Sunday, February 15, 2009

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Seven Founders of the Order of Servites

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

     In the thirteenth  century seven Florentine merchants left everything and retired to a mountain near Florence.  After much prayer, they established the Order of Servants of Mary which aimed to increase devotion to our Lady's Seven Sorrows.  Their good work was rewarded by the conversion of many sinners.  They were canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1888.  
     Let us imitate these holy men in their love for the Sorrowful Mother.

Method

     To discipline the intellect, one must study what is more necessary and do so systematically, constantly, and in a supernatural spirit, that is, with the desire to know, love, and practice the truth.

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

Learn from everyone and everything

     To have goodwill means to learn everything that is taught, whether it is regarding spiritual life, study, apostolate, good education or religious formation.
     Commit yourself to learn all that is taught;  not just to learn by rote memory, but practice them in earnest... learn from everything, from all;  from one we may learn how to clean the floor, from another how to cook, from another how to paint and yet from another what is taught in the school.
     Whether one really learns something or what is learned is made use of is not the real issue, but that one should make the commitment to learn.

What Strikes Me Most Today

What strikes me most today is the idea that to have goodwill means to learn everything that is taught.  With every person we meet, we are given an opportunity to learn - our job is to listen.  The results are that we learn something of value to us at that time in our lives, something that wil be of value at some point in our future, or something that wil be of value to someone else we can teach later.  At worst, we may hear an error, which gives us a chance to think about, study and correct - deepening our own beliefs and giving us opportunities to correct others.  Listening is always good --- so I'll stop now and let you click on "COMMENTS" below so I can listen for a change!
     
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2009 at 9:32 AM

    Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
    --Martin Luther King, Jr.

    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

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Evangelizing the World!

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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!