which comes through faith in Christ…"
Philippians 3:7-10
Marguerite endured great suffering within her marriage, including the loss of three young children. Her husband's bad choices caused her other losses - loss of security, social standing, and financial hardship. Yet she forgave her husband. What about this story speaks to you, especially in light of the passage above?
Lord Jesus, as I am stripped of all that once mattered to me,
help me to embrace more of You.
PSALM 10:10-14
The helpless are crushed, laid low; they fall into the power of the wicked,
Who say in their hearts, "God pays no attention, shows no concern, never bothers to look."
Rise up, LORD God! Raise your arm! Do not forget the poor. Why should the wicked scorn God, say in their hearts, "God doesn't care"?
But you do see; you do observe this misery and sorrow; you take the matter in hand. To you the helpless can entrust their cause; you are the defender of orphans.
Do you ever feel as though the whole world has forgotten you and your family? Have even your closest friends returned to "normal" life, or (worse) urged you to get on with your life, as though you could outrun your grief?
The Lord sees you; He observes your misery and sorrow. Listen to the words of Isaiah …
But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me."
Can a mother forget her infant, or be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget, I will never forget you.
See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name...
Isaiah 49:14-15
How does this passage apply to my life today?
"Lord, You do see; You do observe this misery and sorrow. You take the matter in hand. To You the helpless can entrust their cause; You are the defender of orphans and widows. Jesus, I trust in you."
PSALM 1
TREE BY A LIVING STREAM
Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked,
Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers.
Rather, the law of the LORD is their joy,
God's law they study day and night.
They are like a tree planted near streams of water,
that yields its fruit in season,
Its leaves never wither, whatever they do prospers.
But not the wicked! They are like chaff driven by the wind.
Therefore the wicked will not survive judgment,
nor will sinners in the assembly of the just.
The LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.
"Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers." What does this say about how our friends influence us, for better or worse?
"Like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season..." Consider your current circumstances. What is your "living stream?" How do you see it bringing you life? What is your "fruitful field?"
ST. RITA OF CASCIA: PATRONESS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
"Why art thou proud, O dust and ashes? Dost thou forget that a God humiliated and annihilated Himself, stooping from Heaven to lift you thither?"
St. Rita of Cascia
Meditating on the Incarnation
She was born in 1381 to a couple that had prayed twelve years for a child. Despite her devotion to the Sacred Heart, the girl's life took a tragic turn when her parents determined that Rita would marry Paul de Ferdinand, a handsome but quarrelsome young man. In addition to his mean streak, Paul also drank and was known to seek out the company of immoral women. Rita objected to this marriage because of her dedication to the Lord, but her parents would not listen to her entreaties and prayers.
Their marriage from the beginning was an unhappy one. Rita's husband came home later and later at night, bruised and cut up from bouts of drunken brawling. The women of the neighborhood were amazed that Rita never spoke ill of Paul, even though she was visibly battered. Instead, Rita waited up to offer her husband late dinners. Paul responded with temper tantrums, throwing things around the house. Determined to help her husband reform, Rita persisted in turning the other cheek, praying for him, and doing penance for the salvation of his soul, especially by fasting.
Gradually Paul began to change, impressed by the goodness of his wife and also because she was expecting a child that turned out to be twin boys. Paul was changed by his fatherhood, but the boys evidently inherited their father's violent streak. When his sons were in their teens, Paul was ambushed and killed by an old enemy.
A friend told Rita that her husband forgave his assassin as he lay dying. But the sons, influenced by a pervasive culture of vengeance and their own fiery tempers, vowed to avenge their father's murder. Rita prayed that God would keep her sons from taking vengeance, and God answered that prayer. Her boys both died in an epidemic, despite her best efforts to save them.
As a widow as well as a grieving mother, Rita was grieved still further upon learning that she was not going to be
