1 Jn 4:11-18;    Ps 72:1-2, 10, 12-13;    Mk 6:45-52

R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.

The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.

For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.





Does the Lord seem distant when trials and difficulties come your way?  The Lord nevers leaves us alone, but keeps constant watch over us at all times, especially when we are tempted and feel weak or helpless.  Do you look to the Lord to give you his strength and help when you are in need?  Jesus assures us that we do not have to give into fear or discouragement if we put our trust in Him and remember his great love for us.  He will see us through any trial that comes our way. When calamities and trials threaten to overwhelm you, do you respond with faith and hope in God's loving care and presence with you?

"Lord, may I never doubt your saving help and your ever watchful presence, especially in times of adversity. Fortify my faith with courage and my hope with perseverance that I may never waver in my trust in you". 





The Way of Perfection, by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

(Continues the same subject and shows how much greater are the trials of contemplatives than those of actives. This chapter offers great consolation to actives.)

Progress has nothing to do with enjoying the greatest number of consolations in prayer, or with raptures, visions or favours [often] given by the Lord, the value of which we cannot estimate until we reach the world to come. The other things I have been describing are current coin, an unfailing source of revenue and a perpetual inheritance -- not payments liable at any time to cease, like those favours which are given us and then come to an end. I am referring to the great virtues of humility, mortification and an obedience so extremely strict that we never go an inch beyond the superior's orders, knowing that these orders come from God since she is in His place. It is to this duty of obedience that you must attach the greatest importance. It seems to me that anyone who does not have it is not a nun at all, and so I am saying no more about it, as I am speaking to nuns whom I believe to be good, or, at least, desirous of being so. So well known is the matter, and so important, that a single word will suffice to prevent you from forgetting it.
- Chapter 18

(Keep in mind that she is writing to sisters in a cloistered contemplative order.)