How significant are you?

By Nancy Ward

Christ and Child by Bloch (Wikimedia Commons)

Disappointment crept into my heart when I failed to land a plum writing assignment. This came after I visualized my writing glorifying God and my work becoming significant. I thought that would help me become significant.  It got me thinking about how we become significant and how we judge the significance of others in our life.

I remember hearing someone say, “The more you love, the more significant you become.” God is Love, and he is huge compared to me. Not because he is bigger, stronger and more powerful, but because he gave his Son for love of me.


How significant is God in your life?

Measure that by how much he loves you. Can you measure God’s infinite love for humanity and specifically for you? The cross points out how much.

Don’t wait until you grow into that charming, loveable person that you visualize everyone can love. God created you the person you are right now, his beloved child. You are already that loveable person because he already loves you unconditionally. You can’t earn God’s love by trying to acquire more holiness.  You can only allow his holiness to come forth through all the clutter of your fears and self-expectations by embracing his love for you.


Continue reading at Nancy's blog JOY Alive.

Wisdom in prayer

By Beryl Baterina

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins By Blake
(Wikimedia Commons).

"This kind can only come out through prayer.” 

Wisdom is God's gift and we can enhance this gift by learning and sharing it.  We can learn more from school, other people, and experiences.  We can share it by means of teaching, encouraging, or inspiring others.  Having the gift of wisdom does not give us the authority to be arrogant about it.  We must be humble and be grateful to the Lord for this gift.

We may excel in our daily jobs or activities but these are all because of God.  We must not be proud and arrogant thinking that it is because of our hardwork that we were able to achieve who we are today.  It is a blessing from God.  We must thank God for all the graces given to us.  And this is praying.  We  must learn to pray that we may be able to properly use these gifts from God.  Everything around us is wonderful and we must see the goodness in them.  We must have this habit of praying to God that we may use all the creation according to His plan.  Without prayer, these great gifts will not be useful to us.    


Continue reading at Beryl's blog Beryl Baterina.

Where do I stand this night?

By Melanie Jean Juneau

The Last Supper by Jaume Huguet (Wikimedia Commons).

It is Holy Thursday, the night we celebrate the Chrism Mass.Tonight, churches around the entire globe will wait in  prayerful vigil, with lights dimmed, all images covered with the congregation in respectful, sombre silence. The Church is remembering the end of Jesus’ public life as a teacher and healer and walking with Him as He begins His most important work, the work of salvation in His passion, death and resurrection.

Yet today’s Gospel takes us back to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. He has just emerged from the desert, filled by the power of the Holy Spirit, astonishing crowds with His words. As He stands on the podium in the synagogue to read from the book of Isaiah, repeating the Old Testament reading which we have just heard minutes before, Jesus summarizes His entire ministry in a few short verses.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Continue reading at Melanie's blog Joy of Nine9.

The unholy mirror

By Mary N. 

The Broken Mirror by Greuze (Wikimedia Commons)

When I write about healing in my posts I am usually talking about spiritual healing. Physical healing is wonderful but many times it's simply the byproduct of a much deeper inner healing. Sometimes we block God's healing - in my own life one of the greatest stumbling blocks to healing was and is myself. As this stumbling block is moved out of the way the spiritual healing my soul needs has sped up.

One of the more common stumbling blocks to healing is self-hatred. The wrong kind of self-hatred. We aren't talking about the self-hatred the saints speak about here that's aimed at the false self. We're talking about a very real hatred/dislike of oneself. And it comes about through looking at yourself in an unholy mirror.

What is this unholy mirror?


Continue reading at Mary's blog The Beautiful Gate.

St. Benedict on humility and disinterstedness

By Barbara A. Schoeneberger

Altenburg Abbye (photo by Tyssel,
Wikimedia Commons)

The year 1875 marked the 1500 anniversary of the birth of St. Benedict, whose Rule I am bound to follow by my choice of becoming an Oblate. Now, another 125 + years later, not a day goes by that I do not marvel at the wisdom of this “Father of Western Monasticism” and how it applies to my life today. Moreover, by the grace of God I can see how He has arranged my life to make it possible to follow this Rule without complications. Not that the road is easy – just that the path is not hidden. The barbed-wire fences and hedgerows along the way keep me from wandering beyond the point where I would lose direction. That is, in fact, one purpose of having a rule in the first place.
In Chapter 57 St. Benedict writes:

If there are craftsmen in the monastery, let them practice their crafts with all humility, provided the Abbot has given permission. But if any one of them becomes conceited over his skill in his craft, because he seems to be conferring a benefit on the monastery, let him be taken from his craft and no longer exercise it unless, after he has humbled himself, the Abbot again gives him permission.

Abbots, like parents, have special graces granted by God to fulfill their duties of guiding and protecting the spiritual and temporal life of the family. In the case of the monastery, the community is supposed to be self-sufficient under the direction of the abbot. The talents of the various members are to be applied, according to the discretion of the abbot, in the service of the daily upkeep of the household.


Continue reading at Barb's blog Suffering With Joy.

The call of a humble heart

By Michael Incorvia

Madonna of Humility by Sasseta
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Lord hears and responds to the call of a humble heart. Call on Him with confidence and courage.

The Lord seeks and desires a heart free of self and the world, for a heart burdened with self and the world cannot bind itself to God.

The Lord helps and protects the meek and humble of heart. Lovingly, He provides what is needed to serve Him, strengths the will with grace to embrace the cross, and joins those of humble heart to the mystical body of His Son, Christ Jesus.

Trust in the mercy and goodness of the Lord fearlessly.


Michael blogs at To Love and Truth.

Going through God's meat grinder

By Barbara A. Schoeneberger

The Liberation of St. Peter by Terbrugghen (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Our journey towards sainthood can be compared to being put through a meat grinder. I’m old enough to know what meat grinders look like in action, having personally observed the cook use one in the convent where I once lived. A slab of a former cow is reduced to a pile of hamburger on its way to filling the stomachs of the hungry and so it is with us in our transformation along the way to heaven. God, our heavenly chef makes mincemeat out of us to shape us into something useful and delicious to feed those hungry for salvation.

Being ground up to bits is not fun. We can’t endure it without the grace of faith. St. Therese of Lisieux knew this well, writing in Story of a Soul, “I have made more acts of faith during the past year than in all the rest of my life.” In this case she was speaking of the dark night of the soul, but her words could just as easily apply to all the circumstances we face when God allows us to endure situations which afflict, humble, and mortify us.

Divine Intimacy Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene writes:

It will sometimes be easier to accept heavy trials which come directly from Our Lord, such as illness and bereavement, than other lighter ones where creatures enter into play, and for which, perhaps, we experience greater repugnance. The immediate action of creatures, especially if their malice has a share in it, makes it more difficult for us to discover the divine hand. A greater spirit of faith is necessary here, that we may pass beyond the human side of circumstances, the faulty way of acting of such and such a person, and find, beyond all these human contingencies, the dispositions of divine Providence, which wills to use these particular creatures, and even their defects and errors, to file away our self-love and destroy our pride.

Continue reading at Barb's blog  Suffering With Joy.

Self-important humility

By Melanie Jean Juneau

Joan of Arc's Death at the Stake by Stilke
(photo credit: Wikimedis Commons)

When many Christians think of  humility and sanctity, they often think of ascetic fasting and the heroic acts of the saints, but these sorts of practices often focus more on self than on God. It is actually a subtle sort of self-delusion that is difficult to discern, but God is finally getting through to me, helping me shake off self-defeating,  pious actions that actually drive me further from God.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God not by works-Ephesians 2:8,9

I cannot earn His love or Presence.
He must do everything in me.
This is true humility.

Pride entices me to work harder, pray more, fast religiously and perform heroic looking acts of virtue.  Humility accepts that only God can save me and those around me. 

Why?

We must come to the realization that we need a Savior. It usually takes even contemplative monks decades to finally let go of the last of their pride and arrogant striving to humbly surrender control to God. Pride makes us try to earn our salvation with good works. Humility realizes that we are sinners. Period. Nothing can change that fact, except Christ's work on the cross. 
 
Melanie writes at Joy of Nine9.

Like nails on a blackboard

By Patricia

Statue of St. Therese with her father, Bl. Louis Martin
(Wikimedia Commons).

“….I saw only too well how very imperfect was my love for my Sisters; I did not really love them as Jesus loves them. I see now that true charity consists in bearing with the faults of those about us, never being surprised at their weaknesses, but edified at the least sign of virtue.”

The Hidden Face by Ida Gorres, p. 240

Today I had to deal with someone whose total self-absorption gives me that nails-on-a-blackboard feeling. They frequently seek me out to relate their most recent trials and tribulations, which they deem to trump any that others will ever have to bear. Never is there an inquiry as to how I am doing, and if I happen to mention any of my problems, I am met with deafening silence. This goes on regularly, and my association with this person is such that I cannot avoid these encounters.

I am grateful as always for the wisdom of Therese, which makes me look beyond the surface. I know that this is a wounded person, and that they probably need the attention. As for me, should I really be seeking sympathy from others?

When I truly need it, I’m sure the Lord will send it. But most often, I believe He loves us to turn to Him for comfort, rather than to fellow creatures. I know that he permits us to be rebuffed to whittle down our pride, and remind us to be willing to suffer our little travails for love of Him.


Continue reading at  I Want to See God..

The saint maker

By Mary N.

Painting by Willem Joseph Laquy - credit Wikimedia Commons

God is determined to make saints out of us. And believe me, He has an endless supply of saint making material and most of these materials are other people. If you ask God for a particular virtue you will get plenty of chances to practice said virtue.

For instance, did you ever notice that when you ask God to increase your patience, everyone, and I mean everyone, wakes up grouchy the following morning? Including the cat? You wonder who stole your family and replaced them with the sour-faced aliens glaring at you across the breakfast table. Let the games begin.

 I won't tell even you what happened after I prayed the Litany of Humility by Cardinal Merry Del Val but let me assure you that it wasn't pretty and involved a sick person, a clothespin, and a ton of scrubbing in the ladies room at church. And that was just the morning.

Did I mention that I only prayed the prayer once? I planned to pray it regularly, I really did, but I'm still recovering from the first time. I figure a year or two should do the trick.  I really DO want humility just not quite yet.




Continue reading at Mary's blog The Beautiful Gate.

Receiving the Kingdom like a child

By Heidi

King David in Prayer by de Grebber (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

LORD, my heart is not proud;
nor are my eyes haughty.
I do not busy myself with great matters,
with things too sublime for me.
Rather, I have stilled my soul,
Like a weaned child to its mother,
weaned is my soul.
Israel, hope in the LORD,
now and forever.

Sometimes I read this Psalm 131 and I feel great peace and trust.   Sometimes I think, Yeah, easy for King David to say, he has the Lord's blessing, he is King and loved by his people.  He accomplished great things, and pursued great marvels.  I am nothing like that, but I want, I want, I want.  And that is when I take my eyes off of the Lord and focus on myself.  But in His great patience He waits, and soon I return, realizing that in all he did, King David had a heart for God. Only in resting with Him and then receiving His grace will I truly be able to see that my wants all are fulfilled in Him.  Even in my daily tasks, like feeding a little two-year old boy lunch and putting him down for a nap, if it is done with a heart for the Lord, it is truly a task great and marvelous that is laid out just for me.

Childlike faith is the key.  Humbly accepting the tasks that God has laid before you, not without zeal or passion, but without grasping at honor and earthly glory (and running back to His mercy when you realize that those desires have crept into your motivation for serving God).   All reward is sought from the Father.

And God places examples of this childlike faith before our eyes all the time; because He is a Father, and He knows we need encouragement.  Last fall as I was waiting for my preschool daughter’s dance class to start I was entranced by a vision of childlike discipleship.


Continue reading at  Journey to Wisdom.

Humility of heart and confidence in God

By Amanda Rose

Ukranian Icon (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

We needn't be afraid of our weakness, our nothingness. Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen explains in my favorite book, Divine Intimacy:

"...for it is the consciousness of our nothingness which leads us to put all our confidence in God, and the greater this confidence becomes in us, the more convinced we are of our nothingness....I have to acknowledge new failures every day; daily I must begin anew.
The more we suffer because of our wretchedness, the more we should run to Jesus, with full confidence in the power of  His Redemption... Let us not be discouraged; if we can humbly acknowledge our failure instead of feeling annoyance because of it, the failure itself will turn into victory."

It sounds like such a little step to "humbly acknowledge our failure instead of feeling annoyance," but how difficult it is when we struggle with the same challenges time and again! The words of the psalmist in Psalm 37:24-25 have been a great encouragement to me over the years as I struggle with myself: "Though I may fall, I do not lie prostrate, for the hand of my God sustains me."  I continue to fall, but He keeps me from falling too far and is ever ready to reach out His own hand to pull me back to my feet, or maybe (more humbly) to my knees. He is ever patient with me while I am pridefully impatient myself. Humility of heart grows as we accept our failures as being part of our human condition, repent with true contrition, and then move right along rather than wasting time beating ourselves up, regretting, or rehashing.
 

Continue reading at Amanda's blog Little Steps Along the Way.

Is humility the path to communion?

By Tina Coffey

Groben Church, Brandenburg, Germany (photo by Lienhard Schulz, German language Wikipedia).

In the last couple of weeks I’ve had opportunities to view the world through other people’s eyes on a couple of occasions.  The first came when a friend of mine that I have come to know through our children really opened up to me about some personal struggles she was having.  We’ve been friends for several years because of our children’s relationship, but this was different.  She shared with me on a deeper level and really showed me a vulnerable side that you don’t ordinarily see with casual friendships.  My eyes were really opened to a more full view of who she was. I was grateful that she trusted me enough to be so real with me and I think this experience touched me so much because this is a person that I have always admired and viewed as “having it all together.”  The experience brought us into a closer friendship.

The second experience came when I was looking through my teenage son’s phone to see what he had been up to.  One of the rules that my husband and I established with my son when we got the phone for him was that we had access to it at all times.  As I was reading some of the conversations he had shared with his friends, I became more aware of some of the relationships he has in his life with his peers.  Again, I saw more of who he was.  This gave me a view into his world that I don’t see on a regular basis.  While I didn’t find anything earth-shattering, there were definitely conversations that warranted some advice from Mom.  The resulting talk was initially uncomfortable for him, but allowed our relationship to grow as he saw a side of Mom that was understanding of what he is experiencing.  

These two experiences did something for me that was completely unexpected.  They reminded me how self-involved I am, which in a way is a natural thing.  After all seeing the world through our own eyes is usually the only view we have. I think we tend to be really wrapped up into our own lives, opinions, worries, etc...  Being allowed “in” to someone else’s world in a very intimate way was a wake up call for me.  

Continue reading Tina's post at  Parish Book Clubs.

Don't be afraid to approach God

 By Michael Incorvia



 

St. Therese at age 13 (photo credit: Wikipedia).

More fearful than standing before a large audience to deliver a speech, is standing before God.  We fear being found unworthy and sinful.  We need only look to the Gospels to dispel our fears.  Christ welcomed all to approach who felt unworthy because of their state in life or sinfulness.   They needed only call out His name or beg His mercy to approach and be healed.

St. Thérèse teaches that we should have complete trust in the merciful love of Jesus.  His divine heart is irresistibly inclined to pour out its mercy without measure on the abject and the lowly.

We are to approach Christ in “trustful humility” with our sinfulness, brokenness, and imperfections before us.  Through His mercy our sins will be forgiven, our brokenness healed, and our imperfections refined.

In “trustful humility” we should offer ourselves as an “empty vessel” to be filled with the love of God and ultimately absorbed in love in Him.  We should never fear His loving mercy.  We should approach unhindered, to embrace His merciful love.


Michael blogs at  To Love and Truth.

Humility: God's anesthesia

By Mary N. 

Madonna of Humility by Domenico di Bartolo (photo credit: Wikipedia).

God has been very good to me. Unfortunately, I have to admit that at times I have the bad habit of focusing on my flaws instead of God's mercy and kindness. Do I really think that my human imperfections matter more than the greatness of the Lord? No, but it can be easy for me to get caught up in this negative type of introspection.

Every flaw looks magnified when inspected up close.

The world becomes a very small place indeed when we focus on ourselves to this degree.  I know better than this but still catch myself doing it. There's nothing that imprisons a person as much as being overly preoccupied with yourself does. When it comes to spiritual matters, self-absorption is downright dangerous.

I'm quite sure we impede the work of the Holy Spirit when we worry about our spiritual progress. It's as if we were saying to the Lord, "I can't trust you with my sanctification. I am worried about my holiness because I don't quite believe you are powerful or loving enough to take care of this for me." Or perhaps we think He'll let us down and that we won't reach the impossibly high standards of holiness that we set up for ourselves with our fallen natures that (of course) know better than God what holiness is.

 In other words...

 ...I am  convinced that our own idea of holiness and God's are different. Very different.

Sooner or later everyone must get rid of the false gods they have set up for themselves...and the most difficult one to boot off the throne is the god of self. It's been a problem since the Garden of Eden and is no less of one today. The apple doesn't fall far from tree. Those who think they have escaped this aspect of the fall of man are deceiving themselves. The saints didn't think they were saints; they understood the depths of their fallen nature and their total dependence on God's mercy. They knew they were sinners in deep need of salvation. Once self has been kicked off the throne it becomes very clear that this is true in our own lives as well. One of the biggest obstacles to becoming a saint is thinking you are one already. The humble KNOW they are sinners but this doesn't bother them to a great degree because:


Continue reading at  The Beautiful Gate.

God humbles and He exalts

by Amanda Rose

Hannah Praying, Bibliothèque nationale de France

"My heart exults in the Lord: he humbles and he exalts." 

1 Samuel 2:1

 

So often we think that "being humbled" is a bad thing. It may be a painful thing, but for a Christian it is most certainly a good thing, particularly when it is the Lord our Good God humbling us. Being humbled by God helps us to see who we really are, it strips away the protective pride that surrounds us.

Only as we see more and more who we really are can we appreciate who God really is. Our littleness contrasts to His greatness. It is not bad to be little and weak. It is in this weakness, this littleness that He will exalt us, lift us up to Himself. Our hearts will exult and rejoice in Him as we realize that as much ugliness that we see in ourselves, it is not all that we are, it does not define us. Our true identity lies in the loving gaze of our Good God upon us. His love for us shines as He gazes upon us, and this bright gaze transforms us to become more of who He created us to be.

And somehow the smaller we are, the more joy our hearts are able to contain. As we grow smaller in what we think of ourselves, our hearts are able to expand. It is Christ's love growing within us.

Let us not be afraid of being humbled, of seeing our weaknesses, our sinfulness. It is like wiping the grime off the lenses of a pair of glasses we are wearing. We will be able to see God more clearly, and we will know His joy more fully. We will be able to see, really see, as more of the grime is removed.

Let us exult in Him, let us lift up our hearts to Him! He humbles us but, He always reaches down to lift us back up. Amen!



Amanda originally posted this at her blog  Little Steps Along the Way