Tag Archives: St Josemaria Escriva

Life of Prayer

vocal prayer and mental prayer

 

 

 

In our hectic life it is essential to find the time each day to stop and converse with God in prayer. In this meditation we consider:

  • Why we should pray
  • The different forms of prayer
  • The qualities our prayer should have
  • How to deal with distractions in prayer

Do not judge

christ-and-the-woman-taken-in-adultery-1653-oil-on-canvas-louvre-paris-france-poussin

 

We all tend to judge others, to criticise them, find fault and be judgmental. The encounter of Our Lord with the woman caught in adultery has much to teach us about how to be less quick to judge. In this meditation we will consider:

  • Our Lord’s encounter with the woman caught in adultery
  • Reasons why we tend to be judgmental
  • What we can do to be less ready to judge and more ready to forgive
  • Words of St Josemaria Escriva from his book The Way

Meditation “Preparing for Christmas”

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our saviour.

Every nativity scene you look at always has Mary, our holy mother with her son and St Joseph, her spouse.

Now that we are in Advent, we want to prepare well for Christmas. A good way to do this is by the hand of Our Lady. After all, she too prepared for the birth of Christ. In this meditation we consider nine lessons Our Lady gives us about how to prepare for this great feast:

 

 

 

  • Avoiding sin and going to confession
  • Docility to the will of God
  • Charity with others
  • Spreading joy
  • Presence of God
  • Not complaining about hardship
  • Penance
  • Contemplation and meditation
  • Bringing Christ to others

Meditation “As I have loved you”

Christ gave us a new commandment to love one another as he has loved us. It is not always easy to do this but it is very important to try, so that we spread the love of Christ in the world. In this meditation we consider various ways we can do this:

  • Spirit of service
  • Sacrifice
  • Compassion
  • Affection
  • Love for our “enemies”
  • Forgiveness

Meditation “The treasure of time”

We have only one life to live and we must not waste it. It is important to make good use of the time God has given us so that we achieve what he is asking of us and we store up a great treasure in heaven. In this meditation we consider:

  • Jesus’ own example of being always on the move
  • The importance of using our time well
  • Thoughts of St Josemaria in his homily “Time is a Treasure”
  • Some dangers to avoid
  • Tips for making better use of our time

Meditation “Growing in fortitude”

God is calling all of us to “go out and bear fruit”, to bring the truth and love of Christ into the world. In a word, to change the world for the better. But it is not easy. It is hard enough to change ourselves. For this reason we need the virtue of fortitude, which strengthens the will. In this meditation we consider:

  • Our mission to go out and bear fruit
  • The need for fortitude, for will power to achieve our goals
  • The obstacles we will encounter: the world, the flesh and the devil
  • How we can grow in this virtue