To pray does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about other things, to spend time with God instead of spending time with other people. Rather it means to think and live in the presence of God. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts into thoughts about God and thoughts about people and events, we remove God from our daily life and put him in a pious little niche where we can think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings.

Prayer can only become unceasing prayer when all thoughts---beautiful and ugly, high and low, proud and shameful, sorrowful and joyful---can be thought in the presence of God. The main question is not so much what we think, but to whom we present our thoughts. ~Fr. Henri J.M. Nouwen

There is one and only one possible road to joy: selfless love. - Peter Kreeft

The letter below was sent by me to a benefactor. We have spoken about finding one's vocation on previous occasions. This letter is something of a continuation if those conversations. The name of the person to whom the letter was sent has been removed out of respect for his (or is it a her?) privacy. I am posting this with the full knowledge and permission of the person to whom it was originally addressed.

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Hello _______. 

The Lord give you peace! Thank you so much for the gift that arrived in today's mail. With your help I am better able to embrace this little adventure in Gospel living to which our Lord has called me. By your gift and prayers you join me on this journey. Your companionship is much appreciated.

Be assured of my prayers for you as you continue to discern your own calling. To be Catholic is to be a disciple of Jesus. Jesus said that everyone would know that we are His disciples if we love one another (John 13:34-35). I do not know where our Blessed Lord is calling you to love at some point in future. What I do know is that He is calling you to love right now, at this moment, the people around you in the places and situations you find yourself. If you do this, if you keep saying “yes” to Jesus by loving the people around you in this present moment, He will lead you where He wants you to be.

The cost of discipleship is high. One need only contemplate a crucifix, to recall that He Who hung upon the cross for love of us calls us to embrace our cross for love of Him. To be a disciple means dying to oneself and living for Christ, not tomorrow or at some point in the future, but today. "If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart," the Psalmist wrote (Psalm 95). My prayer for you, ______, is that you will hear our Lord Who beckons you to come die to self and live for Him. The cost of discipleship is high and few are willing to pay the price. But those who do, I can assure you, experience a life second to none.

Again, know that I pray for you daily before our Blessed Lord in His Eucharistic Presence. He is enthroned, as it were, in His majestic glory in the tabernacle in the hermitage chapel. Please pray for me, a sinner, that I may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Pax et Bonum!

(Peace and all Good)!

Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament ... There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth... ~JRR Tolkien

If a tiny spark of God's love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out.... Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.... Do not give yourself to others so completely that you have nothing left for yourself. ~St. Charles Borromeo

The disciple simply burns his boats and goes ahead. He is called out... The old life is left behind, and completely surrendered. The disciple is dragged out of his relative security into a life of absolute insecurity... out of the realm of the finite...into the realm of infinite possibilities. ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We too are called to withdraw at certain intervals into deeper silence and aloneness with God.... not with our books, thoughts, and memories but completely stripped of everything, to dwell lovingly in God's presence - silent, empty, expectant, and motionless. ~Blessed Teresa of Calcutta