Prayer of Love. . .

Artist: Doris Klein, CSA

http://doriskleincsa.com/

God speaks to the Soul . . .
And God said to the soul:
I desired you before the world began.
I desire you now as you desire me,
And where the desires of two come together
There love is perfected.

How the soul speaks to God . . .
God, you are my lover,
My longing,
My flowing stream,
My sun,
And I am your reflection.

How God answers the soul . . .
It is my nature that makes me love you often,
For I am love itself.
It is my longing that makes me love you intensely,
For I yearn to be loved from the heart.
It is my eternity that makes me love you long,
For I have no end.
Prayer of Mechtild of Magdeburg

A prayer of peace . . .

A Quieting Prayer . . .
I weave a silence on my lips,
I weave a silence into my mind,
I weave a silence within my heart.

I close my ears to distractions,
I close my eyes to attentions,
I close my heart to temptations.

Calm me, O God, as you stilled the storm,
Still me, O God, keep me from harm.
Let all the tumult within me cease,
Enfold me, God, in your peace.
(Author Unknown ~ Celtic Tradition)

 

 

Prayer of hope . . .

Disturb us, O God,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
when our dreams have come true
because we have dreamed too little,
when we arrived safely
because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, O God,
when with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst
for the waters of life.

Disturb us, O God,
to dare more boldly,
to venture on wider seas
where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land,
we shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
the horizons of our hopes;
and to push into the future
in strength, courage, hope and love.
~ attributed to Sir Francis Drake

Clear visioning!

 In the gospel of Mark (8:22-27) there is a story of how people from a village brought a blind man to Jesus for healing.  The story unfolds with Jesus taking the blind man by the hand and leading him beyond the village.  “He put spit on the man’s eyes, laid hands on him and asked, ‘Do you see anything?’”  The man responded that he saw people, but they looked like trees walking.  So Jesus had to lay his hands on the man’s eyes once again and the man recovered his sight with 20/20 vision!


This is a great story of how we come through the process of discernment.  The Spirit often invites us to leave our comfort zones so that in our discomfort we can be detached enough from our illusions and certainties to notice how we feel within, so that we can learn to trust God’s grace and light. 

Much like the man in the story, we are never alone. God is present with us as we encounter new events, circumstances, relationships, and experiences that are part of our search for what God desires of us. 

Discernment is a way of deep listening and deep questioning that cannot be forced.  There is no “drive-thru” for discernment; there is no App for quick and easy answers; and there are no flashing lights with bells and whistles pointing to the right path!  Often, we find clarity and peace a little at a time – we get “blurry-clear” insights and begin to notice more and more God’s purpose for us with each step on our journey. We are invited to notice signs in our everyday lives that God seems to put in our path to point to the way that will give us peace and joy. This movement is often slow, so as to allow God to gently take us by the hand and to touch our hearts again and again, so that our seeing becomes a vision of how we are being called to a new way of being and becoming. 

From sunrise to sunset . . .

God is there in these moments of rest and can give us in a single instant exactly what we need. 

Then the rest of the day can take its course, under the same effort and strain, perhaps, but in peace. 

And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone. . . just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with God. 

Then you will be able to rest in God ~ really rest ~ and start the next day as a new life.St. Teresa Benedict of the Cross (Edith Stein)

 

 

BE - Attitudes!

(Image source unknown)

 

 

The Commonsense Beatitudes

Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves; they will always have entertainment.

Blessed are those who can distinguish between a mountain and a molehill; they will save themselves a lot of trouble.

Blessed are those who can rest and sleep without looking for excuses; they will become wise.

Blessed are those who know how to be silent and listen; they will learn new things.

Blessed are those who are intelligent enough not to take themselves too seriously; they will be appreciated.

Blessed are you if you can look seriously at small things and peacefully at serious things; you will go far in life.

Blessed are you if you can admire a smile and forget a scowl; your path will be sunlit.

Blessed are you if you can interpret the attitudes of others with good will, even when appearances are to the contrary; you may seem naïve but that is the price of charity.

Blessed are those who think before acting and who laugh before thinking; they will avoid foolish mistakes.

Blessed are you if you know how to be silent and smile even when you are interrupted, contradicted or walked on; the gospel is beginning to take root in your heart.

Blessed are you especially if you know how to recognize the Lord in all those you meet; you have found the true light, true wisdom.

Fr. Joseph Folliet (author deceased ~ original source unknown)
https://www.delasalle.org.au/blog/the-contemporary-beatitudes

Witnesses of Light . . .

Blessed Are You Who Bear The Light

Whisper of Light
by Doris Klein, CSA
http://doriskleincsa.com/

Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify
to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness
to its persistence
when everything seems
in shadow
and grief.

Blessed are you
in whom
the light lives,
in whom
the brightness blazes ___
your heart
a chapel,
an altar where
in the deepest night
can be seen
the fire that
shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope,
in love that illumines
every broken thing
it finds.

Author: Jan Richardson
From Circle of Grace/
 http://www.janrichardson.com/index.htmlichardson.com
©Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com

Spirit Energy Needed . . .

Come, Holy Spirit ~
Replace the tension within me with a holy relaxation,
Replace the turbulence within me with a sacred calm,
Replace the anxiety within me with a quiet confidence,
Replace the fear within me with a strong faith,
Replace the bitterness within me with the sweetness of grace,
Replace the darkness within me with a gentle light,
Replace the coldness within me with a loving warmth,
Replace the night within me with Your day,
Replace the winter within me with Your spring,
Straighten my crookedness, fill my emptiness,
Dull the edge of my pride, sharpen the edge of my humility,
Light the fires of my love, quench within me the flames of envy,
Let me see myself as You see me, that I may see You                                    as You have promised ~
And be fortunate according to Your word, “Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.”                          
(Anonymous)

                                         

A Cup of Kindness . . .and Hope!

O Divine One,
to You I raise my whole being,
~ a vessel emptied of self. 
Accept O gracious God,
this my emptiness, and                          
so fill me with Yourself ~
Your light,                                                                                    
Your love, Your life ~
that these Your precious gifts may radiate
through me and overflow the chalice
of my heart into the hearts of all those                                 
with whom I come in contact                                    
this day ~ revealing unto                                               
them the beauty of
Your joy
and
wholeness
and the
serenity
of Your peace,
which nothing can destroy.
An Ancient Sufi Prayer . . .