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Genuine Contemplative Vocation

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The great obstacle to contemplation is rigidity and prejudice. He who thinks he knows what it is beforehand prevents himself from finding out the true nature of contemplation, since he is not able to “change his mind” and accept something completely new. He who thinks that contemplation is lofty and spectacular cannot receive the intuition of a supreme and transcendent Reality which is at the same time in his own ordinary self. He who needs to be exalted and for whom mysticism is the peak of human ambition will never be able to feel the liberation granted only to those who have renounced success. And since most of us are rigid, attached to our own ideas, convinced of our own wisdom, proud of our own capacities, and committed to personal ambition, contemplation is a dangerous desire for any one of us. But if we really want to get free from these sins, the desire for contemplative freedom and for the experience of transcendent reality is likely to arise in us by itself, unobserved. And i...
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Irrepressible Yearning

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Man feels an irrepressible yearning for the highest, lasting Good and is so strongly drawn to it that he simply must seek it, even through all finite and transitory goods. He is bound to acknowledge its overwhelming superiority over his own narrow ego, which encloses him as in a prison. HANS URS VON BALTHASAR Y ou Crown the Year with Your Goodness, 169  
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The Fear of Death

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Sometimes people suffer a great deal from fear of death and because of their self indulgence. The first is a delusion the devil puts in their minds, he says, “You see that you are going to die, and that you haven't done a bit of good! So do you know where you're going? Your deeds have earned only hell!” On the other hand, he makes them feel sorry for themselves by saying, “Just think! Your body is so pampered now with worldly pleasures, but soon you will die.” We have to counter the devil's great malice by responding to these interior suggestions of his. Turning our gaze to our Creator, we should say, “I acknowledge that I am immortal, but this is a tremendous grace for me, since death will bring me to my goal, to God who is my life. I acknowledge, too, that my life indeed deserves only hell. But I have faith and trust in my Creator, in the blood of the Lamb who was slain and consumed, that he will pardon my sins and grant me grace. I will try in this present time to amend ...
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Feverish Consumerism

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Hedonism and consumerism can prove our downfall, for when we are obsessed with our own pleasure, we end up being all too concerned about ourselves and our rights, and we feel a desperate need for free time to enjoy ourselves. We will find it hard to feel and show any real concern for those in need, unless we are able to cultivate a certain simplicity of life, resisting the feverish demands of a consumer society, which leave us impoverished and unsatisfied, anxious to have it all now. Similarly, when we allow ourselves to be caught up in superficial information, instant communication, and virtual reality, we can waste precious time and become indifferent to the suffering flesh of our brothers and sisters. Yet even amid this whirlwind of activity, the Gospel continues to resound, offering us the promise of a different life, a healthier and happier life. POPE FRANCIS Gaudete et Exsultate
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The Three Loves

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Although there is an evident distinction between love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self, a marvelous bond nevertheless does exist among the three, so that each is found in all, and all in each. None of them can be possessed without all, and when one waivers they all diminish. Someone who does not love his neighbor or God does not love himself, and someone who does not love his neighbor as himself does not love himself. Furthermore, someone who does not love his neighbor is proven not to love God. For ‘how can a person who does not love the brother he sees love the God whom he does not see?’ These three loves are engendered by one another, nourished by one another, and fan into flame by one another. Then they are all brought to perfection together. AELRED OF RIEVAULX The Mirror of Charity  
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God Above us and Below Us

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I have ascended to the highest in me, and look! The Lord is towering above that. In my curiosity I have descended to explore my lowest depths, yet I found him even deeper. If I looked outside myself, I saw him stretching beyond the furthest I could see; and if I looked within, he was yet further within. Then I knew the truth of what I had read, “In him we live and move and have our being”. ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
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Good Works and the Power of God

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Let those, then who are singularly active, who think they can win the world with their preaching and exterior works, observe here that they would profit the Church and please God much more, not to mention the good example they would give, were they to spend at least half of this time with God in prayer… Without prayer, they would do a great deal of hammering but accomplish little, and sometimes nothing, and even at times cause harm. God forbid that the salt should begin to lose its savor (Mt 5:13), for however much they may appear to achieve externally, they will in substance be accomplishing nothing; it is beyond doubt that good works can be performed only by the power of God. ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS The Spiritual Canticle 29.3  
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