cry of the soul

Suffering should be treated not as a twitch or a muscular contraction,
but as the cry of a soul, to whom another brother,
the doctor, runs with the ardent love of charity.
St. Giuseppe Moscati
from the book St. Giuseppe Moscati:
Doctor of the Poor by Antonio Tripodoro, SJ

(Gleann Cholm Cille, Co.Donegal, Ireland / Julie Cook / 2015)

“There was much in the Magdalen that she had never used,
perhaps never dreamed of, until she came to our Lord.
He revealed to her the secret of true self-development,
which is another word for sanctity.
And she found under His guidance that everything in her had henceforth to be used,
and used in a fuller and richer way than she had ever imagined possible.
It was in no narrow school of self-limitation,
in no morbid school of false asceticism,
that this poor sinner was educated in the principles of sanctity,
but in the large and merciful school of Him who has been
ever since the hope of the hopeless,
the friend of publicans and sinners;
who knows full well that what men need is not to crush and kill their powers,
but to find their true use and to use them;
that holiness is not the emptying of life,
but the filling; that despair has wrapped its dark cloud
around many a soul because it found itself in possession of powers
that it abused and could not destroy and did not know how to use.
Christ taught them the great and inspiriting doctrine
‘I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.’”
Fr. Basil W. Maturin, p. 40

don’t be comfortable with the status quo

Perfect holiness is the purpose for which we were created,
so we can’t allow ourselves to be comfortable with the status quo.
Fr. J. Augustine Wetta, OSB
from his book Humility Rules

(2017 / Julie Cook)

“It is undoubtedly true that each of us, men and women,
irresponsible and thoughtless as we often are,
hold within our hands the happiness and sorrows of others.
We cannot help it or escape from it.
The power is in us inalienably almost from birth to death—in us,
because we are persons—and we are responsible for the use we make of it.
Indeed, so mysterious is this power that the very presence of a person
who does not realize his responsibility is often the source of the keenest pain of all..
The failure to exercise the power to give happiness to others is
not merely negative in its results;
it is the source of the most positive suffering of all.
Thus there is no escape from the responsibility involved in the
possession of this power.
Not to use it where it is due is to destroy all happiness.
Strange power, indeed, to be committed to such weak and unworthy hands;
yet there could be but one thing worse:
that none could interfere with the joys and sorrows of others.
We might envy their happiness and pity their sorrows,
but we could not help them.
It would be a world of isolated individuals wrapped in inviolable selfishness;
each must take care of himself and the world must go its way.”
Fr. Basil W. Maturin, p. 149

Our duty to God connects us to our duty to our fellowman

“Great love can change small things into great ones,
and it is only love which lends value to our actions.”
St. Faustina Kowalska

(Getty image)

Our duty.

Duty is a word that we either take seriously or take begrudgingly—we either
feel a sense of responsibility or a sense of dread.

The definition: a task or action that someone is required to perform.

So, like it or not, the truth of the matter is that we were created for duty.
A duty first to our Creator then secondly to our fellow man…

If we would each take this sense of duty seriously…
things in this nation of ours just might look very differently…
as in ‘different’ in a very positive way…

“And it is only by the observance of the first and greatest commandment
that we can keep the second.
The more we love God, the more we shall love man; the less we love God,
the less we shall, in the true sense of the word, love man.
Our love will become capricious, fitful, and unreliable—not charity,
but passion.
If you feel that your love for your fellowman is dying out in the fumes of selfishness,
there is but one way to revive it: strive for, pray for, the love of God.
As the heart turns toward its source, it will be quickened and expanded.
There is no true, no lasting spirit of charity apart from the practice of religion.
Therefore, we cannot keep those commandments which teach us our duty to men unless
we are keeping those which teach us our duty to God.”
Fr. Basil W. Maturin, p. 160
An Excerpt From
Christian Self-Mastery

Child of Grace

You are a child of grace.
If God gave you grace, because he gave it freely, then you should love freely.
Do not love God for the sake of a reward; let God be your reward!
St. Augustine

“It is undoubtedly true that each of us, men and women,
irresponsible and thoughtless as we often are,
hold within our hands the happiness and sorrows of others.
We cannot help it or escape from it. The power is in us inalienably
almost from birth to death—in us, because we are persons—-
and we are responsible for the use we make of it.
Indeed, so mysterious is this power that the very presence of a person
who does not realize his responsibility is often the source of the keenest
pain of all…
The failure to exercise the power to give happiness to others is not
merely negative in its results; it is the source of the most positive
suffering of all.
Thus there is no escape from the responsibility involved in the possession
of this power.
Not to use it where it is due is to destroy all happiness.
Strange power, indeed, to be committed to such weak and unworthy hands;
yet there could be but one thing worse: that none could interfere with the
joys and sorrows of others.
We might envy their happiness and pity their sorrows, but we could not help them.
It would be a world of isolated individuals wrapped in inviolable selfishness;
each must take care of himself and the world must go its way.”
Fr. Basil W. Maturin, p. 149
An Excerpt From
Christian Self-Mastery

gift, grace

“We know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life.
We know that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace;
and though we are so weak of ourselves,
this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.”
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

(a gift from 2014 / Julie Cook)

“‘As God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one,
so let him walk.’
No one can do better with his life than that; no one can put it to a better use.
Any life must be perfect in proportion as it does what it was made to do.
There are many lives that are brilliant failures; they strive after many things
that they were never intended to do and fail in that one thing.
It seems strange that a reasonable being should never ask himself
why he was put upon earth, or that it should not occur to him that
the reason must be found in the will of his Creator…
At the end of the day of our earthly life,
we have to answer to our Maker whether we have been employed about our own work
or about His, whether we have even made an effort to find out what He would have us do.
A life that is inspired by such a motive is sure to be a success,
for of this we may be absolutely certain: that each of us can fulfill in our life
that for which we were created.
We cannot be sure that we have the gifts needed for any other purpose…
For God, in creating us, equipped us for the work for which He created us.
We have every gift of nature and of grace, of mind and body that is needed for this work.”
Fr. Basil Maturin, p. 35
An Excerpt From
Spiritual Guidelines for Souls Seeking God

the power to give…or not

“If you want God to hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor.
If you wish God to anticipate your wants, provide those of the needy without
waiting for them to ask you.”
St. Thomas of Villanova

(an olive dries on the tree outside of St Peters, Rome, Itlay / Julie Cook / 2018)

“It is undoubtedly true that each of us, men and women, irresponsible and thoughtless as we often are,
hold within our hands the happiness and sorrows of others.
We cannot help it or escape from it.
The power is in us inalienably almost from birth to death—in us,
because we are persons—and we are responsible for the use we make of it.
Indeed, so mysterious is this power that the very presence of a person who does not realize his
responsibility is often the source of the keenest pain of all…
The failure to exercise the power to give happiness to others is not merely negative in its results;
it is the source of the most positive suffering of all.
Thus there is no escape from the responsibility involved in the possession of this power.
Not to use it where it is due is to destroy all happiness. Strange power,
indeed, to be committed to such weak and unworthy hands;
yet there could be but one thing worse: that none could interfere with the joys and sorrows of others.
We might envy their happiness and pity their sorrows, but we could not help them.
It would be a world of isolated individuals wrapped in inviolable selfishness;
each must take care of himself and the world must go its way.”
Fr. Basil W. Maturin, p. 149
An Excerpt from
Christian Self-Mastery