Todays Pause+Pray encourages openness and listening! ❣️
Dear John, When was the last time you got quiet and just listened? It's not an easy thing to do in our chaotic world. We are so distracted that taking time to listen can seem almost impossible. But, as pointed out in today's Pause+Pray, taking time to listen is important. This newsletter offers us the opportunity to bring you those bits of information that can help you start your day off right. And we are always looking for ways to get better at it. If you enjoy this newsletter, would you help us customize our resources to suit your needs better by donating to Rebuilding God's Church? All of us at Franciscan Media consider it a blessing and honor to create these resources that hopefully accompany you and your loved ones on your spiritual journeys. Blessings! Susan Hines-Brigger Executive Editor |
Saint of the Day for February 13:
Giles Mary of Saint Joseph (November 16, 1729 – February 7, 1812) Listen to Saint Giles Mary of Saint Joseph’s Story Here In the same year that a power-hungry Napoleon Bonaparte led his army into Russia, Giles Mary of Saint Joseph ended a life of humble service to his Franciscan community and to the citizens of Naples. Francesco was born in Taranto to very poor parents. His father’s death left the 18-year-old Francesco to care for the family. Having secured their future, he entered the Friars Minor at Galatone in 1754. For 53 years, he served at St. Paschal’s Hospice in Naples in various roles, such as cook, porter, or most often as official beggar for that community. “Love God, love God” was his characteristic phrase as he gathered food for the friars and shared some of his bounty with the poor—all the while consoling the troubled and urging everyone to repent. The charity which he reflected on the streets of Naples was born in prayer and nurtured in the common life of the friars. The people whom Giles Mary met on his begging rounds nicknamed him the “Consoler of Naples.” He was canonized in 1996. Reflection People often become arrogant and power hungry when they forget their own sinfulness and ignore the gifts God has given to other people. Giles Mary had a healthy sense of his own sinfulness—not paralyzing but not superficial either. He invited men and women to recognize their own gifts and to live out their dignity as people made in God’s divine image. Knowing someone like Giles Mary can help us on our own spiritual journey.
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Join us this Lent season with St. Padre Pio, whose daily example as a devoted follower of Christ helps guide readers through a reflective and prayer-filled Lenten season. |
Seek Perfect Joy The spirituality of St. Francis is not so much about the heroic deed as it is about the heroic love with which even the smallest deed is done. That is very clear from the quintessential story of Perfect Joy. It is not what Francis and Leo endure from the abusive brother that counts. It is, as Francis says to Leo, when we bear such abuse and suffering, “remembering the sufferings of Christ, the Blessed One, and how He taught us to bear all things for love of Him, then write down, Brother Leo, ‘This is perfect joy.’” Francis loved Christ and wanted to die into his love who is the incarnation of how far God will go in his love for us. He wants to be one with the Beloved, even in his rejection and suffering and unjust death at the hands of those for whom he came to reveal the goodness and love of God. —from the book Surrounded by Love: Seven Teachings from Saint Francis
Murray Bodo, OFM |
Listening as Sacrifice Reflect When someone takes the time to listen to us, to hear our concerns, our stories, our dreams, we feel valued. We feel wanted, that we matter and belong. That feeling is something we all hunger for. Whether it is a small child wanting to show us something, or a friend wanting to tell us about her morning, or a stranger coming to ask for help, when we stop what we are doing and listen to them, we are giving them a piece of our day, a bit of our time, a part of our very life. And if we are sincere and really pay attention, we let them know they are worth it. Pray Lord,
I thank you with all my heart
For you have listened to my cry,
you listen to my laughter and you listen to my tears
you even listen when I am singing in the shower.
And you never grow tired of my voice.
In your eyes, I know I am loved,
and in your love I know that I matter.
Let me be a sign of that love
for others.
Amen. Act Sacrifice part of your life today; take a moment to give yourself fully to another. Offer them—even if just for a minute or two—your undivided attention. If you are working on something, stop what you are doing and look up to see them not as a distraction, not as a problem to be dealt with, but as the face of God coming before you. Let yourself be blessed by the gift of their presence and by the blessing of serving another. Today's Pause+Pray was written by Herman Sutter. Learn more here! |
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