From Bitter To Sweet

     “By accepting the sufferings ‘offered’ by life and allowed by God for our progress and purification, we spare ourselves much harder ones. We need to develop this kind of realism and, once and for all, stop dreaming of a life without suffering and conflict. That is the life of heaven, not earth. We must take up our cross and follow Christ courageously everyday; the bitterness of that cross will sooner or later be transformed into sweetness.”                                    Fr. Jacques Phillipe



     A wise and holy priest once stated, “Remember, Jesus did not tell us to pick up our picnic baskets each day and follow Him – He said to pick up our cross everyday if we want to be His disciples.”    Although that is a verse from scripture of which we are very familiar, it is one that we often forget when we are bemoaning the hardships of this life. We forget that we are wayfarers and sojourners on the way to heaven and expect instead, a rosy path.

Opening The Eyes Of Our Hearts

     “When I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of many graces, which I want to give to you. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me … Oh, how sad I am that you do not recognize My Love!” Our Lord to St. Faustina



     It should break our hearts that so many show indifference to Our Lord in His great gift of Love in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Even those of us who love Jesus very much and receive Him daily, are not always fully aware of His great Presence.

A Promise Of Hope

     “Only by praying together with their children can a father and mother -- exercising their royal priesthood*—penetrate the innermost depths of their children’s hearts and leave an impression that the future events in their lives will not be able to efface.”                                                        St. John Paul ll



     What comforting words St. John Paul ll offers to those of us who are parents! His words hold a promise, that if we have been faithful to “exercising our royal priesthood,” by praying with our children, something will take root. A promise, that despite the pull of “the world”, with all its alluring enticements, our efforts will not be eradicated.

Leaving All In Your Most Capable Hands

Prayer Before The Blessed Sacrament

     Oh, my dear sweet Jesus, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, I humbly come before You, not only to love and adore You, and give thanks to our Heavenly Father for this great gift of the Eucharist, but to lay my heart before You. My heart is meant to be Your home, but so often it is filled with worries and concerns that leave little room for Your presence. Help me to surrender all my cares and concerns into Your Eucharistic Heart and into the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Mother, so that I am free to love and adore You as You so deserve.

     Oh, my dear sweet Jesus, I thank You for the opportunity to spend this time with You. You are so generous a God, and must love me very much, to humble Yourself to stay with me in this great Sacrament. Increase my trust in Your ordaining and permissive will that I may know deep in my heart, “that not a hair of my head falls to the ground without You allowing it.” Increase my faith to believe in Your presence in my life, even when life’s circumstances make me feel alone, forgotten, or afraid. Help me to remember that You love and care for me and my loved ones, more than I can possibly fathom.

     When this visit is over and I leave Your Presence, I pray that I will have emptied my heart of all concerns, leaving them in Your most capable hands, so that my heart may be a tabernacle from which I then bring You, my God, to all I meet. Amen.

Our Compass In Life -- God's Will

     “Lord, grant that I may always allow myself to be guided by You, always follow Your plans, and perfectly accomplish Your holy will. Grant that in all things, great and small, today and all the days of my life, I may do whatever You may require of me. Help me to respond to the slightest prompting of Your grace, so that I may be Your trustworthy instrument, for Your honor. May Your will be done in time and eternity – by me, in me, and through me.  Amen.                                               St. Teresa of Avila


     When we fall in love with God, wanting to do His will becomes a priority in our lives. Desiring to please Him in all things, and carry out the plan He has for us, becomes our compass in life. Aware of God’s great love for us, we know that He always has our best interest in mind, and so we look, with eyes wide open, to follow that path.

Resting In God

     “There is a state of resting in God, an absolute break from all intellectual activity, when one forms no plans, makes no decisions and for the first time really ceases to act, when one simply hands over the future to God’s will and ‘surrenders himself to fate.’” St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross



     We LONG to rest in God: To abandon ourselves completely and forever to His will. It is something we have been yearning for, but struggling to do for such a long time.

Mary's Gift

     From my youthful years this prayer has held an important place in my spiritual life. The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted any number of concerns: in it I have always found comfort.”                                                   Pope John Paul  II


     I remember, as a little girl, kneeling in our living room and praying the rosary with my family. It was not something we did with regularity, but when an urgent event presented itself. As I grew older, although my relationship with Our Lady was still very important to me, my devotion to the rosary dwindled to praying it at “viewings” for deceased loved ones.