Holy Spirit of Jesus, sanctify my being all the joys and sufferings of my life...

 
1 Corinthians 1:1-3

 
Could it be that becoming holy – that is, whole, pure and fully alive in life and love, like Christ – is the main purpose of life on earth? Could it be that all experiences, all the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful things we experience can sanctify our beings? Certainly the joys and sufferings of life both bring about challenges that can either drive us away into a deadly ‘hell on earth’ and overwhelming darkness, or they can form us into the holy and lively beings we are designed to be.  The joys of life can lead us into the clutches of passionate desire and lust for all things temporal, or they can teach us to recognize and find true light and love and life by understanding them from God’s perspective.  Similarly the sufferings of life can draw us into overwhelming and mortal despair, despondence and discouragement, or they can challenge us to become more God-like in faithful patience, more fervent in hopeful indifference to temporal circumstances and possessions, and more compassionate in loving relationships.  As I live into the joys and sufferings that unfold in my life, will I allow myself to be carried away into the darkness of the Enemy, that is hell, or will I choose to let the life and ministry of Jesus, the Word, show me how to let the joys and sufferings of this life make me holy? Holy Spirit of Jesus, sanctify my being through the joys and sufferings of my life.  
 
“… Show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises of God.” (Hebrews 6: 11-12)
 
 
To have courage for whatever comes in life – everything lies in that.
St. Theresa of Avila
 
Check out this new year’s blessing, A Mixed Blessing.
A Mixed Blessing - for the Feast of St. Benedict - PrayTellBlog
 
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
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