Community Chat

[gloriajean]

The gift of listening is often more valuable than the advice that we'd like to give.
Lord, help me to be a good listener and then help me to let others work things
out according to Your plan for them, not mine.


Scripture for the day:

"I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and
that your joy may be complete." ~John 15:11

Meditation for the day:

"I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and
that your joy may be complete." Even a partial realization of the
spiritual life can bring much joy. We can feel at home in the world
when we are in touch with God's spirit. Spiritual experience can
bring a definite satisfaction. We can search for the real meaning of
life by following spiritual laws. God wants us to have spiritual
success and God intends that we have it. If we live our lives as much
as possible according to spiritual laws, we can expect our share of
joy and peace, satisfaction and success.
Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may find happiness in doing the right thing. I pray
that I may find satisfaction in obeying spiritual laws.

Greetings my friends! How's your day? Hope you found lots of blessings - including rain! It's a nice day here today - in the 70's. I saw one strawberry almost ripe. I plan to pick it tomorrow before the birds do and hope I beat them! Darla leaves tomorrow on her trip - please continue to pray for her safety. She is traveling along. Greg has his son there with him now, and he and his son will be driving here later on and his son will be at Greg's parent's farm, and they'll put him to work there. He is 19 and needs a job. Then Greg plans on leaving his car in Mpls. at his house which he's renting, and going back with Darla. Then when they make the trip here again, they can fly and there's his car to travel in. Greg will buy a different car back in Texas. Saturday night is coming and then I'll see Darla and her ring!
Last night Linus had a bad night - we're thinking it's from the Iboprofin he's been taking when he works. It's hurting his stomach. He called his Drs. nurse today and she suggests foot soaks in epson salts and some good massage oil on his feet that is for healing and lay off the ibroprofin. Please keep him in your prayers! I thank you so very much!

Homily of the Day

You Talk Too Much!
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

2 Cor 1:1-11 / Mt 6:7-15

Our ways of praying reveal so much about what we really think about God. As Jesus says in today’s gospel, many of us multiply words in prayer, as if we had to persuade God to do good things for us. Isn’t that astounding! The God who made us out of nothing, who sustains in existence from hour to hour, who wants us to be with him for all eternity — this God needs to be persuaded to be friendly to us?! Ridiculous!

It’s not God who has to change his attitude. We’re the ones! By way of prayer, we have to get our spirits turned around, opened, attuned and connected to the One who is the source of our life and of all that is good in us.

Jesus was so clear about that. Don’t multiply words. Just open your heart to the One who made you and who loves you more than anyone else ever will. Stop talking, open your heart to Him, and enjoy the experience of being filled full!

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as
crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Revelation
22:1

Smooth Stones

One of the earliest sunday school stories I recall hearing is the one
about David and Goliath. David, shepherd boy, who comes up against
the gigantic warrior, Goliath. And with just a slingshot and a few
little stones.

What a hero! He zaps the enemy in one fell blow, straight to the
head. Here’s the story, from the Bible (17th chapter of 1st Samuel):

Then he took his (shepherd’s) staff in his hand, chose five smooth
stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag
and, with his sling in his hand...David said to the Philistine(giant),
"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come
against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of
Israel, whom you have defied. ..This day the LORD will hand you over
to me, and I'll strike you down ... All those gathered here will know
that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle
is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." ..Reaching
into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the
Philistine on the forehead. So David triumphed ...without a sword in
his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

The stones David selected were smooth. Not big, heavy boulders. Small
stones that had been continually washed by the river waters. They were
more fit for use against the enemy than rougher, larger, more rugged
stones.

David knew. He had spent a lot of time outdoors, by himself, taking
care of the flocks of sheep for his father. And he’d had plenty of
time to practice with his slingshot. He knew how to do it.

In our journeys, as we are constantly washed by the waters of life, we
too become more smooth. More fit to be used. As I was thinking of
this, I coudn’t help but think that it would be good for me to quit
struggling so often, and just go with the flow. Smooth stones are
just fine, especially when they’re part of God’s master plan.

Mother Teresa's on Prayer:


Mother Teresa - Chapter 1 - On Prayer

I don't think there is anyone who needs God's help and grace as much
as
I do. Sometimes I feel so helpless and weak. I think that is why God uses
me. Because I cannot depend on my own strength, I rely on Him twenty-four
hours a day. If the day had even more hours, then I would need His help and
grace during those hours as well. All of us must cling to God through
prayer.

My secret is very simple: I pray. Through prayer I become one in love
with Christ. I realize that praying to Him is loving Him.

In reality, there is only one true prayer, only one substantial
prayer:
Christ Himself. There is only one voice that rises above the face of the
earth: the voice of Christ. Perfect prayer does not consist in many words,
but in the fervor of the desire which raises the heart to Jesus.

Love to pray. Feel the need to pray often during the day. Prayer
enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of Himself.
Ask and seek and your heart will grow big enough to receive Him and keep
We want so much to pray properly and then we fail. We get
discouraged
and give up. If you want to pray better, you must pray more. God allows
the
failure but He does not want the discouragement. He wants us to be more
childlike, more humble, more grateful in prayer, to remember we all belong
to
the mystical body of Christ, which is praying always.

We need to help each other in our prayers. Let us free our minds.
Let's not pray long, drawn-out prayers, but let's pray short ones full of
love. Let us pray on behalf of those who do not pray. Let us remember, if
we want to be able to love, we must be able to pray!

Prayer that comes from the mind and heart is called mental prayer. We
must never forget that we are bound toward perfection and should aim
ceaselessly at it.
The practice of daily mental prayer is necessary to reach that goal.
Because
it is the breath of life to our soul, holiness is impossible without it.

It is only by mental prayer and spiritual reading that we can
cultivate
the gift of prayer. Mental prayer is greatly fostered by simplicity - that
is, forgetfulness of self by transcending of the body and of our senses, and
by frequent aspirations that feed our prayer. "In Mental Prayer", says Saint
John Vianney, "shut your eyes, shut your mouth, and open your heart." In
vocal prayer we speak to God; in mental prayer He speaks to us. It is then
that God pours Himself into us.


Our prayers should be burning words that come forth from the furnace
of
hearts filled with love. In your prayers, speak to God with great reverence
and confidence. Do not drag behind or run ahead; do not shout or keep
silent, but devoutly, with great sweetness, with natural simplicity, without
any affectation, offer your praise to God with the whole of your heart and
soul.

Just once, let the love of God take entire and absolute possession of
your heart; let it become to your heart like a second nature; let your heart
suffer nothing contrary to enter; let it apply itself continually to
increase this love of God by seeking to please Him in all things and
refusing Him nothing;
let it accept as from His hand everything that happens to it; let it have a
firm determination never to commit any fault deliberately or knowingly, or
if it should fail, to be humbled and to rise up again at once - and such a
heart will pray continually.

People are hungry for the Word of God that will give peace, that will
give unity, that will give joy. But you can't give what you don't have.
That's why it's necessary to deepen your life of prayer.

Be sincere in your prayers. Sincerity is humility, and you acquire
humility only by accepting humiliations. All that has been said about
humility is not enough to teach you humility. All that you have read about
humility is not enough to teach you humility. You learn humility only by
accepting humiliations. And you will meet humiliation all through your life.
The greatest humiliation is to know that you are nothing. This you come to
know when you face God in prayer.

Often a deep and fervent look at Christ is the best prayer: I look at
Him and He looks at me. When you come face to face with God you cannot but
know that you are nothing, that you have nothing.

It is difficult to pray if you don't know how to pray, but we must
help ourselves to pray. The first means to use is silence. We cannot put
ourselves directly in the presence of God if we do not practice internal and
external silence.

The interior silence is very difficult, but we must make the effort.
In silence we will find new energy and true unity. The energy of God will
be ours to do all things well, and so will the unity of our thoughts, the
unity of our prayers, the unity of our actions with His actions, of our life
with His life. Unity if the fruit of prayer, of humility, of love.

In the silence of the heart, God speaks. If you face God in prayer
and
silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing.
It
is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptyness, that God can fill
you with Himself.
Souls of great prayer and souls of great silence.

Silence gives us a new outlook on everything. We need silence to be
able to touch souls. The essential thing is not what we say but what God
says to us and through us. In that sil
Listen in silence, because if your heart is full of other things you
cannot hear the voice of God. But when you have listened to the voice of God
in the stillness of your heart, then your heart is filled with God. This
will need much sacrifice, but if we really mean to pray and want to pray we
must be ready to do it now. These are only the first steps toward prayer
but
if we never make the first step with a determination, we will not reach the
last one, the presence of God.

This is what we have to learn right from the beginning; to listen to
the voice of God in our heart, and then in the silence of the heart God
speaks. Then from the fullness of our hearts, our mouth will have to speak.
That is the connection. In the silence of the heart God speaks and you have
to listen. Then in the fullness of your heart, because it is full of God,
full of love, full of compassion, full of faith, your mouth will speak.
Remember before you speak, it is necessary to listen, and only then, from
the fullness of your heart you speak and God listens.

The Contemplatives and ascetics of all ages and religions have sought
God in the silence and the solitude of the desert, forest and mountain.
Jesus, Himself, spent 40 days in the desert and the mountains, communing
for
long hours with the Father in the silence of the night.

We too, are called to withdraw at certain intervals into deeper
silence
and aloneness with God, together as a community as well as personally. To be
alone with Him, not with our books, thoughts and memories but completely
stripped of everything, to dwell lovingly in His presence - silent, empty,
expectant and motionless.

We cannot find God in noise or agitation. Nature, trees, flowers and
grass grow in silence. The stars, the moon, and the sun move in silence.
What is essential is not what we say but what God tells us and what He
tells
others through us. In silence He listens to us, in silence He speaks to our
souls. In silence we are granted the privilege of listening to His voice.

Silence of our eyes, Silence of our ears, Silence of our mouths,
Silence of our minds.....in the Silence of the heart God will speak.

Silence of the heart is necessary so you can hear God everywhere. In
the closing of the door, in the person who needs you, in the birds that
sing, in the flowers, in the animals.

If we are careful of silence, it will be easy to pray. There is so
much
talk, so much repetition, so much carrying on of tales in words and in
writing. Our prayer life suffers so much because our hearts are not silent.
I shall keep the silence of my heart with greater care so that in the
silence
of my heart I hear His words of comfort and from the fullness of my heart I
comfort Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor.


Real prayer is in union with God, a union as vital as that of the
vine
to the branch, which is the illustration Jesus gives us in the Gospel of
John. We need prayer. We need that union to produce good fruit. The fruit
is what we produce with our hands, whether it be food, clothing, money, or
something else. All of this is the fruit of our oneness with God. We need
a
life of prayer, of poverty, and of sacrifice to do it with love.

Sacrifice and prayer compliment each other. There is no prayer
without
sacrifice, and there is no sacrifice without prayer. Jesus' life was spent
in
intimate union with His Father as He passed thru this world. We need to do
the same. Let's walk by His side. We need to give Christ a chance to make
use of us, to be His Word and His Work, to share His food, and His clothing
in the world today.

If we do not radiate the life of Christ around us, the sense of the
darkness that prevails in the world will increase.

We are called to love the world. And God loved the world so much that
He gave us Jesus. Today He loves the world so much that He gives you and me
to be His love, His compassion, and His presence, through a life of prayer,
of sacrifice, of surrender to God. The response that God asks of you is to
be
a contemplative.

If we take Jesus at His word, all of us are contemplatives in the
heart
of the world, for we have faith, we are continually in His presence. By
contemplation, the soul draws directly from the heart of God the graces,
which the active life must distribute. Our lives must be connected with the
living Christ within us. If we do not live in the presence of God we cannot
go on.

What is contemplation? To live the life of Jesus. This is what I
understand.
To love Jesus, to live His life in us, to live our life in His life. That's
contemplation.
We must have a clean heart to be able to see - no jeasously, anger,
contention, and especially no uncharitableness. To me, contemplation is not
to be locked in a dark place, but to allow Jesus to live His passion, His
love, His humility in us, praying with us, being with us, and sanctifying
through us.

Our contemplation is our life. It is not a matter of doing, but being.
It is the possession of our spirit by the Holy Spirit breathing into us the
plenitude of God and sending us forth to the whole creation as His personal
message of love.

We shall not waste our time in looking for extraordinary experiences
in
our life of contemplation, but live by pure faith, ever watchful and ready
for His coming by doing our day to day duties with extraordinary love and
devotion.

Our life of contemplation simply put is to realize God's constant
presence and His tender love for us in the least little things of life. To
be constantly available to Him, loving Him with our whole heart, whole mind,
whole soul, and whole strength, no matter in what form He may come to us.
Does your mind and heart go to Jesus as soon as you get up in the morning?
This is prayer, that you turn your mind and heart to God.


Prayer is the very life of oneness, of being one with Christ.
Therefore, prayer is as necessary as the air, as the blood in our body, as
anything, to keep us alive to the grace of God. To pray generously is not
enough, we must pray devoutly, with fervor and piety. We must pray
perseveringly and with great love. If we don't pray, our presence will have
no power, our words will have no power.

We need prayers to better carry out the work of God, and so that every
moment we may know how to be completely available to Him. We should make
every effort to walk in the presence of God, to see God in all the persons
we
meet, to live our prayer throughout the day.

Knowledge of the self puts us on our knees, and it is very necessary
for love.
For knowledge of God produces love, and knowledge of the self produces
humility.
Knowledge of the self is a very important thing in our lives. As St.
Augustine says,
"Fill yourselves first, and then only will you be able to give to others.

Knowledge of the self is also a safeguard against pride, especially
when you are tempted in life. The greatest mistake is to think you are too
strong to fall into temptation. Put your finger in the fire and it will
burn. So we have to go thru the fire.
The temptations are allowed by God. The only thing we have to do is refuse
to give in.

Prayer, to be fruitful, must come from the heart and must be able to
touch the heart of God. See how Jesus taught His disciples to pray. I
believe each time we say the "Our Father" God looks at His Hands where He
has carved us.
("I have carved you in the palm of My hand.") See Isaiah 49:16. He looks at
His Hands, and He sees us there. How wonderful the tenderness and love of
God!

If we pray the "Our Father" and live it, we will be holy.
Everything is there, God, myself, my neighbor. If I forgive, than I can be
holy and pray. All this comes from a humble heart, and if we have this, we
will know how to love God, to love self, and to love our neighbor. This is
not complicated, and yet we complicate our lives so much by so many
additions. Just one thing counts - to be humble, to pray.
The more you pray, the better you will pray.

A child has no difficulty expressing his little mind in simple words
that say so much. Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"Become as a little child". If we pray the gospel, we will allow Christ to
grow in us. So pray lovingly, like children,
with an ernest desire to love much and to make loved the one that is not
loved.

All our words will be useless unless they come from within. Words that
do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness. Today, more than
ever, we need to pray for the light to know the will of God, for the love to
accept the will of God, for the way we do the will of God.

Here are some quotes:
St. Therese of Lieux
For me, prayer means launching out of the heart toward God, a cry of
grateful love from the crest of joy or the trough of despair; it is a vast,
supernatural force that opens out my heart, and binds me close to Jesus.

Jesus to Mark 11:24 NAB
I give you my word, if you are ready to believe that you will receive
whatever you ask for in prayer, it shall be done for you.

Dear Lord Jesus - we come to you in prayer now for our friend, Linda, and ask you to heal her body of all that is sick, restore it to good health, may she enjoy good health again. This I ask in Your Holy Name of Jesus, thru the Intercession of Mary, Your Mother. Amen.