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18 March Reflection Quote

"Our life as a son or daughter of God is the hidden strength of our desire to live more as pilgrims, with less security and solidarity, open to receive our bread day by day in a growing communion." Concepcion Camacho, Conference on Vows re Poverty, p 73.

Most people want the security of knowing where their next meal is coming from. The pilgrim, on the other hand, places their trust in God. – have there been times when your desire for security got in the way of following Jesus? – what does to mean to you to live like a pilgrim? – how might a pilgrim path draw you into communion with others?

17 March Reflection Quote

"We are aware that we carry our treasure in earthen vessels; this treasure is the presence of the faithful love of God." Patricia Garcia de Quevedo, Conference to Probanists, June 1996.

Earthen vessels are simple and vulnerable. Nonetheless they are what God chooses to carry God’s faithful love. – does this quote reassure you about your own capacity to carry God’s love to others? – do you have a strong sense of God’s faithful love present in you? – when have you encountered God’s faithful love through an unlikely source?

12 March Reflection Quote

"When God says one word it makes the impossible possible, and the unlovely lovely, and the unmeaning become a revealation." Janet Stuart, in Maud Monahan, Life and Letters, p 258.

We can sometimes forget that God is God. Janet Erskine Stuart RSCJ reminds us that all things are possible for God. – can you recall a moment of revelation in which you saw that what appeared to be unlovely was actually lovely? – have you ever been aware of God’s presence when you have done something that you didn’t believe possible? – have you ever unexpectedly found meaning in something mundane?

10 March Reflection Quote

"The nature of love is to change the lover into the Beloved." Madeleine Sophie Barat, Letter 93 to Emilie Giraud, 1828.

The power of love to transform us is one of the great themes in literature. Many stories and songs remind us that love calls forth the best in us. In fact, it calls us to be the love of the Heart of God. – have you ever seen love change a person for the better? – how does being loved help you to be a better person? – in what ways does love draw you into union with the Heart of God?

9 March Reflection Quote

"The Word of God can help us more than all else because it makes us look at reality with all its difficulties, but always with hope." Concepcion Camacho, Conferences, p 40.

Our Scriptures are not just stories about the past, rather they provide a way of looking at reality. – how does the Word of God speak to you of the difficulties of today? – where do you find hope right now? – is there a particular piece of Scripture that you find yourself drawn to lately?

5 March Reflection Quote

"You are growing older and suffering; so you can do very little, but this is a means of becoming interior and of unting yourself to Jesus in his self-emptying." Madeleine Sophie Barat, Letter 74 to Adreinne Michel, 1837

Our culture tends to value having and doing over being. It is not surprising then that we may fall into valuing ourselves according to what we do. Jesus, however, shows us another way. – does this saying from St Madeleine Sophie Barat feel like an unhelpful suggestion that you ‘offer up’ your sufferings? – how might less action help you to be closer to Jesus? – what feeling arise when you can do very little?

4 March Reflection Quote

"To believe in God means to open ourselves, to surrender ourselves to Mystery. It means knowing that we are drawn into the free gift of this Mystery." Patricia Garcia de Quevedo, Feast of the Sacred Heart, 1997.

We cannot easily convince people to believe in God through logic or empirical evidence. In fact, faith is a gift and a mystery, which draws us into the Mystery. – how do you respond when people dismiss your belief in God as nonsense? – is faith an experience of surrender for you? – can you think of a time when you felt comfortable in the presence of Mystery?