Anticipating Elizabeth

We want to make our heart like a monstrance, exposing Jesus to all we meet.  Mary, the first monstrance, showed her Son to the Shepherds, the Magi, to all.  Before Jesus was born, Mary brought Him to Elizabeth who rejoiced in Whom she saw.  Elizabeth, in turn, became a monstrance herself and sang the first beatitude   and Mary responded with the Magnificat.  Together the two women - each bearing Jesus in her heart  - sang a beautiful canticle of praise to the Lord.  May our own encounters with others reflect the mystery of the Visitation as we bring our Lord to a waiting world.

Therefore, let us say often:

Jesus, let my heart be

the altar where You sacrifice Yourself

the tabernacle where You watch over us

the monstrance where You manifest Yourself to the world.   Amen

~Giuliana Spigone, A.O.

The Divine Mirror

"Christ who is your life is hanging before you, so that you may look at the Cross as in a mirror. There you will be able to know how mortal were your wounds, that no medicine other than the Blood of the Son of God could heal. If you look closely, you will be able to realize how great your human dignity and your value are.... Nowhere other than looking at himself in the mirror of the Cross can man better understand how much he is worth" (Sermones Dominicales et Festivi III, pp. 213-214).

Every Little Desire, O Lord, You Know

O LORD, you have probed me, you know me: you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar. Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all. Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. (Ps. 139:1-5)

Taken!

The most beautiful place on earth is

in the arms of the Beloved.

For Your Glory

You have put into my heart a marvelous love

for the faithful ones who dwell in your land. (Psalm 16)

The Direction of My Desires

"O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love. Certainly I have found my place in the Church, and you gave me that very place, my God. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and thus I will be all things, as my desire finds its direction." 

-St. Therese of Lisieux

Beautiful is God!

"Beautiful is God, the Word with God.... He is beautiful in heaven, beautiful on earth; beautiful in the womb, beautiful in his parents' arms, beautiful in his miracles, beautiful in his sufferings; beautiful in inviting to life, beautiful in not worrying about death, beautiful in giving up his life and beautiful in taking it up again; he is beautiful on the Cross, beautiful in the tomb, beautiful in heaven. Listen to the song with understanding, and let not the weakness of the flesh distract your eyes from the splendor of his beauty."

-St. Augustine

Rest in Him

LORD, my heart is not proud; nor are my eyes haughty. 

I do not busy myself with great matters, with things too sublime for me.
Rather, I have stilled my soul, hushed it like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother's lap, so is my soul within me.

(Psalm 131:1-2)

Every Community must be a Community of Love

God is Trinity...He is communion of love, and the family - with all the difference that exists between the 

Mystery of God and His human creature - is an expression thereof which reflects the unfathomable

mystery of God-Love. ... The human family is, in a certain sense, the icon of the Trinity because of the love

between its members and the fruitfulness of that love. 

-Pope Benedict XVI

Where does my heart rest?

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.(Mt. 11:29-30)

Let Us Cultivate Hope and the Desert Will Bloom

 Let us sow goodness and holiness, and we will see barren fields bloom. 

-Bishop William Giaquinta