Prayer to St. Benedict

O glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessing be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy towards those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance any one who had re-course to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention it), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.
Help me, O great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen.

For nothing is impossible with God

Almighty and Eternal God, help us this day to direct our attention and concern to the poor, needy and sick in our local communities. Let us hear their hopes and their struggles. Help us to respond in an effort to restore their faith and their belief in their human dignity. May we find within ourselves the conviction to always put the powerless foremost in our minds and hearts. Let us so live that all who know us may know that you are a God who cares, when they experience our care and concern. Let us draw strength from each other as we share our talents for the good of the people we serve in all of our facilities- - We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

http://usccb.org/healthcare/liturgy.shtml

A Prayer for Priests

Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord,
Keep them for they are Thine -
Thy priests whose lives burn out before
Thy consecrated shrine.
Keep them, for they are in the world,
Though from the world apart;
When earthly pleasures tempt, allure, -
Shelter them in thy heart.
Keep them and comfort them in hours
Of loneliness and pain,
When all their life of sacrifice
For souls seems but in vain.
Keep them, and O remember, Lord,
They have no one but Thee,
Yet they have only human hearts,
With human fraility.
Keep them as spotless as the Host,
That daily they caress;
Their every thought and word and deed,
Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.

-Imprimatur: +D. Card. Dougherty, Arch. of Philadelphia

Business Ethics According to John Paul II

Christian discipleship is a radical undertaking. It is not just a matter of being a trustee or manager of God’s resources by making good moral choices. The rich young man had done this and it wasn’t enough (Mt. 19:18-20). Jesus wants His followers to do more by risking more. He wants His disciples to seek intimacy and restore relationships with one another and the whole of creation. The basic Christian endeavor is to recreate community by establishing relationships that are life-giving, transformative, and healing — risking all and trusting God in doing it. Life is lived in thanksgiving without fear because of God’s providence. No matter what one’s profession, whether lawyer, teacher, physician, or so on, the Christian calling is, teaches the late Pope John Paul II, a “vocation to divine love” (Veritatis Splendor, #112). This is no less so for the businessman. Our Lord’s twofold commandment to love (Mt. 22:26-40) is to be fulfilled in enterprise as well. We are to will the good of others in our organizational life just as we do in our personal life. All our actions in enterprise must be “in conformity with the dignity and integral vocation of the human person” (Veritatis Splendor, #67).

To derive the answer to this question it is necessary to recapitulate the understanding of how deeply our social nature is situated in our being. Human life is always life-in-community. A full human life requires material necessities and moral, social, intellectual, and spiritual progress that cannot be achieved in isolation. Social life is necessary for our perfection. Thus, associations of greater to lesser intimacy are demanded metaphysically.

to read the entire article by Jim Wishloff point your browser here...

Letting St. Clare teach us to pray

His affection holds one fast;
his contemplation is like a breath of new life.
His kindness fills one to the brim;
his sweetness is in overflowing measure.
The recollection of him shines with a soft light.
His fragrance revives the dead...
Now, since he is the splendor of eternal glory
and the brightness of everlasting light
and the mirror without spot...
look steadfastly into the mirror every day.
See in it every time you look --
and look into it always ---
your own face.
- Letter IV that St. Clare wrote to Agnes of Prague
regarding the depth of her union with Christ.

Since we can't all run off to monasteries - although that is a more common temptation than many might guess. Most of us are already anchored in families and jobs or ministries that require us to go forth in one way or another. But we do need and can create a space for enclosure in our lives. Emulating Clare, we can, according to our circumstances, settle into our personal spaces and allow God to monopolize our attention -- even if only for a few hours a week. Two essentials: silence and God-focus. Everything else in them should speak to us of God's presence. Clare's motto: In God and for God

Once anchored in our enclosures, we can pray in whatever manner is most natural to us: vocal prayer, scriptural meditation, the Psalms, or simple presence, wordless and attentive.

Let us respond regularly to Jesus' invitaion: "Whenever you pray, go to your room, close your door, and pray to your Father in private" (Mt 6:6)

-Excerpts taken and reworded from a book I'm reading on Saints called: Six ways to Pray from Six great Saints by Gloria Hutchingson

Peace and Suffering

Are there some people in your circle of friends to whom you naturally go in times of trial and sorrow - people who always seem to say just the right words and who give you the very best counsel you so desire? If so, you may not realize the high cost they have paid to become so skilled at binding up your gaping wounds and drying your tears. Yet if you were to investigate their past you would find that they have suffered more than most people. Suffering though difficult to bear builds discipline, knowledge and wisdom.

Peace during suffering is attained for hearts that cease focusing on themselves. It is the peace of God which transcends all understanding and is the source of all strength which the world can never give nor take away. Do not worry about suffering. Embrace it, accepting God's will and you will also enter into His strength. This eternal calm is how we come to know God. Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10.

It is a peace that lies so deeply within the human heart that no external difficulty or disturbance can reach it. Anyone who enters the presence of God becomes a partaker of that undisturbed calm.

Jesus said, Go to your room, close the door and pray. Matt 6:6. For it is in the quiet solitude that we catch the deep mysterious truths that flow from the soul of the things God allows to enter our lives.

Stand firm and do your best in suffering because this is the place where our dear Lord has put you. It is through conflict that He expects us to grow strong.

The role of the Conscience

Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, tells him inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. His dignity lies in observing this law, and by it he will be judged. His conscience is man’s most secret core, and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths. By conscience, in a wonderful way, that law is made known which is fulfilled in the love of God and of one’s neighbor. Through loyalty to conscience Christians are joined to other men in the search for truth and for the right solution to so many moral problems which arise both in the life of individuals and from social relationships. Hence, the more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by the objective standards of moral conduct. to read more...