Sunday, March 15, 2009

Monday, March 16, 2009

St. Frances de Sales

From Saint and Thought For Every Day, 
by Blessed James Alberione
Total Union With Christ

     Communion increases grace, makes up for losses, invigorates, gives joy of spirit, and acts under the influence of grace to remove venial sins.  St. Francis de Sales says:  "He who receives Holy Communion has Jesus in his brain, in his heart, in his breast, in his eyes, in his hands, on his tongue, in his ears, in his feet.  And what does this Savior do?  He straightens out everything, purifies, mortifies and vivifies everything.  It is He loving through the heart, understanding through the brain, giving life through the breast, seeing through the eyes, speaking with the tongue.  He does all in all.  Hence, we live, not we, but Jesus Christ lives in us."

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

     Recollection means to unify our energies and faculties in order to fulfill our duties.  Recollection is the opposite of dissipation.
     Many scattered strands of gold constitute some strength.  But if we join these strands together we get a thick cable of great strength.  
     Recollection means application of the mind to what we have to do;  application of our heart, of our will and of our physical energies.  In short, it means utilizing all the means, including the external means like space, all, for the purpose of service, that is, to work and make progress.
     Let us gather our forces.  What an amount is wasted!

What Strikes Me Most Today

What strikes me most today is the vocab lesson I received from Blessed Alberione's words about recollection.  When I think of the word recollection, I think of remembrance - a passive remembering.  But he says recollection means to apply our minds to what we have to do - an active process involving our heart, our will, and our physical energies.  He stresses this further by saying the opposite of recollection is dissipation - to waste or squander; that's how important recollection is!
     This tells me I need to challenge myself to not just read great writings by St. Paul, Blessed Alberione and other good books, but I need to employ my heart, my will, and my physical energies into incorporating what I learn into my life, and sharing it with others by example and by word.  

What strikes you most today? 
Click on "COMMENTS" below to share your thoughts.
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2 comments:

  1. Luis PortugalMarch 16, 2009 at 7:59 AM

    Hello
    It has a nice blog.
    Sorry not write more, but my English is bad writing.
    A hug from my country, Portugal

    ReplyDelete
  2. jeffmathewsMarch 16, 2009 at 11:17 PM

    Luis,
    Thank you so much for your comment! Let me tell you: your English is much better than my Portuguese!
    I have never been to Portugal, but I would love to visit Portugal someday, especially Fatima.
    Paz amor e Jesus Cristo,
    Jeff

    ReplyDelete

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"Fear not, I am with you. From here I want to enlighten. Atone for sin."

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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!