Today I would like to share with you a prayer that had kept me going when things seem impossible.
This prayer was made by Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits). A person who has had a great impact on our world.
I share this prayer that it may help your journey in this life and bring you greater joy and peace.
Pax, The Hermit of Peace.
God Is Everything!
Putting God First!
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on the finding one Pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Matthew 13: 45-46
The Special Pearl!
We all have special things in our lives. We have reasons why they are special. Maybe these things are special because they represent who were are or are most comfortable with? Maybe we just simply feel good about being in the presence of this person, place, or thing. But whatever it is, it’s presence in our lives gives us meaning.
What is that Special Pearl?
What does this Special Pearl do for us?
Our Lord Jesus explains that for those who are with Him, the Kingdom of Heaven must be that Special Pearl! If our Special Pearl is the Heavenly Kingdom, that means we are in company with the Lord!
What does this mean for us if the Kingdom of Heaven is our Special Pearl?
We have many important things in our lives, we have our families, our places of worship, our friends, our sports, and our places of work. These things can all bring us meaning, but if we want what Jesus can give us, the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7), He must be Our Special Pearl. Nothing may come before our love of Jesus!
Our love of Jesus must inform the totality of our lives!
Have a blessed day!
Pax.
Why the wheat and the weeds grow together?
So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the household came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’
The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.’
Matthew 13: 26-29
Jesus talks about the reality of living in the world. There will be always good and bad that we have to contend with. It is our job to remain good in the reality of living alongside with evil. This is our every day challenge of life.
It is also true that we do not know what are truly weeds. That can only be determined at our end and we are not the ones who make that decision; only God alone!
This is a wonderful reality!
The pressure of judging is removed, and the focus is on us! This is something we all can do! When we focus on ourselves and stay close to the sower and His workers, we can have a good life, and through example of who we are and what we produce, we can change the World!
Let us love ourselves and be the best wheat (person) we can be. May we, in our own self love, be love in the world and bring peace.
Pax.
Jesus Calls Us!
When we listen to Jesus, our world changes!
Jesus said to her, “Mary”, she turned to Him and said, “Rabbouni,” which means teacher. John 20;16
St. Mary Magdalene is a wonderful teacher to us! She belonged to Jesus and nothing else mattered. Because of her faithfulness, she gives us Jesus.
Mary Magdalene is often called the Apostle to the Apostles, and rightfully so! She stayed and talked to Jesus! She stayed and was rewarded with the gift of the Resurrected Jesus! She shared this message with the Apostles and she shares with all of the Disciples of Jesus (including Us), throughout Human History!
Enjoy this Feast, and remember the key point is Jesus Rose from the Dead, and we have the eyewitness account from this Holy Woman!
May we never give up on looking and finding Jesus!
Pax.
One person who is faithful can change the World!
The Prophet Elijah kept the faith in YHWH alive and risk his own life to do it. His actions brought God’s People back to YHWH.
Today we celebrate the Feast of Elijah the Prophet and may we realize that our faithfulness to the Divine One can and will change our world!
We read in in Second Kings: As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen os Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. 2 Kings 2:11-12
Have an awesome Feast Day!
Be Good Soul!
“As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who heard the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit , and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. “
Matthew 13:23
The use of parables by Jesus are so important, they speak to our hearts and we can hold on to them because we are challenged by them. What does our parable say about us today?
Are we Good Soil?
In the natural order, we have the ability to make soil good. We can keep it moist, we can fertilize it, we can hoe it, and we can remove the weeds. It is much the same in the spiritual order. We can remove the things in our lives in order that we can receive the Seed of God, that is, the Word of God, and allow it to bear abundant fruit in our lives, in our world!
What can we do now to be good soil?
Total surrender is key in making ourselves good receptors of the Word! In total surrender, we know that there is nothing we can do to undo the past. Also, we know that worrying about the future will not help! We know that the present moment is where we can receive and be changed by the Word of God! When we do this we can become wonderful receptors of the Divine Word, It can take root, and if we stay in the present moments, we can produce abundantly!
Please let go and know that God is in control!
Pax.
Today Our Lady of Mount Caritas and The Hermitage of Peace celebrate their Religious Founder!
May St. Benedict intercede for us all!
Pax.
Learn From Him!
“For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:30
Life gets crazy!
Normal people like us have many challenges that we have to deal with on a regular basis. And these things can become overwhelming! Yet Jesus wants us to use His Way to meet these situations.
What is the Jesus technique?
Jesus uses the Divine Power of Love!
When we allow love to be the reason that we do the things that we do, our situations change. Love means to take care of ourselves. It means to eat healthy, to get enough rest, and to stay away from things that that could harm us.
When we allow love to be the way we deal with people we encounter, even those who want to hurt us, we do the best that we can to live in peace and not to try to hurt the person back. This releases us from a terribly heavy burden and put the burden that Jesus wants us to have, love. We learn to do what we are able to do, loving ourselves in the process, and then letting go, and moving onward!
Jesus on the Cross is the Divine Example of the Power of Love at work. Jesus did what He was sent to do, He loved us to the end, but in actuality, it was the Beginning for us! Hate tried to kill Love, but on the Third Day, Love Rose Never To Die Again!
This Love is our power and how we are to maintain peace in our struggles!
Learn from Jesus and live in love!
Pax.
Share Love!
“And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
Matthew 10:42
A cup of cold water may seem to be insignificant, but it is not! Any act of love is holy and keeping with our lives in Jesus! We are true disciples of Jesus when we show love to one another!
We are called to make a difference in the world! Remember the old children‘s Church song, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” We can look at it the other way, they will know we are not Christians because we hate! We have many things in our lives that we can easily react with hateful words and actions, but we are challenged, by Jesus, to “not go there”!
Jesus reminds us, “And he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
Matthew 10: 38
Loving people we encounter and carrying our crosses can not be separated! There will be people we are forced to deal with who will try to harm us. What will be our response? We are called to follow Jesus! Jesus returned love even as He was dying on the Cross!
The Cross of Jesus is our example of how we are to carry our crosses. We are called to even be kind to people who are not kind to us! This approach to living will not be always easy, but our efforts matter and in the process we will become better Disciples of Jesus in our world!
Be Jesuslike!
Pax.
We Are Loved!
“Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:31
Jesus reminds us of how much we are important to God. It is important that we are reminded of this often because that may not me the message we have to deal with in self talk, or in the relationships that we have with the people we encounter on the daily basis.
Jesus lived a life that tells us that we are valuable! Our value is not based on what we have done, or how much we have, but simply because we are!
Wow!
If we truly believed that we are valuable because we are, how would that change how we approach life? Perhaps we would take better care of ourselves. Maybe we would not have to self medicate ourselves with alcohol, or drugs, or anything else we use to make ourselves feel better about ourselves!
An ouch moment!
What if we read about Jesus’ messages as much as we follow our heroes in the world, would not our lives be changed!?
My friend, God joined us in Jesus Christ Our Lord to tell us of our true worth. May we not fear but trust and become the wonderful people we were created to be!
Pax.
Hermitage of Peace 