Benedict and Scholastica

Loving God,
we praise you for the lives of Saints
Benedict and Scholastica.
Preferring nothing to the love of Christ,
they gave themselves to you
in the service of the church
as monastics.
Grant that through their
intercession,
men and women today may walk in
the path of your commands and
serve you in the monastic life.
We ask this through
Jesus, your Son. Amen.

Poem: Robert Browning Hamilton

(Azio Mendes e Arubi Mendes)

I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne'er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When Sorrow walked with me.

Prayer: Maximilian Kolbe

Themost deadly poison of our times is indifference...
And this happens, althoughthe praise of God should know no limits...
Let us strive, therefore, to praiseGod to the greatest extent of our powers.

Silêncio restaurador

"Contudo, o 'deserto' do espírito humano ainda não é totalmente hostil à vida espiritual. Ao contrário, seu silêncio ainda é um silêncio restaurador. Quem tenta escapar da solidão e do confronto com o Deus desconhecido pode acabar sendo destruído na solidão atomizada, caótica e sem sentido da sociedade de massas."

Faith and Violence, de Thomas Merton.

(Um pensamento para reflexão: "Só há amor e vida reais se forem voltados para o descobrimento do ser verdadeiro, espiritual de cada um, para além e acima do nível da mera individualidade empírica com suas alegrias e temores superficiais."
Faith and Violence, Thomas Merton

Prayer: Francis of Assisi

First do what is necessary,
then do what is possible,
and before long you will find yourself doing the impossible.