Praying in Humility and Mercy

Is it possible to pray out of misery without falling into self-pity?   The question, posed by one of our readers, indicates a grave evil confronted in prayer.   Misery is the demeaning absence of God’s love, a love we have rejected.  Without the love God created us to know, we are restless and in our restlessness we are inclined to mistake our own bloated egos for God.  The gravity... Read More

Why I Kneel

Genuflect: late Latin genuflectere, from Latin genu, knee, and flectere, to bend. 1 a. to bend the knee. b. to touch the knee to the floor or ground especially in worship. The first time I went to Mass, in trembling and fear, I was shocked to see people kneeling. In the middle of Los Angeles, in the middle of the day. I felt like I’d stumbled upon a group of folks sitting on the toilet,... Read More

How can I learn to trust?

Q:  Dear Father John, I have felt a great desire to enter religious life for a few years now, but keep hitting an invisible wall so-to-speak. After attempting the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, the Lord helped me to see that I am not ‘indifferent’ and have to rebuild my foundation of a personal relationship with Him. In particular He helped me see my utter inability to surrender... Read More

How can I get out of patterns of sin!?

Q. Dear Sister Carmen, how can I deepen my relationship with God when I am stuck in patterns of sin that I can’t seem to break? I’ve asked this question to several people at different times, but I really can’t seem to figure this out or make any progress. I am really grieved over this. Thank you for your help. A. It seems to me that your grief over patterns of sin is already the beginning... Read More

Sayings of Light and Love #20

God is more pleased by one work, however small, done secretly, without desire that it be known, than a thousand done with the desire that people know of them. Those who work for God with purest love not only care nothing about whether others see their works, but do not even seek that God himself know of them. Such persons would not cease to render God the same services, with the same joy and... Read More

His Grace for My Sin – A Prayer of St. Augustine

“What fault committed by man has not been expiated by the Son of God made man? What pride can be so immeasurably inflated, that it could not be brought down by such humility? Truly, O my God, if we were to weigh both the offenses committed by sinners, and the grace of God the Redeemer, we would find that the difference equaled not only the distance between east and west, but the distance... Read More

How can I overcome the root sin of vanity?

Q: Dear Father Edward, would you be willing to post the virtues to overcome the root sin of vanity and pride also? A: “Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” That line from the Book of Ecclesiastes rings as true today as on the day it was written. Vanity is one of the three root sins that plague humanity. Much of our economy is built on vanity,... Read More

62. Servants and Signs (Matthew 20:20-34)

“He it is whose sufferings are shared by the martyrs with their glorious courage and by all those who believe and are born again at the moment of their regeneration.” -Pope St. Leo the Great Matthew 20:20-34: Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed low; and he said to her, ‘What is it you want?’ She said to him, ‘Promise that these... Read More

Frustration and Humility… Is there such thing as an “Act” of humility?

Q: Dear Father John, Your recent comments on frustration, impatience and the need for humility and how to grow in it have been insightful and practical.  Thank you so much!  However, I would like to know how you would advise going about making an “act of humility”.  I am familiar with the Litany of Humility, but I am thinking that there may be a shorter prayer that we could pray... Read More

A Question about the Litany of Humility in Lent – How can I be freed from the desire of being loved?

Q: Dear Father John, I am trying to pray the Litany of Humility with special reverence and attentiveness during this Lent, and in doing so the following question keeps recurring to me: In the Litany of Humility, the second request is: “From the desire of being loved, Lord Jesus, free me!” How am I to understand this request? I had thought that to want to love and to be loved is a... Read More

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