REJOICE AND BE GLAD!
Regina coeli laetare,
Quia quem meruísti portare
resurrexit sicut dixit!
THE LORD KEEPS HIS WORD
“Your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy from you.”
(Jn 16:22)
“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will tell of all thy wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in thee,
I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High.” (Ps 9:1-2)
“Gaudete in Domino semper.
Íterum dico, gaudete!” (Phil 4:4)
“Semper gaudete.
Sine intermissione oráte.
In ómnibus grátias ágite.” (I Thess 5:16-18)
YOUTHFULNESS OF SPIRIT
The so-called “Christian youthfulness of the spirit ...
consists in remaining always faithful to the love of God.
Union with God makes us grow everyday in that youthfulness.
On the other hand, what separates us from God—
sin and all its consequences—
is the path to interior ageing,
to stiffness and to slowness
in knowing and living the
constant novelty of the love of God,
which he has revealed to us
in Christ.”
(John Paul II, To the Youth, 11 April 1987)
One article about St Josemaría’s canonization mentioned
a river of “smiling adolescents.”
DON’T QUIT
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest, you must - but don't you quit
Life is queer with its twists and turns
As everyone of us sometimes learns
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow
You might succeed with another blow
Success is failure turned inside out,
the silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things seem worst,
That you MUST NOT QUIT!
(Author Unknown)
PASSING ON THE JOY
“Don’t forget that sometimes
one needs to have smiling faces around.”
(St Josemaría, Furrow, 57)
“May no one read sadness or sorrow in your face
when you spread in the world around you
the sweet smell of your
sacrifice:
the children of God should
always be sowers of peace and joy.”
(St Josemaría, Furrow, 59)
When our happiness “spills over into other men,
it gives birth to hope,
to optimism,
to impulses to be generous in
our daily toil,
and spreads its welcome contagion to the whole of society.
My children, only if you have within you this divine grace,
which is joy and peace,
will you be able to construct something of value for men.”
(John Paul II, 10 April 1979)
Have you ever seen a sad salesman?
EVER LEARNING, EVER GROWING, EVER LOVING
“You want to know on what our faithfulness is founded?
I would say, in broad outline,
that it is based on loving God,
which makes us overcome all kinds of obstacles:
selfishness,
pride,
tiredness,
impatience...
A man in love tramples on his own self.
He is aware that even when he is loving with all his soul,
he isn’t yet loving enough.”
(St Josemaría, The Forge, 532)
FORGING AHEAD
Forward, without worrying about misunderstandings
(which will disappear with
time)
or a lack of vision on the part
of some people who ought to know better.
You need to have
peace,
serenity,
charity,
and, on the human plane,
the ability to keep quiet
and smile cheerfully.”
(St Josemaría, 303)
HALF-FILLED GLASS
“Optimism?
Yes, always!
Even when things seem to turn out badly:
perhaps that is the time to break into a song,
with a ‘Gloria’,
because you have sought refuge in him,
and nothing but good can come to you from him.”
(St Josemaría, Furrow, 90)
“Omnia in bonum!”
SANCTIFYING IMAGINATION
“Don’t spoil your cheerfulness by giving free rein
to your imagination.
Every day brings its own disappointments,
but the worst misfortunes are the ones that never really happen.”
(St Josemaría, 291)
A SPIRITUAL RESERVOIR: SANCTIFYING THE MEMORY
“Have you seen how water is stored in reservoirs
against a time of drought?
Likewise, to achieve the even character that you need
in times of difficulty,
you have to store up
cheerfulness,
clear insights
and the light that the Lord sends
you.”
(St Josemaría, Furrow, 788)
IN THE MIDST OF TOIL
“I am filled with consolation.
With all our afflictions, I am overjoyed.”
(II Cor 7:4)
“In the light of Christ’s cross, therefore,
there is no room for fear of pain,
because we understand that love is shown through pain.”
(A del Portillo, Homily, 12 March 1984)
“Omnia in bonum!”
AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
where there is hatred let me bring love,
where there is injury pardon,
where there is doubt faith.”
(St Francis of Assissi)
“Where there is no love, sow love and you will reap love.”
(St John of the Cross)
Holy Mary, Cause of our Joy,
intercede for us, your
children.
Let us ask our all-powerful and merciful Father
for joy and peace,
for our personal conversion,
for time to do penance for our
sins,
for the grace and the
consolation of the Holy Spirit
and perseverance.
C:\Documents and Settings\user\My Documents\jmom RETREAT\crt_21Resurrection&Joy.rtf
Revised 25 March 2005