October in Review

1. Lead a life of humility — daily litany of humility, no complaints, no excuses, no gossip, no boasting.

2. Wounds — until you bring your wounds to the Lord, they stay your wounds. Once brought to Him, His wounds. Bring your wounds to Him at the end of every day. Allow Him to get involved.

3. Prayer from St. Therese  — God does not ask us to pray well, but to be faithful to prayer. Therese rarely had anything special happen during prayer, but she remained extremely faithful to her prayer time. God instructs us in secret, he places treasures secretly in our hearts w/o us being aware of it. We don’t need great lights in prayer, we need them in making decisions & acting. Perseverance through prayer leads to purer love for God, freer, more genuine, not selfish search for ourselves. Don’t ask yourself why you are going through this, but what attitude is God calling me to have toward this? –> From why to how. Ex – St Therese dark night of her soul –> realized she should pray for atheists.

4. Little things matter a lot!!

a) Make acts of courage — even for very small things in life. She would fight with her whole will to deny herself and follow the Lord. Ex: St. Therese didn’t cry when she heard it would be her last Christmas being spoilt with presents. Ex: She would cling to the handrail to prevent herself from sharing joys to the Superior.

b) Give up small things – you must be willing to give up everything for love of God. Impossible to progress in sanctity with attachments. Deny yourself something small every day (might not be that “small” after all).

c) Love — surest way of loving God is to love the people around us, accepting them as they are, loving those closest to us most difficult, but that’s how God will judge us. Look to give a spiritual banquet of friendly joyful charity.

   *Little secret = when we feel far from God and weak, practice little works of love – forget yourself and make life good for others!

   *Little secret = for penance, be joyful and happy to everyone, and thank God for everything!!