THIS COMPLETES OUR CHAT SERIES ON THE INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVOUT lIFE
Why do you think Saint Francis suggested that we tell someone that we are trying to live by these guidelines because of our infirmity, opposed to a simple explanation of the benefits therein? What can we make of Saint Francis emphasizing our desire and intention to live the devout life opposed to encouraging being really good at it? We know with many things that good intentions are not enough,so what do you think he is getting at by emphasizing it? How can we all be sure to ensure that we continu
Dec 7, 8:54 AM
Sister Susan Marie (Moderator): continue to walk on the path of striving to live the devout life? What can we do to stay motivated, even in the difficult times?
Dec 7, 8:54 AM
Sister Susan Marie (Moderator): Chat Sun Dec 10 730pm est
Dec 10, 6:14 PM
Carol Ann: Hi All, We evacuated in the middle of the night. I took two neighbors and two dogs to a colleague’s house, and she and the neighbors are feeding us. Hope to go home tomorrow, winds willing
Dec 10, 7:27 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Welcome. This is the last night for the topic on the Introduction to Devout Life. next up is the Treatise on the Love of God
Dec 10, 7:28 PM
Lisa C: Hi Mother
Dec 10, 7:30 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Hi Lisa Just read your e mail Glad you are back I was concerned and praying!
Dec 10, 7:30 PM
Lisa C: Please keep praying
Dec 10, 7:30 PM
Lisa C: thank you
Dec 10, 7:31 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Does transition mean retiring
Dec 10, 7:31 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Hi Judy
Dec 10, 7:31 PM
Lisa C: God is making things happen that were impossible for years, so I guess He is controlling it
Dec 10, 7:32 PM
Judy (Guest): Hi Everyone! Happy Second Sunday of Advent! Ho ho ho, it’s time for snow. Not too bad though. About 3-4 inches here in Rockland County.
Dec 10, 7:33 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Hi Lisa , Judy , and Sr Susan ! God Bless You ! Brian
Dec 10, 7:34 PM
Judy (Guest): Carol Ann, it must have been rather frightening for you. I do hope that you will be able to return home quickly. Hi Brian!
Dec 10, 7:34 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Hi I Brian
Dec 10, 7:35 PM
SrSusan (Guest): I think Carol Anne left a message but I do not think she is here
Dec 10, 7:36 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Just got home from Kairos 61 4day retreat in prison ! 18
Dec 10, 7:36 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Hope it went well
Dec 10, 7:37 PM
SrSusan (Guest): The questions tonight wrap up our book. I think they point ultimately to HUMILITY
Dec 10, 7:37 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Did you take it that way
Dec 10, 7:37 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): 18 Men awesome weekend best in 10 years thanks for all the prayers . Strong Christian Community forming in prison keep praying for Men .
Dec 10, 7:37 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Beautiful
Dec 10, 7:38 PM
Judy (Guest): Well, St. Francis is exhorting us to remain steadfast in the devout life. He suggested that we tell someone that we are trying to live by these guidelines because of our infirmity because it lets them know that we are on a journey to the devout life, that we are not there yet, and it is our infirmity that hinders us in making this journey more quickly and easily.And yes, it is a call to humility.
Dec 10, 7:38 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Kairos family praying for CarolAnn thanks for e-mail Sister Susan
Dec 10, 7:39 PM
SrSusan (Guest): It is true there is a common saying that the way to hell is paved with good intentions but I think St Francis has something else in mind
Dec 10, 7:40 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Again, humility and that sense as you said Judy of a journey
Dec 10, 7:40 PM
SrSusan (Guest): BRB
Dec 10, 7:41 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Are we serving God or Ourselves with service !!!
Dec 10, 7:42 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Always need to self evaluate ! Make sure we are serving God !
Dec 10, 7:42 PM
Judy (Guest): Emphasizing our desire and intention to live the devout life as opposed to geing really god at it, keeps the intention ever at the forefront of our mind and serves as a reminder that we must continue to nurture the desire and intention. To focus on being really good at it could lead to self-deception that we are,in fact, really good at it when in realllyy we may be far from being good at it.
Dec 10, 7:43 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Pharisees shifted from serving God to controlling and judgementalism !
Dec 10, 7:44 PM
Judy (Guest): And if we see ourselves as “good at it”, we might cease striving and perhaps lose ground. Keeping the desire and intention uppermost will move us to continue striving to reach the goal and not enter into a prideful declaration that we have “made it.”
Dec 10, 7:45 PM
Judy (Guest): Again, this will keep us humb;e.
Dec 10, 7:45 PM
Judy (Guest): Humble.
Dec 10, 7:45 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Making yourself available to God everyday to serve orhers
Dec 10, 7:47 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Good point like examination of conscience
Dec 10, 7:48 PM
Lisa C: How did Jesus balance humility with bravery to do what was difficult
Dec 10, 7:49 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Both are gifts of the Holy Spirit courage and humility and He was filled with the Holy Spirit
Dec 10, 7:49 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Pride comes in many forms and our enemy will tempt us immediately especially if we get away from our Christian Community Support .
Dec 10, 7:49 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Even in community!
Dec 10, 7:50 PM
Judy (Guest): Some of us are limited in the ability to serve others. But we can pray for others and that is a ministry. I have a long list of people who are in need of healing whom I remember by name every day. During this Advent I am remembering certain people in the St. Andrew Christmas Novena and a prayer to the Christ Child written by Mother Angelica. I also remembered these folks in the Novena for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Dec 10, 7:50 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): We can isolate ourselves within Community that’s when the enemy attacks us
Dec 10, 7:50 PM
Lisa C: When you asked it it all pointed to humility that thought came to mind. We cannot be only humble or we would not be able to do what we have to do. Not saying that we should not be humble, but it is a mix of virtues that we must have.
Dec 10, 7:50 PM
Judy (Guest): So in spite of my inability to get around much, I can be a prayer warrior.
Dec 10, 7:50 PM
Lisa C: if
Dec 10, 7:51 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Prayer is the deepest Service !!!
Dec 10, 7:51 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Welcome guest 3772!
Dec 10, 7:52 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Yes without prayer we have no power
Dec 10, 7:52 PM
Judy (Guest): Hello guest 3772! Welcome to our chat.
Dec 10, 7:52 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Welcome 3772 ! God Bless You ! Brian
Dec 10, 7:53 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): You have not because you ask not ! Prayer is asking God to help !
Dec 10, 7:53 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Trying to keep our intention to live devoutly also needs to be petitioned before the Lord
Dec 10, 7:54 PM
SrSusan (Guest): And that.s
Dec 10, 7:54 PM
SrSusan (Guest): And tha,s another way of trying to live it out when things are difficult
Dec 10, 7:55 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Childlike Faith helps to keep devout life !
Dec 10, 7:55 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Like St Therese
Dec 10, 7:55 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Enemy tempts us to elevate ourselves or beat ourselves up .
Dec 10, 7:56 PM
SrSusan (Guest): So that is where balance as Lisa mentioned is so helpful
Dec 10, 7:57 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Jesus teaches us to be one family . Beside each other helping each other !
Dec 10, 7:57 PM
Judy (Guest): To ensure that e continue to walk the path to the devout life, we must continuously rekindle the fire of love for the Divine Lord. It is for live of Him that we embark on the journey to the devout life and so we must do everything possible to keep that love alive and growing. We do not want to enbrace the devout life as a goal or object in itself. It is a sign of, and a means to, a closer relaationship with the Lord..
Dec 10, 7:57 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): The enemy is always attacking our unity !
Dec 10, 7:58 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament keeps our Love alive
Dec 10, 7:59 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Amen !!!
Dec 10, 7:59 PM
Judy (Guest): To stay motivated, even in difficult times, we need to keep our eyes on the object of our love,namely, Jesus.Losing sight of Him will surely result in our giving up the wonderful, yet, at times arduous journey to true devotion.Jesus must always have first place in our thoughts and affections.
Dec 10, 8:00 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Amen !!!
Dec 10, 8:00 PM
Judy (Guest): He must, at all times, in all situations, borrowing the terms from marriage–for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health until we join Him in His eternal home where He waits for us.
Dec 10, 8:01 PM
SrSusan (Guest): That in itself makes us devout persons I think
Dec 10, 8:02 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Jesus will never leave us or forsake us !
Dec 10, 8:02 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Devout does not exactly mean the same as pious I am thinking
Dec 10, 8:02 PM
Judy (Guest): Those words have always been a great consolation to me.
Dec 10, 8:03 PM
Judy (Guest): Pious, I think, refers mainly to prayer, while the devout life is a combination of prayer and action.
Dec 10, 8:04 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): We are never Alone !
Dec 10, 8:05 PM
SrSusan (Guest): And the closer one becomes to Jesus the less alone one feels but then there still can be crisis times
Dec 10, 8:06 PM
Judy (Guest): There are times when, although we are close to Jesus and He to us, we do not feel His presence and that can cause a crisis.
Dec 10, 8:06 PM
SrSusan (Guest): I think St Francis said then to retire to the cleft of His Heart
Dec 10, 8:06 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Yes that’s why we have to keep serving others ! That’s what Jesus teaches us !
Dec 10, 8:06 PM
SrSusan (Guest): In will and in imagination and desire
Dec 10, 8:07 PM
Judy (Guest): Rock of Ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.
Dec 10, 8:07 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Is that a hymn Rock of Ages
Dec 10, 8:07 PM
Judy (Guest): Sure is. An old one.
Dec 10, 8:07 PM
Lisa C: The cleft is very big due to all the sin in the world and so we are always in the cleft of His Heart
Dec 10, 8:07 PM
Lisa C: We just forget
Dec 10, 8:08 PM
Judy (Guest): The cleft is also very big because of His great love for us.
Dec 10, 8:09 PM
SrSusan (Guest): So we need to remind ourselves
Dec 10, 8:09 PM
SrSusan (Guest): His Love is great and generation after generation He finds ways to call our attention to Himself
Dec 10, 8:09 PM
Judy (Guest): A love so great that He opened His arms on the cross and died for us. And before that, He lift His Heavenly home and “pitched His tent among us.”
Dec 10, 8:10 PM
Judy (Guest): Left His Heavenly home
Dec 10, 8:10 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Amen ! God wants to save everyone !!!
Dec 10, 8:10 PM
Lisa C: The cleft surrounds the whole universe for all of time
Dec 10, 8:10 PM
SrSusan (Guest): And His tent remains
Dec 10, 8:10 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Beautiful image Lisa what a picture that would make
Dec 10, 8:11 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Amen !!!
Dec 10, 8:11 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Instead of the black hole of the universe vacuuming all into itself His Heart,s hole embraces all in itself
Dec 10, 8:12 PM
Judy (Guest): Can you imagine a picture of the Heart of Jesus,wide open, and inside every planet and star and galaxy and person within. How awesome that would be!
Dec 10, 8:12 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Yes I am trying mental image of this
Dec 10, 8:12 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Amen !!! It’s the Truth !!!
Dec 10, 8:12 PM
Judy (Guest): Sure wish I could paint. I would paint the image.
Dec 10, 8:13 PM
SrSusan (Guest): This ia a real inspiration I wish I had artistic gifts but…
Dec 10, 8:14 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Sr Gail are you still able to follow us here
Dec 10, 8:14 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Have a friend Judy did not start painting until age 70 ! He is 80 and has such a joy for pairing !
Dec 10, 8:14 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Painting
Dec 10, 8:14 PM
Lisa C: That would have to be painted by God not us. Like the eyes of Blessed Mother on the Tilma show a tiny Juan
Dec 10, 8:14 PM
Lisa C: No one could paint that
Dec 10, 8:14 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Miraculous
Dec 10, 8:15 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Our Lady,s Feast on Tuesday
Dec 10, 8:15 PM
Lisa C: The Heart would have to be so big that we could not see us in it if we saw the universe
Dec 10, 8:15 PM
Lisa C: Unpaintable
Dec 10, 8:15 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Amen Lisa !!!
Dec 10, 8:16 PM
Guest3772 (Guest): Yes, I am still here.
Dec 10, 8:16 PM
Judy (Guest): We would certainly be tiny specks in such a picture. At least we can imagine it within ourselves.
Dec 10, 8:16 PM
SrSusan (Guest): And it is true we are all in God and God is in us
Dec 10, 8:17 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Amen !!!
Dec 10, 8:17 PM
Lisa C: Hillary Clinton went to Mexico and saw the image and said it was beautiful asked who painted it and we told God did.
Dec 10, 8:17 PM
SrSusan (Guest): So when we find living a devout life difficult in our circumstances we now have a grand image to contemplate for strength
Dec 10, 8:17 PM
Judy (Guest): I ask the Lord to absorb me so that I may be lost in Him, and to allow me to absorb Him so that I may be filled with Him.
Dec 10, 8:18 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Unity and union with God
Dec 10, 8:18 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): We saw that dramatically this weekend in prison ! You see men come to life in just 4 days with Jesus !!!!
Dec 10, 8:18 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Extraordinary Ministry BRian
Dec 10, 8:19 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Can you apply what you do in prison with other groups
Dec 10, 8:19 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Or is it very specific
Dec 10, 8:19 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Jesus does Great Work !!! Keep the prayers going For Kairos 61 Men
Dec 10, 8:19 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Yes!
Dec 10, 8:19 PM
Judy (Guest): It must have been almost like Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. He called him forth and told his friends to untie him and let him go. Jesus is saying the same thing to these prisoners.
Dec 10, 8:20 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Everyone Sister Susan !
Dec 10, 8:20 PM
Lisa C: I think the cleft can also be small and cozy
Dec 10, 8:20 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Kairos is very similar to Cursillo
Dec 10, 8:21 PM
Lisa C: It has rooms
Dec 10, 8:21 PM
Lisa C: many mansions
Dec 10, 8:21 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Like the 7 mansions?
Dec 10, 8:21 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Listen Listen Love Love
Dec 10, 8:22 PM
Lisa C: It is the last one
Dec 10, 8:22 PM
SrSusan (Guest): What a simple yet profound motto
Dec 10, 8:22 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Make a friend , be a friend , introduce that friend to Christ !!!!
Dec 10, 8:23 PM
Judy (Guest): Here we are in this season of waiting. Waiting can make us impatient. But this waiting is different. As it says in the Eucharistic prayer, we wait in joyful hope for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Come Lord Jesus, come!
Dec 10, 8:23 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Last mansion is the closest or highest?
Dec 10, 8:23 PM
Lisa C: divine union
Dec 10, 8:23 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Ah yes
Dec 10, 8:23 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): We are Family !!!
Dec 10, 8:24 PM
Judy (Guest): My theme for this Advent is “Jesus in the gift that keeps on giving!’
Dec 10, 8:24 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Are you all ok with trying St Francis next work on the TReatise for the chat and see if it is do able
Dec 10, 8:24 PM
Lisa C: It is very long
Dec 10, 8:24 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Beautiful Judy
Dec 10, 8:24 PM
Lisa C: But it contains everything
Dec 10, 8:24 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Awesome Sister Susan !!!
Dec 10, 8:25 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Wee finished the Introduction tonight almost 2 years!
Dec 10, 8:25 PM
Judy (Guest): You bet. Holy cow, I looked in the TAN books catalogue and was shocked to see that the book is over $29.00 Gosh, books are becoming so expensive that only the wealthy can afford them. How sad!!!
Dec 10, 8:26 PM
Lisa C: John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Dec 10, 8:26 PM
SrSusan (Guest): The treatise was that price? It is on line somewher
Dec 10, 8:26 PM
Judy (Guest): Probably Amazon, I will have to check.
Dec 10, 8:27 PM
Lisa C: https://www.catholicspiritualdirection.org/treatiseloveofgod.pdf
Dec 10, 8:27 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Thank you Lisa
Dec 10, 8:28 PM
Judy (Guest): The Life and Works of St.Gertrude is also running about $28 at this point. Glad I bought it a number of years ago.
Dec 10, 8:28 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Wee might do an abbreviated version!!
Dec 10, 8:28 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): Thanks Lisa !!!
Dec 10, 8:29 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Have a very blessed Second Week of Advent
Dec 10, 8:29 PM
Lisa C: You too Mother
Dec 10, 8:29 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Like praying for one another
Dec 10, 8:30 PM
Judy (Guest): Thank you Lisa for this tip.
Dec 10, 8:30 PM
SrSusan (Guest): a God bless!
Dec 10, 8:30 PM
Judy (Guest): Prepare the way of the Lord!
Dec 10, 8:30 PM
Lisa C: God be praised
Dec 10, 8:30 PM
SrSusan (Guest): Yes!
Dec 10, 8:30 PM
Guest1059 (Guest): God Bless You All ! Brian 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Dec 10, 8:30 PM
Judy (Guest): Good night everyone. Have a prayerful and blessed week!
Dec 11, 12:12 AM
Ruth (Guest): Hello Chat Friends, Sorry I missed tonight’s chat.Slept through it (failed to set my alarm with a late afternoon nap), and through supper (cooking now), after a rough night (mostly cold) but one from which I awoke in the morning from a beautiful “Marian” dream, feeling peaceful and more energetic than usual. Will read tonight’s chat sometime during the week.A blessed second week of Advent to all of you.