Gratitude in the Words of our Saints

In the Words of St. Patrick:

St. Patrick: “I declare in truth and with joy in my heart-before God and his holy angels-that I have never had any motive in my work except preaching the good news and its promise.”

When they were near dying of starvation, St. Patrick said, “Just turn with your whole heart to the Lord my God, because nothing is impossible for him.”

“Believe me, I didn’t go to Ireland willingly that first time-I almost died there. But it turned out to be good for me in the end, because God used the time to shape and mold me into something better. .. Someone who can care about others and work to help them. Before I was a slave, I didn’t even care about myself.” St. Patrick

(In these words, we hear St. Patrick’s appreciation for God’s grace which sometimes came through his misfortune.)

Teresa of Avila

Teresa of Avila

" 'Enjoy Me.'  Just these two words He spoke changed my life." ~ St. Teresa of Avila

 What a burden I thought I was to carry -a crucifix, as did He.

Love once said to me, "I know a song,Would you like to hear it?"

And laughter came from every brick in the street.And from every pore

in the sky.After a night of prayer, He

changed my life when He sang, 

"Enjoy Me."

Teresa of Avila“O my Lord and my spouse! This is the longed for hour, … my beloved and my Lord. Thy Holy will be done.” were her words spoken when St. Teresa of Avila was close to death.

Many strange things are said to have occurred: “Brilliant stars were noticed over the church, rays of light passed through Teresa’s cell, one Sister saw a white dove come from Teresa’s mouth, and another heard a joyful noise as a throng of white-robed people came into her room. Ana saw Christ, attended by angels and Ten Thousand Martyrs standing at the foot of Teresa’s bed.” Shirley du Boulay, Teresa of Avila: An Extraordinary Life

St. Francis of Assisi

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.Above all, the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.

St. Francis of AssisiNo one is to be called an enemy. All are your benefactors, and no one does you harm. You have no enemy except yourselves.It is not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look.Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.

Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy - Caravaggio

St. Teresa

What is gratitude if it is not an expression of our love for one another? When we show our appreciation, we show our love. Mother Teresa, St. Teresa wrote about love. ” If we want to conquer the world… Let us conquer the world with our love.” “If we really want peace in the world, let us start by loving one another within our families.” “It is easy to love those who are far away. It is not always easy to love those who live right next to us.” Mother Teresa said that true love has the potential to cause us pain, yet, brings us joy. This love takes courage from God. He wants us to love one another as he loved us. Be faithful in little things. Practice fidelity in these little things. God loves a cheerful giver. “The best way to show gratitude to God and people is to accept everything with joy. A joyful heart is a normal result of a heart burning with love. Joy in strength. Joy is not simply a matter of temperament… it is always hard.”

St. Teresa of Calcutta

“HE WANTS US TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS HE LOVED US.”

“AT THE END OF OUR LIFE, WE SHALL BE JUDGED BY LOVE.” SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS

Be faithful in little things. Practice fidelity in these little things. God loves a cheerful giver. “The best way to show gratitude to God and people is to accept everything with joy. A joyful heart is a normal result of a heart burning with love. Joy in strength. Joy is not simply a matter of temperament… it is always hard.”

St. John Paul II

St. John Paul IIWhen speaking on gratitude, he recalls the words of Cardinal de Furstenberg. “Dominus adest et vocat te?”  (The Lord is

here, and he is calling you.)St. John Paul wrote of the gift of the lay people saying, “I carry them all in my heart, for each one of them has made his or her own contribution to the growth of my priesthood. In one way or

another, they have shown me the way, helping me to understand my ministry better and to live it more fully. My frequent contacts with lay men and women have always proved profitable and instructive.” And further wrote, “In

effect, I have always been aware of the need for the apostolate of the laity in the Church.”

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena said she heard the voice of God sounding in her ears saying, “Open to me, my sister, my beloved, my

dove,” which Fra Raimondo interprets: “Open for me the gates of souls that I may enter them. Open the path by which my

sheep may pass in and out and find pasture. Open for me your treasury of grace and knowledge and pour it out upon the

faithful.”

Saint, Catherine (whose feast is celebrated on April 29th) was born in Siena, Italy in 1347

The Beatitudes, the words of our Lord

The beatitudes and the future joys of heaven… are first experienced by a light in the mind. The Beatitudes are at

the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. The Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to

the possession of a territory, but to the

Kingdom of heaven:Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.12

THE DESIRE FOR HAPPINESS

The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.

The Beatitudes explained in the CatechismThe Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it:We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated.13

How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.14

God alone satisfies.15

God’s Call

The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith.