"What matters in mental prayer is not so much what we do, as what God does in us. It is enormously liberating to know this, for sometimes we can do nothing at all in mental prayer. Really, though, it doesn’t matter much, because even if we can’t do anything, God can. In fact, he is always acting in the depths of our soul, even if we don’t realize it. The essenti…
Read more"What feels best for you may not be best for the people around you. For that matter, it may not be good for you either. Someone with genuine self-esteem understands that self-fulfillment is not about self-satisfaction. Thus he is willing to deny his own desires for the sake of the future, for the sake of the people around him, and for the sake of his immortal so…
Read more"Let those who are fully taken up with activity, who imagine they can move the world by their preaching and their other external works, reflect here for a moment; they will easily understand that they would be much more useful to the Church, and more pleasing to the Lord, not to mention the good example they would set around them, if they dedicated half their …
Read more"The priest’s next prayer makes even clearer the connection between the gifts of bread and wine and the giver who offers them to God. The priest prays, 'With humble spirit and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may our sacrifice in your sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God.' Notice how the sacrifice envisioned in this prayer is…
Read moreHoly Thirst by Paraclete Press Catechesis and Ritual: The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis Misled by Allen Parr Majesty by Katharine McGee American Royals by Katharine McGee On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak Too Much Money by Dominick Dunne The Microstress Effect by Ro…
Read more“Consecrating ourselves to Mary means accepting her help to offer ourselves and the whole of mankind to him who is holy, infinitely holy; it means accepting her help—by having recourse to her motherly heart, which beneath the cross was opened to love for every human being, for the whole world—in order to offer the world, the individual human being, mankind as a whole…
Read more"THE PROBLEM OF NOT ENOUGH TIME 'I’d really like to do mental prayer, but I don’t have the time.' How often this has been said! And in a hyperactive world like our own, the difficulty is a real one and should not be underestimated. But time is not always the real problem. That real problem is knowing what really matters in life. As a contemporary aut…
Read more