Lectio Divina February 2013
Lectio Divina February 2013
Migrant Families: That migrant families, especially the mothers, may be supported and accompanied in their difficulties.
Peace: That the peoples at war and in conflict may lead the way in building a peaceful future.
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Lectio Divina February - Febrero - Febbraio 2013
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Daily Lectio
- Friday, February 1, 2013
- Saturday, February 2, 2013
- Sunday, February 3, 2013
- Monday, February 4, 2013
- Tuesday, February 5, 2013
- Wednesday, February 6, 2013
- Thursday, February 7, 2013
- Friday, February 8, 2013
- Saturday, February 9, 2013
- Saturday, February 9, 2013
- Sunday, February 10, 2013
- Monday, February 11, 2013
- Tuesday, February 12, 2013
- Wednesday, February 13, 2013
- Thursday, February 14, 2013
- Friday, February 15, 2013
- Saturday, February 16, 2013
- Sunday, February 17, 2013
- Monday, February 18, 2013
- Tuesday, February 19, 2013
- Wednesday, February 20, 2013
- Thursday, February 21, 2013
- Friday, February 22, 2013
- Saturday, February 23, 2013
- Sunday, February 24, 2013 - 10
- Monday, February 25, 2013
- Tuesday, February 26, 2013
- Wednesday, February 27, 2013
- Thursday, February 28, 2013
Father Titus is Arrested - Letters Written in Prison
Bl. Titus Brandsma, O.Carm.
January 19, 1942: Father Titus is Arrested
Having spent the night in Arnhem, I was told that I must spend another night there. With these words I was brought into cell 577 on January 20. Next morning I had to be ready at half past eight to be tried at the Hague. This would probably be finished in the afternoon, and in view of my health I would probably be allowed home. On the night of January 21, I was told that my confinement was to be prolonged in order that more evidence might be obtained. Mr. Hardegen, who tried my case in a courteous way, said that this would not be difficult for me on account of my religious life. Indeed, it was not. I remember an old stanza of Longfellow which I have retained since my college years in Megen, and it is particularly appropriate in my present situation:
In his chamber all alone,
Kneeling on a floor of stone,
Prayed a monk in deep contrition
For his sins of indecision;
Prayed for greater self-denial
In temptation and in trial.
As to that "trial," it was not so difficult as I had expected, though one has to get accustomed to many things in prison. Indeed, going to prison at the age of 60 is a strange experience. Jokingly I said so to Mr. Steffen who had arrested me, while entering the prison. His answer, however, comforted me: "It is your own fault, for you should not have taken the Archbishop's commission." Now I knew why I was here and I said to him fearlessly that I looked upon such a thing as an honor, and that I was not conscious of having done anything wrong by doing that. I said the same thing to Mr. Hardegen and I added: "On the contrary, it was an honest effort to relax the contrasts." On the one side this was accepted, on the other side it was looked upon as an organisation of resistance against the occupying power. I had to oppose this last opinion, and to stress the exclusive intention of communicating both to the press and to the Reichskommissariat the Catholic point of view about the propaganda of the National Socialist Movement, as it was pointed out by the Bishops. This point of view was to be communicated to the Reichskommissariat, even if the managers and editorial staffs of the Catholic dailies were not in agreement; but undoubtedly, they were.
The first day of my commission I asked Mr. Schlichting to go to the Reichskommissariat; on account of his journey to Rome this interview took place after mine with the Catholic press. Meanwhile I quite understand that the attitude of the Bishops and of the Catholic press is not considered agreeable, and that the commission of the Archbishop to me and carried out by me, is looked upon as some act of resistance. Our Catholic principles are at conflict with their principles; the contrast of principles is there. For this confession I joyfully suffer what is to be suffered.
My vocation to the Church and to the priesthood brought me so many grand and beautiful things that I willingly accept something unpleasant in return for it. I repeat in complete agreement with Job: We have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive the evil he sends us in his Providence? The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Apart from that, I have not had too bad a time. And although I do not know what will become of it, I know myself to be wholly in God's hands. Who will separate us from the love of God? I am thinking of my old motto: <Prenez les jours, comme ils arrivent, Les beaux d'un coeur reconnaissant Ft les mauvais pour ceux qui suivent, Car le malheur n'est qu'un passant>.
With Gezelle, I praise "my old breviary," which was luckily left to me and which I can say now as quietly as possible. Oh! in the morning Holy Mass and Holy Communion are missing, I know full well, but nevertheless God is near me, in me and with me. It is in him that we live, and move and have our being. "God, while so near and yet so far, is always present." The well-known couplet which was always in St. Teresa's breviary—I sent it to my colleague Professor Brom when he was in prison—is also a comfort and encouragement to me; "Let nothing disturb thee, let nothing frighten thee. All things are passing. God does not change. Who possesses God wants for nothing. God alone suffices."
Scheveningen Police-prison, January 23, 1942.
ALACAR: OCARM - OCD CONGRESS - Asociación Latino Americana de Carmelitas
Mr. Abraham Maximiliano Camino
BEING AND DOING
At this time I want to share with my brothers in faith and Carmel, something that my mother taught me from childhood which is that God has something set aside for us, and in my life I have to discover it. Several years have passed and these words have stuck with me, and each time I witness that God has many things in store for his children and thanks to Carmel I can discover them.
I want to share the wonderful experience that touched my life in the ALACAR-COLOMBIA meeting of 2009. It is through these words and the title this article “Being and Doing” that I arrive at the conclusion that today a Christian has:
To Be = Mystic and Prophet = To Do
The Carmelites in accordance with their rich history, tradition and charism, show us through their 800 years of existence how we can find criteria that tell us whether we are really close to God, if God exists and lives in us, and thus in our lay lives to find a role (propositum) to live “En Obsequio Jesucristo” – (In allegiance to Jesus Christ).
Carmelite spirituality permits us to give a place for God or to let God BE God in our lives, but not like something occasional or temporary, but something that makes me act in freedom, to feel invaded by God’s presence in my life and come to look, act, talk, react as Christ would. Galatians 2.19 to 20: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
A lay person must be an evangelizer, not only do what Christ does but BE HIM. Because we all have something to give. From the useless God brings out usefulness. (Retreat of the Carmelite Family - Vacare Deo. August 2009. Lima, Peru).
Being a Prophet Today
How can we be Christ?
Carmelite mysticism tells us that being a prophet today is not only to announce and proclaim with words but to act in a Christ like manner.
Therefore we not only have to DO, we have to BE.
To be in the presence of God (like Elijah) is to allow the same God to act in my life; only then will we be recognized as sons and daughters of God.
Prophecy is nothing else but to announce what we receive from God: Love. And this we give in how we each day treat others.
We will be known by love, whatever my service if I do it out of love and charity, all works will be meaningful. 1 Cor 13:1-13.
Everything is possible when Christ is the center of my actions in the manner of the first Carmelites who modeled their lives around Jesus Christ. That’s why they were recognized as brothers, they all had a sense of God and that is the great legacy that they left to us.
The Carmelites gifted us and presented us with their Charism, and through this beautiful spirituality linked to God under the example of holy Mary, we can be partners in building the Kingdom of God.
THROUGH:
Contemplation and Prayer: How do I decode the language of God who talks to me all the time?
Can I differentiate what is from God and what is not from God? Listening to the heart. Discern in the Spirit, since everything is put there to be discovered in contemplative prayer.
HERE AND NOW
FRATERNITY:
How do I share the language of God? Confronting and discerning with my brothers, which will give me confidence that this is God’s language, what we do together will be so that we all form this “Reign” (Kingdom of God): Here and Now.
SERVICE AND PROPHECY:
Understanding reality through the eyes of God leads me to proclaim the good that I receive from God and denounce what is not of God. From the love and mercy he has with me, and so you can have the same feelings of Christ (Philippians 2:5) and thus care for the poor and needy and reverence in them the living God.
The laity have a great challenge and indeed a prophetic mission, to denounce without fear in these difficult times anything that takes away from the presence of God while the world in which we live is encouraging us to become what is false. There we see the Prophecy of our father Elias, embodied in our Carmelite lives.
The history of Carmel, was no stranger to difficulties in each of its periods, and this has been demonstrated since the first Carmelites.
As committed lay Carmelites, in the spirit that guided our Father Elijah on Mount Carmel and out sister, the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nazareth, by the example of them, we can live according to God’s will that the same spirit helps us to insert ourselves and be a main force in this reality that we live.
At last! I have found my vocation!
At last! I have found my vocation! In the heart of the Church--my Mother--I will be love! And all my dreams shall be realized!
(St. Therese of the Child Jesus)
Remember that you have only one soul
Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life... If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.
(St. Teresa of Jesus)
What we need most
What we need most in order to make progress is to be silent before this great God with our appetite and with our tongue, for the language he best hears is silent love.
(St John of the Cross)
Prayer is a cry of gratitude and love
Prayer is a cry of gratitude and love, in the midst of trial as well as in joy.
(St Therese of the Child Jesus)
For my heart is always with Him
For my heart is always with Him, day and night it thinks unceasingly of its heavenly and divine Friend, to whom it wants to prove its affection. Also within it arises this desire: not to die, but to suffer long, to suffer for God, to give Him its life while praying for poor sinners.
(Bl Elisabeth of the Trinity)
Look for Christ...
Look for Christ Our Lord in everyone and you will then have respect and reverence for all.
(St Teresa of Jesus)
Always remember to love your neighbor
Always remember to love your neighbor; always prefer the one who tries your patience, who test your virtue, because with her you can always merit: suffering is Love; the Law is Love.
(Bl Mary of Jesus Crucified)
