What Miracles of Grace?
How do we know what miracles of grace we may be the instruments of when... (continue)
Posts
Come, Have a Look Around!
In just a few days, The Cloistered Heart blog will 'celebrate' five years on the Internet. Five years of posts on what it can mean to live for God, cloistered in heart, in the midst of our families and neighborhoods and workplaces; and it seems that in some ways, we are just beginning..... Because that many pages of quotes and pictures and analogies can be overwhelming, and because we (thankfully) have new visitors on an ongoing basis, I've decided to spend this week re-visiting some of our rooms and corridors. So let's have a look around the cloister, shall we?.... (continue reading)
Cloistered Anytime. Even Now.
I was drawn to the idea of a cloister in my heart. I longed for a place to retreat from the world, to be alone with Jesus. I not only longed for a place where I could escape the noise of life around me, but I also dreamed of providing a place in my heart where Jesus could find respite from this world... (continue)
What if I'm Hit by a Truck?
"..As I was crossing the street...a big red truck rounded the corner and hit me. The impact sounded like a terrible explosion, and I was thrown to the ground. The police and ambulance came, they strapped me onto the stretcher, and we were off to the hospital... "The fact that I was alive just overwhelmed me. As I lay flat on my back in the emergency room, just staring at the ceiling, I had time to think...." (click to continue)
A Secret Closet
'We must always reserve in our hearts amidst all affairs, as it were, a secret closet, where we are to keep retired within ourselves and where no business of the world can ever enter.' St. Antonino Peirozzi (from The Cloistered Heart)
Revisiting The Hidden Staircase
You and I have the same basic, fundamental, always-and-forever root vocation. We are called to be saints. To be with God in Heaven is sainthood, and we are called to nothing less . The world will not put the designation 'Saint' before our names, but that's of no importance. God will know. God knows now. He sees every little step we take, every hidden hint of progress toward holiness. 'By holiness we mean the absence of whatever sullies, dims and degrades a rational nature; all that is most opposite to sin and guilt.' (Blessed John Henry Newman). Did I accept God's grace today to conquer some temptation, perhaps in a tiny, hidden moment...? continue....
A Cry of Charity
Most people don't realize who they're quoting when they speak of catching more flies with honey than with vinegar. I was well into adulthood when I learned that this bit of wisdom had come from one of my favorite saints. "You can catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with ten barrels of vinegar." (St. Francis de Sales) I often think of this in connection with another quote from this Doctor of the Church. "It is an act of of charity to cry out against the wolf when he is among the sheep" (St. Francis de Sales) These two thoughts may not appear to have much to do with one another. But in my mind, they work together. In fact, I often strive to "navigate between them," as one might drive between two lines painted on a highway to keep vehicles moving safely.... (continue...)
Where Lions Wait
I have never faced the challenge of praying where lions wait. I've never been like Daniel, prohibited from praying, and I haven't endured threats of hungry animals waiting to feast on me if I did ... (....continue....)
