Reflect that many are called but few are chosen (Mt. 22:14) and that, if you are not careful, your perdition is more certain than your salvation, especially since the path to eternal life is so constricted (Mt. 7:14).
Saint John of the Cross
Sayings of Light and Love, 75
(The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ)
After Sir John Everett Millais (British, 1829–1896)
Wood engraving, 1864; proof on India paper
Engraved and printed by Dalziel Brothers
(British, active 1839–93)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Gallery label: It took Millais seven years to design twenty images inspired by New Testament Parables for the Dalziel Brothers, and the resulting prints are considered pinnacles of wood engraved illustration. The artist wrote to his publishers, “I can do ordinary drawings as quickly as most men, but these designs can scarcely be regarded in the same light—each Parable I illustrate perhaps a dozen times before I fix [the image].” After completing a design, Millais transferred it to a woodblock coated with “Chinese” white for skilled engravers to carve. Finally, he reviewed proofs, and final adjustments were made before the final printing.
The Parable of the Marriage Feast appears in Matthew 22:1-14, and Millais represents the moment when a guest who failed to wear suitable clothes is ejected. Pre-Raphaelite ideals shaped the combination of detailed naturalism and down-to-earth imagery to produce a work distinctly different than most religious art of the period.
John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
!["I took for my advocate and lord the glorious St. Joseph and earnestly recommended myself to him. [...] I don’t recall up to this day ever having petitioned him for anything that he failed to grant."](https://scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t39.30808-6/336879821_1374507696727108_3000064146961560788_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8ae9d6&_nc_ohc=GeKBPoaKfMcAX9shUqP&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfDrfWUU45P4ozvDEXryS1x7VAQ2kKpuY7CQu61x-qE-zA&oe=64238CFB)
Carmelite Quotes 
Further thoughts on this quote by our Holy Father: there used to be an English proverb, about a man falling to his death from his horse. Sounds about 18th century. The implication is that he had wasted his life as the Prodigal Son: “Betwixt [between] the stirrup and the ground, He Mercy sought, and Mercy found”. (Of course, the official English Church did not believe in Purgatory…) But as Father says, we do not do well to neglect our soul until the 11th hour, for “no-one knows the day nor the hour”, not to mention the passages about the “thief in the night”…
Beautiful!
I’ve been interacting with this Carmelite blog for a very long time, one of the first things in my day, arrives around 5am here. I am suddenly struck by the text, “And he who gives a cup of water to a righteous man, because he is a righteous man, will receive a righteous man’s reward”…
Surprised by grace!
‘”It is more blessed to give than to receive” says the Lord…’
Talk about working out your salvation in fear and trembling….. we can’t say we have not been told.
This is so true!