Month: June 2017

“Above all hold unfailing your love for one another,
since love covers a multitude of sins.”
-1 Peter 4:8

Meditation
The secret of Mother Teresa’s life is that she wasn’t a giant. She was
just ordinary.

Father Peter and Mother Teresa were washing dishes together when he asked her, “Mother, would you like to just stay here and wash dishes?” She replied, “Oh, I would love to, but the Holy Father asked me to go spread His love around the world.”

Fr. Peter explains that in that moment, he realized that you couldn’t say that there was anything extraordinary about Mother Teresa. She just did ordinary things with an extraordinary amount of love.

Practical tip for this week: Go home and love your family with an extraordinary amount of love.

Fragrance Prayer by Mother Teresa
Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance wherever I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly,
that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul
I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine,
so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be mine.
It will be you, shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You the way You love best, by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by my example, by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.
Amen

 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.”
-Psalm 51:10

Meditation
God sent His son to the world not to condemn the world, but so that through Him the world might be saved. God loves us so much that His son became flesh, came to Earth, and gave His life for us— all the way to the point that his heart became wounded. Out of the wounding of that heart came blood and water, and all the grace we need to one day be united with God
in Heaven.

This week, Steve shares about the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the First Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart. Watch this video for information on a truly life-transforming devotional practice.

Live it! Tip of the Week: If you want your life to be transformed, begin the First Friday Devotion. If you have already finished a novena of First Fridays for yourself, consider offering a novena for someone that you love.

Prayer
O my Most Loving and Gentle Jesus, I desire with all the affections of my heart, that all beings should praise Thee, honor Thee and glorify Thee eternally for that sacred wound wherewith Thy divine side was rent. I deposit, enclose, conceal in that wound and in that opening in Thy Heart, my heart and all my feelings, thoughts, desires, intentions and all the faculties of my soul. I entreat Thee, by the precious Blood and Water that flowed from Thy Most Loving Heart, to take entire possession of me, that Thou may guide me in all things. Consume me in the burning fire of thy holy Love, so that I may be so absorbed and transformed into Thee that I may no longer be but one with Thee.
Amen.  — Lanspergius, the Carthusian

“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
-Mark 10:17

Meditation
“Mother, what would it take to be holy?”

Fr. Peter asked Mother Teresa, but wasn’t so sure he wanted to hear the answer. He says that upon asking this question, the story of the Rich Man from Mark’s Gospel came to life (Mark 10:17-22).

Mother Teresa looked at him and said,”Do you want to be holy?” and he knew that whatever she would say at that particular point would be
the truth.

She said,”Take whatever Jesus gives, and give whatever He takes with a big smile…. and love Jesus through Mary.”

Prayer
Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance wherever I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly,
that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in
contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine,
so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be mine.
It will be you, shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You the way You love best, by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by my example,
by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You. Amen.

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.”
-Matthew 18:5

Meditation
Live in the present moment.

Father Peter explains that Mother Teresa had a special way about her. Whenever you were in her presence, the worlds around you fell apart.

The reason this happened is because every single person that Mother Teresa encountered was Jesus to her, and she would give Jesus her full attention.
Fr. Peter says that when standing in her presence, he knew that she was convinced that Jesus Christ was in her presence. He knew it because he always knew that he had her full attention.

Live It! Practical tip for this week: Bring that spirit into your home. Be present with your spouse, and be present with your children because they are the face of Jesus Christ in your home.

Prayer
Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance wherever I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly,
that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in
contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine,
so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be mine.
It will be you, shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You the way You love best, by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by my example,
by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You. Amen.