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Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. This response at Mass seems to me to sum up the whole spiritual life. It provides wonderful material for meditation. I am not worthy On my own, I cannot please God. I can only vaguely know His character. He had to reveal Himself to me through Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the teaching authority of the Church. He gave me parents who were loving enough to have me baptized and teach me the faith. He continues to show me His design for my life. All this is a pure gift which I could not merit. But I have found the Christian life to be a constant battle. I fall every day. I repent, make resolutions to be good, then sin again. God’s purity is so beyond me. His holiness is a burning fire that I would never dare approach. Except… Read the rest at Contemplative Homeschool.

There is a world of difference between a man who is aware of himself, sitting on a hill and looking at a  beautiful sunrise and a man so enthralled with that very same sunrise that he forgets himself and becomes  absorbed  in  the scene. In the first instance the man is egocentric; he is at the centre 0f his world, not God. When I see beauty everywhere, I experience joy and a sense of connection because my eyes are not on myself. The truth is that I am simply part of the whole. Everything does not depend on me. I am free to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature and the Spirit of God which permeates all when I am in the right place in the scheme of things. I am living in a fantasy when I see myself as the center of the universe, viewing everything as it circles around me. As believers we sing and recite prayers that proclaim that God is the centre of all but our psychological make-up screams the exact opposite. I view people, events, history and yes even God through my eyes, ju

I want to encourage all to pray this prayer, the Litany of Humility. It has been one that, as I pray it more, it continues to change my life. Yesterday I was running with a group and fell a little behind, so I began to have pity on myself because I felt rejected; however, I was reminded of praying this, and took it as an opportunity to embrace it, and be humbled by it.  O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved... From the desire of being extolled ... From the desire of being honored ... From the desire of being praised ... From the desire of being preferred to others... From the desire of being consulted ... From the desire of being approved ... From the fear of being humiliated ... From the fear of being despised... From the fear of suffering rebukes ... From the fear of being calumniated ... From the fear of being forgotten ... From the fear of being ridiculed ... From the fear o

By Greg Trevor When the moment finally came – after nearly 10 years of waiting – I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t move. I was falling asleep on the night of May 1, 2011, when my wife, Allison, walked into our bedroom, tapped me on the shoulder and said: “The president is about to go on TV. They got bin Laden and he’s dead.” “Thank God,” I replied. I tried to get out of bed but couldn’t. The death of bin Laden brought back so many painful memories from surviving the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Read more here...

I've had quite a lesson this weekend. Yesterday I was very tired after cleaning Mum's old flat, and consequently feeling rather grumpy (tiredness and grumpiness often go hand-in-hand with me!) As a result, when I went to see Mum in the afternoon, I found myself being rather short with her on occasion, not realising this until my daughter (God bless her!) pulled me up about it afterwards by saying "I thought you were a bit bossy with Grandma today" . As soon as she said it, I looked back and realised that all my responses had been wrong...  It made me realise that it doesn't matter how I'm feeling , whether grumpy, tired, out-of-sorts, the important thing is how I treat other people . With a little effort and a lot of the Holy Spirit, I could have been more pleasant, patient, forgiving, accomodating, compassionate and understanding. If I look at the Fruit of the Spirit: love , joy , peace , longsuffering , gentleness , goodness , faith , meekness ,

Picture source I have read a few books on St. Therese, including of course her autobiography. But there is one book that stands out and that is one I recently started reading with much interest, Complete Spiritual Doctrine of St. Therese of Lisieux by Father Francois Jamart. He beautifully explains the spiritual childhood or little way of this beloved saint. The following are quotes by St. Therese from the book: On Humility: "It means that we acknowledge our nothingness, await everything from the good Lord, refuse to attribute to ourselves the virtues we practice..." We need to be able to see ourselves are we really are: "weak, powerless, poor and wretched!" "Humility is truth." "The lower we are, the more we attract God; on the contrary, when we lift ourselves up we go counter to that movement of love." It is clear that we must acknowledge our littleness. We must love to see ourselves as we really are. We must bear the imper