Thursday, January 29, 2009

Saturday, January 31, 2009

St. John Bosco 
Memorial
Priest

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

St. John Bosco was born in Piedmont of North Italy in 1815. From early childhood he had a great influence on children. After his ordination, he established himself in Turin where, with the help of his mother, the beloved Mama Marguerite, he founded the Congregation of the Salesian Fathers. Later he also founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady Help of Christians. He is known as one of the greatest educators of youth.
Don Bosco greatly recommended three things: frequent reception of the sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion; devotion to the Blessed Mother; defense of and homage to the Supreme Pontiff. Let us, too, follow his teachings.

Work as the Saints Worked

All the saints are workers. In proportion to their life span, how much they have labored and what a variety of work! St. Thomas, St. Francis of Assis, St. Bernard, St. Francis de Sales, St. Joseph Cottolengo, St. John Bosco, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, St. John Baptist de la Salle, St. John of the Cross, St. Albert the Great, St. Camillus de Lellis, St. John Mary Vianney, St. Dominic, St. Alphonsus Liguori, etc. All of them! They gave pre-eminence to interior life from which springs forth a wonderful and fruitful external humanitarian activity arousing the admiration of everyone.

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

Christ is full openness to joy

Devotion to the divine Master is not limited to some prayers: it should lead us to learn something everyday. For all our life and till the end of our life we can learn something; in doing things, to be always better mannered; in dealing with others, to write with grace. The proud pretend to know weverything. Look at St. Thomas Aquinas instead. Till the end he used to consult many persons.
Learn always more and then we shall truly be devotees of the divine Master, and we shall find more joy in life, and we shall discover always more possibilities to expand the truth of our apostoalte and our ministry.
Learn the due importance of reading the Gospel and the Bible in general. Learn all that is taught in them.

What Strikes Me Most Today

What strikes me most today is the line, "Look at St. Thomas Aquinas instead. Till the end he used to consult many persons." Since praying the Giaccardo Podcast Novena to St. Thomas Aquinas. I am learning more about him. I was happy to see him mentioned again today. I like to hang around smart, faith-filled people (that's why I try to hang around the Daughters of St. Paul and similar people - hoping some of their intelligence and holiness might rub off on me!), so I was extremely happy to see someone like St. Thomas Aquinas did the same, always wanting to consult with and associate with others.

What strikes you most today? Please click on "COMMENTS" below so we can all consult with and associate with one another, like St. Thomas Aquinas did!
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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!