It is Jesus…

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”
― Pope John Paul II

source

Food for thought…

“Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them – every day begin the task anew.”

- St. Francis de Sales

Wretched

“The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain”                         St. Padre Pio

I’m a sinner.

A sinner unworthy of Christs’ love and even more unworthy of His calling.

God has opened my eyes to several of my weaknesses over the past few days…and I feel so sickened that my behavior isn’t always Christ-like.

Last night during  youth group, I was teaching on listening to God’s voice. Listening to hear Him calling you…to hear Him leading the way for you…to hear which direction He wants you to go in life. I was on fire…both literally, and figuratively. The words coming out of my mouth were plentiful, and the kids were a captive audience for 45 minutes (and would’ve been for longer had we had more time). It was such an awesome experience. To stand there and discuss discernment, even in my own life…and how I’ve heard God speak to me.

As I drove home, I realized just how much of a sinner I am.  Reflecting back on my journey and how I’ve heard His voice…I realized just how wretched I am.

The band Casting Crowns says it better than I ever can:

“Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt. Who am I, that the voice that calms the sea would call out through the rain, and calm the storm in me. Not because of who I am, but because of what You’ve done. Not because of what I’ve done, but because of who You are…”

I am not worthy. I am a wretched sinner. Yet He loves me anyway. Yet He continues to use me and call me by name. It is because of His mercy and grace that I am able to even speak His name…to have faith in Him…to know Him. The gift of faith is one of the most precious gifts one could ever receive. What a blessing it is to have been given it.

“I am the wretch that the song refers to…”

Pain and suffering

“The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain” (saying of Padre Pio).

Today, Catholics around the world celebrate the feast day of St. Padre Pio and remember him for who he was and all that he brought to us.

Padre Pio had the gift of stigmata – the piercings of the nails in his hands and feet, and the lashes at his side…just like Jesus. He knew what it was like to feel pain and suffering. He didn’t let it deter him though, from doing his work and the work that God had sent him to do.

“The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain” (saying of Padre Pio).

I think that is one of my new favorite quotes. As Christians we are always fighting with ourselves…with the outside world…with the demons that surround us. In the end though, it makes and shapes us into the beautiful person that we are meant to be. It is through the struggles and difficult moments, that we are able to blossom out of them…to grow, not only on our own, but most importantly, closer to God.

Thoughts on Christian Sanctity

“To be like Christ. To displace self from the inner throne, and to enthrone Him; to make not the slightest compromise with the smallest sin. We am at nothing less than to walk with God all day long, to abide every hour in Christ and He and His words in us, to love God with all the heart and our neighbor as ourselves…It is possible to cast every care on Him daily, and to be at peace amidst pressure, to see the will of God in everything, to put away all bitterness and clamor and evil speaking, daily and hourly. It is possible by unreserved resort to divine power under divine conditions to become strongest through and through at our weakest point.”

-Bishop Handley Moule, Thoughts on Christian Sanctity