Franciscan Quote of the Day

Only the person who renounces self-importance, who no longer struggles to defend or assert himself, can be large enough for God’s boundless action.

~Saint Teresa of Avila, via Little Portion Hermitage

Advent is about waking up to what people or situations we need to accept and embrace as part of making straight the way for the Lord, that frees us to open our arms to receive God’s great gift of the fullness of life.

~Reflections of a Franciscan Gardener –  “Advent Wisdom from the Stranger in the Bathroom Mirror”.

Obedience is not an act of coercion, it is letting go, surrendering oneself to the ocean of the goodness of God.”

~Pope Benedict XVI,  General Audience, December 5, 2012 via Look in the Mirror – “Whats wrong with the world? I am.”.

There was a certain strong soldier who had won many victories and later became a Friar Minor. And when soldiers laughed at him because he had joined such an Order rather then the Templars or a similar Order where he could do much good and still fight battles, he replied: “I tell you that when I feel thirst, hunger, cold, and such things, the impusle of pride and concupiscence and such still attacks me. How much worse would it be if I saw my feet shod in armor and I was on a handsome horse and so on!”

And he added: “So far I was strong in fighting others – from now on I want to be strong fighting myself!”

~The Little Flowers of St. Francis, (Raphael Brown, Ed.) Additional Chapters, #17

And Francis trailed back in his sickness to Assisi, a very dismal and disappointed and perhaps even derided figure, with nothing to do but to wait for what should happen next. It was his first descent into a dark ravine that is called the valley of humiliation, which seemed to him very rocky and desolate, but in which he was afterwards to find many flowers.

~G.K. Chesterton, Saint Francis of Assisi

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving You.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, You, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love —a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek—
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now You have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything You are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless You as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.

via Ragamuffin Ramblings…

Do you want to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will piece the clouds? Begin by laying the foundation of humility!

~St. Augustine via The Hammock Papers

Go through each thing with Jesus, every encounter you had with a person or on the phone and ask yourself this question, “Did they see me today or did they see Jesus today?” If the answer is that they saw me, then there is still a lot that needs to be repented. People are supposed to be looking and seeing Jesus in my life. So I need to ask if I’m pushing myself, and my ideas, or am I pushing Jesus and His ideas?

Fr. Larry Richards, Surrender! The Life Changing Power of Doing God’s Will

This movement from the immature, fretful craving to have things the way we want them, to the way that is patient, cheerful, nonobtrusive, and oriented toward others, is a true death: the death of our egos, the death of our identities as people who respond—can only respond—a certain way. Grace is needed, to be sure, but preparing the ground for continuing grace requires prayer, meditation, and consenting to the long, hard work of pruning our will in such a way that we are open to maturity.

~Heather King, Shirt of Flame: A Year with Saint Therese of Lisieux

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

~C. S. Lewis, Essay on Forgiveness

“Take up thy cross,” the Savior said,
“If thou wouldst My disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after Me.”

Take up thy cross, let not its weight
Fill thy weak spirit with alarm;
His strength shall bear thy spirit up,
And brace thy heart and nerve thine arm.

Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,
Nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
Thy Lord for thee the cross endured,
And saved thy soul from death and hell.

Take up thy cross then in His strength,
And calmly sin’s wild deluge brave,
’Twill guide thee to a better home,
It points to glory o’er the grave.

Take up thy cross and follow Christ,
Nor think til death to lay it down;
For only those who bear the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.

To Thee, great Lord, the One in Three,
All praise forevermore ascend:
O grant us in our home to see
The heavenly life that knows no end.

~Charles W. Ev­er­est, Vi­sions of Death, and Other Po­ems

Jesus has always many who love His heavenly kingdom, but few who bear His cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who care for trial. He finds many to share His table, but few to take part in His fasting. All desire to be happy with Him; few wish to suffer anything for Him. Many follow Him to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the chalice of His passion. Many revere His miracles; few approach the shame of the cross. Many love Him as long as they encounter no hardship; many praise and bless Him as long as they receive some comfort from Him. But if Jesus hides Himself and leaves them for a while, they fall either into complaints or into deep dejection.Those, on the contrary, who love Him for His own sake and not for any comfort of their own, bless Him in all trial and anguish of heart as well as in the bliss of consolation. Even if He should never give them consolation, yet they would continue to praise Him and wish always to give Him thanks. What power there is in pure love for Jesus—love that is free from all self-interest and self-love!

~Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, Book II, Chapter XI.

“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

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

What stands between us and the kingdom is our arrogance; the arrogance of our intellect. Our intellect has been give by God. It is my wrong use of it that is so terrible.

~Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty

Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, For anger resides in the bosom of fools.

~Ecclesiastes 7:9

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.

You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of him who gives and kindles joy in the heart of him who receives. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other. We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves. When we gaze at our own failings, we see such a swamp that nothing in another can equal it. That is why we turn away, and make much of the faults of others. Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace. Keep silent, refrain from judgment. This will raise you above the deadly arrows of slander, insult and outrage and will shield your glowing hearts against all evil.

~ St Seraphim of Sarov via Mind in the Heart

You see, the big thing for me is to love reality and not live in the imagination, not live in what could have been or what should have been or what can be, and somewhere, to love reality and then discover that God is present.

~Jean Vanier, via Pax Christi Facebook Page

The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in different languages. These different languages are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience, and obedience; we speak in those languages when we reveal in ourselves these virtues to others.

~St. Anthony (via Beauty for Ashes)