Sun chat: June 5 730PM: On Sunday we will chat about the importance of how we choose the devout life.
We continue our series with Part I, Chapter 18: “Tenth Meditation – On How the Soul Chooses the Devout Life” from An Introduction to the Devout Life
Jun 5 2016, 7:17 PM
Guest3902 (guest): Hi Everyone! It’s Judy. Hope you have had a good week. Here in Rockland County, NY, we have had some monsoon like rains today. I got thoroughly drenched leaving church in spite of the fact that I wore a rain coat and rain hat. I cannot use an umbrella since I need both hands to navigate the rollator.
Jun 5 2016, 7:19 PM
Guest3902 (guest): Hi Lisa!
Jun 5 2016, 7:20 PM
Dawn L: thank you for your prayers last week, everything turned out well. I mostly was assigned to take over grands
VisitationSiste: I really like this line and image ” Look around–one and all you will see them with loving, holy, gentle countenances listening to the Voice of their Lord, all seeking to enthrone Him more and more within their hearts. 7:31 PM
VisitationSiste: Coming right after the Feast of the Sacred heart- I imagine all our congregation like that! , 7:31 PM
Lisa C: I loved all the readings on Friday7:31 PM
Lisa C: They all show how Jesus is going to grab all His sheep and bring them to Himself
Jun 5 2016, 7:32 PM
VisitationSiste: Hello Janie
Jun 5 2016, 7:32 PM
Guest3902 (guest): I think that all of us here are in the same position, seeking to enthrone Him in our hearts.
7:32 PM
Dawn L: yes, and it is a process or a journey as we are called closer and choose yes! 7:34 PM
Lisa C: The Sacred Heart is the most special, I think5 PM
VisitationSiste: I was also struck with the idea of “hovering” maybe not between such radical opposites but between the good and the better
, 7:37 PM
Dawn L: important focus Mother, thank you. because it is a hovering and between the good and the betterPM
VisitationSiste: Yes most of us may steer clear of overt evil- but there is the insidious kind- and in the above- truly the Will of God helps us decide between good and better I thinkPM
Guest3902 (guest): It is my desire to give the Lord complete control of my life, but I guess I probably take it back sometimes.
Jun 5 2016, 7:40 PM
Ruth (guest): Thanks for asking, sister. I think I’m healing more rapidly than average. I am in a nursing home, though, that is the worst in the area — have been fighting since arrival Thursday to get abominable conditions corrected. Medications are all screwed up, diet poor, and I have still not seen a physician.
41 PM
VisitationSiste: To give God control is worthy we often don’t recognize how He shows us He is there
PM
Guest1458 (guest): My son Mitchell’s High School Graduation was Friday night they had a beautiful mass for the Feast of the Sacred Heart with some of his closest friends singing after mass they had beautiful graduation ceremony for Buffalo Chsterton Academy ! Praise God !!!
Jun 5 2016, 7:42 PM
Lisa C: I think He shows us through people
Jun 5 2016, 7:43 PM
VisitationSiste: SFDS” Surely you have altogether renounced Satan with his weary miserable troop, by the good resolutions you have made;–but nevertheless you have not yet wholly attained to the King Jesus, or altogether joined His blessed company of devout ones:–you have hovered betwixt the two. –
, 7:43 PM
Lisa C: He shows us He is there by showing us love from people and showing us people who need our love
Jun 5 2016, 7:44 PM
VisitationSiste: Here’s how I “hover” -in decison making- not being completely sure of the Will of God I procrastinate in making a choice
Jun 5 2016, 7:44 PM
Amy Cochran: Giving yourself totally to Jesus is very difficult, totally trusting. it sounds great but in actuality it’s very tough
Jun 5 2016, 7:44 PM
Dawn L: I am becoming aware, speaking of two worlds, where my interior does not always aline with exterior.for instance, suddenly in disagreement with a neighbor and it just seemed so out of the ordinary for me. Mostly I felt I had failed at that moment. so I attempted to make amends, it did not matter at that point if I was seen as “right”…oh think I am in another conversation
Jun 5 2016, 7:44 PM
Guest2010 (guest): This is new to me
VisitationSiste: Union with God in every moment – one can begin by asking God for grace before every action or at least every new actionM
Guest2010 (guest): Trying to discern my true calling, I find it confusing.
Jun 5 2016, 7:47 PM
Lisa C: Tiny efforts to do something for God are repaid by great grace to resist evil
7:47 PM
Guest1458 (guest): We must share the Love Jesus has brought to us Really Listen to others . We represent Jesus for them and they need to open up to us ! It helps them to see what God wants them to do next . Our testimonies help them to see Gods real Love in action for us !
Behold the company of devout souls and their guardian Angels, contemplate the beauty of this religious Kingdom. What lovelier than the troop of virgin souls, men and women, pure as lilies:– widows in their holy desolation and humility; husbands and wives living in all tender love and mutual cherishing. See how such pious souls know how to combine their exterior and interior duties;–to love the earthly spouse without diminishing their devotion to the Heavenly Bridegroom. –
VisitationSiste: St Francis wrote”The Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph, Saint Louis, Saint Monica, and hundreds of thousands more who were once like you, living in the world, call upon you and encourage you.
5. The Crucified King Himself calls you by your own name: “Come, O my beloved, come, and let Me crown thee!” :50 PM
VisitationSiste: How has Jesus positively crowned you in instances in your life, as a member of His Kingdom? 0 PM
Guest1458 (guest): Ruth you are always in our prayers ! God Love You ! Brian Ps Lian had a wonderful first week in Arizona ! Thank you for your prayers for her !!!
Jun 5 2016, 7:51 PM
Guest3902 (guest): 2010, the first question I would ask is if you have a spiritual director. This is an essential part of the discernment process.
Jun 5 2016, 7:51 PM
Lisa C: Baptism has marked us as members of His Kingdom
Jun 5 2016, 7:51 PM
Guest2010 (guest): Not sure where to start, I watch EWTN often.
Jun 5 2016, 7:52 PM
Guest3902 (guest): He has crowned me as a member of His Kingdom by calling me to become an Oblate of the Precious Blood and a Salesian Cooperator.
Jun 5 2016, 7:52 PM
Lisa C: Jesus says that He knows His sheep and they know Him. I would say that I have been crowned by knowing I am His.
Jun 5 2016, 7:52 PM
Ruth (guest): not. ..altogether joined his blessed company of devout ones. What does SFdS refer to here?
Jun 5 2016, 7:53 PM
Lisa C: I just know He is mine and I am His. It is as simple as that.
7:54 PM
Guest3902 (guest): Lisa, you remind me of a song that we used to sing at prayer meetings–
Jun 5 2016, 7:54 PM
VisitationSiste: Ruth- the ones trying to live a devout life-
Jun 5 2016, 7:54 PM
Guest3902 (guest): I am my Beloved’s and He is mine, His banner over me is love.”
, 7:54 PM
Guest1458 (guest): Jesus has given me many opportunities to serve others sometimes in the most difficult circumstances ! It has been a privilege to be there for Him and for others !!! 6, 7:56 PM
Guest3902 (guest): Having been called at various times to be a Lector or an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and the Province Coordinator of the Salesian cooperators has given me a great opportunity to serve my brothers and sisters.
Jun 5 2016, 7:57 PM
VisitationSiste: O world, O vile company, never will I enlist beneath thy banner;
7:57 PM
Amy Cochran: I have been crowned with the gift of being his ‘next door neighbor’, living next door. 7:57 PM
Dawn L: He has given me one place to rest from where I can be available for others, mostly in my family but not only there, sometimes a stranger57 PM
Guest3902 (guest): By the grace of God, I will never enlist under the banner of Satan! 16, 7:57 PM
Dawn L: I like that Amy! :58 PM
Ruth (guest): And isn’t it wonderful, Lisa, how we can each have a similar sort of relationship with our God, especially since, through Jesus, (S)he who sees [Jesus] sees the Father and we know His LOVE, 7:58 PM
Lisa C: Yes, Ruth59 PM
Guest3902 (guest): He calls all of us into an intimate relationship with Him. 7:59 PM
Amy Cochran: and it’s a crown to minister to those in nursing homes and the prison. I just don’t feel comfortable with the word “crown”
Jun 5 2016, 7:59 PM
Dawn L: Renouncing the evil one is a Grace I received, even seeing how and who that was at one time influcing my life…
:00 PM
Guest3902 (guest): Would “gift” be a better word, Amy?
Jun 5 2016, 8:00 PM
Ruth (guest): Sorry I am only partially “with” everyone on chat, because there’s been a lot going on in this room just now.
Amy Cochran: yes, that’s much better, thank you
8:02 PM
Dawn L: when I was in nursing there were always occasions to do Gods work..I do understand now that grace can work through someone who doesn’t even quite understand, or maybe not yet converted
Jun 5 2016, 8:02 PM
VisitationSiste: I would also say that I followed His lead and did exactly “choose” the devout life but was led into a deepr relationship with the Lord
Jun 5 2016, 8:02 PM
Guest1458 (guest): Even when I suffer I know that God is clearing a path for many others to join our Family with Jesus forever !!!
8:03 PM
Guest6279 (guest): Tonight’s meditation reminds me of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Was SFDS greatly influenced by him?
Jun 5 2016, 8:04 PM
Guest3902 (guest): The Feast of the Sacred Heart helps us to tune in to the great love that Jesus has for us. It’s almost like a spiritual Valentine’s day. We seem to refer to the heart as the seat of love, and so it seems appropriate to see the Heart of Jesus as the source of love for all of us. And it is this love that draws us to Him and leads Him to call us to Himself.
VisitationSiste: Yes he was
Jun 5 2016, 8:04 PM
VisitationSiste: St Francis went to a Jesuit school
5 PM
Dawn L: beautifully stated Brian! a spiritual Valentines day
Jun 5 2016, 8:05 PM
Ruth (guest): Amy, I wonder if that is why you never left; it sounded a while back as though you wanted to move to NYC or a hispanic community in Yonkers — or am I mistaken?
Jun 5 2016, 8:06 PM
Guest3902 (guest): I am working on a formation talk for our cooperators’ meeting on June 18th and it will be on the Sacred Heart. One surprising fact that I learned in my research is that St. Gertrude was greatly devoted to the Sacred Heart long before the revelations to St.Margaret Mary.
7 PM
Dawn L: did St Gertrude then have some sort of revelations before St MM ?
Jun 5 2016, 8:07 PM
VisitationSiste: Yes 3902- there were others St Margaret mary has the distinction of the Lord asking her to bring this devotion out in a more public way
6, 8:08 PM
Guest1458 (guest): We may even be a target of the enemy from time to time but God will only allow us to suffer what He knows we can handle with Him ! When the enemy goes after us he is leaving many other souls open to Salvation ! And God will bring them into the Family forever through Jesus Christ Our Lord !!! PM
Guest3902 (guest): Yes, Dawn. Gertrude received a number of revelations of the Sacred Heart from Jesus. One of them is that His “heart is an altar upon which the sacrifices of the faithful, the homage of teh elect, and the worship of the angels are offered, on which Jesus, the Eternal High Priest, offers Himself in sacrifice.” (from TAn books “St. Gertrude the Great: Herald of Divine Love)
Jun 5 2016, 8:11 PM
Guest1458 (guest): When we pray for each other we are a tremendous force for God against the enemy
:12 PM
Dawn L: ah, Amen!!
Jun 5 2016, 8:12 PM
Guest3902 (guest): What a gift we give to others by praying for them. We recognize their needs and present them to the Lord, trusting that He will fill them in His way and time.
Jun 5 2016, 8:13 PM
Michelle P Olivier: Yes, just as when we asks the Saints and the Souls in Purgatory to intercede for us
PM
Amy Cochran: yes, I did want to relocate to ny, but being next door to Jesus is a true gift
Jun 5 2016, 8:15 PM
Guest3902 (guest): And there we are, the Communion of Saints–the Church Militant praying for other Church Militants and the souls in purgatory, the Church Triumphant praying for all of us, and the Church Suffering praying for the Church Militant.
8:16 PM
Guest1458 (guest): We were traveling with our large group to Prison for Kairos in big snow storm and The Lord provided three large plows in front of our caravan ! That is what prayer together does it allows God to clear the path for all of us in all our ministries together !!!
Jun 5 2016, 8:17 PM
VisitationSiste: Hi Sister
7 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Hello! Just got out of recreation with our guest, Sr. Mary Paula of Mendota Heights – very entertaining!
Jun 5 2016, 8:17 PM
Guest1458 (guest): Hi Sister Mary Roberta !!!
Jun 5 2016, 8:18 PM
Dawn L: Hi Sister!
Jun 5 2016, 8:18 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: so you’re discussing Holy Father’s “vile world”?
Jun 5 2016, 8:18 PM
Guest3902 (guest): Actually we are focusing on the world of Jesus.
Jun 5 2016, 8:19 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: good idea! That’s what Holy Father suggested, after all.
20 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Unfortunately so many people see Satan’s “weary miserable troop” as very attractive.
Jun 5 2016, 8:20 PM
Guest1458 (guest): Please everyone pray for Kairos Men at Wende Thursday – Sunday for our June retreat in prison with whole new group of Men !
Jun 5 2016, 8:21 PM
Guest3902 (guest): It is better to keep our eyes on Jesus than on the evil one. I can’t remember who said it, but someone said that if we want to conquer sin, we need to focus on the goodness and love of Jesus and not on sin.
Jun 5 2016, 8:21 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: My prisoner-pen pal in VA runs his prison’s Kairos retreats, which are always looked forward to and are well-attended.
Jun 5 2016, 8:21 PM
Guest1458 (guest): Amen !
Jun 5 2016, 8:21 PM
Amy Cochran: I like that Guest 3902
Jun 5 2016, 8:22 PM
Amy Cochran: what is a kairos retreat?
:22 PM
Lisa C: Yes, Judy, if I think about the fact that Jesus would be disappointed by a particular sin, it is easy to refrain from whatever it is
Jun 5 2016, 8:24 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I just read a passage from one of SFdS’s sermons, urging us to give Our Lord our hearts: “Give your heart to Him, such as it is.”
Jun 5 2016, 8:25 PM
Dawn L: Come, just as you are…
Jun 5 2016, 8:25 PM
Ruth (guest): Yes, and the prayers of others not physically present can make a difference for good, too. I am so grateful to all of you who have been praying for me. Though I’ve had a couple of crying spells, I would then get up and make others smile and laugh, even with what may have been “odd” prayers of gratitude. Like, faced with a disposable paper plate of soggy, cold food that was supposed to be hot (which seems to have been the source of a 20 hour episode of severe GI problems) I’d say, “Thank God, at least I do
Jun 5 2016, 8:25 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: When we surrender to Him, He can use us as His powerful instruments for good.
8:27 PM
Guest3902 (guest): I seem to be on a musical bent tonight. A hymn we used to sing at First Communions–“My child, give Me thy heart, O give Me thy heart. For I have loved thee with a love no mortal heart can tell. When pierced and wounded on the cross, man’s sin and doom were Mine. I’ve loved you with a deathless love, immortal and divine.”
Jun 5 2016, 8:27 PM
Dawn L: that is funny, Ruth. it is so good to laugh!
Jun 5 2016, 8:27 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: In a letter SFdS wrote: God to prayer with great meekness of spirit, without wanting to do anything there, save to receive from Our Lord what He will give you.”
Jun 5 2016, 8:27 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Go, not God
9 PM
Guest3902 (guest): Like that Psalm in the Liturgy of the Hours speaks of God pouring favors on His elect while they sleep.
Jun 5 2016, 8:29 PM
Lisa C: Were these Catholic nursing homes?
30 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: As we read in this week’s reading from the INTRO:
Jun 5 2016, 8:31 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: our “Saviour’s Eye is upon” us to comfort us, when we see Him only
Jun 5 2016, 8:31 PM
Ruth (guest): Yes, Sr. Susan; I’d been praying “Blessed Mary, give me patience!” repeatedly when I seemed to get the “commission” : What you need more than patience right now is an ALTERNATIVE environment. I was sure that the others, most way sicker than I was, did, too. So I am working at it.
Jun 5 2016, 8:31 PM
Guest3902 (guest): Let us spend this week at rest in the Lord, as waiting vessels to receive the blessings that He will pour out upon us.
Jun 5 2016, 8:31 PM
Guest1458 (guest): Kairos is similar to Cursillo retreat but we do the retreat with a very large group of volunteers inside prison . The men are asighned to table families for weekend . Members of team take turns with talks . We Listen Listen Love Love . Forgiveness of self and others is big part of weekend and the weekend provides men an opportunity to join a Christian community while they are in prison . Their are Kairos Prison Ministry International has groups all over US and around the world !
Jun 5 2016, 8:31 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: oop, seek (and see, too, maybe)