Jesus Loves YOU

To have defects is not in itself bad.  The only evil lies in making a truce with them, not struggling against them, thinking that they are part and parcel of our character or our nature.  Making such a truce would lead to spiritual mediocrity.  Our Lord does not want this to happen to those who follow Him.  Jesus loves each one as he is, with his defects.  He loves us the way we are.  He has a positive conception of our abilities!  He understands us always and always encourages us to continue struggling.  If only we could realize Christ's personal love for each person, His care and solicitude for each one!  God loves us.  This is the greatest reality of our lives, the one capable of raising our spirits always, the one that makes us happy in spite of sorrows and contradictions.  Jesus loves us always despite the deep-rooted wretchedness that lies in the human heart.  --- ICWG, Volume 4, pp. 358-9

His love in spite of everything is so incomparable, so unique, so maternally tender and generous, that it will be inscribed forever in the memory of humanity... His love for humanity is very different from the abstract benevolence preached by thinkers and philosophers.  It is not simply doctrine, but life.  The Lord does not settle for merely examining human misery and prescribing a remedy to ease it.  He makes actual contact with that misery.  He cannot bear to know of it without taking it upon Himself.  The love of Jesus surpasses the bounds of His own heart in order to attract others to Himself, or better, in order to go out of Himself, identifying himself with others so as to live and suffer with them. --- K. Adam, Jesus Christ, p. 112

Help me to love You more.  Increase my love! --- St. Escriva, The Forge, #497

I asked God to show me what to work on:

We could get rid of so much neurosis and hysteria if people were taught - together with Christian doctrine - really to live as Christians:  loving God and knowing how to accept things that annoy us as a blessing from His hand!  ---  St. Josemaria Escriva (emphasis mine!)

Aging... GRACEFULLY!

"May we not fail to keep before our eyes the final destination prepared for us by our Father God.  Each day that passes draws us a little closer to it.  For a Christian, the passing of time is in no way a tragedy.  On the contrary, it shortens the distance we need to travel before our long-awaited and definitive meeting with God."  ---  In Conversation with God, Volume 7, p.73, Feast of the Transfiguration

Daily "To-do's"

“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.”  --- Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957)

Wretchedness

"And in spite of my wretchedness and littleness, I have my trust deeply anchored in the abyss of Your mercy, my God and my creator!  In spite of my great wretchedness, I am not afraid of anything, but I maintain the hope of singing my song of praise for ever.  Let no soul doubt, even the most pitiful, so long as they are still alive, that they can become a great saint.  For great is the power of God's grace."  --- Sister Faustina, Petit Journal, p. 140  (which I read in Fr. Jacques Philippe's Interior Freedom, p. 41)

Discipline

Discipline yourself and others won't have to.


(Not sure where I got this quote, but it will be used for school this year!)