PRAYERS OF LONGING!  

“Lord, my God, my heart shall belong to you alone. You are my peace and my life; you are my salvation. I will seek only you, be seized by you alone, and irrevocably belong to you.” (St. Peter Claver)

This is the prayer of consecration of the great saint who served the souls of African slaves with unshakable fidelity and endured their unimaginable physical suffering (Bible commentary from September 9).

Filled with deep piety, he carried out his heroic service until the end of his fruitful life.

Through this prayer, we can begin to understand how deeply his heart was focused on our Father. When our hearts belong to God, we desire nothing more than to do His will completely. Our Father drew his heart to Himself and filled St. Peter Claver entirely with Himself, just as the saint had asked. St. Peter Claver, so to speak, gave our Father free and loving disposal over his life because God was his peace and his salvation. He sought Him and allowed himself to be seized by Him.

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A life according to the Spirit

Gal. 5:25–26, 6:1–10

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if any one thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each man will have to bear his own load. Let him who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

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A SWEET HOUR OF DEATH

“Learn to live in such a way that your death will be sweet. Keep your heart free and trained up towards God in heaven—you have no lasting citizenship here.” (Thomas à Kempis)

A sweet hour of death—what a wonderful prospect! This can mean nothing other than looking forward to death, or rather, looking forward to returning home to the heavenly Father.

And indeed: When we realize that we are hastening toward our Father every day, who guides and accompanies us on our journey through this earthly life, our hearts can be set ablaze and our longing to live with our Father in eternity grows stronger.

Of course, we still have our mission to fulfill. We do this best when we keep our eyes fixed on our Father, just as the Son of God always did the Father’s will.

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Do not go beyond what is written  

1 Cor 4:6b-15

Brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? Already you are filled! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!  For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Read More

“THE INVINCIBILITY OF THE LOVING SOUL”

“Neither physical nor geographical circumstances can restrict the freedom of loving souls.” (St. Bernard of Clairvaux).

The art of true love lies in the ability to integrate everything into something greater when one learns to see it from the perspective of our Heavenly Father. Even suffering and the most difficult circumstances can be overcome when the soul unites with God. In a sense, the soul becomes invincible because it finds the path to union with God amidst all circumstances. Thus, it does not allow itself to be overcome by negative circumstances and retains its freedom.

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New ways on safe paths  

Lk 5:33-39

They then said to him, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees, too, but yours go on eating and drinking. ‘Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then, in those days, they will fast. ‘He also told them a parable, ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak; otherwise, not only will the new one be torn, but the piece taken from the new will not match the old. ‘And nobody puts new wine in old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and run to waste, and the skins will be ruined. No; new wine must be put in fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants new. “The old is good,” he says.’ Read More

Not to live in self-delusion

1 Cor 3:18 -21

There is no room for self-delusion. Any one of you who thinks he is wise by worldly standards must learn to be a fool in order to be really wise. For the wisdom of the world is folly to God. As scripture says: He traps the crafty in the snare of their own cunning and again: The Lord knows the plans of the wise and how insipid they are. So there is to be no boasting about human beings: everything belongs to you, whether it is Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, the world, life or death, the present or the future – all belong to you; but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.

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“ALWAYS HOLD FAST TO THE LORD”  

“Always hold fast to Me and go deep within.” (Inner Word).

No matter what trials we face, inner or outer, and even if we are unable to perceive God’s presence in them, the Word urges us to hold fast to our Father. It is not our feelings that provide security on our journey with God through this time, but rather the Word of God and His will to guide us. We can absolutely rely on this. If we sincerely strive to live in a state of grace—that is, in harmony with God’s will—we can entrust ourselves to it without question or doubt. If we have strayed from the right path, we must immediately return to God so that we may receive His grace once again and live in it. God’s love always surrounds us, urging us either to hold fast to Him or to turn back to Him.

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To live spiritually

1 Cor 3:1-9

And so, brothers, I was not able to talk to you as spiritual people; I had to talk to you as people still living by your natural inclinations, still infants in Christ; I fed you with milk and not solid food, for you were not yet able to take it – and even now, you are still not able to, for you are still living by your natural inclinations. As long as there are jealousy and rivalry among you, that surely means that you are still living by your natural inclinations and by merely human principles. While there is one that says, ‘I belong to Paul’ and another that says, ‘I belong to Apollos’ are you not being only too human? For what is Apollos and what is Paul? The servants through whom you came to believe, and each has only what the Lord has given him. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God gave growth. In this, neither the planter nor the waterer counts for anything; only God, who gives growth. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will have the proper pay for the work that he has done. After all, we do share in God’s work; you are God’s farm, God’s building.

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“THE VERY DEPTHS OF THE HEART”

“The root of love should be the very depths of your heart: Nothing but good can spring from this root.” (St. Augustine)

At first glance, this is a surprising statement by St. Augustine. It brings to mind Jesus’ words that everything unclean comes from the human heart: “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.” (Mark 7:21–23)

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