BEFORE THE
BEGINNING
“I have graven
you on the palms of my hands.” (Is 49:16)
“Before I
formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated
you;
I appointed
you a prophet to the nations.” (Jer 1:5)
“The LORD
called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my
name.” (Is 49:1)
“No one has
been born by chance
and no one was consulted before being
brought into the world.
The essence
and existence of each person
is something of
extraordinary value,
something very
important.
Every birth is
always the result
of a very long,
minute and patient planning.
A great number
of circumstances
arising century
after century,
converge in the
precise moment
in which a new
being,
singular and
unique,
makes his
entrance into the world.
And if no one
exists by chance,
there is no chance
involved
in his
particular physical and psychological make-up.
There is also
a reason for the fact
that everyone has
his own individual temperament, qualities,
a particular
degree of intelligence, sensitivity
and even
particular features.
Underlying the
circumstances
which are the
immediate explanation of a person’s character
at any given
moment in life—
education,
environment, friends, influences, reading—
deep down [exists]
that orderliness which ... gives unity to the cosmos,
linking the immense
variety of different creatures.
God neither
maintains nor renews anything useless on earth.”
(F Suarez,
Mary of Nazareth, 13-14)
“When I know that I am chosen,
I know that I have been seen as a special person.
When I write to you that, as the Beloved, we are God's chosen ones,
I mean that we have been seen by God from all eternity
and seen as unique, special, precious beings.
From all eternity,
long before you were born and became a part of history,
you existed in God's heart.
Long before your parents admired you
or your friends acknowledged your gifts
or your teachers, colleagues, and employers encouraged you,
you were already "chosen"...by the One ...
with an everlasting love,
a love that existed from all eternity
and
will last through all eternity.”
(H Nouwen, Life of the Beloved)
“Everyone has
his own specific vocation or mission life;
everyone must carry out a concrete assignment
that demands
fulfillment.
Therein he
cannot be replaced,
nor can his life be
repeated.
Thus,
everyone’s task is as unique
as his specific
opportunity to implement it.”
(V Frankl,
Man’s Search for Meaning, 131)
THE MISSION
“And he went
up into the hills,
and called to him
those whom he desired
and they came to
him.
And he
appointed twelve
to be with him,
and to be sent out
to preach.”
CELEBRATING OUR ELECTION
“The servant can only be obliged to work.
The friend rejoices that he has been chosen by the One
who
has entrusted himself to him
and to
whom he too entrusts himself—entrusts himself totally.”
(John Paul II, Letter to Priests, 1990, 2)
“You have to celebrate your chosenness constantly.
This means saying ‘thank you’ to God for having chosen you...
It is important to realize how often we have had chances to be grateful
and have not used them. ...
What fascinates me so much is that every time we decide to be grateful
it will be easier to see new things to be grateful for.
Gratitude begets gratitude,
just
as love begets love.”
(H Nouwen, Life of the Beloved)
AIMING FOR SAINTHOOD
“Saints generate saints.” (John Paul II)
“Some souls win peace and sanctity
from
the same trials which make others rebels and nervous wrecks.
[And] the phrase [the formula] which sanctifies any moment is ‘Fiat!’
To say and mean ‘Thy will be done’
is to
put an end to all complaining;
for whatever the moment brings to us now
bears
the imprint of the Divine Will.”
(F Sheen, Light Up Your Heart)
SANCTITY IN TINY BITS
“...it is in doing perfectly the little chores [God] gives that saints
find holiness.
The big, world-shattering things
many
of us imagine we would like to do for God might, in the end,
feed
only our egotism.
On the other hand, to accept the crosses of our state of life
because
they come from an all-loving God
is to
have taken the most important step in the reformation of the world,
namely
the reformation of self.”
(F Sheen, Light Up Your Heart)
QUALIFYING FOR THE RACE
“Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
for I
am only a youth.’
But the Lord said to me,
‘Do not say ‘I am only a youth’;
for to
all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Be not afraid of them...” (Jer 1:6-8)
SOURCES OF STRENGTH
“Draw your strength from the Lord,
from
that mastery which his power supplies.
You must wear all the weapons in God’s armory,
if you
would find strength to resist the cunning of the devil.
...Take up all God’s armor then;
so you will be able to stand your ground
when
the evil time comes,
and be
found still on your feet....
Stand fast, ...
take up the shield of faith,
with
which you will be able to quench
all
the fire-tipped arrows of your wicked enemy;
make the helmet of salvation your own,
and
the sword of the spirit, God’s word.” (Eph 6:10-17)
GENUINE HOLINESS
“In order to bring peace, genuine peace, to souls;
in
order to transform the earth
and to
seek God our Lord in the world
and
through the things of the world,
personal holiness is indispensable.” (St Josemaría,
Friends of God, 294)
“Works, works, works,
are
nothing without sanctity, sanctity, sanctity.” (A del
Portillo)
WAGING BATTLES
“The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross.
There is no holiness without renunciation or spiritual battle (cf II Tim
4)”
(CCC 2015)
LESSONS OF GENEROSITY FROM THE HOLY FAMILY
“There no one talks
of my
honor,
of my
time,
of my
work,
of my
ideas,
of my
likes,
of my
money.
There everything is placed at the service
of
God’s great game with humanity,
which
is Redemption.” (St Josemaría, Letter March 1974)
“A LIFE THAT IS ‘GIVEN’”
…for us the words of institution
must
be more than a formula of consecration,
they
must be a ‘formula of life’. …
‘Accipite et manducate. Accipite et
bibite.’
Christ’s self-giving,
which
has its origin in the Trinitarian life of the God who is Love,
reaches
its culmination in the sacrifice of the Cross,
sacramentally
anticipated in the Last Supper.
It is impossible to repeat the words of consecration
without
feeling oneself caught up in this spiritual movement.
In a certain sense, when he says the words: ‘take and eat,’
the
priest must learn to apply them also to himself,
and to
speak them with truth and generosity.
If he is able to offer himself as a gift, …
his
life takes on its true meaning.”
(John Paul II, Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2005, 1, 3)
YEARNING FOR HEAVEN
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
As a hart longs for flowing streams,
so my
soul longs for thee, O God…” (Ps 42:1-2)
“My soul thirsts for thee [sitivit in te
ánima mea]
my flesh faints for thee [te
desideravit caro mea].” (Ps 63:1)
“When shall I come and behold the face of God?
[Quando véniam et apparebo
ante faciem Domini?]” (Ps 42:2)
“Seek his face always with burning desire.” (St Augustine)
“Finding leads to further seeking.” (RL Wilken)
“When a man is finished, then it is that he is beginning.” (Sir 18:3)
C:\Documents and Settings\user\My Documents\jmom RETREAT\crt_03Calling.rtf
Revised 24 March 2005