with our journey and with Him.

 It seems to me that God has an ardent desire to enter into the messiness of life with us - its little messes and its big ones and that the Incarnation 'speaks' this fact.  He is here with us in all the ups and downs, trials and difficulties, highs and Joys.......whether I can only hold to it in Faith or whether I have a personal awareness of His Presence.   We do tend to think it seems to me that a personal awareness of the Presence of Jesus in some way is a great blessing and it is. 

But "blessed are they who have not seen but believe" are the words of Jesus.  That is, blessed

are those who journey in Faith and only Faith without

very special blessings to encourage them on the way.

What a revelation Heaven will be!

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Some saint and I forget whom said that the special consolations in prayer and those mystical in nature are very often sent to strengthen one in weakness of Faith.    Holy indeed are those who never experience such consolations and encouragement and yet journey on through the ups and downs, the causes and effects of life, and in dark Faith.

I did think it was St Teresa of Avila who said or wrote it, but I have never been able to confirm that it was.  Hence, where I read it remains a mystery.

"Behold I am with you even to the consummation of the world"

"If you love Me and keep my commandments, we shall come to you and make

our abode with you"

Faith and Love

Edited October 17, 2017 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

 

The other thought that just occurred to me is that Jesus remaining with us through The Incarnation in life's journey and its causes and effects, there just has to be something holy and sanctifying about it all - else Jesus would not be with us in it all.  Of course, The Church teaches that every life has potential for holiness, but sometimes it can happen that a light shines and one knows on a newer level: "Of course, it just has to be that way and as The Church teaches".

All things in life, the great and the small, the Joy and the sufferings all have potential to make great saints and it is through The Incarnation, the Life and Death of Jesus, that this is so.  Taking things a bit further - and this is what the theology and spirituality, the insight and genius, of St Therese is all about and whether one lives a remarkably holy life in the public eye or whether one lives a hidden quite everyday and ordinary life -  the very ordinary and everyday lived in an extraordinary way as St Therese lived it.  It is not about an ordinary life per se or a quite extraordinary public life per se, it is all about the perspective and attitude concerning one's journey and whatever that journey might be - to journey in Love and in Faith that Jesus unfailingly is leading one to holiness through the events and situations of one's life..............intimately in the messiness of it all with us.

Perspective and attitude.

Edited October 17, 2017 by BarbaraTherese

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Adversity is . . . God's most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth. Once we begin to understand this, and accept it as a spiritual fact of life, adversity becomes easier to bear.

- Charles Stanley, In Touch Ministry

 

Shalom Place

Dominican Sisters of Peace

[Guest]

"When Reading the Bible . . ."

"Advice to Help You Better Understand Sacred Scripture"

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"Contrary to popular belief, you can understand the Bible and study it on your own. Reading and studying the Sacred Scriptures is the journey of a lifetime. Now, as with any journey, there are several different routes you can take to get to where you want to go. Some routes are faster but more difficult. Some routes take a little longer but offer a smoother ride. ..."...Continue Reading HERE (from "Word Among Us" website)

Not a lengthy read by far - and a worthwhile read.

Edited October 18, 2017 by BarbaraTherese

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Dominican Sisters of Peace
 

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Message of the Day

 

"One who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life."
- William Law

 

 

 

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St Louise de Marillac

 

St Vincent de Paul Society

Daily Reflection – October 18

 

“Let us mistrust desires for change. Who are we who seek to choose our path? Let us abandon ourselves to Divine guidance.”
– St. Louise de Marillac

(Reflection: Lord, when I find myself envying others who are following what appears to be some other, more attractive path in life, remind me that your love will sustain me in my present situation which you have chosen for me. I place all my trust in you.")