Banish the Devil

     “Avoid anxieties and worry with all your might. Otherwise, all your activities will have little success or be unfruitful. We know for certain that if our spirits are in turmoil, the attacks of the devil will become more frequent and direct. He always takes advantage of our weakness to achieve his intentions.”                                                                                                                                                                   St. Padre Pio



     Life is full of anxiety and worry. They start when we are children and continue until we leave this world. We look back at the things we worried about years ago, comparing them to our current concerns, and think they weren’t so bad – yet at the time – they seemed monumental!

Balm for the Soul

     “To learn from the Heart of Jesus the secret love for souls and deep knowledge of them: how to touch their hurts without making them smart and to dress their wounds without reopening them; to disclose Truth in its entirety and yet make it known according to the degree of light each soul can bear. The knowledge required for the apostolate can be had only from Jesus Christ, in the Eucharist, and in prayer.”                                                                                                                                                                               Elizabeth Leseur, Servant of God


     Our world is full of wounded souls; each longing to be listened to and loved. It is not evident to the naked eye; they hide their pain quite well! Life has brought happiness and joy, but also many disappointments and hurts that scream, deep within our hearts, and go unheard.

Be Active ~ Embrace Him

     “Oh, how painful it is to Me that souls so seldom unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion. I wait for souls, and they are indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely, and they distrust Me. I want to lavish My graces on them, and they do not want to accept them. They treat Me as a dead object, whereas My Heart is full of love and mercy. In order that you may know at least some of My pain, imagine the most tender of mothers who has great love for her children, while those children spurn her. Consider her pain. No one is in a position to console her. This is a pale image and likeness of My love.”                                                       Jesus to St. Faustina


     On the night before He died, Jesus, in His great love for us instituted the sacraments of Eucharist and Holy Orders. He loved us so very much, that He could not bear to leave us alone. He wanted to be with us until the end of time in this great Sacrament of Love. He wanted to nurture us with His very life and be one with us in Holy Communion. Jesus has poured Himself out to us completely – holding nothing back. Actions speak louder than words and Christ’s actions speak love. Let us examine ourselves and see what we are telling our Lord.

Finding Peace -- Keeping Peace

     “Jesus chided Martha, not because she gave herself to activity, but because she was too anxious about it: ‘Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things’ (Lk 10:41). God wants activity, but not anxiety, for even in activity, the soul should attend to “the one thing necessary,” that is, union with Him. Therefore, as soon as a soul perceives that it is beginning to lose its interior calm, it should interrupt its work, if possible, at least for an instant, and retire into its interior with God. These brief moments of pause, frequently repeated, will accustom it, little by little, to keep calm and recollected in God, even in the most absorbing activity.” Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.


     So often our days are spent in frantic activity. So much to do! So little time! We rush from task to task, trying to be efficient and get everything done. We want to be productive and in our haste, we lose our peace. Our head is spinning. Our neck feels tense. We long to get off of this merry-go-round of life and retreat from it all! We have lost our way in the mad dash and have taken our eyes off God!