Liturgy of the Hours for the Rest of Us

If you’re like any number of Catholics, you’ve heard of the breviary, the Divine Office, and the Liturgy of the Hours. Maybe you’ve tried your hand at an Hour or two. Maybe you’ve even succeeded. But maybe, like many of our fellow Catholics, you’ve failed and given up, coming to the conclusion that those who devote themselves to the Liturgy of the Hours are either... Read More

The Solidarity of Christian Prayer

Faith in Christ opens us to unconquerable ecclesial horizons even when love seems impossible and the world is falling apart around us.  It is about the solidarity we have in Christ.  The solidarity that compels us to pray in terms of “we” and “our” instead of remaining on the level of “I” and “mine.”   The faith we have in Christ opens to a new... Read More

How does cloistering serve God at the highest level?

Q: Dear Father John, My question is “How does cloistering serve God at the highest level?” Let me explain the origin of my question. In college, I was introduced for the first time to Hasidic Jews. My initial impression was that I found it odd that they isolated themselves so much from others in their pursuit of faith-purity. Couldn’t it be considered odd to say one is devoted to God,... Read More

CSD Book Club – 33 Days to Morning Glory (Week 6 of 7)

Ode to Motherhood Mary’s new motherhood is not some vague or abstract sort of thing.  It’s concrete and personal.  And even though it’s universal, it’s also intensely particular.  Mary is your mother.  She is my mother.  In this light, John Paul thinks it’s significant that Mary’s new motherhood on Calvary is expressed in the singular, “Behold, your son” not “Behold, your... Read More

Graces Given by God

Q: Dear Father John, I have started saying a daily Morning Offering Prayer in which I ask God with the help of His Grace that I remain all day in a spirit of praise and thanksgiving and that all of my actions be for the purpose of doing His will. However, I find I cannot remain in this spirit all day with the normal pressures of everyday life to deal with that can take my mind off of God. Does... Read More

CSD Book Club – 33 Days to Morning Glory (Week 5 of 7)

The Intimacy of Devotion [Let] us try in a special way to come as close as the human heart can come to the Heart of Jesus and try to understand as much as possible Jesus’ terrible pain caused him by our sins and His Thirst for our love…Thank God our Lady was there to understand fully the thirst of Jesus for love.  She must have straight away said, “I satiate Your thirst with my love... Read More

CSD Book Club – 33 Days to Morning Glory (Week 4 of 7)

A Kiss from His Sacred Heart Do we yet realize the mysterious link between the darkness we sometimes experience in our own lives and that of the Lord’s suffering?  Let us ponder Mother Teresa’s words on suffering that come from her own experience and so, like her, become better lovers of the Heart of Jesus: Suffering, pain, sorrow, humiliation, feelings of loneliness, are nothing but the... Read More

CSD Book Club – 33 Days to Morning Glory (Week 3 of 7)

The Power of Humility We’ll close these reflections on the wonderful benefits of Marian consecration by letting St. Louis describe how this way is also a secure path, meaning that, as we walk it, we’re particularly protected from and defended against evil: Mary puts herself around [her true children], and accompanies them “like an army in battle array” (Cant. 6:3). Shall a man who has... Read More

Aridity and Progress – Divine Intimacy

Presence of God – O Lord, help me to seek for You and to unite myself to You, even through the aridity and powerlessness of my spirit. MEDITATION 1. Even without the presence of the physical or moral causes which we have mentioned before, it is possible to pass from a state of sensible fervor to one of absolute aridity. This happens by the direct work of God which makes it impossible for... Read More

CSD Book Club – 33 Days to Morning Glory (Week 2 of 7)

The “Surest and Quickest Way to Heaven” Marian consecration basically means giving Mary our full permission (or as much permission as we can) to complete her motherly task in us, which is to form us into other Christs.  Thus, by consecrating ourselves to Mary, each of us is saying to her: Mary, I want to be a saint.  I know that you also want me to be a saint and that it’s your... Read More

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