ST JOSEPH'S ABBEY, SPENCER MA

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Today’s readings convey a strong and uncomfortable message—the indispensable need for humility if we are to enter the Kingdom of heaven: humility as a human stance that pleases God because it allows room for him to enter our heart; humility as a trait that makes lovable the person who possesses it; and humility above all as an attitude that reflects Jesus’ own mindset and manner of life: Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Mt 11:29). It is helpful here to remember the group of significant English words with which “humility” shares the same root hum-, namely: humus, human and humor. Why do these words belong together? What links them is a clear-eyed realism about ourselves, hinting that we should always prefer staying close to the soil from which we were taken as a way of abiding in the truth, rather than flying too high for our own good on the wings of conceit, which will soo...

And when we do fall, because we are weak or blind, then our courteous Lord touches us and encourages us and calls us; and then he wants us to realize our wretchedness and humbly take note of it. But he does not want us to remain in this state, nor does he want us to fret over our self-accusation, nor is it his will that we despair over ourselves; but he does want us to turn back to him with all speed. For he stands all alone and awaits us in sorrow and grief till we approach, and then he is quick to welcome us. For we are his joy and his delight, and he is our medicine and our life. JULIAN OF NORWICH A Month With Julian of Norwich

The contemplative life becomes awfully thin and drab if you go for several days at a time without thinking explicitly of the Passion of Christ. I do not mean, necessarily, meditating, but at least attending with love and humility to Christ on the Cross. For his Cross is the source of all of our life and without it prayer dries up and everything goes dead. THOMAS MERTON The Sign of Jonas

The eye of the heart must be healed, and all impurities within it cleaned out, if we are to see God. As God humbled himself by becoming flesh in the Incarnation, we must humble ourselves making ourselves available to God, by stripping away the distractions that obstruct us from loving him. In the Incarnation, Jesus Christ shared in the experience of being human, uniting the human and Divine, so that we might return to God. ST. AUGUSTINE

During the time immediately before and quite sometime after my conversion I thought that leading a religious life meant giving up all earthly things and having one's mind fixed on divine things only. Gradually, however, I learned that other things are expected of us in this world. I even believe that the deeper someone is drawn to God, the more he has to "get beyond himself" in this sense, that is, go into the world and carry divine life into it. ST. TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS The Hidden Life: Collected Works of Edith Stein

Be careful! Don't make your religion consist only of theoretical things. If a religion is lacking in works, it won't get you into the kingdom of heaven. The Lord has already said it: it is not the one who says Lord, Lord, the one who prays a great deal with beautiful prayers, who will enter the kingdom of heaven. It is rather the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. This is the true religion: not just remaining pure, but visiting widows and orphans. This is a biblical expression that means to concern yourself with those in need. ST. OSCAR ROMERO Through The Year With Oscar Romero

If only we realized how we complicate life, when in reality it is so simple. All our troubles come from this: that we do not know how to seek God where He is. We seek him far away, and all the while He is quite close to us. In Him we live, and move and have our being. This is true from the natural point of view, but above all from the supernatural. God is the soul of our soul: that is, the Principal that gives it life. It is there that we must seek Him, and it is there we shall find him ‘without end’. A CARTHUSIAN They Speak By Silences

To give oneself to God, recklessly forgetful of self, not to take account of one's own individual life to allow full room for divine life, this is the profound motive, the principle, and the end of religious life. The more perfectly it is carried out, so much the richer is the divine life that fills the soul. ST. TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS Thoughts of Edith Stein  

God and humanity are like two lovers who have missed their rendezvous. Each is there before the time, but each at a different place, and they wait and wait and wait. He stands motionless, nailed to the spot for the whole time…. The crucifixion of Christ is the image of this fixity of God. SIMONE WEIL The Simone Weil Reader

Our greatest danger is not our sins, but our indifference. We must be in love with God. It is not so much to change what we are doing, but our intention, our motive. It is not sufficient that we refrain from insulting a person, we must love. DOROTHY DAY The Catholic Worker, Jul/Aug 1943

We are told that for those children who grow up in an atmosphere of abuse, addiction or violence; hyper-vigilance becomes routine. You learn to be constantly on guard and attentive to protect yourself. An adult could lose control; something is likely to go wrong; the situation could become dangerous in a flash. You have to be ready for anything. You learn vigilance at an early age because vigilance means survival. My sisters and brothers, the vigilance Our Lord invites us into this morning, is something quite different, far more benign, luxuriant and quite spacious, born of a deep confidence in God’s love for us. We are invited to be mindful of the nowness of God’s presence with us. Jesus invites to live in this now of the kingdom – a place where God is in charge, disposing all things suaviter , as Aquinas will insist; suaviter means that he is arranging everything gently, lovingly, smoothly. For if, as we believe, the kingdom will come to fullness in the age to come, Jesus’ plea i...

God is Almighty. But what is his power? It is the All-Powerlessness of Calvary that reveals the true nature of the All-Power of the infinite Being. The humility of love is the key: to show off, there was little need of power; to efface oneself one must be very powerful. God is unlimited power of self-effacement. FRANÇOIS VARILLON The Humility and Suffering Of God

You do not save your soul as you might save a treasured possession. You save it as you lose a treasured possession: in surrendering it. We must save ourselves collectively, we must arrive together before the good Lord. What would he say if we arrived before him, came home to him, without the others? CHARLES PÉGUY

The most important thing you can say about God's love is that God loves us not because of anything we've done to earn that love, but because God, in total freedom, had decided to love us. At first sight, this doesn't seem to be very very inspiring; but if you reflect on it more deeply this thought can affect and influence your life greatly. We are inclined to see our whole existence in terms of quid pro quo. We assume that people will be nice to us if we are nice to them; that they will help us if we help them; that they will invite us if we invite them; that they will love us if we love them. And so the conviction is deeply rooted in us that being loved is something you have to earn. In our pragmatic and utilitarian times this conviction has become even stronger. We can scarcely conceive of getting something for nothing. Everything has to be worked for, even a kind word, an expression of gratitude, a sign of affection. HENRI NOUWEN In My Own Words

In order to have the strength to contemplate affliction when we are afflicted, we need supernatural bread. SIMONE WEIL Gravity and Grace

The past casts its shadow over the present whenever we brood about old failures and yesterday's choices. Of course we should ask God's forgiveness for our faults and should learn from them where appropriate. But once we've said we're sorry and meant it, that is enough. While seeking to make amends where possible for the harm we have caused, most of the time we should simply leave things in God's hands, trusting him to put everything right. We must put a stop to attitudes or thoughts that keep us from living trustingly in the present moment. JACQUES PHILIPPE Interior Freedom