Franciscan Quote of the Day

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 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

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

Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.

~St. Francis of Assisi

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

Transform me into yourself, so that I may no longer know myself, nor find myself, except in you.

~Thomas of Jesus quoted by Therese on Twitter

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

Our thorns in the flesh are not arbitrary miseries; they are personal, individual and valuable challenges. Our crowns are made from them.

~Elizabeth Scalia, “A Most small-c Catholic Drama“

Into this universal human situation Jesus comes, saying, “Repent,” which means “change the direction in which you are looking for happiness.” Human happiness is found in the growth of unconditional love. The work of spiritual direction is to help us to become aware of the obstacles to divine love and the free circulation of that love within us. This requires the cultivation of a non-possessive attitude toward ourselves and other people. Gradually we learn that God is the true security, God truly loves us, and with this love, we can make it, even if no one else seems to care.

~ Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO, via Little Portion Hermitage

It means the state of a soul caught up, so to say, in God’s machinery, for whom the supernatural life is more real than the natural.

~Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence