Franciscan Quote of the Day

Let nothing trouble you

a secular franciscan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:55:30 +0000

Let nothing trouble you. Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes. God never changes. Patience obtains all. Whoever has God wants for nothing. God alone is enough.

~St. Teresa of Jesus via OH……….. FRANCESCO

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Accept whatever happens…

a secular franciscan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:23:17 +0000

Accept whatever happens to you as good, knowing that apart from God nothing comes to pass.

~The Didache

Tags: Accept, didache, god, Good

A more honorable lineage…

a secular franciscan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:50:58 +0000

“Do you mark all this well, King Caspian?”

“I do indeed, Sir,” said Caspian. “I was wishing that I came of a more honorable lineage.”

“You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,” said Aslan. “And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”

~C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia

Tags: beggar, c s lewis, earth, emperor, lady eve, Poor, prince

It’s really very simple…

a secular franciscan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:39:31 +0000

It’s really very simple. Am I building up the kingdom of heaven or am I building up my own kingdom? Am I putting God’s name first and proclaiming His name, or am I proclaiming my name? Am I doing everything for God’s glory, or for my glory? We have to focus on this every day. If I am going to live God’s will, it has to be because I first seek the kingdom. Then He promises everything else will fall into place.

~Fr. Larry Richards, Surrender! The Life-Changing Power of Doing God’s Will

Tags: kingdom of heaven, larry richards, Power, proclaiming, surrender

What a waste of a day!

a secular franciscan — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:42:27 +0000

What this means is if we are going to do the will of God, every day is going to be a day of self-sacrifice. Again, to make this real and practical I tell people that they should examine their consciences every night before they go to bed and ask, “Did I do at least one act of unselfishness today? Did I give my life away at least once today?” If the answer is no, then they squandered the whole day on themselves, only did what they wanted, only took care of themselves. What a waste of a day!

~Fr. Larry Richards, Surrender! The Life-Changing Power of Doing God’s Will

Tags: god, larry richards, self, self sacrifice, surrender, waste

All these are things we can do

a secular franciscan — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:51:03 +0000

To hold our tongues when everyone is gossiping, to smile without hostility at people and institutions, to compensate for the shortage of love in the world with more love in small, private matters; to be more faithful in our work, to show greater patience, to forgo the cheap revenge obtainable from mockery and criticism: all these are things we can do.

~Hermann Hesse (via The Hammock Papers)

Tags: Faith, faithful, hermann hesse, love, patience, work, world

What creates despair…

a secular franciscan — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:53:55 +0000

It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment. What creates despair is the imagination, which pretends there is a future, and insists on predicting millions of moments, thousands of days, and so drains you that you cannot live the moment at hand.

~Andre Dubus, “A Father’s Story,” Selected Stories (via Country Contemplative)

Tags: andre dubus, despair, father, future, imagination, moment

God’s will is the sanctification of souls

a secular franciscan — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:31:30 +0000

Therefore, God’s will is the sanctification of souls. Always and everywhere, this is the work that exclusively occupies Him. It is the purpose underlying all the occurrences, great and small, which agitate in different ways nations, families, and the lives of individuals. It explains why God wills that I should be sick today, contradicted, humbled, forgotten; why He has prepared this happy event for me, faced me with this difficulty, caused me to hurt my foot against this stone, exposed me to this temptation. It is His love for me, His desire of my happiness that regulates all His actions.

~Dom Vitalis Lehodey, O.C.R., Holy Abandonment

Tags: abandonment, desire, god wills, happiness, love, sanctification, soul, temptation, vitalis

What stands between us and the kingdom…

a secular franciscan — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:09:55 +0000

What stands between us and the kingdom is our arrogance; the arrogance of our intellect. Our intellect has been give by God. It is my wrong use of it that is so terrible.

~Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty

Tags: arrogance, catherine de hueck doherty, god, intellect, kingdom, servant

Ah, a rich man . . .

a secular franciscan — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 23:44:38 +0000

In the little parlour of the Convent, Hercule Poirot told his story and restored the chalice to the Mother Superior.

She murmured: “Tell him we thank him and we will pray for him.”

Hercule Poirot said gently: “He needs your prayers.”

“Is he then an unhappy man?”

Poirot said: “So unhappy that he has forgotten what happiness means. So unhappy that he does not know he is unhappy.”

The nun said softly: “Ah, a rich man . . . ”

Hercule Poirot said nothing—for he knew there was nothing to say.

Agatha Christie, “The Apples of the Hesperides” via First Thoughts

Tags: agatha christie, chalice, Christ, convent, first thoughts, happiness, happy man, hercule poirot, hesperides, Prayer, rich man