Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Original Artwork by Patricia Cotter
Click on the artist's name to see more of her original Saintly art

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

St. Agatha
Virgin and Martyr

     St. Agatha was born in Sicily of noble parents.  Because she resisted the solicitations of the Roman governor, she was condemned to be tortured.  It is said that Agatha was rolled on pieces of broken pottery, then on burning coals.  When she was carried back to her cell, she expired while praying.  It was the year 251.
     Let us ask this youthful saint for the grace to resist all temptations, especially those against purity.

The New Man

     Even in the manner of education, let us look for the best!  This means that first of all we should try to replace the old man with the new man:  Jesus Christ.  Often one is tempted to please and content others.... Three steps are necessary:  to form deep convictions, precise and broad ideas; to "deny oneself" even in small things and "take up the cross" through generous fulfillment of one's daily duties;  to follow Jesus through constant union with God, with an enlightened delicacy of conscience, in a spirit of diligent prayer.  Of course, there must also be times of relaxation, but these must be wholesome and appropriate.

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

Sanctify the present moment

     The past is past, what has been, has been, we cannot change it, we can only be grateful for the graces received and be humble and sorry for the lack of correspondence to grace.  Therefore let us balance our accounts by means of penance and confession.
     The future is not in our hands.  We don't even know if we would be alive to see the evening of today.
     Truly what we have is the present moment.  Sanctify the present moment.  And the sanctification of the present moment is this:  to make resolution for the future.
     At this moment what the Lord expects from us is that we make resolutions, which are acts of love of God.  It can happen that we may fail to be faithful to them.  Nevertheless the acts of love have been made.  If they are strong and if we are able to put them into practice, certainly so much the better.  In that case there is an increase of merit.  However, a desire to do good, a desire to love God is already a meritorious act.

What Strikes Me Most Today
 What strikes me most today is the last line, "a desire to love God is already a meritorious act."  Too often I focus on my failings and setbacks and mistakes.  I'm great at making resolutions and wanting to be a better person; unfortunately, I have much more experience at breaking resolutions.  I am encouraged by the fact that just by the act of making a resolution, an act of love has been made.  At times I want to quit making resolutions because of the high likelihood of failure, but Blessed Alberione's words tell me that there is merit just in my desire to do good.  I imagine not trying at all is a bigger disappointment to God than my trying but failing.

What strikes you most today?  
Click on "COMMENTS" below to share any reflections you may have.
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1 comment:

  1. MForemanFebruary 5, 2009 at 1:07 PM

    I like what you said in today's "what strikes me most" so much that I may print it out and tape it to my fridge. You could have been talking about me with the failed resolutions to be the best person I can be. I gives me such joy to know that my attempts at being good, whether successful or not, are just as important and tell God I may not be the strong person that does everything right in my life but my overall intentions are good.
    Your blog always makes me feel better about myself and how I live my life. Thanks

    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!