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Our God is not made of stone. His heart is the most sensitive and tender of all. No act goes unnoticed, no matter how insignificant or small. A cup of cold water is enough to put tears in the eyes of God. God celebrates our feeble expressions of gratitude.
- Richard J. Foster
(How does this compare with your understanding of God? Spend some time giving thanks for God's goodness.)
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Daily Readings
AM 3:1-8; 4:11-12; PS 5:4B-6A, 6B-7, 8
MT 8:23-27
As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him.
Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea,
so that the boat was being swamped by waves;
but he was asleep.
They came and woke him, saying,
“Lord, save us!
We are perishing!”
He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this,
whom even the winds and the sea
obey?”
Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain, 2018 (3rd ed.) Matthew 8: 23-27 (Jesus calms a storm) On the Sea of Galilee
storms arise suddenly and violently. Just as quickly, they move along, leaving calm waters behind. Most significant in today’s reading is not a revelation of Jesus’ power over nature but a promise that if we have faith, he can calm the storms in our own lives. • What are some sources of stress that you encounter regularly? Why do these situations cause you stress? How can you change your
attitude about these situations to diminish stress? • Pray for the grace to he more adaptable in stressful situations.
Treatise on the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) ____________ Chapter 2: How by complacency we are made as little infants at our saviour's breasts. When the
holy Isaac embraced and kissed his dear child Jacob, he smelt the good odour of his garments, and at once, filled with an extreme pleasure, he said: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field which the Lord hath blessed. [230] The garment and perfumes were Jacob's, but Isaac had the complacency and enjoyment of them. Ah! the soul which by love holds her Saviour in the arms of her affections, how deliciously does she smell the perfumes of the infinite perfections which are
found in him, with what complacency does she say in herself: behold how the scent of my God is as the sweet smell of a flowery garden, ah! how precious are his breasts, spreading sovereign perfumes. So the soul of the great S. Augustine, stayed in suspense between the sacred contentment which he had in considering on the one side the mystery of his Master's birth, on the other the mystery of his passion, cried out, ravished in this
complacency "I know not whither to turn my heart. On the one side the Mother's breast offers me its milk, on the other the life-giving wound of the Son gives me to drink of his blood.
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