The St. Josemaria Institute invites you to join us in preparing our hearts and homes this Advent 2022 as we “Prepare and Rejoice!” for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus Christ.
The Lord does not remain with us in the Eucharist for His own sake, but to meet our deepest human needs for love and friendship: “Jesus, who has encouraged this feeling of emptiness in us, comes out to meet us” (Christ is Passing By, no. 170).
I want to talk to you about time, that passes so swiftly. I am not going to repeat to you the well-known phrase about one year more being one year less…
In 2009, Fr. Joseph Soria wrote “My Memories of St. Josemaria Escriva”, a series of articles for The Westbrook Voice (Canada) in which he described some of the most memorable moments he shared with St. Josemaria Escriva.
I am the way, the truth and the life. In these clear and unmistakable words Our Lord traces out for us the true path that leads to everlasting happiness.
“My devotion to Our Lady of Pilar has always accompanied me: my parents, with their Aragonese piety, instilled it in my soul since I was a child,” said St. Josemaría.
“A man open to the presence of God discovers that God is always working and still works today: We should, then, let him enter and let him work.”
The Church dedicates the entire month of October to the Holy Rosary so that individuals, families, and communities would pray the Holy Rosary, if possible, on a daily basis for peace in the world.
“For the accuser of our brethren has been cast out, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb” (cf. Rev 12:10-11).
We don’t need to be told that we struggle… We struggle daily not only to become holy but just to be good people—naturally good, naturally virtuous.
“Behold your Mother!” (Jn 19:27). This is our Lord’s command to us from the cross. What do we see when we behold our Mother?
Today, once again, I set myself this goal and I also remind you and all mankind: this is God’s Will for us, that we be saints.
To “live” the holy Mass means to pray continually, and to be convinced that, for each one of us, this is a personal meeting with God. We adore him, we praise him, we give thanks to him, we atone for our sins, we are purified, we experience a unity with Christ and with all Christians.
How much is holy poverty a driving force on your path to Christ? For the first disciples of Jesus, as for the Saints of every age, poverty is a privileged way of identifying oneself with the “affections” of Christ.
“Mary has been taken up to heaven by God in body and soul, and the angels rejoice.” Joy overtakes both angels and men. Why is it that we feel today this intimate delight, with our heart brimming over, with our soul full of peace?
The saying goes that most people see only what they want to see. If that’s true, then most of us live with a kind of selective blindness.
St Josemaria concentrated much of his apostolic drive in convincing ordinary Christians that being ordinary is okay. But his message was not one of mere contentment with everyday life or of shunning the wealth and fame typically associated with “extraordinary” people.
Nothing disappoints more than misplaced hope. And maybe nothing is easier to misplace than our hope. From time to time we are all tempted to put our hopes for happiness, even for a kind of salvation, in people whom we idealize or future circumstances we imagine will be perfect.
Prerequisites are built into some of the most significant things we do in life. University admissions, job applications, marriage, and entrance into religious life all have their prerequisites…
This hymn to freedom is echoed in all the mysteries of our Catholic faith. The Blessed Trinity draws the world and man out of nothing, in a free outpouring of love. The Word comes down from Heaven and takes on our flesh, an act which bears the splendid mark of freedom in submission.