Thu 26 Jan 2012
“Do you mark all this well, King Caspian?”
“I do indeed, Sir,” said Caspian. “I was wishing that I came of a more honorable lineage.”
“You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,” said Aslan. “And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”
~C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
Tags: beggar, c s lewis, earth, emperor, lady eve, Poor, princeTue 24 Jan 2012
It’s really very simple. Am I building up the kingdom of heaven or am I building up my own kingdom? Am I putting God’s name first and proclaiming His name, or am I proclaiming my name? Am I doing everything for God’s glory, or for my glory? We have to focus on this every day. If I am going to live God’s will, it has to be because I first seek the kingdom. Then He promises everything else will fall into place.
~Fr. Larry Richards, Surrender! The Life-Changing Power of Doing God’s Will
Tags: kingdom of heaven, larry richards, Power, proclaiming, surrenderSun 22 Jan 2012
What this means is if we are going to do the will of God, every day is going to be a day of self-sacrifice. Again, to make this real and practical I tell people that they should examine their consciences every night before they go to bed and ask, “Did I do at least one act of unselfishness today? Did I give my life away at least once today?” If the answer is no, then they squandered the whole day on themselves, only did what they wanted, only took care of themselves. What a waste of a day!
~Fr. Larry Richards, Surrender! The Life-Changing Power of Doing God’s Will
Tags: god, larry richards, self, self sacrifice, surrender, wasteWed 13 Jul 2011
To hold our tongues when everyone is gossiping, to smile without hostility at people and institutions, to compensate for the shortage of love in the world with more love in small, private matters; to be more faithful in our work, to show greater patience, to forgo the cheap revenge obtainable from mockery and criticism: all these are things we can do.
~Hermann Hesse (via The Hammock Papers)
Tags: Faith, faithful, hermann hesse, love, patience, work, worldThu 30 Jun 2011
It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment. What creates despair is the imagination, which pretends there is a future, and insists on predicting millions of moments, thousands of days, and so drains you that you cannot live the moment at hand.
~Andre Dubus, “A Father’s Story,” Selected Stories (via Country Contemplative)
Tags: andre dubus, despair, father, future, imagination, momentMon 2 May 2011
Therefore, God’s will is the sanctification of souls. Always and everywhere, this is the work that exclusively occupies Him. It is the purpose underlying all the occurrences, great and small, which agitate in different ways nations, families, and the lives of individuals. It explains why God wills that I should be sick today, contradicted, humbled, forgotten; why He has prepared this happy event for me, faced me with this difficulty, caused me to hurt my foot against this stone, exposed me to this temptation. It is His love for me, His desire of my happiness that regulates all His actions.
~Dom Vitalis Lehodey, O.C.R., Holy Abandonment
Tags: abandonment, desire, god wills, happiness, love, sanctification, soul, temptation, vitalisTue 9 Nov 2010
Tue 5 Oct 2010
In the little parlour of the Convent, Hercule Poirot told his story and restored the chalice to the Mother Superior.
She murmured: “Tell him we thank him and we will pray for him.”
Hercule Poirot said gently: “He needs your prayers.”
“Is he then an unhappy man?”
Poirot said: “So unhappy that he has forgotten what happiness means. So unhappy that he does not know he is unhappy.”
The nun said softly: “Ah, a rich man . . . ”
Hercule Poirot said nothing—for he knew there was nothing to say.
Agatha Christie, “The Apples of the Hesperides” via First Thoughts
Tags: agatha christie, chalice, Christ, convent, first thoughts, happiness, happy man, hercule poirot, hesperides, Prayer, rich manWed 15 Sep 2010
Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.
~Thomas Sowell as quoted on Execupundit.com
Tags: Execupundit, Good, social history, thomas sowell, three decades, work, worldMon 6 Sep 2010
Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, For anger resides in the bosom of fools.
~Ecclesiastes 7:9
Tags: anger, bosom, Ecclesiastes, fools, heartThu 2 Sep 2010
Procrastination is our substitute for immortality, we behave as if we have no shortage of time.
~ Benjamin Kunkel
Tags: benjamin kunkel, immortality, procrastination, shortage, substitute, timeFri 27 Aug 2010
Christ roams through our streets in the person of so many of the suffering poor, sick and dispossessed, and people thrown out of their miserable slums; Christ huddled under bridges, in the person of so many children who lack someone to call father, who have been deprived for many years without a mother’s kiss on their foreheads … Christ is without a home! Shouldn’t we want to give him one, those of us who have the joy of a comfortable home, plenty of good food, the means to educate and assure the future of our children? “What you do to the least of me, you do to me,” Jesus said.
Tags: Alberto Hurtado, bridges, Christ, father, future, Good, Jesus, joy, man, mother, plenty, Poor, slums, suffering, wantThu 26 Aug 2010
Happiness is the sense of peace and joy that stems from knowledge of and union with the One Who created us and Who loves us infinitely. We will attain it fully in heaven, but we can achieve it to a significant extent beforehand by battling our desire to remain independent of God, ignoring the voices that label religion boring and unnecessary, and better acquainting ourselves with Truth through study and prayer.
~Mary Anne Marks quoted in “God and Woman at Harvard“
Tags: desire, god, happiness, Harvard, joy, love, Mary Anne Marks, Peace, Prayer, truth, union, WomanSat 21 Aug 2010
To have defects is not in itself bad. The only evil lies in making a truce with them, not struggling against them, thinking that they are part and parcel of our character or our nature. Making such a truce would lead to spiritual mediocrity. Our Lord does not want this to happen to those who follow Him.
~In Conversation with God, 4:358 via ALL: American Life League.
Tags: american life league, character, conversation with god, god, life, mediocrity, nature, truceFri 20 Aug 2010
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin via The Anchoress | A First Things Blog.
Tags: anchoress, human beings, human experience, pierre teilhard de chardin, spirit, spiritual, spiritual beings, spiritual experienceWed 18 Aug 2010
As a Franciscan my home is everywhere, but also nowhere in this world. It’s a gospel challenge, but it’s also a gospel freedom.
~Brother Charles, “First Spanish Mass“.
Tags: brother charles, challenge, everywhere, Freedom, Gospel, worldTue 17 Aug 2010
Sun 15 Aug 2010
The vision which has been so faintly suggested in these pages has never been confined to monks or even to friars. It has been an inspiration to innumerable crowds of ordinary married men and women; living lives like our own, only entirely different.
~G.K. Chesterton, Saint Francis of Assisi
Tags: crowds, friars, G.K. Chesterton, inspiration, living, married men, men and women, monks, saint francis of assisi, visionFri 13 Aug 2010
To put God first means that all other responsibilities he gives are first, too. Sorting out responsibilities that seem to conflict, however, is tricky business.
~Robertson McQuilkin, “Living by Vows” via Christianity Today
Tags: Christian, christianity today, conflict, god, responsibilities, Robertson McQuilkin, sorting, tricky business, vowsTue 10 Aug 2010
Imagine for a moment what you could learn about God’s revelation if you would set aside for just one day, even just one hour, your need to be right, your need to be safe, your need to be in charge. Imagine if you set these aside and fully, truly accepted that the Lord would never leave you to destruction, never forsake you to an eternal death. What could you learn? How would you grow? Think for a moment about the locks you put on your trust, on your love, on your hope. How many are there? Can you count them? Do you believe that hoarding the gifts God has given you will earn you compound interest in heaven? Or that a cautious, meager charity will benefit you in the long run? Gifts left unused for the good of your neighbors will eventually atrophy and die, leaving behind a bitter waste, an angry, soured soul. There is nothing child-like about living your life in resentment and disappointment. Our Father will never abandon us. What is there for us to fear? Nothing. Nothing at all.
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP, Ph.D., Domine, da mihi hanc aquam!, “Only the child-like”.
Tags: charity, compound interest, death, disappointment, fear, gifts god, god, Good, heaven, life, locks, love, man, moment, neighbor, neighbors, nothing, resentment, revelation, right, sake, soul, trust
Why I Am Catholic
Love... lived in service
Saint Quote of the Day
Franciscan Blog
a minor friar
New Sandals
SFO Mom
Portiuncula: the Little Portion
Little Portion Hermitage
View from the choir
The Mercy Blog
Be Thou my Vision
STUMBLING AFTER FRANCIS
Tom S.F.O.
Our Lady's Little Scribe
A Capuchin Journey
for narnia
Country Contemplative
Just a Brother
An Ambassador for Christ
AlmostCatholic
Philly Filings
Reflections of a Secular Franciscan
Gerry Straub's Blog
For The Love Of Christ
Secular Franciscans KC
Franciscans the past, present and future
Franciscan Life
Franciscan Community Volunteers
Living Franciscan
Two Secular Franciscans =)
Nun Other Than a Franciscan Sister
Beauty for Ashes
The Blue Fires of Dawn
St. Francis Speaks . . .
The Three Knots
My Next Step
Wrestling with Angels...
A Follower of Francis
Poverello Pebbles
A Pilgrim's Diary
Brotherly Love
The Wandering Friar
OH……….. FRANCESCO
Subscribe to Franciscan Quote of the Day via RSS feed
Subscribe to Franciscan Quote of the Day by Email
