Monthly Archives: August 2021

Always optimistic

As we go through life we often find ourselves tossed on the stormy seas and we can become discouraged, sad, and even depressed. The Covid pandemic adds to those troubles. In a situation like this, we need an attitude not of pessimism and sadness but of optimism and happiness. In this meditation we consider how:

  • Christ is always with us, no matter how bad the situation is, and he can calm every storm
  • Nothing is impossible for God
  • There is a bright side to every dark situation
  • God has a plan for our life, including our suffering, which we will see only at the end
  • We should give thanks for what we have instead of lamenting what we have not
  • Many people are far worse off than we are
  • God always brings good out of evil
  • In the end the eternal joy of heaven awaits us

The cross, pathway to heaven

Our Lord invited us, if we would be his disciples, to take up our cross and follow him. A few days later he manifested his divinity to three of his apostles in the Transfiguration, as we will see him in his glory in heaven.  In this meditation, using texts from Scripture, St Josemaria and St John Vianney, we consider how:

  • Our pathway to heaven passes by way of the cross
  • The cross is truly a blessing, in that it purifies us and it can be offered up for others
  • The cross is a manifestation of God’s love for us
  • When we have a cross to bear, we can think that Christ suffered more than we ever will, and that many others are suffering more than we are
  • If we love the crosses life brings, we will find joy in them and they will unite us with Christ
  • We should seek the cross too through mortification and penance