Tag: Mystical

“Lord Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” (Lk. 18:38). We can all cry out like the blind man at the Gate of Jericho, struggling perhaps to forgive a deep hurt, unable to let go of the pain, feeling blind and helpless.  We know that our efforts alone are futile to heal our innermost… Continue reading The Paradox of Pain – SpiritualDirection.com

The Pillar of the Family The basic moral principle of Domestic Society is: the family is the natural unit of society and the right of education belongs primarily to the parents, not to the State. The family in the natural order is the only divine instruction in the world. God did not found the American… Continue reading War and Peace – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

One of the most beautiful and hopeful teachings of the Catholic Church is her teaching on redemptive suffering. So often, the question of suffering is a stumbling block for those who profess belief in God. And it is even more frequently the very thing cited by those who do not believe in Him as the… Continue reading Take Up Your Cross – SpiritualDirection.com

Last night my daughter heard a giant crack in the backyard during a thunderstorm. A few seconds later, the familiar engulfment in darkness ensued. We lost power for a total of about five hours. We were all together, and though it was a hot day it wasn’t life-threatening sweltering. We had some lanterns and some… Continue reading Detachment in the Spiritual Life

“This is a very important point: great perfection is found in resigning yourself in all things to the divine will; an even greater perfection is to live abandoned, with complete indifference to the divine good pleasure; still the pinnacle of perfection is to nourish yourself on the divine will in a spirit of pure faith… Continue reading The Letters of St. Paul of the Cross: ‘Live Abandoned’

It happened so quickly that I didn’t have to time to be afraid. It was so sudden that there wasn’t even time for her grandparents, watching from the balcony above, to cry out. We had been swimming—or more accurately, Zippy had. The pool water was frigid—it wasn’t heated even in summer, and the calendar was… Continue reading So Close: The Breath of God

The local priest-exorcist received an urgent call from the Convent. That morning the Sisters woke up and went down to their chapel. They found their wood tabernacle upside down on the floor and the Eucharist still in its monstrance standing upright next to it. The Sisters were spooked. The doors to their Convent had been… Continue reading Exorcist Diary: Satan Witnesses to the Power of Prayer to End Abortion

Feelings Feeling is a force God gives you for willing and working with greater energy and constancy. But, like steam in a locomotive, it is a chaotic force. If well channeled by reason (with its safety valves and opportune expansion and release), it will be exceedingly useful to you. General Control Do Not Let Feelings… Continue reading Peace Be with You – Fr. Narciso Irala

This Sunday, the son sees the Father – He had no idea that his father loved him. The awful moment came: The Prodigal Son went and told his father that he had decided to leave. The reason that he wanted to leave his father’s household, and his father’s arms, was to fill the hole in… Continue reading His Father Loved Him: A Reflection on the Prodigal Son

The certain path is that of faith, that is, to pray in lively faith with a continual memory of the Passion of Jesus. When you cannot meditate, as I have already explained to you in writing, repose in God in a sacred silence of love with a pure, but sweet and loving, attention to God… Continue reading The Letters of St. Paul of the Cross: ‘When You Cannot Meditate’