Thursday, February 26, 2009

"Let him take up his cross daily and follow me"

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), Foundress of the Missionary Sisters of Charity A Gift for God: prayers and meditations

"Let him take up his cross daily and follow me"Lord,


help us to see in your crucifixion and resurrection an example of how to endure and seemingly to die in the agony and conflict of daily life, so that we may live more fully and creatively. You accepted patiently and humbly the rebuffs of human life, as well as the tortures of your crucifixion and passion. Help us to accept the pains and conflicts that come to us each day as opportunities to grow as people and become more like you. Enable us to go through them patiently and bravely, trusting that you will support us. Make us realize that it is only by frequent deaths of ourselves and our self-centred desires that we can come to live more fully; for it is only by dying with you that we can rise with you.

5 comments:

Margaret Christine said...

I think you are the answer to my prayers. I love God with everything I have, but my human nature ALWAYS gets the best of me. (well it seems like a lot of the times.) Today I prayed for help.
You remind me so of St Therese, God's Little Flower. I know already that thru this I am going to grow much closer to Him and His Mother, Mary.

Margaret Christine said...

PS I found you thru the interest link SPREADING HIS LOVE

Margaret Christine said...

oh my word I LOVE Matt Maher but I thought I was the only one aware of him!!!! We have a CD that we got from one of my mom's friends and all 12 songs are practically memorized by everyone in the family. (sorry I just say "be still" and knew it was by him and got really excited. This is my last comment I promise! :) )

Margaret Christine said...

>> 1. Pray the Rosary every day.
>> 2. Receive Communion at Mass every day.
>> 3. Go to Confession every Friday.
>> 4. Pray the Family Rosary every day or once a week.
>> 5. Pray in silence 20 minutes a day.
>> 6. Make a Eucharistic visit every day.
>> 7. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet (at 3:00 PM) every day.
>> 8. Fast on bread and water one to three times per week.
>> 9. Read a spiritual book.
>> 10. Give a painfully large donation to charity.
>> 11. Give a donation to charity instead of buying something for you.
>> 12. Pray "Jesus, I love you!" in the first waking seconds of the day.
>> 13. Listen to Catholic CDs.
>> 14. Do something major to improve your marriage.
>> 15. Volunteer anywhere: at your kid's school, homeless shelter
>> 16. Visit a home for the elderly
>> 16. Give up something you absolutely love, crave, or spend time on, or that
>> annoys the people you love, including:
>>
>> -television or your favorite television show
>> -television before a certain hour
>> -television AFTER a certain hour
>> -coffee
>> -diet soda
>> -donuts
>> -hamburgers
>> -chocolate, and anything with chocolate flavor
>> -all snacks or desserts
>> -movies, Netflix, movie rentals
>> -the Internet
>> -following your favorite sports team
>> -video games
>> -celebrity magazines
>> -golf (an objectively grave moral evil) (only kidding)
>> -booze
>> -watching golf on TV
>> -a destructive, irresistable "friendship"
>> -foul language
>> -picking your nose
>> -sports radio
>> -satellite radio
>> -music radio
>> -talk radio
>> -restaurants
>> -driving when you could walk
>> -sleeping in late on the weekends
>> -sleeping an "extra" ten minutes in the morning
>> -fast food drivethroughs
>> -not cooking breakfast for your kids
>> -shopping for clothes or food
>> -text messaging
>> -not stopping by your neighbors to say hello for weeks
>> -failing to visit or call your "not close by" relatives
>> -soap operas
>> -the beach (for those of you lucky enough to have one nearby)
>> -fishing, hunting, four-wheeling, skateboarding
>> -some of your "alone" time doing any hobby
>> -your absolute favorite, passionate hobby (aha, you just fainted!)
>> -nagging your husband (you know who you are)
>> -nagging your wife (she knows who you are)
>> -interrupting others
>> -not smiling when you arrive at the office
>> -knitting, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, sudoku
>> -knitting? (you addicts understand)
>> -cigarettes, cigars, gum, and "phony candy" breathmints
>> -cellphone calls in your car on the drive home
>> -bluetooth headset (harder than you think)
>> -fantasy football, basketball, or baseball
>> -eat your vegetables (even you adults)
>> -betting on March Madness
>> -gossiping at work--say something nice instead
>> -stealing "little stuff" from your employer, including time online
>> -relations with your spouse (on certain days or weeks)
>> -thinking about yourself when you wake up or go to sleep (pray instead)
>> -thinking about yourself when you drive (pray instead)
>> -buying anything you don't need


I'm sorry I broke my promise right off the bat, but I just remembered this list I got from my mom and knew you would appriciate it.

Prayerflowers said...

Sweet Margaret,
I just found this comments today. I may have to turn the moderate comments off because I somehow thought I would be notified if I had a comment waiting. Please forgive me, you comments were so kind and they truly blessed me.
Love & Prayers
Prayerflowers