Yesterday afternoon, I was thinking about the old Catholic line, "Offer it up!" at the same time that I was getting myself ready to take on another week of prompting and managing my household of 10 children through the week. I know I am going to have moments of pure craziness, and quenching those small fires with mantras, (a mystical formula of invocation or incantation) sincerely of course consisting of, God please help me or Mary, Mother of God, pray for me.
Monsignor Nestor's homily at Mass this past Sunday, reminded us all to love our closest neighbors, our spouses and children. The plan for this week is to ask God to give me the GRACES to love my closest neighbors, with every ounce of charity that I can muster. (St. Teresa of the Andes, Patron Saint of Problem Children, please pray for me.) Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I am also supposed to do this with JOY! Yes, joy.
As David Gregson puts it, "The key to joy in suffering is love. The more we love Our Lord, the more we'll rejoice in whatever brings us closer to Him. Suffering can do that. Christ came to suffer, to atone for the sins of the world, and when we suffer, we become like Him, if we offer our sufferings with His, for the benefit of others. The more like Him we become, the closer we come to Him, and if we love Him, that is what we want most of all."
2 Thess. 1:11-12 "To this end, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ."
1 comment:
Good reminders as we head into the Lenten season!
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