MOTHER'S TAKE HEART -- ST. MONICA

Attention all mothers -- have you every thrown up your hands and looked at your child and thought "who is this alien and what have you done with my child?" Or perhaps, "where did we go wrong?"  If you have, then St. Monica is the one you should call on.  St. Monica son while quite good academically, liked to drink too much, party too long and is said to have fathered at least one child out of wedlock.  Monica prayed and prayed, and spoke to her priest,(St.Ambrose), he told her that he would talk to her son if he came to him.  Well after many discussions at home,you know the ones I mean, her son agreed. He went and listened to St. Ambrose preach---and much to every one's surprise, including himself, he turned is life around.  St. Ambrose would go on to baptize him, today we honor Monica's son, St. Augustine, as a Doctor of our Church.

ST. PIUS X

Pope Pius X had a hard act to follow, Pope Leo XIII, who many call the father of our social teaching.  Pius X forsaw the start of World War I, not that many listened.  What he did do was encourage liturgical reforms and perhaps most importantly encouraged the frequent reception of communion especially by children.  A historian once wrote that  he was "a man of God who knew the unhappiness of the world and the hardships of life, and in the greatness of his heart wanted to comfort everyone." 

ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX

There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge


That is curiosity.

There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others

That is vanity.

There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve

That is love.
—St. Bernard of Clairvaux
 
One of my favorite quotes! Spoken over 800 years ago, and still true today.  St. Bernard, who's feast day it is, knew the importance of using the gifts that God gave us.  Not to boost our ego's but to help all the people of God.  Education is still the most powerful tool and we even today we need to be reminded to use it for the service of others. 

ST. JOHN EUDES

The French saint, John Eudes, was the founder of two religious communities, promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart, a missionary and  a priest.  One quote of his always strikes me:

"Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desires and his disposition live and reign there. All our religious exercises should be directed to this end. It is the work which God has given us to do unceasingly" (St. John Eudes, The Life and Reign of Jesus in Christian Souls).


How do we do this, not as a wonderful theory but concretely?  How do we do this day in and day out?  And if we don't why not?  Shouldn't all of our life reflect God with us?  Not just as a pious Church devotion but in our work, in our play and in our rest.  If as we profess all things are possible with God-why not this?

FEAST OF TRANSFIGURATION

St. John of the Cross said "We do not know God by thinking, but by encountering."  Today the Feast of the Transfiguration is the feast of encountering.  We encounter God with us. 

GOOD READS

If you are looking for something good read - do I have a couple suggestions.  From Fr. James Martin,sj, "A Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything." The title itself makes me smile! In Martin’s usual style he brings us in touch with the Jesuit goal of “finding God in all things.” Ignatius’ insights as valid and needed today as they where 460 years ago. Martin shows us how we can find God and how God can find us.

My next suggestion comes from Franciscan, Fr. Richard Rohr. His book “The Naked Now”, helps us to become truly present so we can “know the Real Presence.” Drawing on the work from the Gospels and the great contemplatives of our church. Rohr challenges his reader to slow down and to take stock of that which is essential—our relationship with our God.

In “Water, Wind, Earth & Fire” Benedictine Oblate, Christine Paintner, introduces us to praying with the elements. Her guided contemplative exercises offers us a way to become more aware of the nearness of God in our day to day life