Sunday, February 22, 2009

Monday, February 23, 2009

St. Polycarp
Bishop and Martyr

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

St. Polycarp, a disciple of St. John the Evangelist, is considered the last testimony of the apostolic age.  At the age of eighty-six, he was burned at the stake in the amphitheater of Smyrna.
     In imitation of St. Polycarp, let us prove our love of God and neighbor with deeds worthy of a Catholic Christian.

Dangers

Mental laziness, inactivity, and lack of any intellectual interest whatsoever expose the mind to the danger of becoming the victim of any thought which comes to it.  Mental laziness is counteracted by continual, beneficial activity.  The mind is always at work; it is ready to nourish itself on any food at all.  If it is kept busy with good things, it will not have time for evil.  We must, of course, depend upon grace, but we cannot tempt God.  We always have to use prudence and common sense.  A mind which interests itself in many things and nourishes itself with wholesome food will not accept poison.

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

We are imitators of St. Paul the Apostle

The goals we set are:
  1. To show our gratitude to the father who has protected, guided, and enlightened us during the long years of our life.
  2. To know St. Paul better:  much has been written on his human and spiritual personality, his teaching, and his power with God.
  3. To imitate better his virtues.  He was truly a man of God:  a man filled with grace, an exceptional man, a man to whom were entrusted in a particular way the things of God; a man who in a special way owes much to God, a man who could say:  "the grace of God has not been in vain in me."
St. Paul is the singer of God, a herald of the glory of God, promoter of worship of God, exponent of the laws of God, one set apart by God, the prisoner of Christ, one who lived in Christ.

What Strikes Me Most Today

What strikes me most today is the line above when Blessed Alberione points out that St. Paul was a man who could say, "the grace of God has not been in vain in me."  I have read over that line several times.   I try to imagine ways in which I can imitate St. Paul more in my daily life, to imitate his virtues, to truly be a man of God.  How awesome for anyone to be able to say at the end of their life, "the grace of God has not been in vain in me."  Over Lent I'm going to try to study St. Paul's Letter to the Romans; this is where Blessed Alberione first realized just how special St. Paul was.  (That will help me with #2 above, to know St. Paul better.)

What strikes you most today?  Click on "COMMENTS" below to share your thoughts or ideas you may be thinking about for Lent.

Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. Rae StaboszFebruary 24, 2009 at 7:48 AM

    " The mind is always at work; it is ready to nourish itself on any food at all. If it is kept busy with good things, it will not have time for evil. We must, of course, depend upon grace, but we cannot tempt God. We always have to use prudence and common sense. A mind which interests itself in many things and nourishes itself with wholesome food will not accept poison."

    This has resonance for me today. As a retired person, I have far more free time than I did when I worked. It is a challenge to use prudence and common sense to balance how I spend my time, so that I don't descend into the kind of mental laziness that starves rather than nourishes the soul.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

"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!