Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

From Saint and Thought For Every Day,

by Blessed James Alberione

Adoration


Spend this day in adoration of the Holy Spirit. Grace is a vital principle - indeed, it is life itself - and the exercise of grace is faith, hope and charity. Grace makes natural virtues supernatural, particualarly the cardinal virtues. From it spring the eight beatitudes, which are the beginning here on earth of the happiness of heaven; the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which perfect our natural energies and elevate them; and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, of which the last and the crown is charity.

What Strikes Me Most Today

OK, I admit it - I had to look up the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord. The fact that knowledge is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and I didn't know the seven gifts, just doesn't sound good. Fortunately, God must have understanding, since it is another of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

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

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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 10, 2009 at 9:46 AM

    "Fear of the Lord" is the one that gets me. I have never feared God. I always felt he was all about love and would hate that people feared him. And the fact that that is a gift is even more confussing to me. When I was young, some 50 odd years ago, fear was thrown around a lot. But today, in the world we live now, it doesn't seem to make sense. Am I wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  2. jeffmathewsJune 10, 2009 at 12:37 PM

    "Fear of the Lord" is one of those phrases many people have trouble with. You are right that God is all about love, because He is Love. Many would like to minimize the Catholic Church to a list of strict moral rules, guilt, and fear. We know that our Catholic faith is built on our loving relationship with a loving God.
    "Fear of the Lord" can cause negative feelings because the word fear does have more negative connotations in English (usually associated with being afraid of something bad).
    The best article I recall dealing with "fear of the Lord" was in INSIDE THE VATICAN in an article called, "The Primacy of Jesus, The Primacy of Love." I cannot do justice in summarizing it, but it is definitely worth reading the entire short article at http://www.insidethevatican.com/articles/status-ecclesiae/status-ecclesiae-apr-2006.htm.
    I hope this helps!

    ReplyDelete
  3. jeffmathewsJune 10, 2009 at 12:44 PM

    The link above didn't seem to work with a . after htm, so try:

    http://www.insidethevatican.com/articles/status-ecclesiae/status-ecclesiae-apr-2006.htm

    (You may have to copy and paste it.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJune 10, 2009 at 4:28 PM

    I read the article and unfortuantely it only sparked more issues when I got to "A truly mature Catholic husband is informed and know that contraception, for example, will harm his marriage, first of all by harming his wife physically...".
    Yet another example of the church living in the unrealistic past.
    After having my fourth child while practicing natural family planning and realizing the church was not going to give me money for food or pay for their education, I had to stop having children. If the church doesn't see that is reality and unless they adjust to modern times there will not be many Catholics left when my grandchildren are grow. And that would be a sad day.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJune 10, 2009 at 4:37 PM

    PS,
    The article did clarify the "fear" terminology for me. So thank you for that.

    ReplyDelete

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"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Pauline Prayer Book for our Haitian Brothers and Sisters

Be Not Afraid

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

Daughters of St. Paul

Daughters of St. Paul
Evangelizing the World!

New faith and family friendly video sharing

New faith and family friendly video sharing
Great Pauline Video Sharing Site

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!