Thursday, January 22, 2009

Friday, January 23, 2009


From Saint and Thought For Every Day, by Blessed James Alberione

Growth in Trust
The Lord acts towards us as a mother to her child. She nourishes her child according to his age. While small, she deals with him as a baby; later, she treats him as a child, a growing boy, a young man, until finally a mature adult. The mother does not make for her baby a coat as large as his father's. Everything is in due proportion. God is a father and a mother. He gives us His graces gradually. If we continue to pray, He will give us the grace to do tomorrow what we are not able to do today. Let us continue to pray and to stir up our will.

From A Year With Blessed James Alberione, Compiled by J. Maurus

History is the teacher of life

Don't be discouraged, cultivate always a healthy optimism. History is the teacher of life and our past experiences teach us many lessons. If we have lost one battle, we still have time, till we are alive, to win another one.
All things work together for good, when one has goodwill. Yet our failures serve to make us humble and make us pray to do better.
The most terrible temptation is despair, but the more common one is discouragement.
Faith is the first virtue and the second is hope. Let us honour God and render him homage by professing often our faith in his goodness.

What Strikes Me Most Today

What strikes me most today is a little different. I found the picture for today's blog on the website of the Catholic Institute of the Holy Family, at http://www.vocations-holyfamily.com/
Another branch of the Pauline family founded by Blessed James Alberione, it is the first Vatican approved institute for married, widowed, and engaged couples. If you might be interested in The Holy Family Institute, I recommend visiting their site. If you're not interested, I recommend visiting their site anyway for the beautiful religious art and music. All I can say is these Paulines are ONE BIG AWESOME FAMILY!


What strikes you most today? Please click on "COMMENTS" below to share your thoughts.
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1 comment:

  1. tkiehlJanuary 23, 2009 at 4:56 PM

    Jeff, I love that you added a new twist to your "What Strikes Me Most Today" section with a link you think is noteworthy. It keeps your blog fresh and makes me wanting to come back each day to see what's new. Great job!

    ReplyDelete

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"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Pauline Prayer Book for our Haitian Brothers and Sisters

Be Not Afraid

Be Not Afraid
"Fear not, I am with you. From here I want to enlighten. Atone for sin."

Daughters of St. Paul

Daughters of St. Paul
Evangelizing the World!

New faith and family friendly video sharing

New faith and family friendly video sharing
Great Pauline Video Sharing Site

Why?

Why a blog? Why St. Paul? Why do I think I have any business doing this?
We are all on a spiritual journey. We all want that journey to lead us to heaven, to eternity with God. For this journey, we need one another.
The journey so far has led me to read and learn about so many forms of authentic Catholic spirituality - Ignatian, Benedictine, Carmelite, Dominican, Franciscan, etc. My biggest problem was that I came to love each one tremendously. I began reading more and more, spending more and more time at the Daughters of St. Paul bookstore on Watson Road here in St. Louis. Who would have thought my greatest conversion story would take place in a bookstore? Mine was not quite as sudden or dramatic as St. Paul on the road to Damascus, but getting to know the Daughters of St. Paul affected me no less significantly.
The sisters are Eucharistic by nature. The first time I entered the chapel in their bookstore, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and one of the sisters was on her knees, gazing at Christ, with an indescribably beautiful smile on her face. I had a glimpse of heaven. I knelt at one of the other kneelers and noticed on the wall behind the monstrance the words: "Fear not, I am with you. From here I want to enlighten. Atone for sin." I had that brief moment of absolute certainty that I was on the right path.
Over the last several years I have worked my way through as many books, CD's, DVD's and conversations with the Daughters of St. Paul that time has allowed. Time is at such a premium for all of us. Years ago we were told that with advances in technology we would have much more free time on our hands. We all know this has not been the case. Our lives are busier and more hectic than ever. Even if we are unable to find time to read good books, see enlightening movies or attend lectures and discussions, maybe we could all spend a little time on the internet supporting one another on our faith journeys. Many of you know more about many aspects of Catholic spirituality than I do.
Pope John Paul the Great called us all to a New Evangelization, to share the Gospel with the world. I am hoping we can all be St. Paul in this blog space by sharing Christ with one another and with others. St. Paul travelled to many foreign and often hostile regions to evangelize the world; we are fortunate to be able to use the internet to reach even farther and more quickly.
The idea of using today's means of social communication to spread the Gospel was given to Blessed James Alberione on the night between the centuries (December 31, 1900 - January 1, 1901). He was a 16 year-old seminary student adoring Christ in the Blessed Sacrament when a special light came to him from the Host. Following this, Blessed James Alberione became the founder of the Society of St. Paul priests, the Daughters of St. Paul, the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, Sisters of Jesus the Good Shepherd, Sisters of the Queen of Apostles, and numerous institutes that are also part of the Pauline family.
So what is Pauline spirituality? In my experience, Pauline spirituality encompasses all the teachings of Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and love of all the other spiritualities and Saints of the Church. It is the members of the Pauline family who are the happiest people I know! It is loving God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit with all our hearts and souls, through the intercession of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and St. Paul.
So why St. Paul? I can relate to St. Paul. We first meet him in the New Testament as a sinner. He has a thorn in his side that God decides is best not to take away. I sometimes wish I knew what that thorn was, but it's probably better I don't know. I like to pretend it is one of my many weaknesses or faults. If St. Paul could go from persecuting Christ and His Church to becoming the person responsible for spreading the Gospel and establishing the Church in foreign lands, the least I can do is start a blog. I have been especially inspired by my two favorite bloggers, Sr. Margaret Charles Kerry, fsp, and a Pauline Cooperator named Rae Stabosz. I believe Sr. Margaret and Rae are doing just what St. Paul and Blessed James Alberione would be doing with the internet.
In future blogs (which will be shorter than this first post!), I would like to share writings of St. Paul, Blessed James Alberione, and many others. I look forward to others sharing writings from other Catholic spiritualities and writers. An especially Pauline way of sharing is to point out to one another what aspects particularly speak to each of us.
Another Pauline trait is to pray for one another. My prayer is that we support one another on our path to holiness. Our goal is to glorify God in all that we do - so let's do it!