Posts by Padre Pio Devotions

Joy does not depend on acclaim, advancement, promotion, recognition, fame, prestige, or power. Joy can never come from without. It can only come from the Lord who plants it deep within us. If our joy is contingent upon affirmation, success or career, it is planted in sand and will never endure. Actually, our joy should…

The dream of creating a ‘new heaven and a new earth’ lives on. It is not determined by my age, my health, or my degrees, but by my heart and the burning desire to act for God, to make God’s love and healing presence visible in a hurting world. I can do something, now, in…

Once I have confronted and accepted – as far as possible – that I am a needy person, the act of turning toward God is relatively easy. It is not faith in God that is hard, but the renunciation of illusory faith in myself. To turn toward God means, first, turning away from whatever is…

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…

Dear Lord, free me from my dark past, into which I often find myself falling as if into a deep cistern. . . . Keep showing me your light, and give me the strength to rise and follow you without ever looking back. – Henri J. M. Nouwen

It is in time that I am able to do good to my neighbor, that I am able to love and help him…It is only along the path of my passing days that I am able to meet the suffering soul and to give a word of comfort and hope. Time is valuable, because it…

In Scripture, death is called the ‘day of calamity’ (Dt. 32:35). This is because, on the day we die, we shall lose all our earthly possessions – honors, riches, pleasures. Saint Ambrose says that we cannot take them into eternity. But our acts of virtue, the good things which we have done during life, will…

Blessed are those who do one thing at a time, but do it well; blessed are those who do well that which they do, be it something of great importance or not; blessed are those who do little things with diligence, because they will do even great things well. What are we looking for when…

For three days I have been meditating on the story of the prodigal son. It is a story about returning. I realize the importance of returning over and over again. My life drifts away from God. I have to return. My heart moves away from my first love. I have to return. My mind wanders…

In all his dealings with us, the Lord teaches us how to live on this earth. There is not a person in this world who is not a voyager, even if not all are anxious to return to the Homeland. In the course of this voyage, the waves and the storms make us seasick. At…