Note to God

So it is very important that we give our life a sense of eternity, that we never fall into routine or habit, because our Lord is waiting for us behind every task. You have to fight against tiredness and a lack of desire, which can and almost certainly will happen to you at one point or another, by striving to do things better each day, perhaps the same things done at the same time. If we work out of love they will never be the same things. They will take on a very distinctive savour!

When they see bruises on their feet, they are not bothered. When they see the shoes falling apart or torn, they feel relieved.. because it means they have practiced very hard.  Its very difficult to see the progress they are making, but when they see their feet and their shoes, they can see it. They can see the time spent.  - life of ballerina

A soul who loved Our Lord very much, and who led a life of much physical suffering, left behind some very pertinent words: What frustrates a life is not pain but lack of love . The one great failure in life is to have lived without loving: it may be that many other things have been achieved, but what is really important, namely, loving God, is left undone.

Some of the labourers complained about the wages they were given. No matter, since the Lord gave to each one the agreed amount - one denarius. Those uncontented did not understand that to serve the Lord is an honour and not a duty. To work for Christ is to reign. To be called by God from the public square is reason for giving thanks. While serving as apostles in the middle of the world we find more than enough compensation. We are trying to love Christ and to serve him ever more faithfully as we seek new labourers to work for him. The Lord will never forget that service. We should keep in mind that the denarius itself is stamped with the image of the King 

A show about a 70 year old man who finally wants to pursue with dream to learn ballet and dance in front of an audience.  Its been his dream when he was a child, when he saw a ballerino soaring during his practice. But his father disallowed him to learn.  Now when he's 70, he sees his friend passed away with words that tells him not to live in regret.  He then learns ballet from a young ballerino. This young ballerino also has a dad who went to prison and didn't feel his love.  But the old man said sth which really struck me: he says, a father's happiest moment was being the first to carry him when he's a baby. Fathers don't tell you but he loves you deeply. You make him very happy when you born. And he recollects how his dad didn't allow him to learn ballet, and when he's old, his dad said 3 words: I am sorry. He then realises that it's not that the father is glad he didn't pursue his dream, his father feels sad too that his son didn't get to le...

If we make the effort to discover our neighbour’s good points, we shall see that the deficiencies in his character, the defects in his behaviour, are as nothing in comparison with his virtues. This positive, just attitude towards those with whom we are constantly in contact will bring us closer to God. We shall grow in interior mortification, charity and humility. Let us strive always to look at the virtues and good deeds we see in others, Saint Teresa tells us, and cover their defects with the thought of our own great sins. This is a manner of acting that, although we cannot do so with perfection right away, gradually gains for us a great virtue - that of considering all other men as being better than ourselves. In such a way, with the help of God, one begins to acquire this virtue (St Teresa, Life, 13, 10).

We must learn to pass over even the obvious and undeniable defects of the people we are with each day, so that we do not keep our distance from them or lose our respect for them because of their mistakes or bad manners. Let us learn from Our Lord, who could not entirely excuse the sin of those who crucified him, but extenuated its malice by pleading their ignorance. When we cannot excuse a sin, let us at least make it worthy of compassion by attributing the most favourable cause we can to it, such as ignorance or weakness  - St Francis de Sales

If we have lived properly—indeed, one might say, if we have died properly— throughout our life, we go straight to heaven after death. For we are called to die to our old selves, and live in the life of Christ  Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.52 Baptism, then, is a rebirth, but it leaves the roots of the old life still within us, so that really it is only the beginning of a process of putting off the old man and putting on the new, which will only reach its normal and natural end with our death.

Abandonment in God has to be closely united with responsibility , which leads us to use the most opportune human means, for on many occasions what is disguised as ‘bad luck’, adverse circumstances etc., is nothing but hidden mediocrity, indolence or imprudence in not employing the precise means that a situation has called for. When work is done conscientiously, with order (systematically and methodically), when it is properly finished off, when it has been sanctified like constant apostolate done with a spirit of sacrifice, it gives fruit in due course. And if these fruits take their time in coming, it is a sign that God will give them by means we have not suspected, and that He wants us to sanctify ourselves in precisely these circumstances.

to pray constantly (1 Thess 5:17; Luke 18:1), or always to pray as Our Lord asks (Luke 18:1). There are many times when we ought to be concentrating intently on our work, and at such moments the mind is incapable of thinking directly about God and focusing our attention on what we are doing at the same time. Nevertheless, if we maintain that habitual disposition of the soul, that union with God, or at least retain the intention of doing every thing for God, then we are in fact praying without interruption.

Peter didn't fall into professionalitis! In the Gospel, we heard Jesus’ invitation to the Apostles to “put out into the deep.” And we see Simon Peter’s reluctance as the result of the previous night’s failure: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” (Lk 5:5). And yet he responds right away: “But at your word I will let down the nets” (Lk 5:5). He still didn’t know Jesus well, but that didn’t stop Simon Peter from trusting Him and mistrusting his own strength, without thinking about what humanly made more sense. The result dispelled all his doubts: “They caught a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking” (Lk 5:6).

We need to discern between works of God and God. Sometimes, it's not easy to let go of His works.. but he ask us to, to put it to his hands instead of ours. 

It is precisely the awareness of our divine filiation that enables us to live without fear: “I am not afraid of anything or anyone, not even God, who is my Father,” Saint Josemaría said. This reality leads us to face every difficulty with serenity and without discouragement, especially on realizing our own limitations and mistakes and those of others, because with divine grace we always have the light and strength needed to transform them into a path to holiness. With filial trust in God, we can abandon ourselves in his arms, without relying only on our own strength. This filial abandonment was the foundation of Saint Josemaría’s spiritual life. He saw himself as a faltering child, who had to begin and begin again each day.