Discuss this line from St. Francis: “God allows many difficulties to beset those who want to serve him, but he never lets them sink beneath the burden as long as they trust in him.” Why do you think St. Francis uses the analogy of a bee hive to describe the growth of a new religious community? Discuss this line from St. Francis: “God allows many difficulties to beset those who want to serve him, but he never lets them sink beneath the burden as long as they trust in him.” St. Francis says here that “holy humility is the great partner of obedience.” Why is this so? What is obedience? People often warn of striving for spiritual perfection as unattainable, but St. Francis te
Jul 25, 2:01 PM
VisitationSiste: but St. Francis teaches: “A person who can keep calm in spite of pain and weakness, and peaceful when harassed by a great many different things to do, is very nearly perfect; and although there are few people, even among religious, who have attained this degree of happiness, they do exist and have always existed, and we must aim at this high degree of perfection.” Why is it so important for perfection to be an actual goal, not just a fantasy?Discuss the difference between these two ideas: “Beauty, a pleasa
Jul 25, 2:02 PM
VisitationSiste: pleasant manner, and speech often make people who are still living according to their inclinations most attractive; charity looks for real virtue and for beauty of heart and gives itself to all without partiality.”
Jul 25, 2:02 PM
VisitationSiste: newsletter for chat: http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=1029793&f=1988&s=2046&m=621190&t=44f0d18c19339967b1be43b205c1596fa07d3b2574e5f4560987969cb886fdda
Bees work together, united in a common goal.
Jul 25, 7:48 PM
B (Guest): The Mother Superior would be the Queen Bee
Jul 25, 7:48 PM
Elena (Guest): And there is a structure to it.
:49 PM
VisitationSiste: Hives also have compartments like cells in monasteries
Jul 25, 7:49 PM
Elena (Guest): That’s what I was thinking, B. Then I was wondering if God isn’t the “Queen Bee”
M
VisitationSiste: St Francis uses bees a lot in his writings
Jul 25, 7:50 PM
Elena (Guest): Making honey = prayer
7:51 PM
VisitationSiste: They work diligently M
Jul 25, 7:51 PM
B (Guest): The worker bees also willingly self-sacrifice if there is a threat M
Ruth (Guest): He sure makes other bees, and everything that exists; the queen bee is the only one who lays eggs, and all the others each have a role to help her with her work. But I’m afraid the analogy limps a little after that. She kills off the drones. She has no part in leading the other bees to nectar or pollen. 3 PM
Elena (Guest): Yikes! LOL PM
VisitationSiste: Discuss this line from St. Francis: “God allows many difficulties to beset those who want to serve him, but he never lets them sink beneath the burden as long as they trust in him.”
Jul 25, 7:54 PM
Ruth (Guest): “Busy as a bee” is a common expression, and I suppose a well-run monastery has a lot of productive activity.
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Elena (Guest): Ooo! Making a connection to Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians from today’s Traditional Latin Mass…
Jul 25, 7:55 PM
Elena (Guest): “God is faithful and will not permit you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also give you a way out that you may be able to bear it.”
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Elena (Guest): “God is faithful and will not permit you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also give you a way out that you may be able to bear it.”
Jul 25, 7:56 PM
Elena (Guest): 1 Cor 10:13
6 PM
B (Guest): The difficulties could be a test about the sincerity of the person
Jul 25, 7:57 PM
Ruth (Guest): Yes, isn’t it interesting how differently we New-Testament people can look upon difficulties, “challenges,” than the Old Testament people. I’m thinking, for example of Job and his so-called friends.
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Ruth (Guest): I think I have, from childhood and beyond very little of what the Germans would call “Urvertrauen” a sort of basic trust that everything will turn out OK. But I have life long CHOSEN to trust God. And gradually he is giving me what even FEELS like Trust in him, and in people who give some evidence of being trustworthy. I am so grateful.
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VisitationSiste: St. Francis says here that “holy humility is the great partner of obedience.” Why is this so? What is obedience?
Jul 25, 8:04 PM
Ruth (Guest): That is not an arbitrary choice. It has a lot to do with taking God at his word, of having developed an understanding, inadequate though it is, of the relationship between human beings and God.
Jul 25, 8:04 PM
Carol (Guest): But we can trust God for everything, though we can be slow to learn
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4 PM
VisitationSiste: St. Francis says here that “holy humility is the great partner of obedience.” Why is this so? What is obedience?
Jul 25, 8:04 PM
Ruth (Guest): That is not an arbitrary choice. It has a lot to do with taking God at his word, of having developed an understanding, inadequate though it is, of the relationship between human beings and God.
Jul 25, 8:04 PM
Carol (Guest): But we can trust God for everything, though we can be slow to learn
Jul 25, 8:05 PM
Ruth (Guest): Some can.
Jul 25, 8:05 PM
Carol (Guest): https://youtu.be/F9ap0DaiJyY this prayer has helped me tremendously
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B (Guest): There is obedience because it is right and obedience out of fear and it is hard to sometimes tells from which the obedience come 7 PM
Ruth (Guest): Carol, are the people responsible for your formation the same ones you found so difficult to deal with at first, or have they “matched” you to a more suitable formation director, or the others grown as well as you.
Jul 25, 8:08 PM
VisitationSiste: I dont think one can be truly obedient unless one is humble It is easy to be superficially obedient but to be so with ones heart,,,
:08 PM
Carol (Guest): Ruth, this is a completely different order. Everyone is very kind. And I dont get away with anything.. 9 PM
Carol (Guest): Like the two sons who obeyed in different ways. One said yes but his heart was far away. The other said no but repented
Jul 25, 8:09 PM
VisitationSiste: Obedience means listening and to listen we must put ourselves aside for the other
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Carol (Guest): They always seem to know, even when I don’t confess
Jul 25, 8:14 PM
Carol (Guest): It can be hard to listen because we often have preconceived ideas about things
:15 PM
Ruth (Guest): It seems to me that one of the biggest problems in our world today, and I’d say especially in “developed” countries, is putting ourselves ahead of God’s laws, God’s will, even the natural law. And then people wonder why they are unhappy or anxious.
Jul 25, 8:15 PM
VisitationSiste: Listening skills can be learned they say but I am not sure how a skill relates to humility
20 PM
VisitationSiste: Why is it so important for perfection to be an actual goal, not just a fantasy?
Jul 25, 8:20 PM
Carol (Guest): We can have a skill, but if its use doesn’t come from the heart it is insincere
2 PM
Elena (Guest): I think if perfection isn’t the goal, it would be much too easy to get lazy or make excuses. PM
VisitationSiste: It is the ideal and we try to inch closer as we go along 3 PM
Ruth (Guest): I met an elderly man from the Ukraine on Friday. He was holding a garage sale in front of his somewhat run down Lake Placid home in a good neighborhood. (Not as bad as mine, but I made no verbalization about that.) I asked if his daughter was a skater, since I saw a few skating things and different sizes of women’s clothing. He said, his SON was an ice skater. Before you know it I had the life history of this hard-working baker whose son became a lawyer. PM
VisitationSiste: The best of our country- it still happens that people can use their talents and do well
Jul 25, 8:25 PM
Ruth (Guest): I think he realized that I genuinely respected him . . . that made listening easy.
Jul 25, 8:25 PM
Elena (Guest): The flip side is not to become a harsh perfectionist and become scrupulous. I find that I move along this spectrum, being attentive to God’s mercy and providence while striving for Him (perfection).
Jul 25, 8:26 PM
Elena (Guest): Ruth, that’s a beautiful story and insight.
Jul 25, 8:26 PM
Carol (Guest): Scrupulosity is all too easy to fall into
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VisitationSiste: I think we need to do all with love and that makes things perfect in a way M
VisitationSiste: I think we need to do all with love and that makes things perfect in a way
Jul 25, 8:28 PM
Elena (Guest): Oh, Sister, yes! That is so true. Even when we mess up, having done something with love is what God wants.
Jul 25, 8:29 PM
Elena (Guest): And repenting in true humility, but relying on God’s mercy and grace to assist us in getting back up and continuing on with a renewed effort.
Jul 25, 8:29 PM
Ruth (Guest): Yes, we need to strive for perfection in what matters MOST — submitting entirely to God’s will, but discerning properly/correctly. People who get a lot done don’t get “hung up” over some unimportant details. Perfectionism may be a fault rather than a virtue, depending on the circumstances, on WHAT one is trying to do perfectly.
M
VisitationSiste: Yes Gods will is everything
Jul 25, 8:31 PM
Elena (Guest): I love this quote: A person who can keep calm in spite of pain and weakness, and peaceful when harassed by a great many different things to do, is very nearly perfect; and although there are few people, even among religious, who have attained this degree of happiness, they do exist and have always existed, and we must aim at this high degree of perfection
Jul 25, 8:31 PM
Ruth (Guest): And God’s will is LOVE. Our accepting His love, and sharing that love with others.
PM Carol (Guest): If we can abandon ourselves to His will every moment we can doit Jul 25, 8:32 PM VisitationSiste: What a perfect way to end our time together Prayers for all! Jul 25, 8:32 PM Elena (Guest): No matter what is going on, no matter how many directions we may be pulled or sufferings we may endure, we can rely God to draw beauty from it in our souls. Jul 25, 8:32 PM Elena (Guest): Prayers and love! Jul 25, 8:32 PM Elena (Guest): See you next week! Jul 25, 8:33 PM Carol (Guest): Thank you Sister! Jul 25, 8:33 PM Carol (Guest): Have a good week everyone! Jul 25, 8:33 PM Elena (Guest): You, too, Carol! Jul 25, 8:33 PM B (Guest): Goodnight All Jul 25, 8:34 PM Ruth (Guest): Please pray for a 30 year old woman, pregant, whose baby’s father was just this Friday killed in a car crash. Jul 25, 8:35 PM Ruth (Guest): Blessings on all of you, those present tonight and those we are missing . . . Peace. Jul 25, 8:37 PM Ruth (Guest): Good night, Carol. It’s almost dark and I have to go feed the chickens for the third time today. They are growing so fast! Jul 25, 8:37 PM Carol (Guest): Amen