The Righteousness that Surpasses

At the moment of his death Christ was certainly annihilated in his soul, without any consolation or relief, since the Father left him that way in innermost aridity in the lower part.  He was thereby compelled to cry out:  "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt 27: 46).  This was the most extreme abandonment, sensitively, that he had suffered in his life.  And by it he accomplished the most marvelous work of his whole life, surpassing all the works and deeds and miracles that he had ever performed on earth or in heaven.  That is, he brought about reconciliation and union of the human race with God through grace.  The Lord achieved this, as I say, at the moment in which he was most annihilated in all things:  in his reputation before men, since beholding him die they mocked him instead of esteeming him; in his human nature, by dying; and in spiritual help and consolation from his Father, for he was forsaken by his Father at the time so as to pay the debt fully and bring man to union with God.  David says of him:  Ad nihilum redactus sum et nescivi (Ps 72: 22), that the true spiritual person might understand the mystery of the door and way (which is Christ) leading to union with God, and that he might realize that his union with God and the greatness of the work he accomplishes will be measured by his annihilation for God in the sensory and spiritual parts of his soul.  When he is brought to nothing, the highest degree of humility, the spiritual union between his soul and God will be effected.  This union is the most noble and sublime state attainable in this life.  The journey, then, does not consist in recreations, experiences, and spiritual feelings, but in the living, sensory, and spiritual exterior and interior dead of the cross.

-Saint John of the Cross

"You Follow Me"

He who wishes to be wise without true Wisdom, or saved without the Savior, is not well, but sick - is not wise, but a fool.  Devotion to the Blessed Virgin is actually necessary, because there is no better means of obtaining God's graces than through his most holy Mother.  

A man should force himself to be obedient, even in little things which appear of no moment; because he will thus render the practice of obedience in matters easy to himself.  He who always acts under obedience may rest assured that he will not have to give an account of his actions to God.  

Perfection does not consist in such outward things as shedding tears and the like, but in true and solid virtues.  Tears are no sign that a man is in the grace of God, neither must we infer that one who weeps when he speaks of holy and devout things necessarily lives a holy life.  Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere in a good life; therefore the servant of God out always be in good spirits.  

When a man is freed from a temptation or any other distress, let him take great care to show fitting gratitude to God for the benefit he has received.  We must accept the adversities which God sends us without reasoning too much upon them, and we must take for granted that it is the best thing which could happen to us.  We must always remember that God does everything well, although we may not see the reason for what he does. 

Everyone ought to give in readily to the opinion of another, and to argue in favor of another and against himself, and take things in good part.  Let a man always think that he has God before his eyes.  

There is nothing the devil fears to much, or so much tries to hinder, as prayer.

An excellent method of preserving ourselves from relapsing into serious faults is to say every evening, "Tomorrow, I may be dead."

-St. Philip Neri

Italian priest and founder of the Oratory, died 1595.

The Eucharist

We ought to pay God honor in every way we can think of; for every creature, even the tiny insects, if they could only understand, would be bound to look up at the Blessed Sacrament and bow down before him.  Yet there is a higher level at which we can praise God.  We can love him ardently, and want him in the depths of our souls, with all our intellect and all our reason.  This is far better than any outward act that we can perform.  Still, there is another level, even higher:  to acknowledge in the depths of our souls that God is so great and we are so small that it is impossible for us to praise him.  This is in itself an act of praise far beyond all words and thoughts and understanding.

A great teacher has said:  "The man who speaks best about God is the man who has recognized his inward riches and is silent"...  God's incomprehensible glory is so great that merely to acknowledge it comprehends all words and all forms.  The soul praises him by being engulfed in him, losing itself in him, sinking down and melting into him, sharing in God's own praising and thanking of himself for his own being.

Our dear Lord said:  "Caro mea, My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink; whoever feeds on Me remains in Me, and I in him"...  It was not enough for him to become our brother, to take upon himself our human nature.  It was not enough that he should become man so that man might become God.  He wanted to be our food as well.  Saint Augustine said:  "There is no people so great as the Christian people; none of them has a god so close to them as our God is to us."  We feed upon our God.  How wonderful and inexpressible is this love of his, that found this marvelous way for him to come to us!  His love is beyond all comprehension, and it should pierce us all to the heart that he shows such incomparable love toward us.

-Father John Tauler, O.P.

Father Tauler (1361) was a German Dominican priest, a popular preacher, and a mystical theologian.

The Humility of Mary Exalted

For a sermon on the Blessed Virgin to please me and do me any good, I must see her real life, not her imagined life.  I'm sure that her real life was very simple.  They show her to us as unapproachable, but they should present her as imitable, bringing out her virtues, saying that she lived by faith just like ourselves, giving proofs of this from the Gospel, where we read:  "And they did not understand the words which he spoke to them."  And that other no less mysterious statement:  "His father and mother marveled at what was said about him."  This admiration presupposes a certain surprise, don't you think so, little Mother?

We know very well that the Blessed Virgin is Queen of heaven and earth, but she is more Mother than Queen; and we should not say, on account of her prerogatives, that she surpasses all the saints in glory just as the sun at its rising makes the stars disappear from sight.  My God!  How strange that would be!  A mother who makes her children's glory vanish!  I myself think just the contrary.  I believe she'll increase the splendor of the elect very much.

It's good to speak about her prerogatives, but we should not stop at this, and if, in a sermon, we are obliged from beginning to end to exclaim and say:  Ah!  Ah!, we should grow tired!  Who knows whether some soul would not reach the point of feeling a certain estrangement from a creature so superior and would not say:  If things are such, it's better to go and shine as well as one is able in some little corner!

What the Blessed Virgin has more than we have is the privilege of not being able to sin, she was exempt from the stain of original sin; but on the other hand, she wasn't as fortunate as we are, since she didn't have a Blessed Virgin to love.  And this is one more sweetness for us and one less sweetness for her!

-Saint Therese of Lisieux

How Much More will the Father Give

1.)  Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.

2.)  Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance:  I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.

3.)  Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.

4.)  Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.

5.)  Only for today, I will devote ten minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.

6.)  Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.

7.)  Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.

8.)  Only for today, I will make a plan for myself:  I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it.  And it will be on guard against two evils:  hastiness and indecision.

9.)  Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.

10.)  Only for today, I will have no fears.  In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness.  Indeed, for twelve hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

-Blessed Pope John XXIII

Avoiding the Sin of the Rich Man

Give us understanding, my God, of what it is that's given to those who fight valiantly in the dream of this miserable life.  Obtain for us, O loving souls, understanding of the joy it gives you to see the eternal character of your fruition, and how it is so delightful to see certainly that it will have no end.  Oh, how fortunate we are, my Lord!  For we believe in everlasting joy and know the truth well; but with so pronounced a habit of failing to reflect on these truths, they have already become so foreign to our souls that these souls neither know about them nor desire to know about them.  O selfish people, greedy for your pleasures and delights; not waiting a short time in order to enjoy them in such abundance, not waiting a year, not waiting a day, not waiting an hour - and perhaps it will take more than a moment - you lose every thing, because of the joy of that misery you see present!

Oh, how little we trust You, Lord!  How much greater the riches and treasures You entrusted to us, since after His thirty-three years of great trials and so unbearable and pitiable a death.  You have given us Your Son; and so many years before we were born!  Even knowing we wouldn't repay You, You didn't want to cease trusting us with such an inestimable treasure, so that it wouldn't be Your fault, merciful Father, if we fail to acquire what through Him we can obtain through You.  

O Blessed souls, who with this precious price knew so well how to profit and buy an inheritance so delightful and permanent, tell us how you gained such an unending good!  Help us, since you are so near the fount, draw water for those here below perishing of thirst.  

-Saint Teresa of Avila

Seeing Everything Distinctly

Simplify your judgment, do not reflect on yourself so much nor argue inwardly, but go on your way simply and with confidence.  As far as you are concerned there is nothing in this world except God and you; all the rest should not touch you except insofar as God may command and as he commands.  I beseech you not to look about you so much but to keep your gaze fixed on the relationship between God and you.  You will never see anything but goodness in God or neediness in yourself, and you will see his goodness supplying your need, and your poverty the object of his bounty and compassion.  So do not look at anything except that - I mean of deliberate intent - and glance at all the rest only in passing.  Moreover, do not analyze what other people are doing or speculate what will become of the, but look upon them simply, generously, with kindness and affection.  Do not demand more perfection from them than you do from yourself and do not be surprised at the various forms of imperfection may take, for imperfection is not more imperfect for being unusual and odd.  Be like the bee and gather your honey from every flower and herb alike.

You should be like a little child who while it knows that its mother is holding its sleeve walks boldly and runs all round without being distressed at a little fall or stumble; after all, it is as yet rather unsteady on its legs.  In the same way, as long as you realize that God is holding on to you by your will and resolution to serve him, go on boldly and do not be upset by your little set-backs and falls; there is no need to be put out by this provided you throw yourself into his arms from time to time and kiss him with the kiss of charity.  Go on joyfully and with your heart as open and widely trustful as possible; and if you cannot always be joyful, at least be brave and confident.  

-Saint Francis de Sales