Self-conquest

Ah! What a beautiful word and what a beautiful thing! To become little by little our own masters, no longer to be tugged by a bundle of feelings which drags us along and leaves us disordered as by a panic. No, to know where we are going; to recognize the fact that it is not fun, but not to stop because of that; to accustom our reason to making decisions and our will to accomplishing the decisions of our reason; and to accustom our will to move only in the wake of the will of God; that is what is worthy of our status as children of our Heavenly Father, as disciples of the Resurrected One, of Him who has conquered death, who is triumphant and who was not found in the tomb, who will never be found there, because He is life. ~from Joy Out Of Sorrow, by Mother Marie des Douleurs

The beauty of self-conquest is well worth the arduous climb up and over the mountain of my ego. It's an ongoing adventure with unexpected twists and turns, various pitfalls, and inevitable delays. Only when I reach the top can I see on the other side the green pastures and still waters for which I ardently long -- and the descent to reach them is no easy slide, either. Yet this is a happy journey I gladly continue anew each day as I strive to grow in self-conquest so that Christ may be magnified in me. "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil 1:19). When I remember St. Catherine of Siena's declaration that "All the way to Heaven is Heaven, for He said, 'I am the Way,'" my heart exults and my steps quicken. "The lot marked out for me is my delight" (Ps 16:6). It is enough that I know where I am going, and for whom and with whom I travel. My Lord has prepared for me a lovely dwelling place, where I shall live with Him forever. Goodness and mercy follow me even now as I go from strength to strength. Yes, today and always, "my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God!" (Ps 84:2) Amen! Alleluia!

What to Expect from the Holy Ghost

Peeking Poppy Petal by Ann L. Krumrein
...how very lovely it would be if souls would open up like flowers and yield themselves to the Divine Sun; if they would exercise all the gifts they have received, exultantly and royally; if they would open up, expanding into a final burst of praise before the Lord. Those poor [flowers], they gave all their petals, gave them in splendid profusion -- but now, it's all over. What if we were to transform everything into praise, giving all our days without counting, without wondering about what is going to happen and what we will do in every set of unreal circumstance? If only we had that sense of the gift which makes it possible to live without all the endless computations motivated by vanity (which don't prevent anything anyway)! Don't you think that it is better to die because there is no longer anything in us which can be utilized for the Lord than to die like a dried bud that didn't want to open up?

This is what we should expect from the Holy Ghost: that He should breathe into us an ardor of generosity without the possibility of stopping, and that we should finally be rid of this spirit of our own which is petty, rapacious, and case-hardened. Let us consent to be like a bundle of grain which is placed under the altar and which will remain there as a witness to the magnificence of the Lord until nothing is left of it. Obviously these flowers would have lasted a little longer if they had been placed in water, but let's not feel sorry for them; let us, too, be able to give to the Lord without holding back a little of our gift, without asking that the flowers destined for the altar be disposed of in this or that manner.

Thus we will know joy, the ravishing fragrance with which the Holy Ghost perfumes those who let themselves be drawn by Him into truly living as "offerings to the Lord."

~Mother Marie des Douleurs in Joy Out of Sorrow

Come, Spirit of Jesus, come! Break open the bud of my heart and transform me into a living sacrifice of praise. Amen! Alleluia!

Ascension Living

By His Ascension, our Lord Jesus Christ has already opened heaven to us; hence we can no longer live restless, undecided, disturbed, wandering in the midst of ruins of all sorts that circumstances pile up around us. We can and should remain concentrated on that place where our true blessings are. It is our duty to build our certainties on the base of our faith and thus accustom ourselves to living serenely.

...We will not be able to reform everything; we will not succeed in fighting against all the things that irk us (because often what bothers us is illogical and contradictory); we will only wear ourselves out by wearing other people out. But let's try to tell ourselves, "All of that is trivial, since it must pass." And let us consider all of this from a slightly higher viewpoint. Then the mountains will be lowered, impossible situations will become simple difficulties. Isn't the landscape seen by someone who is walking quite different from that seen by the person who is flying over it? Let's not think that, if we rise above things this way, we are artificially escaping from the closed fields here below; no, faith really teaches us that we are already reigning in heaven with Christ who has entered there as Man-God for us. The only point of view from which we can judge things is God's.

~Mother Marie des Douleurs in Joy out of Sorrow

Dear Lord, Your Ascension brings me such hope and peace. Thank you for such a grand and glorious life, both here and now and forever after. Amen. Alleluia!