AS GOD'S EYES ARE FIXED ON THE SPARROW, GOD IS LOVINGLY WATCHING OVER YOU.

EVEN THE HAIRS ON YOUR HEAD ARE COUNTED.

SO DO NOT BE AFRAID, YOU ARE WORTH MUCH MORE THAN THE SPARROWS!

LUKE 12:7


MAY WE ALWAYS RECOGNIZE 
and TRUST in
GOD'S GREAT LOVE 
FOR US!

"Some people look for a beautiful place. Others simply make a place beautiful."

FINDING GOD'S PRESENCE IN THE "HERE AND NOW"

May God's Indwelling  Presence

allow us to recognize, to trust  and to celebrate 

God's abundant grace and blessings

dynamically working in our midsts!

Most often,

it's worth noticing that

if we change the way we look at things,
or if we look a little father from our myopic visions,

we can see  that there are always 
Something Special

in the ordinariness of our life events!

May our lives be always full of God's blessings and surprises!

PRAYER TO THE GOD OF THE SEEKING

SHRINE OF THE SACRED HEART AT FARHNWALD JESUIT RETREAT CENTER
OSHKOSH, WI

Teach me to seek you,

and when I see you , show yourself to me;

for I cannot seek you unless you teach me,

or find you unless you show yourself to me.

Let me seek you by desiring you.

Let me find you by loving you

and love you when I find you.

I do not seek to understand so that I can believe

but believe so that I may understand

For this too, I believe:

Unless I believe, I shall not understand.

St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

 As the Christmas Season approaches,

let us remember those whose lives have been interrupted by sudden, unwanted and uninvited losses.
May our celebration of God's coming into our midst 

bring us deeper consolation and hope.

PRAYER IN TIMES OF TROUBLES

God is our REFUGE and our STRENGTH,

Who from of OLD has HELPED us in our DISTRESS.

Therefore we FEAR NOTHING -

Even if the EARTH should OPEN UP in front of us

and MOUNTAINS PLUNGE into the DEPTHS OF THE SEA;

even if the EARTH'S WATERS RAGE and FOAM

and the MOUNTAINS TUMBLE with its HEAVING...

(Ps 46:1-3)

GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, A LOVING PRESENCE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE

The Beloved is our refuge and strength,

a Loving Presence in times of trouble.

Therefore we shall not fear though

the earth should change,

though the mountains shake 

in the heart of the sea;

Though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

Psalm 46 (Psalm for the Praying, Invitation to Wholeness)

Nan Merril

May Faith, Hope and Courage
be our Guiding Light
today and always!
May God be praised!

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

THE  PROFOUNDEST LOVE

"LOVE is not a feeling;

it is AN ACT OF THE WILL, A COMMITMENT  
THAT SUSTAINS THE RELATIONSHIP

even when the Beloved 

is no longer even likable."

Instances abound like

"the LOVE OF THE MOTHER of the death-row convict,

the LOVE OF PARENTS when their children say,

"I've found someone I love more than I love you -

at least in a different way,"

the LOVE OF THE ALCOHOLIC FAMILY,

the PRODIGAL LOVE OF THE FATHER

for his runaway son,

GOD'S LOVE FOR US

when we say,"I don't need you,"

and

OUR LOVE OF GOD

when God chooses to be silent."

-William O'Malley, "Redemptive Suffering"-



May our lives continue to be enriched and to be transformed
by the profound love that others have lived and shared
and may their examples ever propel us 
in our efforts to "know God more deeply,
love God more dearly, 
and follow God more closely"
in our lives!

PRAYER - SURPRISE AND COMMUNION WITH GOD

PRAYING does not always take place 
in a contained or predetermined place of reflection.

 We NEVER know when 
there might be an interior turning 
toward the one who dwells 
within us and among us.... 
       

...at any time and any place 

we can be 
SURPRISED and DRAWN INTO COMMUNION

   by the unanticipated sense of God's nearness.

- Joyce Rupp, Prayer -



May we always be open to be surprised
and to be transformed in our lives
as "we know God deeper, love God dearer and follow God closer!"

GOD'S SEEMING ABSENCE AS GOD'S PROFOUND PRESENCE

"Dark Night of the Soul" is a profound feeling of God's seeming silence
and distance to everything that craves for deeper union with God

I have experienced the "Absence of God" so  profoundly

and that this "negation" has gradually became 
God's New Presence in my Life! 
May God be Praised!

EVER PRESENT GOD, 
THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME 
THAT YOU ARE THE GOD OF DARKNESS AS WELL.
EVEN IN MY DARKEST MOMENTS, YOU ARE THERE,
SEIZING ME AND LOVING ME.
I PRAY THAT I MAY ALWAYS FIND YOU
IN THOSE MOMENTS 
WHEN I AM UNMOVED TOTHE BEAUTY OF CREATION, WHEN I AM FROZEN TO THE LOVE OF COMMUNITY, WHEN I AM OBLIVIOUS OF YOUR ABIDING PRESENCE. AMEN.

You made the night your cloak,
you covered yourself in a canopy of storm clouds.
Psalm 18:11

GOD'S GRACE DURING OUR DEEPEST NEEDS

GOD'S GRACE IN TIME OF OUR DEEPEST NEED

"There are so many ways that we feel God's tender touch in our lives,

but it is in time of loss that we discover the deepest meaning

of His tenderness" - Roy Lessin

In whatever difficult circumstances we may have found ourselves on our life's journey, it is my prayer that we may always find our own meaningful consolations and that we may come out in deeper hope and trust in God!

LITANY FOR SEEKING AND FINDING

by Sister Joyce Rupp

RESPONSE: WE SEEK YOU, GOD

• Deep within our being where truth and peace yearn over chaos and confusion...
• In the midst of our daily activities and the many things-to-do that haunt our calendars...
• Among the people who come into our lives - our loved ones, our friends, our colleagues and companions, even our enemies...
• As we move into the heart of prayer and hear the call to be more in union with you...
• When we feel empty, distraught, frustrated, and lost; when we wonder what direction we are to go...

RESPONSE:  THANK YOU FOR FINDING US

• When we have sensed your nearness and felt your beauty fill our consciousness...
• When the power of goodness moved through our beings and made a difference in someone else's life...
• When we have been drawn to conversion, when we knew we had to change our hearts, to give ourselves over to you...
• When we have looked at our world, so full of pain and injustice, and felt a bonding with all who know pain and sorrow...
• When we have known the truth of being created in your image and likeness, and have believed in our own goodness...

RESPONSE: YOU ARE OUR TREASURE

• You are worth the constant search in the fields of life for a glimpse of your truth and a touch of your love...
• You are our strength in times of sorrow, hope in times of unhappiness, comfort in times of confusion, safe harbor in the storms of life...
• You are worth whatever we need to leave behind or let go of in order to grow to wholeness...
• You are our home where our true self resides. You urge us to believe in this sacred place of goodness...
• You seek us, you yearn for us, believe in us, love us unconditionally. You wait for us and welcome us home when we have been away...

CLOSING PRAYER

God of all Seekers, bless our yearnings for home.

Keep us on the path that leads to you.

Fill us with courage to do what is best

for the healing our our hearts and the heart of the world.

Accept our gratitude for the many times

when you have sought us and have invited us 

to recognize you in the home of our true self.

Amen.

"CALLED TO LOVE"

A MEDITATION/REFLECTION BY JOYCE RUPP

For one being to love another,

that is perhaps the most difficult of all tasks,

the ultimate, the last test and proof.

The work for which all other work is but preparation.

-Rainer Maria Rilke - 

Jesus, you are "filled with love" for me 

just as you were for the rich young person who came to you. 

I, too, have riches, a wealth of love within me, 

that is meant to be shared. 

I yearn to have a deep desire for goodness 

so that I can leave some of the things I'm greedy for 

and focus my heart on the deeper values of your love.

  I yearn to love as you have loved. (Mk 10:17-22).

Jesus, there are places within my heart 

that are still unfree and fearful. 

You made yourself available to the Samaritan woman 

and you pursued her with your strong belief in her inner treasures.  

I, too, am meant to be a person of love 

who announces hope to others (Jn 4: 1-42)

Jesus, you told a powerful story of a person 

who stopped on a risky road to care for someone's wounds. 

Help me to stop at the unpleasant places in my life, 

to be present to those who need a touch of love,

 especially on those days 

when my life is moving hurriedly and intensely.  

Grant me the courage to be less fearful of reaching out 

and walking with others 

who need a gesture of kindness and care. (Lk. 10:29-37)

Jesus, you welcomed a penitent woman 

who came to bathe your feet with her tears. 

Your recognized the beauty of her love and the depth of her sorrow. 

There are tears within me which need to be shed 

for the pain I've cause and the hurt I've generated.

 You are a loving welcome for me 

as I come with repentance. 

Thank you for all the times 

you've welcomed me home. (Lk 7:36-50)

Jesus, you loved your own, loved them to the end."

 You bent low before them, smelled their dirty feet,

 and washed them tenderly. 

You then asked them to share that same great love with others. 

I, your, servant, am called to share my gifts 

and talents with those who are part of my life. 

I am not meant to be a doormat for them 

but I am called to be generous and humble 

with the deeds that I do.  

May it be so. (Jn13:1-15)

Jesus, you called your disciples friends. 

You recognized the great blessing 

they were for you on  your journey. 

Thank you for the gift of my significant persons, 

for the privilege of walking through life with them.

 Remind me often of the strength and courage

 these loved ones give to me.  

May the joy I experience through them 

radiate love in my life to all who know me. (Jn 15: 1-7)