Carmelite wisdom to encourage & inspire
Père Jacques says, “if we fail the test” of charity on judgment day, “we cannot begin all over again." On 18 January 1944, Jews he sheltered at his school were sent to Drancy before deportation to Auschwitz. Père Jacques lived the message he preached.
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In his “Testament of a Loving Father,” St. Kuriakos Elias Chavara dispenses saintly, homespun wisdom for the renewal of Christian families. “Tell me who your friends are,” he writes, “I will tell you who you are.”
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The Virgin Mary’s charity at work in her Visitation to St Elizabeth highlights the teaching of St John of the Cross, “charity prepares the will and unites it with God through love.”
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Bishop Silvio José Báez, o.c.d. offers this comment that applies to our Sunday Gospel: “Jesus proposes that we should cultivate these three life-giving verbs: give, descend, and serve.”
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St John of the Cross has a quick and easy reference when he discusses “joy in the delights of food” in the Ascent of Mount Carmel. Simply take a look at the rich man and his sumptuous banquet while poor Lazarus lies at his gate like a piece of garbage, attracting the attention of the rich man’s hounds.
Drawing a life lesson from the parable of the Good Samaritan, Bishop Silvio José Báez says that "it doesn't take much" to identify with others and to become personally engaged. Remember, "The Good Samaritan had only a little wine and olive oil."
St. Thérèse of Lisieux explains what the work of a Good Samaritan can be in everyday life: "A word and a kind smile often are enough to cheer up a sad soul."
"Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5), were the instructions from the Mother of the Lord to the servants at the wedding banquet. Bishop Silvio José Báez reminds us that if we put his gospel into practice, our lives will be transformed in unexpected ways...
Having just celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Bishop Silvio José Báez, o.c.d. helps us go forth in mission. "In the Eucharist God became bread and he enters my heart, making me live with greater clarity and dignity so that I ask myself, 'what I am doing for my brothers and sisters'?"
Mariam probably was thinking of home remedies from Galilee when she offered practical advice on how to mend wounded relationships: first, don't throw vinegar on the wound!
Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity writes to her beloved Abbé Chevignard in 1903, "To think that God calls us by our vocation to live in this holy light! What an adorable mystery of charity! I would like to respond to it by living on earth as the Blessed Virgin did, 'keeping all these things in my heart'..."
We have translated an excerpt from St. John Paul II's homily at the beatification of Josefa Naval Girbés in 1988, where he praises her heroic virtues and her status as a lay woman in the local church.
Yesterday, Lord, it was you I was looking for in the people of my own flesh and blood in those who loved me Today, Lord, it is you who I have found in strangers, in foreigners in those who do not love me
As St. John of the Cross teaches: "After all, this love is the end for which we were created."
This year, dear Mother, God has given me the grace to understand what charity is... I had never fathomed the meaning of these words of Jesus: ”You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
St. Teresa concludes that when we sell out to God's will, we become his slaves, just as he became a slave through obedience for our sake; so she says that it matters not how much time we spend praying or working — obedience is key.
St. Teresa reflects on the example of the layman she met and how "the fulfillment of the duties of obedience and charity" led to an amazing "improvement in spiritual things". Her conclusion is that "the Lord walks among the pots and pans" to help us.
It is so rich to give to the poor. I gave my shoes to Juanito’s nurse.
Jesus wants to eradicate three deadly verbs from our daily life: to have, to ascend, and to command; and in their place he proposes that we should cultivate these three life-giving verbs: to give, to descend, and to serve.
In his Ascension Sunday homily, Bishop Báez say that by praying and witnessing to Jesus, we can heal the world
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Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices. ~ St. Teresa of Avila
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