Monday, January 26, 2009

Tuesday, January 27, 2009




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


St. Angela Merici
Virgin

St. Angela, foundress of the Ursuline Order and a great educator, was born in northern Italy. She and her religious community made heroic efforts on behalf of true Christian education. She died in 1540 and was canonized in 1807.
Let us live a holy life in order to die in the holy love of God.

Concentrating One's Energies

Whatever is not a help toward our goal is useless. A thousand streamlets which flow away in differen directions are good for nothing, while one hundred gathered in large pipes for an electric power station provide energy and power for light and heat. In the same way, one of average intelligence who concentrates his energies on the duty to be done will produce much more than another who scatters his thoughts, time and energy on too many things. It takes the same time to do things well as to do them badly.

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

The Marvels of Creation

It is imperative, beautiful and necessary to know the marvelous deeds of creation; to learn how to use them as intended by God during our earthly pilgrimage towards our highest destiny: heaven.
The creation makes us know the Creator, it serves our needs and awaiths a renewal: "All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his sons. For creation was condemned to lose its purpose, not of its own will, but because God willed it to be so. Yet there was the hope that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the gorious freedom of the children of God. For we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth" (Rom 8:19-22).

What Strikes Me Most Today

What strikes me most today is Blessed James Alberione discussing electric power stations, and his comment that it takes the same time to do things well as to do them badly. The first comment is a reminder of how contemporary Blessed James is, having been born in the 20th century. His analogy hits home for me - I know I've tried to accomplish several tasks at once, but I always do better to focus my energies and try to do one thing well. I find it much easier to relate to people who have lived within the last hundred years, especially when their wisdom is like that of Blessed James and Mother Thecla, just as true as the Church Fathers.

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

  1. Rae StaboszJanuary 27, 2009 at 4:24 PM

    You took the thoughts right out of my head> I also was struck by both ideas, that of the concentration of energy in an electric power house, & the comment that it takes the same am't of time to do a job poorly as to do it well. I don't think that is literally true. We can save time cutting corners. But at what price?

    A job well done will, in the end, yield profit. And we likely won't have to do it over again or take time to mend flaws in it. That's probably what Bl. Alberione was touching on.

    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!