Be Frank with God: Recent Episodes
Fr. Frank Calduch
The first 8 meditations will help you to get into prayer and provide daily sparks to ignite prayer. In each of the meditations there are gaps of silence so you can have an opportunity to talk to God in your own words and not just passively listen.
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” - Anna Carenina
Fight against that weakness which makes you lazy and careless in your spiritual life. Remember that it might well be the beginning of lukewarmness... and, in the words of the Scripture, God will vomit the lukewarm out of his mouth. - The Way, Chapter 14, 325
In April 1934, Saint Josemaria composed a prayer to the Holy Spirit that he prayed frequently and encouraged others to pray.Come, O Holy Spirit!
Enlighten my mind to know your commands; strengthen my heart against the snares of the enemy; inflame my will…
I have heard your voice, and I don’t want to harden myself and resist, saying “Later…, tomorrow.”
Nunc coepi! Now I begin! In case there is no tomorrow for me.
O Spirit of truth and wisdom, Spirit of understanding and counsel, Spirit of joy and peace! I want whatever you want. I want because you want, I want however you want, I want whenever you want.
In this podcast, we reflect on the virtue of fortitude as the motivation to overcome temptation. St. Josemaria Escriva tells us that “a task which presents no difficulties lacks human appeal – and supernatural appeal too. If you find no resistance when hammering a nail into a wall, what can you expect to hang on it?” (The Forge, no. 245). In order to win the prize, you cannot dodge the fight that takes you to the end.
“Lent should suggest to us these basic questions: Am I advancing in my faithfulness to Christ, in my desire for holiness, in a generous apostolate in my daily life, in my ordinary work among my colleagues? Each one of us, silently, should answer these questions, and we will see that we need to change again if Christ is to live in us, if Jesus’ image is to be reflected clearly in our behaviour.” (Christ is Passing By, 58)
God wants us to cooperate with him in this task which he is carrying out in the world. He takes a risk with our freedom. I am deeply moved by the Jesus born in Bethlehem: a defenceless, powerless child, incapable of offering any resistance. God gives himself up to men; he comes close to us, down to our level.
As St. Paul says: ”Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." God respects and bows down to our freedom, our imperfection and wretchedness. He agrees to have his divine treasures carried in vessels of clay; he lets us make them known; God is not afraid of mixing his strength with our weaknesses. (Christ is passing by, 113)
Every time Christmas comes around, I love to look at representations of the child Jesus. Statues and pictures which show a God who lowered himself remind me that God is calling us. The Almighty wants us to know that he is defenseless, that he needs men's help. From the cradle at Bethlehem, Christ tells you and me that he needs us. He urges us to live a christian life to the full — a life of self‑sacrifice, work and joy.
We will never have genuine joy if we do not really try to imitate Jesus. Like him we must be humble. I repeat: do you see where God's greatness is hidden? In a manger, in swaddling clothes, in a stable. The redemptive power of our lives can only work through humility. We must stop thinking about ourselves and feel the responsibility to help others.
It can sometimes happen that even well‑intentioned people create personal problems — really serious worries — which have no objective basis whatsoever. These problems arise in persons whose lack of self‑knowledge leads to pride and a desire to be the centre of attention, to be favoured by everyone. They want to appear always in a good light, to be personally secure. They are not content simply to do good and disappear. And so, many who could enjoy a wonderful peace of soul and great happiness become, through pride and presumption, unhappy and unfruitful.
Christ was humble of heart. Throughout his life he looked for no special consideration or privilege. (Christ is passing by, 18)
Purgatory is a manifestation of God's mercy who wishes for us the best in heaven.
Purgatory shows God's great mercy and washes away the defects of those who long to become one with Him (Furrow, 889).
The holy souls in purgatory. Out of charity, out of justice, and out of excusable selfishness—they have such power with God!—remember them often in your sacrifices and in your prayers. May you be able to say when you speak of them, “My good friends the souls in purgatory” (The Way, 571).
Have you heard how sadly the worldly-minded lament that “Each day that passes is to die a little”?
Well, I say to you: rejoice, apostolic soul, because each day that passes brings you closer to Life. The Way 737
One of the traits of a mature personality is the ability to combine intense activity with order and interior peace. Achieving this equilibrium requires real effort. Saint Josemaria once told someone who mentioned the difficulties his work presented for looking after his own formation: “I would like to see you inside this cassock! I also have to do multi-tasking. On top of this disorder we have to build order.”[2] Order, the harmony of our life, is a prize we have to win, bit by bit, on the battlefield of each day. “Beginning the least pleasant but most urgent job first, perseverance in the fulfillment of our duty when it would be easy to abandon it, not leaving for tomorrow what should be finished today: and all this, to please him, Our Father God!”[3]
The humility of Jesus: in Bethlehem, in Nazareth, on Calvary. But more humiliation and more self-abasement still in the Sacred Host: more than in the stable, more than in Nazareth, more than on the Cross. That is why I must love the Mass so much ('Our' Mass, Jesus...) (The Way, 533)
“I have always taught you, my beloved daughters and sons, that the root and the center of your spiritual life is the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar.” Saint Josemaría Escrivá’s words and writings constantly pointed to the Eucharist as the center and root of Christian life.
A man who fails to love the Mass fails to love Christ. We must make an effort to 'live' the Mass with calm and serenity, with devotion and affection. Those who love acquire a finesse, a sensitivity of soul that makes them notice details that are sometimes very small, but that are important because they express the love of a passionate heart. (St. Josemaría, Christ is Passing By, 92)
Points on Examination of Conscience from The Way by St. Josemaría Escrivá
235
Examination of conscience: a daily task. Book-keeping is never neglected by anyone in business.
And is there any business worth more than the business of eternal life?
236
At the time of examination beware of the devil that ties your tongue.
237
Examine yourself: slowly, courageously. Is it not true that your bad humour and your gloominess, both without cause — without apparent cause — are due to your lack of determination in breaking the subtle but real snares laid for you — cunningly and attractively — by your concupiscence?
238
The general examination implies defence. The particular, attack. The first is your armour. The second, your sword.
239
Looking back on the past. To bewail it? No: that would be useless. — To learn: that is fruitful.
Through this gift of divine filiation, Christ completely destroyed the barriers that separate men from one other by bridging the distance between heaven and earth and between his creatures. God came so close to man as to become one of us. By taking on our nature, the Word joined human and divine in himself. Now, as St. Paul says, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3: 28). Now God is not distant; He is our Father. And neither are others remote from us; they are our brothers and sisters.
“I am happy…for I see that the Lord is seeking me again, that the Lord is still my Father. We are loved by God, and we will let the Holy Spirit act in us and purify us, so that we can embrace the Son of God on the cross, and rise with him, because the resurrection is rooted in the cross” (Christ is Passing By, no. 66).
Meditate with St. Josemaría
- An apostle — that is what a Christian is, when he knows that he has been grafted onto Christ, made one with Christ, in baptism. He has been given the capacity to carry on the battle in Christ's name, through confirmation. He has been called to serve God by his activity in the world, because of the common priesthood of the faithful, which makes him share in some way in the priesthood of Christ. This priesthood — though essentially distinct from the ministerial priesthood — gives him the capacity to take part in the worship of the Church and to help other men in their journey to God, with the witness of his word and his example, through his prayer and work of atonement.
Each of us is to be ipse Christus: Christ himself. He is the one mediator between God and man. And we make ourselves one with him in order to offer all things, with him, to the Father. Our calling to be children of God, in the midst of the world, requires us not only to seek our own personal holiness, but also to go out onto all the ways of the earth, to convert them into roads that will carry souls over all obstacles and lead them to the Lord. As we take part in all temporal activities, as ordinary citizens, we are to become leaven acting on the dough. (Christ is Passing By, 120)
- If you decide -- without any oddities, without leaving the world, in the midst of your usual occupations -- to enter these paths of contemplation, you will immediately feel yourself a friend of the Master, with the divine commission to open the divine paths of the earth to the whole of humanity. Yes, with this work of yours you will contribute to the extension of Christ's reign in all continents. And there will follow one after another, the hours of work offered by the distant nations that are born to the faith, by the peoples of the East barbarically prevented from freely professing their beliefs, by the countries of ancient Christian tradition where it seems that the light of the Gospel has darkened and souls are struggling in the shadows of ignorance.... Then, what a value that hour of work acquires, to continue with the same commitment for a while longer, for a few more minutes, until the task is finished. You convert, in a practical and simple way, contemplation into apostolate, as an imperious need of the heart, which beats in unison with the most sweet and merciful Heart of Jesus, Our Lord. (Friends of God, 67)
"Spiritual life is - and I repeat this again and again, on purpose - a constant beginning and beginning again. Beginning again? Yes. Every time you make an act of contrition - and you should make many every day - you begin again, because you offer a new love to God." (St. Josemaría, The Forge, 384)
Below are some quotes from the published works of Saint Josemaria that show his love for the virtue of poverty.
Talking to God
Aren’t you glad to feel the poverty of Jesus so close to you? How splendid it is to be lacking even what is necessary! But as He did, it must be borne silently and unnoticed.
The Forge, “Work,” no. 732
You tell me that you want to practice holy poverty, you want to be detached from the things you use. Ask yourself this question: do I have the same affections and the same feelings as Jesus Christ has, with regard to riches and poverty?
I told you: as well as resting in the arms of your Father-God, with all the confident abandonment of one who is his child, you should fix your eyes particularly on this virtue to love it as Jesus does. Then, instead of seeing it as a cross to bear, you will see it as a sign of God’s special love for you.
The Forge, “Selection,” no. 888
My God, I see I shall never accept you as my Saviour unless I acknowledge you as my Model at the same time. Since you yourself chose to be poor, make me love holy poverty. I resolve, with your grace, to live and die in poverty, even though I may have millions at my disposal.
The first 8 meditations will help you to get into prayer and provide daily sparks to ignite prayer. In each of the meditations there are gaps of silence so you can have an opportunity to talk to God in your own words and not just passively listen.
The first 8 meditations will help you to get into prayer and provide daily sparks to ignite prayer. In each of the meditations there are gaps of silence so you can have an opportunity to talk to God in your own words and not just passively listen.
The first 8 meditations will help you to get into prayer and provide daily sparks to ignite prayer. In each of the meditations there are gaps of silence so you can have an opportunity to talk to God in your own words and not just passively listen.
The first 8 meditations will help you to get into prayer and provide daily sparks to ignite prayer. In each of the meditations there are gaps of silence so you can have an opportunity to talk to God in your own words and not just passively listen.
The first 8 meditations will help you to get into prayer and provide daily sparks to ignite prayer. In each of the meditations there are gaps of silence so you can have an opportunity to talk to God in your own words and not just passively listen.
The first 8 meditations will help you to get into prayer and provide daily sparks to ignite prayer. In each of the meditations there are gaps of silence so you can have an opportunity to talk to God in your own words and not just passively listen.
The first 8 meditations will help you to get into prayer and provide daily sparks to ignite prayer. In each of the meditations there are gaps of silence so you can have an opportunity to talk to God in your own words and not just passively listen.
The first 8 meditations will help you to get into prayer and provide daily sparks to ignite prayer. In each of the meditations there are gaps of silence so you can have an opportunity to talk to God in your own words and not just passively listen.