Learning To Pray

Day 2: God and Daring

0 Daring is willingness to take risks or engage in bold actions, often characterized by courage and a lack of fear in the face of uncertainty or potential danger when pursuing good.

Attractive eh?

What's the virtue of daring in the gospel about?

1 there are different manifestations of Daring in the gospel :

—Daring to do great things for the Lord: Mary of Bethany

—Daring to tell the Lord what is in your heart: Martha and Mary blaming the Lord

—Daring to ask the Lord for what is best: Mother of James and John;

At the end of the day is DARING TO ALWAYS LOVE

2 HOW:

(Reaction of love, not complaining; resentment; coldness; )

To decide to react well:

Amazement vs routine;

Smiling;

cheerful (because the Lord loves me regardless what happens)

warm and affectionate;

entertaining;

social;

generous;

ready to serve;

Sensitivity vs indifference;

flexible;

not fanatic (bring up always my reasons why);

with desire of learning;

respectful of everybody's freedom;

tenderness;

carefulness, and tactfulness in my dealings with others (watch out in the days I'm tired);

Empathetic (to feel with them);

UNDERSTANDING;

patient;

good listener (in general; and when people come to my room)

ADMIRE OTHERS (intellectual love) and DESIRE OTHERS (sensitive love);

feel fortunate to be living with the people I'm living with (young people, in the West, in Calgary with good people and nature etc)

Give always a response of love.

3 LOVE ALWAYS, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR LIFE;

Quote:

"Those who travel with God feel free; they feel that they have nothing to fear, that they are not subject to control, but on the contrary that everything is subject to them because everything works together for their good, whether favorable or unfavorable circumstances, good or bad. They feel that everything belongs to them because they are God's children; that nothing can limit them, because God belongs to them. They are not subject to conditions but always do what they want because what they want is to love, and that is always within their power. Nothing can separate them from the God they love; and they feel that even if they were in prison, they would be just as happy, because there is no way that any power in the world could take God away from them." (Jacques Philippe, In the School of the Holy Spirit).

4 Daniel inerarity: freedom as adventure (i.e., unforeseen demands and joys) of setting out in trust to grow in self-knowledge and in those things that increase our freedom to love God and others...

5 getting out of our comfort zone; life starts beyond our self- comfort zone. Examples; off screens and start doing something.

Day 1: Setting out on a spiritual journey

*Silence that comes from trusting in and surrendering to God:

"Silence is not emptiness but that general attitude of inwardness that enables us to have an "inner cell" in our heart, to use an expression of St. Catherine of Siena's, where we are in God's presence and converse with him."

(Jacques Philippe, In the School of the Holy Spirit)

"What often happens is that, when we are confronted with painful occurrences, we either rebel, or

endure them unwillingly, or resign ourselves to them passively. But God invites us to a much more

positive and fruitful attitude: that of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who, as a child, said: "I choose it all!" We can give this the meaning: I choose everything that God wants for me."

(Jacques Philippe, In the School of the Holy Spirit).

"Each day has its own trouble." (The Lord)

"In encouraging you to rediscover the beauty of the human vocation to love, I also urge you to rebel against the widespread tendency to reduce love to something banal, reducing it to its sexual aspect alone, deprived of its essential characteristics of beauty, communion, fidelity and responsibility. Dear young friends, “in a culture of relativism and the ephemeral, many preach the importance of ‘enjoying’ the moment. They say that it is not worth making a life-long commitment, making a definitive decision, ‘for ever’, because we do not know what tomorrow will bring. I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, I ask you to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility, that believes you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you. Have the courage to ‘swim against the tide’. And also have the courage to be happy”" (Pope Francis)

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you" (St Augustine)

"And I looked at Him straight in the eye, and I had no doubt that it was Him; and I realized that He had been there with us all that day long and that it was true: He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And I looked around and He was not there any more. And it was clear to me it was my turn to show Him to the world with my deeds. And I got back on the road with my friend. Two ardent flames in the middle of the darkness." (Joel-Isaiah McIntyre)

"Christian hope is no facile optimism; it is the certainty, rooted in love and faith, that God never abandons us” (Pope Francis)

The love for God makes an impact in all the departments of our personality: intelligence, will, heart.

"Don't let your life be barren. Be useful. Make yourself felt. Shine forth with the torch of your faith and your love.

With your apostolic life, wipe out the trail of filth and slime left by the corrupt sowers of hatred. And set aflame all the ways of the earth with the fire of Christ that you bear in your heart." (St Josemaria)

“Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you give, will be the measure you get back.” (The Lord)