ST JOSEPH'S ABBEY, SPENCER MA

Blessed are we, if in poverty of spirit we free ourselves from false confidence in material things, desiring above all else spiritual and religious goods, treating the poor with respect and love, as our brothers and as living images of Christ. Blessed are we, if in the meekness of the strong, we renounce the ruinous power of hate and vengeance, conquering only by goodness and peace. Blessed are we, if we refuse to direct our lives by self interest, nor take pleasure as our goal, but learn to find in temperance strength, in pain a source of redemption, in sacrifice the summit of greatness. Blessed are we, if for the kingdom of God—in our time and in eternity—we learn to struggle and to pardon, to serve and to act, to suffer and to love. POPE PAUL VI Homily in Nazareth, 5 January 1964

The love that God most high has for our soul is so great that it surpasses understanding. No created being can comprehend how much, and how sweetly, and how tenderly our maker loves us. Our in-born will is to have God, and the goodwill of God is to have us. There is no end to our willing and longing until we know God in the fullness of joy. Then our desire is filled. He wills that our occupation shall be striving to know and love him until we are made whole in heaven. Our life is grounded in faith, with hope and love besides. JULIAN OF NORWICH

The lowest place is the only spot on earth which is not open to envy. Here alone there is neither vanity nor affliction of spirit. Yet, “the way of a man is not his own” (Jeremiah 10:23), and sometimes we find ourselves wishing for things that dazzle. When that happens, there is nothing for it but to take our stand among the imperfect and look look upon ourselves as very little souls who, at every instant, need to be upheld by the goodness of God. God reaches out his hand to us the very moment he sees us fully convinced of our nothingness, and hears us cry out, “My foot stumbles, but your mercy is my strength” (Psalm 94:18). Should we attempt great things, however, even under the pretext of zeal, he deserts us. So all we have to do is to humble ourselves, to bear with meekness our imperfections. Herein, for us, lies true holiness. ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX

People’s sense of their worth appears increasingly to depend on what they can accumulate with the power of money. We are constantly being pushed to keep buying, consuming, and distracting ourselves, held captive to a demeaning system that prevents us from looking beyond our immediate and petty needs. The love of Christ has no place in this perverse mechanism, yet only that love can set us free from a mad pursuit that no longer has room for a gratuitous love. Christ’s love can give a heart to our world and revive love wherever we think that the ability to love has been definitively lost. POPE FRANCIS Dilexit Nos (2024)

Once you have had the experience of God's benevolence, you need no longer feel abashed in aspiring to a holier intimacy. Growth in grace brings expansion of confidence. You will love with greater ardor; and knock on the door with greater assurance, in order to gain what do you perceive to be still wanting to you. ‘The one who knocks will always have the door opened to him.’ It is my belief that to a person so disposed, God will not refuse that most intimate kiss of all, a mystery of supreme generosity and ineffable sweetness. ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX   On the Song of Songs

Our Lord says in the Gospel: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” Faith in the divinity of Jesus is the basis of all spiritual life; but we must have a logical faith which surrenders us entirely to Him. In prayer, my dear child, give yourself often to Jesus Christ. You must cast yourself down in your utter nothingness before Him, that will do great good to your soul. Yield up to Christ your body, your soul, your intellect, your heart; tell Him that you want Him to make of you all that he wills; abandon yourself to Him, but do not forget that to give oneself entirely to Christ is to be also given to His mystical body, to our neighbor. BLESSED COLUMBIA MARMION Union With God