Carol -- Week 5

Two thirds of this week's reading seemed like the same thing that she has said in the prior pages.  She appears to me to be very down on herself.  She seems to feel that she isn't doing enough for others or for the conversion of her husband.  Her health seems to be pulling her spirit down also.  By the end of this week's reading, she seemed to have picked herself up.  She is a beautifully spiritual woman in my eyes.

On page 100 she states that it is a source of pain and difficult sacrifice to have to divide one's life so much and this sometimes leads to a feeling in others that not enough is being done for them.  I understand this feeling within my own family.  The more I and my husband give to our children, the more they expect.  And then they blame us when their lives are all messed up.  She was a stronger woman than I will ever be.

RE:  questions-- Do I speak too much about myself? I suppose I do; but this book talks right to me for a lot of things.  Silence is something I may never accomplish.  I try and try............

Corrine....Week 7

Week 7 End of Spiritual Testament PP 133-145

I find it amazing…..saintly…..how she continues to make resolutions while in her severe suffering.

Pg. 133  “How well Thou knowest, O Lord, how to try souls, and what a tool for purification in Thy hands is suffering!”   I am far from being that saintly.  I need to realize I need to accept whatever suffering, even when minor, in reparation for my sins and for saving of souls…and the Church.

Elisabeth said….in spite of her sufferings “I can say a joyful fiat, if by so many crucifying pains I obtain from Thee the fulfillment of my desires and all the graces I have hoped for, and if my sufferings serve souls”.  She lives to save souls….and isn’t that what we are here for!

And with her suffering she wants to be cheerful and smiling so everyone doesn’t suspect her intense suffering.  How non-glory seeking she is!

And in her suffering she wants “to forget myself more so that I may think of others; to think and speak of myself as little as possible…”  She did not want to draw attention to herself.

Pg. 136  Her constant petitions……….”grant health and real sanctification to those I love”, “save and convert many souls”, “blessings on Thy beloved Church”.  What selfless love she had.

Elisabeth’s July 16, 1913 entry was something to ponder word by word!  Then in her last entry, January 9, 1914 is another to ponder…. “And so long as no least part of my pain is lost! Stronger than my poor action, stronger than my imperfect prayer, may it reach Thy Heart and become the most efficacious form of supplication.”   And then she says….”and teach me to love and serve Thee better”.

I pray I can learn to face suffering like Elisabeth did, even in a smidgen start.

Ruth: Week 6 Reflections

Ruth:  Week 6

It seems like forever since I read this but let me highlight some of the things that stood out to me, that I underlined and wanted to futher reflect on....

p. 115 Elizabeth says how she recognizes the slow, silent action of Providence in her and for her; the wonderful work of inner conversion, begun, guided, and completed by God alone,  This spoke to me as I seem to want to run the process of conversion and reconstruction of myself on my timetable.  Come on God, make me into the person you want me to be, right now.  Yet, how to I cooperate with the work he is doing, or trying to do.   Am I faithful to my daily scripture reading as Elizabeth was faithful?  Do I fast and offer mortifications as I am often inspired to do?  The Lord is guiding me but I am sure he beats his head against the wall and thinks, "Would Ruth just listen to me!"  .... yet I continue to beg prayerfully, "Lord make me into the woman you want me to be. I only want to do YOUR will"

p. 117 Here Elizabeth asks, "What will this winter bring to me: sickness or health, joy or suffering?  I do not know; but I know that I shall welcome all, because all will come from God for my good and the good of those souls for whom I have surrendered myself into the hands of the adored Master."  Winter is coming in many ways.  Physically and in our chronological age. My husband is having prostrate cancer surgery next week.  Can I say, "I know that I shall welcome all?"  I do have a peace and want to leave all to the Lord knowing all will come from God for good.  I want to be a witness of faithfully handling what comes in the upcoming winter of life but to do so I have to keep my eyes on the Savior.  I pray, "Lead us and use us Lord throughout  the autumn and winter of our lives."

The world is afraid of suffering and penance but we are not to be of the world although we are in it.  Do you have a model of suffering/penance in your life?  Elizabeth is a beautiful model for me. She stays focused.

Elizabeth shows she is real.  When her soul longed for recollectedness and prayer she realized that she must give herself to people, occupations, and even pleasures that are entirely superficial. She knew that real joy was only found in the Lord.  

Prayer (p. 120)  Use me, O my adored Master, according to Thy will, for souls, and for They glory.

p. 121  I thought this was worth reflecting on, " Then at the first opportunity I retire quickly into my inner "cell" and there I pray and adore and lie at the feet of my Savior. My three Communions each week and the few minutes of meditation each morning prepare me for my daily activity; and every day when I offer Him in advance all the activity and suffering that makes up my days, everything that later happens is gathering up by our God and nothing is lost..."  The cell here is my soul... and I need to spend more time there throughout the day consciously in His presence and conversing with Him.  

p. 123  The angels, while at our side fulfill their function of watchfulness while never ceasing to contemplate God. Can we do both... our daily responsibilities and consciously contemplating God?

I love that this chapter, like the others, offered so much to reflect on.  "Hear I am, Lord, ready to do They will." (p.126)

There is so much for each section.  Much is reinforcement of our basic call to pray, fast and to do all in love.  

Ruth .... so sorry.

I have been reading but busy with company, etc., and last weekend my computer was down.  I thought it was "dead" but was able to get it going again.  I hope to blog today or tomorrow and then reply to those who have graciously posted already on week 6.

Week 6 .... from other blog

Some of you have told me that they could not access the original blog that gave us the idea to do ours so I have posted the notes for week 6. It might enrich our discussion.

======================================================================

THE SECRET DIARY OF ELISABETH LESEUR 

(WEEK 6 OF 12)

O my God, through the precious Blood of Jesus

and His five blessed Wounds,

grant me today five graces:

the conversion of a sinner;

the conversion of a heretic, infidel, or Jew;

the salvation of someone dying in peril of everlasting death;

a vocation to the priesthood or to religious life;

and, for some new soul,

the grace of entering into

and savoring the mystery of the Eucharist.

The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur, p. 111

(Resolutions: 1906-1912, May 18, 1912)

Recently, I was listening to a series of podcasts from a men’s conference in Detroit, where Father John Riccardo had been a speaker. I was shocked when I heard him report that only 30% of people who were raised Catholic still practice the Faith today. Not only that, but among that 30%, only 48% believe that the God of their Faith is a personal God, with whom they could have an actual relationship. I know it’s simple math, but let’s put numbers with those statistics just for shock value. Out of 100 people who were raised Catholic, only 30 of them still practice the Faith. And of those 30, fewer than 15 believe that they can have a personal relationship with God.

No wonder the Church is in such a crisis! If we don’t even believe we can have a relationship with God – if He is a remote Being, who remains an enigma to us, how can we recognize Him when He is right before our eyes in the Holy Eucharist? How could we possibly believe that His laws are applicable in the world we live in today, a world from which He has apparently removed Himself?

After hearing those statistics, Elisabeth’s prayer struck every chord in my body as I read it this week. I’ve read her diary several times, and, although I realize I’m getting a little ahead of myself, I had always envisioned “Saint” Elisabeth of Leseur, as a patron saint for wives like me; but today it hit me – she is not simply a model for married women.Elisabeth Leseur is a model for the entire Western world, as we suffer from this devastating Crisis of Faith.

Not only did God use her goodness as a catalyst for her husband’s conversion form atheist to Catholic priest; but after reading Elisabeth’s diary, it’s almost impossible for me to imagine that God is anything other than personal.  She had a more intimate relationship with Him than many individuals share with a spouse! Consequently, reading HER secret conversations with God inspires ME to want to get to know Him better.

It also makes me want to know just how Elisabeth became the person I’ve come to admire in her journal. Thankfully, her husband provides some helpful information. In the In Memoriam section, while Felix asserts that “she never argued with me and never spoke to me of the supernatural side of her life save by her example,” he shares that as a result of his constant attempts to “ruin” her faith,

…she devoted herself to her own religious instruction…To counterbalance my anti-Christian library, she gathered together one composed of the works of the great masters of Catholic thought: Fathers, Doctors, mystics, St. Jerome, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis de Sales, St. Teresa of Avila, and many more. Above all she read and reread the New Testament, the Gospels, The Acts, the Epistles; she never passed a day without meditating upon some passage from it. She thus acquired a reasoned and substantial faith” (p. xxiii).

Not only did she become knowledgeable in the Faith, but her faith was an intricate part of her day-to-day life.  And as we can see throughout her diary, she sought to live the Truth that was in her, through charity shown to everyone she met.

Interestingly enough, Pope Benedict XVI proposed a plan (which he called a path) – one that very much resembles the route taken by Elisabeth –  in his encyclical, Porta Fidei “The Door of Faith” (PF), wherein he announced this, The Year of Faith.

According to Lucas Pollice, M.T.S., in his article The Year of Faith: Pope Benedict’s Blueprint for the New Evangelization, Pope Benedict offers a three-pronged solution to this crisis of Faith:

1.  A Solid Understanding of Catholic Doctrine, particularly as revealed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as a renewed understanding of Vatican II that is guided by the Magisterium. An understanding “in which Vatican II is properly interpreted as a continuation of Tradition and a call to teach, live, and witness the Catholic faith that has been faithfully handed on in a renewed and dynamic way.”

2. Renewed Catholic Spirituality – It is not enough to know the Faith, but we must live it, making it an intricate part of our lives. We must seek God in the Sacraments and take advantage of the amazing examples we have in the Saints, who help us to live out our universal call to holiness. Further, we must renew our prayer lives, which will allow us to encounter Christ in a personal way.

3. Dialogue and Witness – In addition to providing the ability to “be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15), the above prongs will help us to live as Christ in the world. According to Pope Benedict:

Intent on gathering the signs of the times in the present of history, faith commits every one of us to become a living sign of the presence of the Risen Lord in the world. What the world is in particular need of today is the credible witness of people enlightened in mind and heart by the word of the Lord, and capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life, life without end (PF 15).

Elisabeth is a role model for the entire Church, particularly during this Year of Faith. On her own island of material desolation and caught in a world that did not recognize her Creator as God, Elisabeth adopted the above plan in its entirety, roughly a hundred years before it was written. The testimony of her Felix is witness to the fruit that this three-pronged plan can bear. Imagine a world in which each of us followed this path. Or better yet, imagine a world, in which, having ventured even further down the road, each of us was willing to sacrifice all, to give all, for God? Where each of us could vow, like Elisabeth, “Complete abandonment of myself to Thy Will, offering my heart and my life in Thy service for souls” (p. 118).

Read more: http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2013/09/10/a-model-for-our-times#ixzz2hoWhOCjP

Week 7 P. 133 - 145

Reading Assignment:

Week 7: Holy Thursday, March 20, 1913 – End of Spiritual Testament (p. 133-145)

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you been participating in any special programs specifically in response to Pope Benedict’s declaration of the Year of Faith? If so, please share them with us and let us know how you’ve grown from your experience!

2. Feel free to comment on anything from this past week!

Read more: http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2013/09/10/a-model-for-our-times#ixzz2hoUnwWZC

Carol -- Week 4

On pg. 51 Elisabeth stated:  "I must not give way to depressing and sinful sorrow.  I must make my actual life better and more fruitful for God and for the souls who have been entrusted to me."  The souls entrusted to me (my kids) have a way of causing depression and sorrow.  The more you help, the more they demand.  At what point does doing the will of God end and being taken advantage of start?  I pray on this often.  On pg. 52 she states:  "With Him and by Him I must become more tender, strong, and peaceful, to live more in the soul and yet give myself more to those I love and to all whom Providence has put or will put in my way."  I believe that I do this already, but I believe my kids wear steel cleets as they walk all over me.  When they get angry with me, they throw how great a christian I am not.  On this same page she continues:  "To expect nothing from those whom I will try to benefit...........; to accept in silence the disappointments, the misunderstandings, and even the scorn that always come to those in whose depths others discern--and think they can attack--God."  I have lots of work to do to follow in her footsteps.  I am not a silent person.  I think she sums it all up with:  "To pray, to act, to work, to love."

On this same page she state:  "To give myself to everyone in charity, but not to let everyone enter into my heart, which I must not open too lightly.  To welcome an affection only when I have solidly proved its value, and yet to have kindness for all."  I'm a little confused on this aspect.  How does one give to everyone in charity but not let them enter your heart?

On pg. 53 she states:  "I believe, I adore, I hope."  I have no comment except that this sort of sums it all up.
Also on this page she mentions external distractions and agitations which aggravates pain and how she will defend her home and self from all who are unworthy.

On pg. 54 she says:  "this earth is not Heaven".  Heaven in my eyes is peaceful, calm, beautiful, etc.  Just where I hope to end up!!!  She also says:  "May He do a little good through me!"  I hope that is what happens when I help out the crazy lady up the street, or when I volunteer to be a hall monitor during Religion classes, etc.

On pg 55:  "anxious to sacrifice all for Him and for the good of those I love most of all."  "a new resolution to be more brave, to establish myself in peace, and to submit to these offenses without revealing the suffering they cause me."  "My weakness is great"  I couldn't have said it better!  On pg 56 she quotes St Paul:  "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me."  Such a great line!  She continues with:  "My God, assist her ..... to make Thee known and loved."  I try to live my life as though God is shining through me, without preaching,  as this turns everyone off if I even make a comment regarding God.  She also states on that page:  "may at least one heart know and love Jesus Christ through me."  Sums it all up.

On pg 57:  "I have even spoken too much of Thee, my God, for it is true that in this world that does not know Thee, one should weigh well one's words concerning Thee."  I find it amazing that even 100 years ago conversations about God were censored.

On pg 62 Elisabeth wrote:  "to let my Communions, prayers, and meditations be known as little as possible, that I may remain humble, and so that I may not provoke the spirit of obstinacy and ignorance with which I am surrounded."  Boy does this sound like my family.  I pray for my children to return to Church.  For instance,  I take my grandchildren to religion classes and to Mass on Sundays, but when my daughter has to attend a First Communion meeting, the kids are all of a sudden worse than ever and she is unable to get ready.  Because I monitor the hallways during the classes, I am unable to go back and bring her to Church.  I leave everything in God's hands, and know that as long as I pray for her, in His time He will change her heart.  I could go on forever with something about each child, but I won't.  Again, I leave everything in God's hands and in His time frame.  I believe we must live Christlike and teach without words.  ""Let him see God without hearing His name."  {pg.70}.

A few of the resolutions that really stood out to me are:
To neglect not even the smallest duty. {pg 76}
Each day to work first for God and then for my neighbor. {pg 79}
To maintain always exterior calm and evenness of temper.{pg 79}
To put into all my words, acts, and gestures even, a moderation, a peaceful gentleness, which will be a constant sign of my interior serenity. {pg 79}


 

 Corrine   Week 6    pg. 106-133

In the November 1911 entry, after Elisabeth entered a nursing home and had a tumor removed, she said, “To suffer seems to be my true vocation and the interior call of God in my soul. Suffering enables me to do the work of reparation; to obtain, I hope, the great graces I desire so much for my dear souls, for all souls. Suffering is the reply to my abandonment of myself to the divine Master for my dear ones, for souls, and for the Church.”  She says that if her prayers are heard no suffering will have been too great and she would sing thanks.  She is not complaining about her suffering but sees the good in it….

Elisabeth asks God to “use all this ill for the good of everyone.”

Wouldn’t this be an accomplishment!    Pg. 117  “May my grief and supernatural joy, my whole life and even my death proclaim the greatness of divine love, the holiness of the Church, the tenderness and sweetness of the Heart of Jesus, the existence and the beauty of the supernatural life, the reality of our Christian hopes.”

Elisabeth keeps mentioning dealing with her suffering for reparation.  Sadly, I forget the reparation part.  Must be because I do not love enough and do not realize the pain my sins cause.  I have a long ways to go!

Pg. 121 She says she offers Him, each morning, all that will happen that day so that “everything that later happens is gathered up by our good God, and nothing is lost…”

She asked Jesus for the virtues of purity of heart, gentleness, patience, obedience to God,

humility, mortification, spiritual poverty.  That  is an examination of conscience right there.

Elisabeth will be ready for whatever God sends her…., “Here I am, Lord, ready to do Thy will” she said.

Pg. 132 She calls an apostolate of prayer and suffering a blessed vocation of hers.  She says she will love “the cross of Jesus, carrying it daily, always placing in the divine Heart my burden of pains, privations, and weaknesses!”

I must keep developing my relationship with Jesus so that I am ready for those last moments before eternity.   Oh, there are so many distractions!  I wonder how Jesus dealt with the distractions.

Ruth .... Retreat

I will be on retreat all weekend.  Leaving in about 2 hours... heading to Kansas City.  Let's keep each other in prayer.

Week 6: Reading (p.106-133) & Discussion Question

Reading Assignment:

Week 6: April 9, 1911 – End of February 20, 1913 (p. 106-133)

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you have a difficult time focusing on Eternity? If so, why do you think that is, and what do you think you can do about it?

2. Feel free to comment on anything from this past week!

Read More: http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/topics/book-club

For More Information on the Book Club: http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/csd-book-club

Read more: http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2013/09/03/from-here-to-eternity#ixzz2drUUdwM2

Corrine…week 5…pgs. 80 to 106

This is the time period when her life became sedentary and her resolutions included recollectedness, being an apostle by prayer, practice and accept mortifications, let her actions be words and example, “abandonment and full consent to His will in present illness and inactivity”.   She said that “God alone can make of this emptiness (inactivity when ill) …a work of redemption for me and for others”.  She knew she’d have to be on guard for agitation and irritability.  Later she could see that God had been working in her and a “mysterious work of grace” had been taking place in her soul.  Then she even says Thank You!  “Blessed art Thou, O Lord, for all this pain, through which Thou hast allowed me to expiate my faults, draw near to Thy Heart, and also to obtain, I hope, many spiritual graces for souls and for those I love.”  She is certainly an example of how to accept and praise God for illness or suffering or any cross and to work WITH it instead of fighting it.  And she said “let none of this precious grace of suffering be lost to me or to the souls Thou lovest”.  Again Elisabeth said “There are moments in life when we must look neither ahead nor behind nor to the side, but contemplate only the cross God offers us, from which will flow great graces for ourselves and others.”    And she said, “O Lord, I offer Thee all; make of my trials a work of expiation, reparation, and prayer; help me to practice complete renunciation and to preserve peace of heart”.     “I bind these things into a sheaf, Lord, and come humbly behind the shepherds to lay it in the manger…Accept my burden of afflictions and use them for the good of souls and for Thy glory.”  Oh to be recollected like her and to be able to focus on reparation for sin and for the good of souls and God’s glory!

On pg. 95 when she said “I want one thing only: that Thy Will may be done in me and by me. More and more, I seek, and desire to seek, only one end: to promote Thy greater glory by the realization of Thy designs for me.”    This reminded of what I’d read in Navarre Bible commentary concerning Matthew Ch. 2…  I’ll backtrack a bit….    In the beginning of the gospel of Matthew I noticed how many “dreams” affected Joseph’s actions.  When Mary was with child of the Holy Spirit and Joseph considered sending her away quietly….an angel appeared to him in a dream giving him direction.  After the Magi came through and Herod was threatened by a “king” being born….  After the Magi departed, and angel appeared to Joseph in a dream….telling him to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt.  Later, in Egypt, another dream and they were to return to Israel.  Then he was alerted in a dream to not go to Bethlehem for fear of the ruler, so they settled in Nazareth.  Okay….back to the Navarre commentary….Joseph had “learned to work within the divine plan”. Just think how many times “his” plans were changed….and he listened…and he did it right away.  He didn’t mull it over and think about it and……  Sorry so long winded…but when I read Elisabeth’s “realization of Thy designs for me” it reminded me of Joseph following God’s designs for the Holy Family.  How slow I am, mulling things around and looking for excuses!

It was something to think about when Elisabeth meditated on the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.  “Jesus Christ takes this lifeless thing, this tiny, coarse object, this bread, and by His blessing, it becomes food and life for the entire crowd. Why should I not be, in these same divine hands, the poor instrument for another such work? Why should I not be given by God to souls to uphold and revive them?...I will let myself be distributed by Him to souls…..Multiply my prayers, sacrifices, and acts of charity! Let these fragments of Thy love in me become warmth and comfort for the spiritually starved, until the blessed time when Thou, the one living Bread, shalt come Thyself to revive and save them.”  We creatures were created in the image and likeness of God.  Just think of the possibilities for us helping the spiritually starved if we would learn to work with in His divine plan.

Elaine-week 5

Elisabeth refers to her illness as a spiritual retreat.  (I hope I remember this the next time I am ill.)
She considers herself a "prayer apostle".
She vows to be cheerful at all times, to pray without tiring.  She resolves to be silent and to exercise humility.  She wants her "interior joy to shine forth".
She believes there are two foundations for all christian life: penance and humility.  She expresses her love for the church, its history, and its traditions.
Her resolutions revolve around prayer, penance, charity and almsgiving.

Question for the week:
I do not talk about myself.  I hate being the center of attention.  I prefer to sit back and observe and listen.
I have never been vocal about my faith.  I've always felt that the way I live and the way I treat others and the example I set tells more about my faith than if I try to vocalize it.  For one thing, it turns people off if they are in a different place regarding their own faith.

Ruth - Week 5 p 80-106

Week 5:  Reflection

p. 80:   I had never thought of taking a motto for my whole life. Elisabeth took "to reestablish all things in Christ." No small task.  She attacked the implimentation of this motto by seetting "goals".
  *  1st, to re-establish her soul in Christ, by prayer, Communion, and meditation; then, her whole life, by penance, charity and the exercise of humility.
  *  To re-establish in people's minds the idea of duty and of family, to prepare their sould .... to solicity the sivine summons by fervent prayers, sacrifices, and her trials.
  *  to make Jesus loved and His Church known, to pour out all efforts untiringly without looking for any results.
Now I wanted to halt and say, "WOW!".  That last line really did not to pour out all efforts untiringly without looking for results.  We are results people but we do know that all results are in the Lord's hand and in His perfect timing.   (But don't we want everything in OUR time?)
While sick, stating that a new life was imposed on her by the Divine Will, she still resolved and committed to deeper recollectedness, to be an apostle of pryaer, to make amends by suffering, sacrifice and mortifications. She wanted to act by words and example upon those who came to her.  She wanted to keep her soul always open to those souls to wished to confide in her, to welcome daily visitors with serenity, to be pleasant and to work and read seriously.
Okay, ladies!  Doesn't this describe what we all want to be and how we all want to live while sick or in good health.  She was always about the care of souls, her own and that of others.   Is that our focus? I have to admit that that is not always in the forfront of my thoughts always I desire and yearn for it.

On p. 82
Elisabeth gives.......
The two foundations of all Christian life:
   Penance and humility
The formula of all Christian life:
   Contemplation, then action, in sacrifice
Is that not something to remember?  ....application is not easy but what fruit this would bear in each of our lives.   We are on the narrow path if we impliment these.
I also liked the statement that "Prayer is the highter form of activity; through it we act directly upon God.  I thought this statement was worth reflecting on.
I loved how Elisabeth wanted to do all for God rather than for the respect or notice of others. She desired to look to Jesus alone for everything.
She desired to hunt down "self" to its last perfidious hiding place and to speak as little as possible of herself.
p. 84 States that while ill she still did not allow herself the slightest movement of impatience, and she fought unceasingly against every inner temptation to irritability. She even wanted to punish and humble herself afterward failing in this area.
I think I can use this as a bit of my Examiniation of Conscience.

p. 85  Powerful thought......"Is there no sweetness in being on our Savior's Cross and, so close to Him, obtaining the grace of salvation or conversion for others, for souls that are greatly loved?  

Maybe I will post more on this section later but this last line calls me to stop and meditation again. It is powerful.

Corrine Week 4 pgs 51-79

There is so much that it is hard to sort out what is most striking to me….but here goes……

Elisabeth said....Pg. 53 “I want to be a Christian, Christian to the marrow, and transformed by grace.”  I need to be open to God’s grace that is there “waiting” for me to open up my heart.

Elisabeth said....Pg. 55 “With Felix I should be more even-tempered; with everyone kind and forgetful of myself.”  Do I ever need lessons in this area!  I seem to be getting more selfish as I age and that is scary. 

Pg. 68 Elisabeth speaks of the total necessity of meditation, each day, as daily food or I will be weak. She says “Meditation prepares the daily toil; to be alone with God helps us later in the midst of people, and enables us to distribute among them some of our morning provision.” That goes along with what I mentioned in my last post concerning St. Francis de Sales morning exercises.  I notice a difference when I don’t start my day with Mass….I kind of just wander into the day and I certainly need direction.

In her Resolutions….after she speaks of piety resolutions she next…………”First my duty to my dear husband…”  I now recall hearing somewhere else that our husband should be high on our priorities, not just if they aren’t in our faith.  As to our two children who are away from our faith….one lives 400 miles away, the other only 90 miles but may as well be 400 for the few times we see him…..we aren’t face to face real often, so it is phone calls and emails. When we are together it is usually multiple people instead of on individual basis.  I don’t know that our children, at this point in life, push my tolerance, but as I said above, I need to be more even-tempered with my husband, who retired  5 years ago and I’m still adjusting, selfish me.

Elisabeth keeps saying in different ways…..we have “to await the hour willed by Him for the souls I love”.

My hope and my prayer-----Pg. 78 as Elisabeth said..  “To learn from the Heart of Jesus the secret of love for souls and deep knowledge of them: how to touch their hearts without making them smart and to dress their wounds without reopening them; to give oneself to them and yet reserve oneself; to disclose Truth in its entirely and yet to make it known according to the degree of light that each soul can bear. The knowledge required for the apostolate can be had only from Jesus Christ, by encountering Him in the Eucharist and in prayer.”

Ruth: Week 4 reflection & discussion question pp. 50-79

Did I tell you earlier in a post that I am totally enjoying our book and your posts?  Well, if I did not before, I am now.  

This book blog is a real shot in my spiritual life as I can relate so much to Elisabeth's committment, struggles and efforts.  She is definitely on a deeper walk with the Lord but the Lord is always challenging us to go deeper.  Elisabeth realizes that the work that must be done is on the inside.

Three phrases that Elisabeth repeated from the depths of her soul were:  I believe, I adore, I hope.  She wanted "to be Christian, Christian to the marrow, and transformed by grace."  Isn't that what we all want? ...to be able to say that we no longer live but Christ lives in us.

Elisabeth did not want outside circumstance to affect interior resolutions. She did not want others to see the hurt some offenses caused her.  She was a silent sufferer who intentionally hid her pain while making the lives of those she loved more pleasant. That is tough to do!  What a challenge but I think her depth of prayer and God's grace allowed her to desire and accomplish this difficult feat.

On page 56, I found a challenge for us.....  "May this be a good year for souls and for me; may at least one heart know and love Jesus Christ through me. For that it would be well worthwhile to live and suffer and wait.".... and on p. 57.... "and ask for me only the grace to love God more and more and to be a most humble apostle of Jesus Christ."   Yes, Lord!

She offered:
  1.  Silence in regard to trials
  2.  Silence about her interior life and what God has done unceasingly for her
  3.  Silence about her soul and all supernatural things, about her hopes and faith.
  4.  Resolution to do what God wills, not desireing the task that does not belong to her.
  5.  Preach Jesus Christ only through prayers, sufferings and example.

"But how we need God! And how quickly we should be conquered without His grace!"  We can't live the above without God.

I think we can all work on these but we must also discern what God is calling us to in the circumstances of our lives.  Basically, following Elisabeth's example, we should be living our lives so that people will want to know the source of our strength and love.

Our former pastor emphasised that we should offer penances throughout each day.  Here, on page 59, she says, "Apart from penances prescribed by the Church, I must perform my own, unlike other people's.  I will accept and offer to God those visits and receptions, the contact with indifferent people, those material occupations that are more painful to me than ever during this month.... I will do it so that God alone will know."  She is basically offering up the struggles of her daily life in silence which is something we can all do.  I think the encouragement of this book and the example of others helps me to remember to do this.  The Spirit works in many ways.

There is so much to touch on but one last thing that I want to highlight was the idea of a "wholly interior retreat".  She says, "no one shall know what I am doing or suffer for my spiritual gain. I must, on the contrary, try to be more cheerful and serenely gentle, so that if anyone should by chance guess that God has been this way, such a discovery would not dishonor Him."  Wow!  Making a daily totally interior retreat... not going anywhere special, not saying special prayers but offering each moment, everything we are doing, suffering, etc. to the Lord in an attitude of special unity of spirit with Jesus.  In a way this is the call of daily life but this daily interior retreat phrase make it sound even more intentional.  We can "preach by prayer, sacrifice, and example"daily.

p.63  "O Jesus Christ, my Savior and my God!"

Yikes!  I just see Elizabeth's "Rule of Life" which is she intented to practice each day. Her Rule of Life here was listed as:
  1.  Morning and evening prayer.
  2.  Meditation
  3. Attend Mass often especially on Fridays.
  4.  Go to Confession and Communion often...whenever it can be done without troubling or displeasing anyone.
  
We belong to Teams of Our Lady, a marriage enrichment national organization, and one of the endeavors we are suppose to do is to have a "Rule of Life".....Intentional improvement....
People often struggle with having a "Rule of Life" so I think I will share this page with them.  

Discussion Questions:

1. Are there loved ones in your life that push your tolerance beyond normal limits?  How do you ensure that you provide light for them, as opposed to pushing them further into darkness?

 ..... Yes, there are loved one who I struggle with and tend to avoid rather than shower with love. For my "Rule of Life" with Teams, several time I have intended to have greater contact with the loved ones  so that I could, by my actions, show the Lord's love but my good intentions don't accomplish much. Maybe this is a call to recommit to this "Rule of Life".