Image by @Doug88888 via Flickr
A Daily Spiritual Seed
Shalom Place
May 2, 2013
Message of the Day
Let us beware of rebellion against the Lord. Circumstances are of his choosing, because He wants to bless us, to lead us (even through the wilderness) out of Egypt, that is, out of ourselves. Settle the complaint with God, and it will settle other things. Continue reading
Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr
A Daily Spiritual Seed
Shalom Place
December 25, 2012
Message of the Day
In the case of the virgin birth the power of the Highest was implanted immaterially in the undefiled body and took the Virgin’s purity as the material for the flesh, employing it as the contribution of the virgin body towards the formation of one who was in truth a new Man… Continue reading
Updated: May 4, 2009 added “Message of the Day” excerpt
Note: Video retitled to “Allow Yourself to Be Human”.
stbenedictsomerville
May 02, 2009
Fr. Carr speaks about what it means to follow THE Good Shepherd.
Fr. Carr is the pastor at St. Benedict Parish in Somerville
Continue reading
A Daily Spiritual Seed
– resources for prayer and spiritual growth
– – –
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Let us accept the invitation, ever-open, from the Stillness, taste
its exquisite sweetness, and heed its silent instruction.
– Paul Brunton, “Perspectives”
(Our Advent “work”)
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Is 2:1-5; Ps 122:1-2, 3-4b, 4cd-5, 6-7, 8-9; Mt 8:5-11
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls,
prosperity in your buildings.
Because of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURES
– from “Daily Bread”
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
“They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks.”
In Isaiah’s idyllic vision — a world where nations no longer wage
or even train for war — the peoples of the world are resourceful
participants in its transformation, refashioning weapons into farm
implements. But how can we dismantle the modern war machine, bound
as it is to our economy and mindset? We should not be put off by
the enormity and complexity of this task; rather, the scale of the
challenge highlights our necessary participation in it. Let us
begin by imagining our world retooled for peace. As we walk in the
light of the Lord, let us see clearly our role as ambassadors of
peace.
“For willingness to be agents of God’s love and justice, we pray.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
THEOLOGICAL GEMS FROM EMIL MERCH’S “THEOLOGY OF THE MYSTICAL BODY”
from http://www.innerexplorations.com/chtheomortext/theolgems.htm
459. The supernatural involves a change of a different order, a
change that is at once far more radical and more delicate, a change
that affects a being by causing it to be the very thing it was but
in a different way.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
* Web Archive: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?dailyseed
* RSS: http://www.aweber.com/z/rss/?dailyseed
Be here now in love, and all shall be well.
– http://shalomplace.com
Philip St. Romain, Editor
Daily Spiritual Seed is an outreach of:
Heartland Center for Spirituality
3600 Broadway
Great Bend, KS 67530
FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
A Daily Spiritual Seed
– resources for prayer and spiritual growth
– – –
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
“. . . I am troubled by the pangs of rage, of greed, of gloom. I am
drawn to scatter that gentleness which I had embraced as my own.
And so if I am not to be carried off by turbulent rage into
bitterness I must groan mightily and call out, ‘Come to my help, O
God; Lord, hurry to my rescue.'”
– John Cassian, 5th Century –
(Sound advice for troubling times!)
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Gal 1:6-12; Ps 111:1b-2, 7-8, 9 and 10c; Lk 10:25-37
R. (5) The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.
He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
His praise endures forever.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURES
– from “Daily Bread”
http://www.preacherexchange.com/daily_bread.htm
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus might have countered the law scholar’s question with a
rhetorical question of his own: “Who isn’t your neighbor?” Instead,
Jesus tells the intriguing story of the Good Samaritan. As he
describes the compassion, generosity and ongoing concern of
neighborly love, the notion that anyone should be excluded
evaporates. We are led to question whether anyone should be
exempted from the duty to serve those in need; and we know that
millions across the globe live in dire need today. May our love for
God be fervent and so lead us to a healthy balance in self-care,
care for those in our charge, and care for our brothers and sisters
around the world.
“For the grace to be channels of God’s love, we pray.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
THEOLOGICAL GEMS FROM EMIL MERCH’S “THEOLOGY OF THE MYSTICAL BODY”
from http://www.innerexplorations.com/chtheomortext/theolgems.htm
424-5. When we say that He is Son, we indicate His entire origin;
when we say that He spirates the Holy Spirit, we indicate His
entire activity; and the two together designate Him in His
entirety. He is nothing but Spirator as He is nothing but Son, for
in their absolute simplicity the two are strictly identical.
426. Jesus promises Him (the Holy Spirit), sends Him, and gives
Him, for the Spirit is His.
_________________________________________________
* Web Archive: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?dailyseed
* RSS: http://www.aweber.com/z/rss/?dailyseed
Be here now in love, and all shall be well.
– http://shalomplace.com
Philip St. Romain, Editor
Daily Spiritual Seed is an outreach of:
Heartland Center for Spirituality
3600 Broadway
Great Bend, KS 67530
FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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MESSAGE OF THE DAY
Outwardly one’s life may suffer every kind of limitation, from
bodily paralysis to miserable surroundings, but inwardly it is free
in meditation to reach out to a sphere of light, beauty, truth,
love, and power.
– Paul Brunton, “Meditations for People in Crisis”
(Nothing can separate us from the love of God poured out in Christ
Jesus. Rm. 8: 38)
SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Acts 16:22-34; Ps. 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
R. (7c) Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name.
Because of your kindness and your truth,
you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
GOSPEL MEDITATION
– from http://www.dailyscripture.net/
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to both convict us of wrongdoing
and to convince us of God’s truth. The Spirit convinces us of the
righteousness of Christ, backed by the fact that Jesus rose again
and went to his Father. The Holy Spirit also convicts us of
judgment. The Spirit gives us the inner and unshakable conviction
that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. God’s
judgments are just and good. When we heed his judgments we find
true peace, joy and reconciliation with God. Do you allow the Holy
Spirit free reign in your life that he may set you free from the
grip of sin and set you ablaze with the fire of God’s love?
“Come Holy Spirit, and let the fire of your love burn in my heart.
Let me desire only what is pure, lovely, holy and good and in
accord with the will of God and give me the courage to put away all
that is not pleasing in your sight.”
“Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.”
– Clarence W. Hall
SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://clicks.aweber.com/
Acts 3:1-10; Ps. 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9; Lk 24:13-35
R. (3b) Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURES
– from “Daily Bread”
http://clicks.aweber.com/
He asked them, ‘What are you discussing as you walk along?’
The question to the disciples on the road is for us, as well. What we think, feel and believe is revealed in what we say, whether we talk about current events, plans, politics or the weather.
Moreover, our discussions form us, for better or worse. It might be a good exercise to imagine Jesus walking with us today, listening intently to all we have to say. He called the disciples on the road “foolish” and “slow of heart.” What would he say about us? Do we choose forums where discussion amounts to little more than inane blather, or perhaps do we meet regularly with others for the explicit purpose of offering support, studying scripture or sharing faith?
For spiritually edifying fellowship and conversation, we pray.
NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
– “Meister Eckhart’s Sermons”
The heavens are everywhere alike remote from earth, so should the soul be remote from all earthly things alike so as not to be nearer to one than another. It should keep the same attitude of aloofness in love and hate, in possession and renouncement, that is, it should be simultaneously dead, resigned and lifted up.
The heavens are pure and clear without shadow of stain, out of space and out of time. Nothing corporeal is found there. Their revolutions are incredibly swift and independent of time, though time depends on them. Nothing hinders the soul so much in attaining to the knowledge of God as time and place.
Therefore, if the soul is to know God, it must know Him outside time and place, since God is neither in this or that, but One and above them. If the soul is to see God, it must look at nothing in time; for while the soul is occupied with time or place or any image of the kind, it cannot recognize God. If it is to know Him, it must have no fellowship with nothingness.
Only he knows God who recognizes that all creatures are nothingness. For, if one creature be set over against another, it may appear to be beautiful and somewhat, but if it be set over against God, it is nothing. I say moreover: If the soul is to know God it must forget itself and lose itself, for as long as it contemplates self, it cannot contemplate God. When it has lost itself and everything in God, it’s itself again in God when it attains to the knowledge of Him, and it’s also everything which it had abandoned complete in God.
If I am to know the highest good, and the everlasting Godhead, truly, I must know them as they are in themselves apart from creation. If I am to know real existence, I must know it as it is in itself, not as it is parceled out in creatures.
– Sermon Two, “The Nearness of God”
see
From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dailyseed/messages
Stained glass at St John the Baptist’s Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus’ description of himself “I am the Good Shepherd” (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: “To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A Daily Spiritual Seed
– resources for prayer and spiritual growth
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
“The presence of God” means a lively, attentive realization of God’s absolute presence — God is everywhere, in all places, in all things, in all people. Wherever birds fly, they encounter the air; so wherever we go or wherever we are, we find God present.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
2 Sm 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30-19:3; Ps 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; Mk
5:21-43
R. (1a) Listen, Lord, and answer me.
Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
GOSPEL MEDITATION
– from http://www.dailyscripture.net/
In Jesus we see the infinite love of God extending to each and every individual as he gives freely and wholly of himself to each person he meets. Do you approach the Lord with confident expectation that he will hear your request and act?
“Lord Jesus, you love each of us individually with a unique and personal love. Touch my life with your saving power, heal and restore me to fullness of life. Help me to give wholly of myself in loving service to others.”
NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK
“Sayings of Light and Love,” by St. John of the Cross (jottings from his notebooks)
46. If you make use of your reason, you are like one who eats substantial food; but if you are moved by the satisfaction of your will, you are like one who eats insipid fruit.
see
Message of the Day: Love and Forgiveness
Wisdom From Ephesus: The Gospel of John
That You May Be Certain: The Gospel of Luke
The Dawning: Christianity in the Roman Empire
The Jewish Foundation of Christianity
Message of the Day on Dandelion Salad
From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dailyseed/messages
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
For the Word is visible to the heart alone, while flesh is visible
to bodily eyes as well. We already possessed the means to see the
flesh, but we had no means to see the word. The Word was made
flesh so that we could see it, to heal the part of us by which we
could see the Word.
– Augustine, “Tractates on 1 John”(What does it mean to you to “see the Word?”)
Reflection:
(used with permission from http://www.scripture.net)Jesus promised his disciples that “no one will take your joy from
you” (John 16:22). The Lord gives us a supernatural joy which
enables us to bear any sorrow or pain and which neither life nor
death can take way. Do you know the joy of a life fully surrendered
to God with faith and trust?“Lord, you gave your life for my sake, to redeem me from slavery to
sin and death. Help me to carry my cross with joy that I may
willingly do your will and not shrink back out of fear or cowardice
when trouble besets me.”SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/1 Jn 1:5–2:2; Ps 124:2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8; Mt 2:13-18
R. (7) Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s
snare.
Had not the LORD been with us–
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive,
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
R. Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
Dandelion Salad
From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dailyseed/messages
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
God is not a deceiver, that He should offer to support us, and
then, when we lean upon Him, should slip away from us.
– Augustine
SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/Jon 1:1-2:1-2, 11; Jonah 2:3, 4, 5, 8; Lk 10:25-37
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Out of my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me;
From the midst of the nether world I cried for help,
and you heard my voice.For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea,
and the flood enveloped me;
All your breakers and your billows
passed over me.Then I said, “I am banished from your sight!
yet would I again look upon your holy temple.”When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the LORD;
My prayer reached you
in your holy temple.
Praying the Daily Gospels
– by Philip St. Romain:
– http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614– Luke 10:25-37 (Parable of the Good Samaritan)
And who is my neighbor?” the lawyer asks Jesus in earnest. Many rabbis interpreted God’s commandment to love one’s neighbor as a summons to love only Jews. Jesus counters this elitism by posing a story about a Samaritan who is a model of the true neighbor, closer to God’s heart than the Jewish priest who hurries along, ignoring the man on the side of the road. Since Samaritans were despised by the Jews, Jesus’ parable must have stung his listeners.
– Who are the “people in the bushes” ignored in today’s world? How do you respond to their needs?
– “Jesus was the only teacher tall enough to see over the fences that divide the human race into compartments,” Frank Crane wrote.
Pray for the grace to be able to see people as Christ sees them.
THEOLOGICAL GEMS FROM EMIL MERCH’S THEOLOGY OF THE MYSTICAL BODY
from http://www.innerexplorations.com/chtheomortext/theolgems.htm218. God simply is. His way is to be without restriction or
negation, to be entirely and eminently nothing but Being; to become God cannot in any way involve ceasing to be oneself.
see
Dandelion Salad
From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dailyseed/messages
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
It is not of God’s severity that He requires much from man; it is
of His great kindness that He will have the soul to open herself
wider, to be able to receive much, that He may bestow much upon
her. Let no one think that it is hard to attain thereunto. Although
it sound hard, and is hard at first, as touching the forsaking and
dying to all things, yet, when one has reached this state, no life
can be easier, or sweeter, or fuller of pleasures; for God is right
diligent to be with us at all seasons, and to teach us, that He may
bring us to Himself, when we are like to go astray. None of us ever
desired anything more ardently than God desires to bring men to the
knowledge of Himself.– Johannes Tauler
LECTIONARY READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/Col 2:6-15; Ps 145:1b-2, 8-9, 10-11; Lk 6:12-19
R. (9) The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.Praying the Daily Gospels
– by Philip St. Romain:
– http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614Luke 6: 12-19 (Jesus chooses the Twelve)
Jesus knew that he would one day die, and he knew that he would not even begin to scratch the surface of a populated earth without the continuous ministry of his followers through the ages. That is why he called the Twelve to be his followers; that is why he still
calls us to minister.– If someone were to ask you who you are and what is important in
this worldl, how wouldI you answer?– Spend some time being present to God’s healing Spirit.
SAYINGS OF LIGHT AND LOVE
by St. John of the Cross
– jottings from his notebooks21. The pure and whole work done for God in a pure heart merits a
whole kingdom for its owner.
see:
Announcing a Planetary Visualization for World Peace Tuesday, September 11, 2007 – 8:45 a.m. EST
Dandelion Salad
From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dailyseed/messages
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
We can walk without fear, full of hope and courage and strength to do His will, waiting for the endless good which He is always giving as fast as He can get us able to take it in.
– George Macdonald
SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Nm 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35; Ps 106:6-7ab, 13-14, 21-22, 23; Mt 15: 21-28
R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
We have sinned, we and our fathers;
we have committed crimes; we have done wrong.
Our fathers in Egypt
considered not your wonders.
But soon they forgot his works;
they waited not for his counsel.
They gave way to craving in the desert
and tempted God in the wilderness.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
Praying the Daily Gospels
– by Philip St. Romain:
– http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
– Matthew 15: 21-28 (Messiah of the Gentiles)
This passage describes an event which took place during the only time Jesus ever ventured outside Jewish territory. While seeking respite from the demands of the crowds who followed him and from the authorities who tormented him, he is confronted by a persistent Canaanite woman. Even though she is a Gentile and, as a Canaanite, a member of the Jews’ most ancient enemy, her faith and love finally move Jesus to grant her requests.
• “The family that prays together, stays together” is a familiar saying. How important is praying and worshiping as a family to you? Resolve to find books and pamphlets on family prayer to help deepen this experience.
• Spend some time thanking God for those people in your life who love you.
MYSTICISM
– by Evelyn Underhill –
Apart from the plain necessity of casting out imperfection and sin, what is the type of “good character” which will best serve the self in its journey towards union with the Absolute?
The mystics of all ages and all faiths agree in their answer. Those three virtues which the instinct of the Catholic Church fixed upon as the necessities of the cloistered life—the great Evangelical counsel of voluntary Poverty with its departments, Chastity, the poverty of the senses, and Obedience, the poverty of the will—are also, when raised to their highest term and transmuted by the Fire of Love, the essential virtues of the mystical quest.
— Part 2, Chapter 3
Dandelion Salad
From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dailyseed/messages
MESSAGE OF THE DAY
If you have people who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have people who deal likewise with their fellow human beings.
– Francis of Assisi
(Caring for the earth and all God’s creatures: what does this mean for you?)
***
SCRIPTURE READINGS
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
Gn 46:1-7, 28-30; Ps 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40; Mt 10:16-23
R. (39a) The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart’s requests.
The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted;
their inheritance lasts forever.
They are not put to shame in an evil time;
in days of famine they have plenty.
Turn from evil and do good,
that you may abide forever;
For the LORD loves what is right,
and forsakes not his faithful ones.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
***
Praying the Daily Gospels
– by Philip St. Romain:
– http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6614
– Matthew 10:16-23 (Persecutions to come)
Because the early Church experienced persecution from Jews and Gentiles, Jesus’ warning in today’s reading offered words of consolation and hope. Persecution is to be expected even from family members, Jesus explains, but the consolation of the Spirit will be given to those in need.
• Do you believe that people today would crucify Jesus if he were to come among us in person as he did years ago?
• How have you been persecuted for Christ’s sake during the past week?
• Pray for the grace of endurance.
***
ABANDONMENT TO DIVINE PROVIDENCE
– by Jean Pierre de Caussade, S.J.
For neither ear has heard nor
eye seen, nor has it entered the mind what things God has planned in His
omniscience, determined in His will, and carried out by His power in the
souls given up entirely to Him. The passive part of sanctity is still more
easy since it only consists in accepting that which we very often have no
power to prevent, and in suffering lovingly, that is to say with sweetness
and consolation, those things that too often cause weariness and disgust.
Once more I repeat, in this consists sanctity. This is the grain of mustard
seed which is the smallest of all the seeds, the fruits of which can neither
be recognised nor gathered. It is the drachma of the Gospel, the treasure
that none discover because they suppose it to be too far away to be sought.
Do not ask me how this treasure can be found. It is no secret. The treasure
is everywhere, it is offered to us at all times and wherever we may be. All
creatures, both friends and enemies pour it out with prodigality, and it
flows like a fountain through every faculty of body and soul even to the
very centre of our hearts. If we open our mouths they will be filled. The
divine activity permeates the whole universe, it pervades every creature;
wherever they are it is there; it goes before them, with them, and it
follows them; all they have to do is to let the waves bear them on.
— Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 3
Dandelion Salad 