Worth Revisiting - What Kind of Soul Am I? - Part 3

We thank Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You   and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb  for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with them and their followers. Stop for a visit now. 

Here is my contribution:


What Kind of Soul Am I? -  Part 3

(Originally posted on  October 23, 2017)


[For the past two Wednesdays we have taken a brief look at two of the three types of souls that Saint Anthony Marie Claret describes in his book The Golden Kingdom- An Explanation of Spiritual Exercises. If you missed either of these posts you can find them here and here. The first type "aspire to perfection and to follow Jesus but only in speech and not in their heart". The second has a true will "to aspire to perfection but does not have an all-inclusive generous will". Today we take a look at souls that really want to strive for perfection.]

"The third class of souls consists of those who have an earnest, generous will to strive for perfection. I mean that they are ready and willing not only to carry out whatever God wants, but also to suffer all that His designs provide, in order to acquire perfection... 

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

This soul infallibly arrives at perfection - The measure with which God gives Himself to a man is exactly the same as that which the man gives himself to God. Therefore when the soul surrenders itself entirely and without reserve to God in this state of which we speak, so that it is ready to do and suffer all that pleases God, God also, on His part, communicates Himself totally and without reserve to the soul, and in a very short time raises it to this perfection...

The soul that has this disposition certainly reaches union with God - Union and intimate familiarity with God is the reward promised for perfect charity...Now who is it that has perfect charity, to which is attached the promise of such an outstanding grace? It is beyond doubt one who surrenders himself entirely to God.

Eucharistic Reflection - Give Me A Heart Like Your Mother

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

Virgin, model of every virtue, I kneel at your feet, filled with shame at my coldness and ingratitude [toward the Eucharist].

Pray to Jesus for me that He will never come to my heart without directing all its movements and turning them entirely to Himself.

May He take away this wretched heart of mine that is so unworthy of Him and create in me a new heart. May He give me a heart like yours: ardent and generous, tender and constant toward Him, as yours now is toward us."

(From The Imitation of Mary)

Blog Tour and Book Review – A Storyteller's Guide to Joyful Service – Turning Your Misery Into Ministry

What do Catholic author and blogger, Tony Agnesi, and St. Claude de la Colombiere, the 17^th century spiritual director and author of Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, share in common?  - a steadfast and unswerving trust in God.

St. Claude used the following words to describe that level of trust:

“It is one of the most firmly established and most consoling of truths that have been revealed to us that (apart from sin) nothing happens to us in life unless God wills it so.”

and

“Be convinced that in all He allows and in all that happens to you God has no other end in view but your real advantage and your eternal happiness…”

These truths are consoling but oh how so difficult to live!

In his latest book, A Storyteller’s Guide to Joyful Service – Turning Your Misery into Ministry, Tony Agnesi shares  stirring examples of individuals (including himself) who stepped out in faith, trusted God’s promptings and allowed themselves to be used as instruments of healing and hope. 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - October 20, 2018

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Pondering Tidbits of Truth is my simple and inadequate way of providing nuggets of spiritual wisdom for you to chew on from time to time.

I am breaking from the normal format of this post by offering the wisdom of just one holy soul  - from The Dialogue. These Tidbits of Truth are well-worth your time:

St. Catherine of Siena

"You are asking for something that would be harmful to your salvation if you had it—so by not getting what you've asked, you really are getting what you want."

"To join two things together there must be nothing between them or there cannot be a perfect fusion. Now realize that this is how God wants our soul to be, without any selfish love of ourselves or of others in between, just as God loves us without anything in between." 

"In loving Me, you come to know of My Truth, and the more you know, the more intolerable pain and sorrow you will feel when I am offended."