St Teresa of Avila maintained that experiences cannot be our motivation in prayer and that they are not essential to the communication between God and the soul. What is necessary, is the recognition that the initiative in prayer is God’s. In prayer, God gives us an instrument of His Passion; the arrow that pierced Christ’s side and opened up the spiritual life of the Church.
Time and time again Israel’s prophets spoke about the need to go back into the desert where Moses had led Israel’s ancestors. Today, we too find it valuable to go back into the desert, so that as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we are armed with weapons of self-restraint.
“Stabat mater dolorosa – The Sorrowful Mother was standing.” This is the first line of one of the most celebrated Catholic hymns sung by Catholics for over eight centuries when walking from one station of the Cross to the next. The Stabat Mater teaches us that every fallen child of Adam and Eve benefits from uniting sacrificially with Jesus and Mary. Meditate on the first three stanzas in this blog.
Reflecting on an Examination of Conscience helps us to be honest with ourselves and honest with God. It is not meant to be a burden. It helps us to examine our lives. If something touches our conscience, we can bring that to Confession, so that we can be at peace with Christ and with one another.
Why did Jesus need to die for our sins? Starting with an understanding of sin, this blog explains how God originally intended for us to live, the problem with Adam and Eve's actions, and the devastating consequences their sin had on their descendants.
For a period of twelve years, St Catherine de Ricci experienced all the pains of Christ’s passion. After the first of these mystical experiences, when she had received the sacred stigmata, Our Lady gave this compilation, called the ‘Canticle of the Passion’, to St Catherine and asked her to meditate on it, and so continue to grow in love for the crucified Lord Jesus.
