I had to tell a very dear friend a hard truth yesterday. I forced her into a position where she will receive professional help. She denied that she needed it. Suddenly a wall came crashing down around her heart, A wall of anger, shame, pain, broken trust. All the warmth and light in the room […]
My past, O Lord, to your mercy; my present, to your love; my future, to your providence! — St. Padre Pio (via Video meliora…)
Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. Yet it is the law of […]
Lord, give us the Word. Give us cheering words for the lonely, Comforting words that bless. Encouraging words for the hopeless, Smiling words to bring happiness. Give us patient words for the struggling, Courteous words, so that rudeness ends, Kind words for those who upset us. Forgiving words for those who offend. Give us faith-filled […]
Winston Churchill was plagued by what they use to call “melancholy”. Today we call it depression. He called it the “black dog”. I think he saw it as an enemy not to fight, but to avoid. Some say that is why he took up painting. I received the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick back […]
Lord, There was some parenting I didn’t receive; You are my Father. There was some romancing I shouldn’t have trusted; You are the Lover of my Soul. There are some things I want, but can’t find; You are the Source of all good things. There are […]
Father, bless my students, past, present, and future, in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! Send down Your grace so that they may discover a deeper faith and a brighter hope. Open up their […]
Lord of all, Watch over me, walk with me, and answer my prayer. Help me to know your presence at every moment of every day. In times of trouble and in times of gladness, let me know you are near. I am nothing without you. I can do nothing without you. You call me to […]
Thank you, Father, for the gift of Pope John Paul II. Have mercy on him. Thank you, Father, for the gift of Terri Schiavo. Have mercy on her. Thank you, Father, for all of the people in our lives. Have mercy on them. In your Son’s Name, Amen.
Receive, Lord, in tranquillity and peace, the souls of your servants who have departed out of this present life to be with you. Give them the life that knows no age, the good things that do not pass away, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. — St. Ignatius of Loyola
Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death to life. — refrain from a song based on Psalm 23
May you have many friends and may they be as mature in taste and health and color and as sought after as the contents of this glass. May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door. May every […]
For all that has been—Thanks. To all that shall be—Yes. To say Yes to life is at one and the same time to say Yes to oneself. Yes—even to the element in one which is most unwilling to let itself be transformed from a temptation into a strength. To be free, […]
O God, early in the morning I cry to you. Help me to pray And to concentrate my thoughts on you: I cannot do this alone. In me there is darkness, But with you there is light; I am lonely, but you do not leave me; I am feeble in heart, but with you there […]
These Wave Are for me A Tempest. I shall perish, lost in an abysmal sea. Yet, For You, Like that night in Galilee, They are a lulling hush, A Cradle of Respite, Relief From the labors of arduous love. Exhaust […]
God, I have no defense. I am lonely and miserable— for no real reason. How can I spread your love when I don’t have it? How can I spread to others your joy when I am not joyful? Why? How? What must I do? Father, I’m […]
We offer you, Lord, a poor man’s gift. We offer you a poor man’s life. We’re poor and hungry; we’re naked and weak; we break easily, Lord, so handle us gently. The goods that we offer are gifts from you: our lives with all their freedom, our distracted minds, our often weak wills and failing […]
Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices. Christ has no body on earth now but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which […]
I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. — Author unknown
Lord, my God, teach my heart this day where and how to see you, where and how to find you. You have made me and remade me, and you have bestowed on me all the good things I possess, and still I do not know you. I have not yet done that for which I […]
May God draw faith, hope, and love in your heart every day this year.
O Lord and Master of my life, do not give me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power and idle talk; but give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to your servant. Yes, O Lord and King, grant that I may see my own transgressions […]
[Image of Our Lady of Guadalope, a remembrance of her feast day.]
Loving God, Amid all the troubling news of the world, thank you for the good news of the Gospel. Amid the fear of foreigners, thank you for helping us welcome strangers. In the hectic race for wealth, thank you for opening us to the joys […]
Yesterday morning, I was driving westward into the city to go to work. The fresh morning blue sky and the golden colors of the sunrise behind me looked gorgeous in my rear view mirror. At one point, as the bend in the road turned slightly, the reflection of the sun moved directly into the middle […]