Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

St. Casimir



From Saint and Thought For Every Day,

by Blessed James Alberione


St. Casimir, the son of Casimir IV, King of Poland, was born in 1458. Amid the dangers and luxuries of court life, Casimir lived as a true Catholic Christian and died of consumption at the age of 26.

Like St. Casimir, let us never be fooled into compromising the joy of being Christian by blinding ourselves with the luxuries of this life.


The Crowning with Thorns


In the third sorrowful mystery we consider Jesus crowned with thorns. This was one of the most painful torments prepared for Jesus Chirst by men; sins of the mind, in fact, are the most serious, the most numerous, the most ruinous. They had to be atoned for on our behalf by Jesus with indescribable sufferings. They are directly opposed to the Divine Master, who said: "This is why I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18:37). Preachers of error and heresy erect pulpits of teaching opposed to the teaching of the only Master, and thus witness to falsehood.


From A Year With Blessed James Alberione,

Compiled by J. Maurus


Work is a joy


Fr. Alberione thanks the Lord for his profoundly Chiristian and very hardworking family. All acquaintances and neighbors knew very will this characteristic of his family.

Children, even tiny tots, were brought up in the fear of God and everyone, small and big according to each one's capacity, had to do some work. This may be minding the chicks or working in the farm.

Summer holidays and winter rests were unknown realities to them.

Later on from 11-23 years, recreation consisted mostly in change of activities.

A small episode: While returning from the seminary, Alberione was passing through the field where the rakes were ready to make hay. Without even going home, he took off his coat and shoes and helped his brothers till dinnertime.

During holidays he spent his time in work study and spiritual practices. In fact he was reading and studying more during holidays than school days.


What Strikes Me Most Today


What strikes me most today is the image of Blessed Alberione walking home from the seminary to his family farm, and taking off his coat and shoes and helping finish the work of the day before going into the house to see his family. What a tremendous image to ponder. In a movie of Blessed Alberione's life, I would love to see this scene!


What strikes you most today.

Click on "COMMENTS" below to share your thoughts.
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2 comments:

  1. Rae StaboszMarch 4, 2009 at 6:25 AM

    These two lines struck me this morning:

    "Summer holidays and winter rests were unknown realities to them.

    Later on from 11-23 years, recreation consisted mostly in change of activities."

    Yikes!! A little too bleak for my comfort.

    ReplyDelete
  2. tkiehlMarch 4, 2009 at 10:22 AM

    What strikes me most is "Children, even tiny tots, were brought up in the fear of God". How very sad that anyone was ever taught to fear God. God is love and should be loved in return, never feared.

    ReplyDelete

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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!