Some Sunday Encouraging Words to Start the Week Off Right
Most of us need encouragement from time to time. Here's something from St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi:
Simple, isn't it? And common sense tells you she's exactly right. It's not so much what we do that's important. It's really why and how we do it.
In the midst of hot summer days, St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi serves us a refreshing drink in a tall glass filled with ice, condensation dripping down the sides. A good sip - better a hearty gulp - spikes our langorous, meandering spirit. Perk up, soul. There's hope.
And thank God for that, since the very idea of sainthood hangs before most of us a hopeless endeavor if ever we read about and think about the lives of the canonized saints. For example, this past Friday was the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola. Read about this man and you're in awe. Yes, his younger life was rather superficially focused. But once he realized he was called to a more substantial world, he rose up from the mundane to the supernatural.
But wait! He knew it wasn't really Ignatius who rose, or at least rose on his own. He knew it was God's grace that lifted him up. And isn't God's grace freely given to each of us, requiring only our cooperation with that grace?
True, but look at what St. Ignatius accomplished in his life, eventually founding the mighty Society of Jesus, that great company of men who led the charge against the Protestant Revolt, evangelized the world, establishing, among other things, the greatest collection of educational institutions in history, ever, anywhere.
And what did I do today?
And still, St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi says:
Or, as St Ignatius famously said:
Ad maiorem Dei Gloriam.
For the greater glory of God.
“A person who performs all his actions with the pure intention of the glory of God, goes straight to Heaven, without passing through the fires of purgatory.”
Simple, isn't it? And common sense tells you she's exactly right. It's not so much what we do that's important. It's really why and how we do it.
In the midst of hot summer days, St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi serves us a refreshing drink in a tall glass filled with ice, condensation dripping down the sides. A good sip - better a hearty gulp - spikes our langorous, meandering spirit. Perk up, soul. There's hope.
And thank God for that, since the very idea of sainthood hangs before most of us a hopeless endeavor if ever we read about and think about the lives of the canonized saints. For example, this past Friday was the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola. Read about this man and you're in awe. Yes, his younger life was rather superficially focused. But once he realized he was called to a more substantial world, he rose up from the mundane to the supernatural.
But wait! He knew it wasn't really Ignatius who rose, or at least rose on his own. He knew it was God's grace that lifted him up. And isn't God's grace freely given to each of us, requiring only our cooperation with that grace?
True, but look at what St. Ignatius accomplished in his life, eventually founding the mighty Society of Jesus, that great company of men who led the charge against the Protestant Revolt, evangelized the world, establishing, among other things, the greatest collection of educational institutions in history, ever, anywhere.
And what did I do today?
And still, St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi says:
“A person who performs all his actions with the pure intention of the glory of God, goes straight to Heaven, without passing through the fires of purgatory.”Can't I do this? Can't we all do this? No matter our station in life. Which, frankly for most of us, likely consists of rather ordinary work of little consequence. Ah, but our intention - that's what matters. Surely we can, with God's grace, strive to do anything and everything today, this glorious Sunday, and tomorrow, and every day hence, with the pure intention of the glory of God.
Or, as St Ignatius famously said:
Ad maiorem Dei Gloriam.
For the greater glory of God.
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