The Stained Glass Buffalo: after prayer

02 August 2009

after prayer

He who through faith is righteous shall live (Romans 1:17). For a Christian, faith ought to be the light that illuminates not only the times of prayer, but the whole of life.

During prayer it is not difficult to say "I believe in God the Father almighty"; but a few minutes afterwards, when faced with some difficult tasks, a tiresome person, or some circumstance that is painful or upsets our own plans, we easily forget that all this has been arranged by God for our sanctification; that God is our Father and is more concerned about the welfare of each of us than we are ourselves, even though we are the interested parties; that God is all-powerful and can help us in every difficulty.

If we lose sight of the light of faith, we shall get lost in merely human considerations and protests, or in discouragement, like that of people who have no faith. We believe in God the Father almighty, but we do not believe strongly enough to recognize his will or at least his permission in every event, nor do we turn to him in every circumstance.

Until the light of faith so penetrates us that it makes us see all things in relation to God and as dependent on him, it cannot be said that faith enlightens our entire life.

Divine Intimacy
Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, OCD

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It is Jesus

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”
--Pope John Paul II

Carlo Carretto:

How much I must criticize you, my church, and yet how much I love you! You have made me suffer more than anyone and yet I owe more to you than to anyone. I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need your presence. You have given me much scandal and yet you alone have made me understand holiness. Never in this world have I seen anything more compromised, more false, yet never have I touched anything more pure, more generous or more beautiful. Countless times I have felt like slamming the door of my soul in your face - and yet, every night, I have prayed that I might die in your sure arms! No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you, even if not completely you. Then too - where would I go? To build another church? But I could not build one without the same defects, for they are my defects. And again, if I were to build another church, it would be my church, not Christ's church. No, I am old enough, I know better.