Tag: heart
Mercy beyond all telling
Upon the cross as he hung in pain, between two thieves, one who mocked the other more humble, his body racked with pain unimaginable, betrayed by his apostles, who like cowards fled. One betraying, another denying, the others hidden in fear, something really not so hard to understand, for the heart of man is divided,… Read More ›
If we have souls
Old age the final frontier not easy by any means, often painful on many levels that is unknown in youth or middle age. Which I believe is the most important part of our lives, If indeed we do have souls, a heart that grows eternally, and we take our love with us; and all else… Read More ›
Hate itself is the seed of death
The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with a red hot iron. I have to pick up the incandescent metal and burn my own hand while burning the other person. Hate itself is the seed of death in my own heart while it seeks death of another. Love is the seed… Read More ›
Make the Lord your joy
My advice to you is to turn aside occasionally from troubled and anxious pondering on the paths you may be treading, and to travel on smoother ways where the gifts of God are serenely savored, so that the thought of him may give breathing space to you whose consciences are perplexed. I should like you… Read More ›
As you labour with your body, so you must labour with your mind
If you pray with your lips but your mind wanders, how do you benefit? ‘When one buildeth, and another pulleth down, what profit have they then but labour?’ As you labour with your body, so you must labour with your intellect, lest you appear righteous in the body while your heart is filled with every… Read More ›
Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they… Read More ›
That for which I was sent is accomplished
Moses, the Libyan, was a very gentle and exceedingly lovable man who was accounted worthy of the gift of healing. He told me: When I was a youth in the monastery, we dug a large cistern twenty feet across. Eighty of us had been digging away there for three days and we had gone about a cubit farther than… Read More ›
Restless
Lack of sleep, overwork, or simple dissipation of energy in frivolous pursuits, and of course ill health, can be only some of the influences on our inner life that can lead to ‘restlessness’. I think the term “Waiting for the Lord”, deals with this very common experience for human beings, as they continue their journey… Read More ›
St. Bernard reminds us to properly prepare for the Lord’s Coming
[Yet people] observe these days (Advent) out of stale routine, without devotion or emotion. Further—and still worse—the remembrance of this condescension is turned into a pretext for the flesh. During those days you may see them preparing splendid clothes and special foods with utmost care—as if Christ at his birth would be seeking these and… Read More ›
From the Life of St. Benedict
When this great temptation was thus overcome, the man of God, like to a piece of ground well tilled and weeded, of the seed of virtue brought forth plentiful store of fruit: and by reason of the great report of his wonderful holy life, his name became very famous. Not far from the place where… Read More ›