"If God is for, who can be against us? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Trial, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? Yet in all this we are more than conquerors because of him who has loved us."
Romans 8:32,35, 37
For Reflection:
This passage lists various vicissitudes of life. What are they? What would be some corollaries to these in your own life? How could these sufferings seek to convince you that God has abandoned you? But what does the passage tell you about God's love? How does this give you hope?
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"I'm not very conscious of His presence, but I hope He's dogging my footsteps."
Graham Greene
For Reflection:
Our culture tells us that certainty resides in our feelings. However, our emotions are subject to the fluctuations of many things. Where should our certainty reside? How does Graham Greene's quote express this?
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"When tempted to despair, I have only one resource: to throw myself at the foot of the tabernacle like a little dog at the foot of his master."
St. John Vianney
For Reflection:
How does St. John Vianney recommend we find the grace we need to make it through a trial with right intention, fervency, courage, and trust in God? How much time a week do you spend before the Blessed Sacrament?
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"Cast yourself into the arms of God and be very sure that if He wants anything of you, He will fit you for the work and give you strength."
St. Philip Neri
For Reflection:
Sometimes we lack courage, because our confidence in God is weak. What does St. Philip Neri tell us? To what extent do you believe it? Are you willing to give it a try in what God is asking of you right now?Â
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"Cast yourself into the arms of God and be very sure that if He wants anything of you, He will fit you for the work and give you strength."
St. Philip Neri
For Reflection:
Sometimes we lack courage, because our confidence in God is weak. What does St. Philip Neri tell us? To what extent do you believe it? Are you willing to give it a try in what God is asking of you right now?
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"The past must be abandoned to God's mercy, the present to our fidelity, the future to divine providence."
St. Francis de Sales
For Reflection:
How can preoccupation with past transgressions and worry over future possibilities rob us of fidelity to the present moment? How does fidelity to the present moment increase our hope? How does reliance on God's mercy and providence increase our hope?Â
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"We shall steer safely through every storm, as long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed in God."
St. Francis de Sales
For Reflection:
What four qualities does St. Francis de Sales tell us we need to steer with hope through all of life's storms? Which one do I most need to acquire? What are some practical ways I can do so? See the next three Grace Lines for some saintly insights.
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"We know we have souls. But we seldom consider the precious things that can be found in this soul, or who dwells within it, or its high values. Consequently, little effort is made to preserve its beauty. All our attention is taken up with the plainness of the diamond's setting, that is, with these bodies of ours."
St. Teresa of Avila
For Reflection:
What one thing can I specifically do today to preserve the beauty of my soul?
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Most glorious Lord of life that on this day
Didst make Thy triumph over death and sin,
And having harrowed hell didst bring away
Captivity thence captive us to win;
This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin
And grant that we, for whom Thou didst die
Being with Thy dear blood clean washed from sin,
May live forever in felicity.
And that Thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love Thee for the same again;
And for Thy sake that all like dear didst buy,
With love may one another entertain.
So let us love, dear love, like as we ought,
Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.
Edmund Spenser (1553- 1598)
For Reflection:
JESUS LIVES! How am I experiencing His life in me on this glorious day?
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I am not moved to love Thee, O my Lord,
By any longing for Thy Promised Land;
Nor by the fear of hell am I unmanned
To cease from my transgressing deed or word.
'Tis Thou Thyself dost move me, -- Thy blood poured
Upon the cross from nailed foot and hand;
And all the wounds that did Thy body brand;
And all Thy shame and bitter death's award.
Yea, to Thy heart am I so deeply stirre
That I would love Thee were no heaven on high, --
That I would fear, were hell a tale absurd!
Such my desire, all questioning grows vain;
Though hope deny me hope I still should sigh,
And as my love is now, it should remain.
Anonymous (16th or 17th C.) Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Walsh
For Reflection:
On this Holy Saturday I enter into the tomb with Jesus. What one area of my life is most in need of resurrection? How is Jesus showing me He wants to bring this part of me "back to life?"
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