(c)Mary TV 2014
J.M.J
October 20, 2014
St. Paul of the Cross
Dear Family of Mary!
Tuesday, November 29, 1983 To Jelena: "Pray!"
For the intention of the group:
"I
am your mother full of goodness, and Jesus is your great friend. Do not
fear anything in His presence. Give Him your heart, from the bottom of
your heart. Tell Him your sufferings, thus you will be invigorated in
prayer, with a free heart, in a peace without fear."
Today
is the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionists.
St. Paul felt that constant prayer was essential for a Christian, and
that the Passion and Death of Jesus teaches us everything we need to
know to grow in holiness.
I found an article about St. Paul by Fr. David Colhour, CP., who wrote this about St. Paul:
A
third and very strong faith conviction which Paul operated under was
the belief that God is doing something in everybody's life every single
moment of every single day. We may not always be conscious of it, but
below the surface there is always some kind of divine presence and
activity sometimes encouraging us and sometimes prodding us. We may
find ourselves fully participating with it, or we may find ourselves
even resisting. Nonetheless, God's presence is there at work. Paul
writes, "Remain in the divine presence in everything you do. If you are
busy at work with your hands, let your mind and heart be inwardly on
God". And in another place, "Be at peace in your sufferings without
trying too hard to understand them in your mind. A true servant of God
is praying always. I don't mean kneeling down, but with loving
attention to the divine presence. In so far as this involves a lack of
feeling of God's presence, so much the better." Strong faith certainly
has very little to do with making one feel okay, rather it is more
about finding obedience in a relationship of divine love that is
perpetually calling us.
St.
Paul's words are full of comfort and hope. I really feel drawn to the
idea that God is constantly at work in our lives, moment by moment,
whether we know it or not. I believe we are never left alone by God.
Even though we may not feel Him near us, He never leaves us. The Father
watches over us, Jesus lives within us, and the Spirit guides and
protects us day in and day out. Our job is to believe this, and remain
mindful of it, no matter what. "Loving attention to the divine
presence!" That is how we can pray always!
I
had an experience of the divine presence actively working in my life
this past weekend. Denis and I attended a beautiful conference given by
Totally Yours Pilgrimages in St. Charles, IL. At one point during a
conference session, I discovered that my purse was missing. I looked
everywhere and asked all the kind people around me if they had seen it.
It was nowhere to be found. As you can imagine, I was really upset. Most
of my identity was in that purse. I began to panic. I was just shaking
and thinking the worst. But all the people around me began to pray. They
were awesome. And Denis stayed calm and prayed as well. So I made the
decision to pray, and the thought came to me that the Lord could use
this situation for my good, that He can use any situation to bless me
and that I should trust Him and be at peace.
Within
a few minutes of that grace-filled moment, Denis came walking up with
my purse! He found it under a table that we had searched under several
times. It was inexplicable. But there was the purse, intact! I cannot
describe the relief that washed over me to see my purse. But even more,
the peace and joy that I experienced in seeing God's hand at work. He
taught me a good lesson. He was working in me and around me throughout
that little trial. And He changed everything in a moment. Truly, the
Lord made His presence known to me through that experience. He worked
through the wonderful people who helped me, through Denis who never gave
up, and through even my poor heart by speaking words of great hope when
I was the most distressed! I felt I had been given a new life!
St.
Paul said: "Be at peace in your sufferings without trying too hard to
understand them in your mind. A true servant of God is praying always.
I don't mean kneeling down, but with loving attention to the divine
presence." I experienced the fruit of giving loving attention to the
Divine Presence yesterday. Truly Jesus is our friend, and we should fear
nothing in His presence!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2014
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