Franciscan Quote of the Day

The Latin words sine proprio in the writings of Francis are usually translated poverty, but that is a quite inadequate translation of them. They refer, rather, to a way of living without grasping (and are thus far more about attitudes and values than about intrinsic wealth or the lack of it).

For Francis the Eucharist is a sign of the sine proprio of Christ – he holds nothing of himself back for himself, but pours himself out totally in saving and redeeming grace to us in the Sacrament. And yet the Sacrament is also the means by which we may return all that we are and have to Christ, appropriating nothing of it to ourselves.

~Gordon Plumb, St. Francis of Assisi and Eucharistic Adoration

One morning just before dismissing us, the priest said, “Stay as long as you like. This is your home.”

Oh, this IS my home! I thought, and wandered around for a bit, then went and sat before the Blessed Sacrament myself. Of course the Church is no one building; every Catholic church is my home. But that I could leave my earthly home, drive eight minutes, and sit before Christ is a sacred mystery and gift beyond all imagining.

~Heather King, Shirt of Flame

And so their lives are not spent in questioning, wishful thinking, contempt or sighs, but in the certainty that what they have is always the best.

~Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment

If we had faith, we would be grateful to all creatures, we would bless them and inwardly thank them for contributing, under God’s hand, so favorably to our perfection.

~Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment

A living faith is nothing else than a steadfast pursuit of God through all that disguises, disfigures, demolishes and seeks, so to speak, to abolish him.

~Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment

Faith gives the whole earth a celestial aspect; by it the heart is transported, enraptured to commune with heaven. Each moment is a revelation of God.

~Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment

Likewise, souls who can recognize God in the most trivial, the most grievous and the most mortifying things that happen to them in their lives, honor everything equally with delight and rejoicing, and welcome with open arms what others dread and avoid.

~Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment

Just as there was no difference between what the good and the bad thief had to do and suffer in order to become saints, neither is there for souls, some of whom are worldly and others spiritual. Those who damn their souls do so by attempting to achieve through their fantasies what those who save their souls achieve through submitting to your will, and by protesting and grumbling about what those who are saved suffer with resignation. Thus, only the heart is different.

~Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment

To discover God in the smallest and most ordinary things, as well as in the greatest, is to possess a rare and sublime faith. To find contentment in the present moment is to relish and adore the divine will in the succession of all the things to be done and suffered which make up the duty to the present moment.

~Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment