“Do you not hear the Lord saying: ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst?’ Will he be absent, then, when so many people united in love are gathered together? I have his promise; I am surely not going to rely on my own strength! I have what he has written; that is my staff, my security, my peaceful harbor. Let the world be in upheaval. I hold to his promise and read his message; that is my protecting wall and garrison. What message? ‘Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!’”   ~From a sermon by St John Chrysostom

“We must speak to them with our hands before we try to speak to them with our lips.” ~St. Peter Claver

God our Father, in Saint Peter Claver you gave a light to your faithful people. You made him a pastor of the Church to feed your sheep with his word and to teach them by his example. Help us by his prayers to keep the faith he taught and follow the way of life he showed us. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

“The soul hungers for God, and nothing but God can satiate it. Therefore He came to dwell on earth and assumed a Body in order that this Body might become the Food of our souls.” ~ St. John Vianney

Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
 Whatever you may do, I thank you:
 I am ready for all, I accept all.
 Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
 I wish no more than this, O Lord. 

Into your hands I commend my soul;
 I offer it to you
 with all the love of my heart,
 for I love you, Lord,
 and so need to give myself,
 to surrender myself into your hands,
 without reserve,
 and with boundless confidence,
 for you are my Father. ~

Charles de Foucald

“Today I double up with laughter whenever I realize that I have started ‘managing’ my life once more – something we all do with astounding regularity.  The illusion of control is truly pathetic, but it is also hilarious.  Describing what I most need out of life, carefully calculating my next move, and generally allowing my autonomous self to run amuck inflates my sense of self-importance and reduces the God of my incredible journey to the role of spectator on the sidelines.  It is only the wisdom and perspective gleaned from an hour of silent prayer each morning that prevents me from running for CEO of the universe.  As Henri Nouwen once remarked, ‘One of the most arduous spiritual tasks is that of giving up control and allowing the Spirit of God to lead our lives.”  (Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust)