Find what you’re looking for
Jesus has power over evil. He can free afflicted individuals and control whole armies of demons. Jesus can liberate us too, if we let him.
During World War II, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was arrested and taken to Auschwitz. During his imprisonment, a prisoner escaped, and as a result, the commandant announced ten men would die. In cell block 11, there was no screaming–rather the prisoners sang and Fr. Kolbe prayed with them.
Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska founded the Felician Sisters as a result of a conversion experience she had while convalescing from an illness. At the age of 44 she was forced to resign due to ill health. She lived however, into her ’70s.
Brother Juniper was a simple man who joined Saint Francis in the earliest days of the Order. While Saint Francis praised him and wished he had a “whole forest of such Junipers,” nevertheless, he could be exasperating for his generosity. Even saints can be frustrating.
The followers of Jesus still experience storms today. But Jesus’ power can handle any storm. It’s up to us to have enough faith in him not to be afraid.
Henri Nouwen’s book “The Return of the Prodigal Son” was inspired by a chance encounter Nouwen had with a reproduction of Rembrandt’s famous painting.
Saint Thomas Aquinas is well known for his writings, especially the “Summa Theologica.” But he was far more than a philosopher/theologian. He was a devout man who wrote beautiful prayers and hymns. Perhaps the best known is the “Pange Lingua.”
The seed–the promise of the kingdom–has its own vitality. It doesn’t require any human intervention to come to harvest. Each of us is a place where God’s word grows.
Too often we focus on the negative things and get caught up in everything that we think is going wrong in our lives. What we fail to realize is that we have so much for which we should be grateful.
Saint Angela Merici was a courageous woman who saw a need and answered it even though society may not have been ready for her solution. Women teaching outside the convent, and what we call today a secular institute, were new forms of living and ministering which proved very beneficial to the Church.
