Mother Teresa has told us, “Accept the gifts of God, and be deeply grateful. If he has given you, great wealth, make use of it, try to share it with others, with those who don’t have anything. Always share with others.” Let’s remember these words in our heart as we pray.
Continue reading “Gratitude “
We love to be in sync with others in our daily plans and projects. It makes life easier, and it settles our hearts. The same as true for being in sync with God. When we work together with God, when his will for us is our greatest desire, we can live in harmony and peace, love and happiness.
Continue reading “Living in God’s Will”
“We need to do no more than we are doing at present; that is, to love divine providence and abandon ourselves and his arms and heart,” St. Padre Pio
Continue reading “The Beautiful Present Moment”
Lord, give me the grace for today
Before me, the day looms with great possibilities, and greater challenges. I put it all on your hands. Order my day and order my life. Help me to embrace every challenge, to be open to all you have to give, and to see all as opportunity. One moment at a time. One person at a time. One gift at a time. Help me to breathe in your spirit and to exhale any fear that may cause me to question and to worry. The world causes stress.
You offer peace. I choose you!
Amen
Any relationship requires listening in order to understand the other. Sitting in God’s presence allows us to know the quiet whispers and nudgings. As we drink in God’s love, our awe becomes praise. Full hearts become full and overflow with love being drawn to want eternal things.
Here I am Lord; I come to do your will.
Speak, for your servant is listening.
Amen
Prayer teaches us to love….it opens our heart and mind to live as a true daughter or son of God. We hear God’s voice in a direct way when we spend time in scripture and in prayer, observing the word of God, and acting on it. This is the lost art of letting God love you; and the lost art of seeing God. There are seasons of prayer:
Which season are you in today? A season of praise is always a good one.
Today is a day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad! Amen
I’ve recently been having discussions with a “spiritual” person who doesn’t identify with Christianity, despite being baptized and raised in the catholic church. She states that many of the Christians she knows are not very nice and welcoming people. Do we live out our Christian values?
Think about that, once we decide to stand with Jesus and determine that he is the supreme good, then every other authority must fall away. Every one of us has something or some set of values that we consider greatest. There is a center of gravity around which everything else turns. Is it money and material things? Perhaps it is power and position. Perhaps it is the esteem of others. Perhaps it is your country, your political party or your ethnic identity. Perhaps it is your family, your kids, your wife, your husband.
None of these things are bad. However, when you place any of them in the absolute center of gravity, things go awry. When you make any of them your ultimate or final good, your spiritual life goes haywire. When you attach yourself to any of them with absolute tenacity, you will fall apart.
Heavenly Father, I am being held together by you whether I feel it or not. Help me act accordingly, committing myself to you as the center of my life, surrendering my all. As I learn to love you, I see you are the true love of my life and I forever yearn to see your face. I can always count on you, as your love never fails. You are the guiding hand that directs my path with great plans and purpose. Use me as your vessel today, be my center and take control. Amen
Do you ever find yourself so busy you are not focusing on the present moment, the person or task that is right before you? I often get caught up in the doing which leads me to doing more. I have to consciously invite the Spirit in to help slow me down and notice. Will you pray this prayer of noticing with me today?
Lord, unless I slow down, I tend to see a life that is within my limited perspective. I miss the vast possibilities and nourishment available at my fingertips.
Looking at the ocean nourishes my soul. It lifts my heart beyond the day to day and brings me to a place of awe and wonder. What a gift it is to contemplate Your power, glory and wisdom as Creator. This view invites me to prefer You rather than focusing on me.
From the grains of sand between my toes, the healing salt that I taste on my lips to the power of the forceful waves making me work to keep my balance, the ocean is constantly in motion and evolving. Similar to me.
As I take notice of the details of my life, the balance of my choices help me evolve into the person I become. My virtuous decisions draw me to be reborn and live as You designed me. Being connected to Your beauty, energizes me which flows through my veins and strengthens me. My source of life. Amen
We are called to love, to serve, and to accept the responsibility of bringing others to Christ and Christ to one another. Our family, our spouses, our children, our coworkers, and all the people in our lives need our love and attention. And they need good examples – examples they can follow in striving for holiness.
How can we be such examples and gather the strength we need to carry out this important call? We must turn to prayer, calling on God, his mother, and the Saints and angels for help. The heavens await our requests.
Pray, without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Jesus wants us to ask, to seek, and to knock. Allow him in. Every day. All day. Open yourself up to receive his abundant blessing and gifts of grace.
It is not necessary to always be in church to be with God, we can make a private chapel in our heart, where we can retire and commune with him. Peacefully, humbly, lovingly. We are all capable of these intimate conversations with God.
Lord, let me begin this moment. Amen
One of the first things I do when I start waking up each day is to give God the glory for giving me another day. As I grab my coffee and sit in my prayer chair, I express gratitude for the things that are on my mind and heart since the day before. I pray the Morning Offering to help orient my day:
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month. Amen.
