"If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the great vice, that is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronizing and spoiling sport, and back-biting; the pleasures of power, of hatred."
- C. S. Lewis -

(Where do you experience these sins in your life? Pray the grace to be free of these kinds of sins.)

2 COR 4:7-15;    PS 116:10-11, 15-18;    MT 5:27-32

R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

I believed, even when I said,
"I am greatly afflicted";
I said in my alarm,
"No man is dependable." 

Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people. 





The pain and suffering can feel overwhelming. I am tempted to look away, to stay so busy that I do not have time to think about the sadness, to deny any connection or culpability, or responsibility, or power to make positive changes.

Paul offers me a way out. Paul shows me that I can admit to feeling afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down. AND, Paul shows me that I need not feel constrained, in despair, abandoned or destroyed. I can carry with me the terrible reality of Jesus's suffering and death AND know his glorious resurrection and love and joy.

The Reign of God is here and now and not yet. It may never be easy, but I need to face the suffering and pain and evil of our world while knowing Emmanuel, God is with us. I need to keep running toward a world of love, peace, and justice with confidence that God is simultaneously running right alongside me, pushing me from behind, and waiting to celebrate at the finish line.

- by Ken Reed-Bouley

Selected Quotes from St. John of the Cross on the Journey of the Soul to God by Contemplation

- from Ascent of Mt. Carmel

Bk. 3. Ch. 6. #3. Distress and worry ordinarily makes things worse and even does harm to the soul itself. The endurance of all with equanimity not only reaps many blessings but also helps the soul to employ the proper remedy.

Bk. 3. Ch. 7. #2. The more importance given to any clear apprehensions (visions, locutions, sentiments), natural or supernatural, the less capacity the soul has for entering the abyss of faith, where all else is absorbed.

- compiled by James and Tyra Arraj