Keep on rowing!

"Ahead! Courage! In the spiritual life he who does not advance goes backward. It happens as with a boat which always must go ahead. If it stands still the wind will blow it back."  ~Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts;

so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my son I give thanks to him.

~Psalm 28:7

Dear Lord, when I weary of rowing, I will look to You and find strength to stay the course.  Amen.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

"Mary has gone before us on the way of faith: believing the angel's message, she was the first to welcome the mystery of the Incarnation and did so perfectly....  Hers was a daring faith.  At the Annunciation she believed what was humanly impossible, and at Cana she urged Jesus to work his first miracle, pressuring him to manifest his messianic powers.  Mary teaches Christians to live their faith as a demanding and engaging journey, which, in every age and situation of life, requires courage and constant perseverance." ~St. Pope John Paul II

Hail Mary, full of grace, I beg of you to share with me your "daring faith" so that I might live no longer for myself but for your Beloved Son Jesus, whom you bore in your womb with love beyond all telling.  Amen.

Wonderful Dominican Nuns Written Up in the New York Times!

Bucking a Trend, Some Millennials Are Seeking a Nun’s Life: A contemplative order in New Jersey, where sisters live in cloister and practice a life of prayer, is attracting eager, college-educated women.  By Penelope Green, Sept. 5, 2015

SUMMIT, N.J. ~It’s been a rough year for the mechanicals at the Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary. The lawn mower died, along with the chaplain’s car, the compressor for the kitchen refrigerator and one of the “new” washers (that is, a machine bought sometime in the mid ’80s). (Article continues here)

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

“He has done all things well.”  ~Mark 7:37

Just as the divine law says that when God created the world “he saw all that he had made and it was very good,” so the Gospel, speaking of our redemption and re-creation, affirms: “He has done all things well. A good tree bears good fruit; no good tree can bear bad fruit.”

As fire can give out nothing but heat and is incapable of giving out cold; and as the sun gives out nothing but light and is incapable of giving out darkness, so God is incapable of doing anything but good, for he is infinite goodness and light. He is a sun giving out endless light, a fire producing endless warmth. “He has done all things well.”

And so today we must wholeheartedly unite with that holy throng in saying: “He has done all things well. He has made the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”

Like Balaam’s ass, this crowd certainly spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Clearly it was the Holy Spirit who said through its mouth: “He has done all things well;” in other words he is truly God, because making the deaf hear and the dumb speak are things that only God can do.

“He has done all things well.” The law says that all God did was good; the gospel says he has done all things well. Doing a good deed is not quite the same as doing it well. Many do good deeds but fail to do them well. The deeds of hypocrites, for example, are good, but they are done in the wrong spirit, with a perverse and defective intention.

Everything God does, however, is not only good but is also done well. “The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his deeds.” With wisdom you have done them all: that is to say, most wisely and well. So “he has done all things well,” they say.

Now if God has done all his good works and done them well for our sake, knowing that we take pleasure in goodness, why I ask do we not endeavor to make all our works good and to do them well, knowing that such works are pleasing to God?

If you ask what we should do in order to enjoy the divine blessings for ever, I will tell you in a word. Since the Church is called the bride of Christ and of God, we must do what a good wife does for her husband. Then God will treat us as a good husband treats a dearly loved wife. This is what the Lord says through Hosea: “I will betroth you to myself with justice and integrity, with tenderness and compassion; I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So even in this present life we shall be happy, this world will be an earthly paradise for us; with the Hebrews we shall feast on heavenly manna in the desert of this life, if only we follow Christ’s example by striving to do everything well, so that “he has done all things well” may be said of each one of us.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi, 1559-1619

Dear Lord, following Your example and trusting in Your grace, may we diligently strive to make all our works good and to do them well, knowing that such works are pleasing to You.  Amen.

A good prayer for every day by Pope Francis...

Change our hearts, O Lord...

This people honors me with their lips: but their heart is far from me.  ~Matthew 15:8

One can believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and feel no personal loyalty to Him at all -- indeed, pay no attention whatever to His commandments and His will for one's life.  One can believe intellectually in the efficacy of prayer and never do any praying.  ~Catherine Marshall (1914-1983), Beyond Our Selves

Dear Father, You who seek true worshipers to worship You in spirit and truth, I beg of You to convert my heart and make me a true adorer that my very life may be a living sacrifice of praise to Your glory.   Amen. Alleluia! (cf. John 4:23-24 & Romans 12:1)