Litany of Humility

Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, From the desire of being loved... From the desire of being extolled ... From the desire of being honored ... From the desire of being praised ... From the desire of being preferred... From the desire of being consulted ... From the desire of being approved ... Deliver me, Jesus.  From the fear of being humiliated ... From the fear of being despised... From the fear of suffering rebukes ... From the fear of being calumniated ... From the fear of being forgotten ... From the fear of being ridiculed ... From the fear of being wronged ... From the fear of being suspected ... That others may be loved more than I, That others may be esteemed more than I ... That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease ... That others may be chosen and I set aside ... That others may be praised and I unnoticed ... That others may be preferred to me in everything... That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…  Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius

God Is Not Dead...but maybe we are

The only way to improve our relationship with God

 is by deepening our prayer life.

How to Pray by Fr. Stan Fortuna Click here to listen


The 4th Beatitude and Prayer as Thirst by Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR Click here to listen 


I Thirst by Fr. John Riccardo Click here to listen

Prayer sustains our faith. It keeps God alive and well in our lives.

If you pray well, you will live well, 
and if you live well, you will die well, 
and if you die well, all will be well.
 - St Augustine

Prayer is essential for salvation and sanctification. 

Pray as if it all depends on God. Work as if it all depends on you.


5 Modes of Prayer: Praise, Thanksgiving, Repentance, Intercessions, and Listening


Prayer is the light of the soul, giving us true knowledge of God. 
It is a link mediating between God and man. 
By prayer the soul is borne up to heaven and in a marvelous way embraces the Lord. 
This meeting is like that of an infant crying on its mother, and seeking the best of milk. 
The soul longs for its own needs and what it receives is better than anything to be seen in the world.
- St John Chrysostom (Hom 6 on Prayer)

Transformation

"Transformation is not a future event, but a present activity."

-Jillian Michaels

I have been told this every morning at 5:30am for the past week by Jillian. I thought it was time to share her advice. ;-) I believe it applies to every avenue of life, especially for deepening prayer. 

Just as eating right, strength training and cardio are good for the body, so are formal prayers, fasting and silence good for spiritual growth.

You just don't wake up one day and have a six-pack, nor do you just automatically have a deep relationship with God. Both need to be worked on and maintained.

What are you doing TODAY to transform your prayer life?  Try to challenge yourself. Stretch a little further with God. 

Make A Difference Monday

KLOVE, the radio station that I listen to has "Make a Difference Monday".

It is supposed to encourage people to stretch themselves to do a random act of kindness for someone else. Right now, they are asking 1,000,000 people to do something on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. If their goal is met, than 1,000,000 people will be the recipient of a kind action.  I think this is a great idea.  I pledged to do a kind action. You can too by going here: http://www.klove.com/ministry/make-a-difference.aspx

However, let us also continue to do random acts of kindness before and/or beyond September 11th. We shouldn't wait for tragedies to motivate us, nor should we limit ourselves to only do things on a specific day, such as "Monday".  Acts of random kindness should be a daily, even hourly habit.

If however, you have not trained your mind and hands to volunteer or go out of your way for someone else as a normal part of your routine, the anniversary of 9/11 may be a  good place to start.
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"One morning a man walked along the beach covered with thousands of starfish that had washed up during a storm. Now they lay dying in the sun. He saw a young girl picking up the starfish one by one and tossing them into the sea. He approached her. He couldn't help but ask, "Why bother? There are too many of them. You won't make much difference." She picked up another starfish and tossed it into the water. Then she turned to the man and said, "I made a difference to that one." - Anonymous

Prayer of Abandonment by Charles de Foucauld

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures -
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.