Our Lord presents the perfect image of what we must become. . .His own brother or sister. This is no longer a dream; it means that we have made a preliminary contact with a reality that will show us the way to go and give us the strength to travel. A dream which is a mere mirage prevents us from living now, but hope enables us to participate in God’s dream for us and accept what is in front of us with patience. . .The idea of God’s presence within us is no dream; to abandon oneself, to put oneself completely at God’s service, is to acquire the ability to pass from daydreaming into truth.

– Father Rene Voillaume

Being holy means living exactly as our Father in heaven wants us to live. You will say that it is difficult. It is. The ideal is a very high one. And yet it is also easy. It is within our reach. When a person becomes ill, there maybe no appropriate medicine. But in supernatural affairs, it is not like that. The medicine is always at hand. It is Jesus Christ, present in the Holy Eucharist, and he also gives us his grace in the other sacraments which he has established. Let us say again, in word and in action: ‘Lord, I trust in you; your ordinary providence, your help each day, is all I need.’ We do not have to ask God toperform great miracles. Rather, we have to beg him to increase our faith, to enlighten our intellect, and strengthen our will.

– St. Josemariá Escrivá

When for one reason or another, we contemplate the reality of death, it is not uncommon that we begin to think about the sin and failure in our past. And, for many, this thought can be a cause of great unhappiness and even despair. After all, the past is past, we are told; it can never be recovered; the chance of grace is gone. But when we pray the Hail Mary, there is contained in one small word an entirely different message, and one which can, in itself, completely transform our thinking and transform our lives. It is the word ‘now.’ ‘Pray for us now.’ What Mary discovered, deep in her being at the Annunciation, was that nothing was impossible to God. In a single moment, in an instant of grace, everything can be changed. And this, of course, is true, or can be true, for each one of us. . . In our lives, we can say that there are only two moments that are of supreme importance: the moment of our death, and this moment now, the present moment. Part of the greatness of the Hail Mary is that it contains, and contains together in one breath, as it were, both of these moments: Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

-Father Paul Murray, O.P.

Mother Teresa and her Sisters visited the very poor and infirm in their homes in Australia. One elderly man that they visited was very much alone and isolated. Mother Teresa offered to clean his house for him because it was disorderly and dirty but he told her it wasn’t necessary. Finally, she convinced him to let her do so. She washed his clothes, made his bed and cleaned the house. While she was cleaning, she found a beautiful lamp covered in dust among his possessions. She asked him if he ever lit the lamp. ‘I have not had a visitor for years and years. There is no reason for me to light the lamp,’ he said. ‘But if the Sisters came to visit you every evening, would you light the lamp?’ she asked. ‘Of course, I would,’ the man replied. Mother Teresa cleaned the lamp and arranged for her Sisters to visit the man every evening. He began to look forward to their visits and always had the lamp lit for them. Two years passed and Mother Teresa forgot about the incident. One day, she received a message from the man. He said, ‘Tell my friend, Mother Teresa, that the light she lit in my life is still burning.’

It’s true Lord that you are always thinking of us. From the beginning of time, before we existed, even before the world existed, you have been dreaming of me, thinking of me, loving me. And it is true that your love created me. It’s true Lord, that you have conceived for my life a unique destiny. It’s true that you have an eternal plan for me, a wonderful plan that you have always cherished in your heart, as a father thinks over the smallest detail of the life of his little one, still unborn. It’s true that, always bending over me, you guide me to bring your plan about, light on my path and strength for my soul. You the divine Attentive One, you, the divine Patient One, you the divine Present One, see that at no time I forget your presence. I don’t ask you to bless what I myself have decided to do, but give me the grace to discover and to live what you have dreamed for me.
– Father Michel Quoist

Being holy means living exactly as our Father in heaven wants us to live. You will say that it is difficult. It is. The ideal is a very high one. And yet it is also easy. It is within our reach. When a person becomes ill, there may be no appropriate medicine. But in supernatural affairs, it is not like that. The medicine is always at hand. It is Jesus Christ, present in the Holy Eucharist, and he also gives us his grace in the other sacraments which he established. Let us say again, in word and in action: ‘Lord, I trust in you. Your ordinary providence, your help each day, is all I need.’

– St. Josemaría Escrivá

We look around us at a world of noise and frenzied activity, of blaring voices in the media clamoring for attention, and millions of daily words poured out in print demanding to be read. We see the streets of our cities crowded with people and moving vehicles. We look at the sky and see planes traveling at speeds that were not even dreamed of at the beginning of the last century. We find ourselves surrounded by human beings who are preoccupied with money and pleasure and having a good time, and then we wonder: How can a believer in Christ be his devoted follower in an age that seems to be oblivious to heaven and eternity and everything Jesus stands for? Here are two recommendations: Learn the secret of silence, and develop the art of mental prayer. Together, this will give us some idea of how Christ can, and must be followed in our day.

– Father John Hardon

Complete freedom from fear is one of those things we owe wholly to Our Lord. To be afraid is to do him a double injury. First, it is to forget him, to forget that that he is with us, that he loves us and is himself almighty, and second it is to fail to bend to his will. If we shape our will to his, as everything that happens is either willed or allowed by him, we shall find joy in whatever happens, and shall never be disturbed or afraid.

– Charles de Foucauld

There is for every soul which has really learned to love our Blessed Lord and to abide in his love, a fortress of inner peace which no assault from the world can enter, no echo of the world’s anxieties can disturb. The soul which has learned to practice the presence of Christ, and to be happy alone with Him, has found something more than peace in heaven; it has found peace on earth.

– Monsignor Ronald Knox

The Word of God is not a word to apply in our daily lives at some later date; it is a word to heal us through, and in our listening, here and now. The questions therefore are: How does God come to me as I listen to the Word? Where do I discern the healing hand of God touching me through the Word? How is my sadness, my grief and my mourning being transformed at this very moment? Do I sense the fire of God’s love purifying my heart and giving me new life? These questions lead me to the sacrament of the Word, the sacred place of God’s real presence.

– Henri Nouwen