Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

From Saint and Thought For Every Day, 
by Blessed James Alberione
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Bishop and Doctor

     From his early childhood, St. Cyril nourished a great love for the Sacred Scriptures.  Ordained to the priesthood, he dedicated himself to the instruction of the catechumens.  He was bishop of Jerusalem for twenty-five years, years of personal suffering and persecution from the Arians.  He died in 386 or 387.
     To be strong and constant when trials and troubles come our way, let us, too, nourish our minds with the daily reading of Sacred Scripture.

Self-control

     True liberty is not wildness, licentiousness or permissiveness; it is a proven ability to do good and a responsible decision to accomplish it; it is dominion over one's faculties and instincts and over events.  The Church has always defended human liberty.  She wants to introduce man into the infinite riches of faith and grace in such a persuasive way that he can feel himself invited and inclined to consider them, to penetrate them, and to accept them as his temporal and eternal good.

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

     The person improves when he knows how to control himself at the right time and place.
     One who is faithful in small things will be faithful in big things as well; one who is unfaithful in small things will be unfaithful in big things as well.
     One who is obedient will be obeyed; one who is not will hardly be obeyed.
     One who loves will be loved; one who does not love will not be loved.
     The good disciple will become a good master; a bad disciple will be a bad master.
     The meek will do well in society; the pushy will run into many dangers in various situations.
     The one who is pious, religious, orderly, studious, an apostle, will generate and form persons who are pious, religious, orderly, studious, and apostles.

What Strikes Me Most Today

What strikes me most today is the line "One who loves will be loved; one who does not love will not be loved."  I would like to look at this as another opportunity for improvement during Lent - to find an opportunity to do something or say something to someone to make them feel loved.  I can even think of relatives whom I assume know I love them, but it sure couldn't hurt for me to make sure they know it.

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

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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousMarch 18, 2009 at 12:15 PM

    The past 2 days have had a lot of talk concerning thoughts and behavior. Especially behavior triggered from certain thoughts. I always take comfort in a Mark Twain quote that reassures me I'm not a bad person or the only one dealing with this stuff:
    "We all have thoughts that would shame the devil."

    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!