In this meditation, Fr. Leo Austin draws upon lessons from Scripture as he encourages us to pray for the grace to take better advantage of difficulties and darkness in order to develop a deeper interior life. This movement from discouragement to hope occurs especially in the faculty of our memory, when we process our own reactions in our personal conversation with God. 

As St. Josemaria wrote in The Forge, no.158: "When our vision is clouded, when our eyes have lost their clarity, we need to go to the light. And Jesus Christ has told us that he is the Light of the world and that he has come to heal the sick.—That is why your weaknesses and your falls — when God allows them—should not separate you from Christ, but rather draw you closer to him!" 

PAUSE AND REFLECT: 

• How did I react in a past moment of difficulty or darkness? How could I turn more quickly to Christ's light next time? 
• How do I use my memory in my conversations with God, to pass my past reactions through the heart of Christ so that he can purify me? 
• Do I feel spiritually stuck in any way–in my social life or professional life, or by facing my limitations–and how could I instead take this as an opportunity for growth? 
• Do I hear myself when I voice discouragement? How can I also hear, perhaps in louder volume, the voice of Jesus Christ telling me to lean more on His grace? 
• What are the “false shelters” under which I tend to hide? 

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In this meditation, Fr. Peter Armenio brings to life several stories from the life of St. Josemaria, including the footprints in the snow that helped him recognize his vocation and the founding of Opus Dei on October 2, 1928. Fr. Peter helps us consider the importance of being a contemplative soul in the midst of our occupation so that we can bear witness to the love of Christ in all we say and do. 

PAUSE & REFLECT: 

• Could I become a more ready apostolic instrument for the Holy Spirit to spread the blaze of Jesus Christ in and through my life? 
• Am I at risk of becoming worldly, and if so, what am I going to do about becoming a more contemplative soul? 
• What if I were to entrust myself and my resolutions from this time of prayer to my guardian angel? 

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In this meditation, we invite you to pray alongside Msgr. Martin Schlag and, following the advice of St. Josemaria, repeat his heartfelt petitions to Mary under the invocation of Our Lady of Sorrows. 

By contemplating Mary's heart, we can learn to: 

• let God strengthen my faith when I find myself at the foot of the Cross; 
• pronounce a 'fiat' to God when He is asking something of me that's not what I want; 
• stand loyally by the side of Christ when I feel lonely, abandoned, or just plain tired. 

Speaking about the heart of Mary, Msgr. Schlag leads us in meditation on Scripture, through a personal examination, and into contemplation by speaking directly to our Blessed Mother. 

He explains: "The sword pierces a heart that loves Jesus, and in Jesus, loves all of us. So, Saint Josemaria goes so far as to connect Mary's sorrow with these words of Jesus: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” 

Mary's suffering is not pointless or sterile. She suffers with Christ and for souls—for us—and is united with the redemptive love of her Son. 

PAUSE & REFLECT: 

• How do I receive suffering? Am I afraid of pain? 
• What barriers in my life prevent me from accepting the cross with faith? 
• How can my suffering lead me into to a deeper love of God? 

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In this meditation, Fr. Marty Miller draws out lessons about becoming contemplatives in the middle of the world by looking at our similarities to the lives of the Apostles. Their active lifestyles highlight three key elements for us to maintain a contemplative spirit amid our everyday duties: 

1) our love for creation can grow to extend to the stark realities of modern life; 

2) our willingness to struggle can get us through the tough spots of the road if we take them as reminders of the importance of the contemplative spirit; 

3) our constant connection with Our Lord, that He himself maintains, can keep us oriented towards Him no matter what. 

 The saintly Apostles were not monks; rather their ministry demanded that they support themselves with work. And, the lives of so many saints show us that contemplation is compatible with facing great challenges.  For us, too, the realities of our lives in the middle of the world should be content for our dialogue with God.  In this way, we can trust that He has placed us in this world, with our life's challenges, for a reason, and the reason is always our sanctification. 

PAUSE & REFLECT: 

• Have I become cynical about some aspect of contemporary life? If so, how could I lean more on God, to allow him to heal me? 
• How could the lives of the saints, of a particular saint perhaps, help me to put my troubles in perspective and to realize that God is always by my side? 
• What is going on in my life right now that could and should be content for my next conversation with God? 

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In this meditation, Fr. Eric Nicolai leads our imaginations from Sacred Scripture to the lakeside of eastern Ontario to the university campus where St. Josemaria famously proclaimed:  "[God] waits for us every day, in the laboratory, in the operating theatre, in the army barracks, in the university chair, in the factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the home and in all the immense panorama of work. Understand this well: there is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it." (Passionately Loving the World, no. 114) 

Although St. Josemaria delivered that homily in 1967, the words ring just as true for us today, at the start of this new academic year.  In this timely meditation, Fr. Eric prompts us to take on our apostolic mission with as much enthusiasm as St. Josemaria. 

He explains: "Let us feel ourselves now to be on a mission this year, to truly be protagonists in bringing the love of God wherever we are. And the university campus, the university buildings, they certainly need the love of God, the joy of being servants of God. The world needs all that love that we put into our studies... The apostolate that we will engage in as we meet people that maybe are distant from God and that maybe haven't had the grace to receive the formation, the knowledge of the faith that we have." 

PAUSE & REFLECT:  

• What repeated tasks, such as turning on a computer or making my bed, can remind me to say short little prayers to God? 
• Do I see my desk as an altar upon which to offer my work to God, in union with the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus? 
• What might help me to maintain–or regain–my enthusiasm for my studies and work? 
• Am I entrusting myself to the Holy Spirit, so that God can reach others through my friendships this year? 

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In this podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan examines three critical players in our spiritual life: the intellect, will, and heart. He offers a view of our life as a “journey back home,” relating the perilous journey in Homer’s Odyssey as a way of understanding the dangers confronting the Christian life in the modern world.

“What a shame it would be,” he says, “to allow our day, our life, to be shipwrecked by the sirens of YouTube, a Netflix series, or Tik Tok.” Ultimately, Odysseus and his crew made it home because they knew the sirens were a “deadly menace,” and they did everything in their power to overcome them.

If we form our intellect, will, and heart, giving each faculty its proper place, we too will overcome the obstacles that assail us on our journey Home. And we must totally commit to our destination: with all the power of our intellect, the strength of our will, and the passion of our heart.

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In this podcast, Fr. Eric Nicolai leads us in a time of reflection and prayer to check up on our spiritual health. He explains that when we are spiritually healthy, we are grateful and cheerful. But when we are not, even the smallest thing drives us crazy.

All those times when we're kind of irritable, restless, disconcerted, really worried about how things are going to turn out, what people might say, that's a sign we need a checkup and we need to get more spiritually healthy.

Our spiritual health will come, he explains, if we are men and women of prayer; if we are men and women who turn prayer into a real dialogue with God. Prayer puts us in contact with God, with our purpose and meaning, and therefore has the profound effect of giving us hope. There is nothing more essential for us than hope, to live by hope. We can't really live without hope. We can't even pray without hope.

The hope that comes from our prayer is also a reminder that we're never alone-- that's how some of the great saints survived. Prayer doesn't have to be a super perfect, forceful, or calm concentration. Prayer is a correspondence and dialogue with Our Lord.

As St. Josemaria Escriva says, “Prayer is the most powerful weapon a Christian has. Prayer must make us effective. Prayer must make us happy. Prayer gives us all the strength we need to fulfill God's commands" (The Forge, no. 439).

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In our meditation of the week, Fr. Javier del Castillo reflects on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and how she helps us to rise up to Heaven in our daily lives. For St. Josemaria, the Assumption or the Dormition of Our Lady played a vital role in his life as a young boy in Barbastro, Spain. St. Josemaria’s devotion to Our Lady became so great that he wished to “rise up” to Heaven with Mary by clinging to the tassel of her cloak in an effort to bring a piece of Heaven to Earth.

Fr. Javier invites us to look to Mary who teaches us that the essence of bringing Heaven to Earth lies in our ability to rise above challenges and adversities. By following her example, we can forgive even the unforgivable, serve others selflessly, and rise above our own tiredness and hardships. Mary's life exemplifies humility and the power of faith, showing us how to bring Christ's presence into our daily actions. As we emulate Mary's virtues and focus on the needs of others, we can transform our lives and actions, creating a piece of Heaven on Earth.

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In today’s podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the charity of God as “fuel” that enables us to seek holiness in the ordinary moments of everyday life. Our receptivity to God’s grace increases as we continue to strengthen our relationship with him through prayer and the sacraments. The grace we receive fills our life and will overflow into our relationships with one another, leading those we encounter closer to Christ.

As St. Josemaria explains: “Charity is not something we ourselves build up. It invades us along with God’s grace, ‘because he has loved us first’. We would do well to fill, to saturate ourselves with this most beautiful truth: ‘If we are able to love God, it is because we have been loved by God.’ Ask God boldly for this treasure, for the supernatural virtue of charity, so that you may practice it even in the smallest details” (Friends of God, no. 229).

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In this final meditation of our 3-part series on St. Josemaria's homily, Getting to Know God, Msgr. Martin Schlag reminds us that to truly know God is to love him more deeply. As we grow in friendship with Christ and recognize ourselves as beloved children of the Father, we are invited to become contemplatives in the midst of our daily lives, allowing God's love to transform every thought, action, and relationship. 

Msgr. Schlag encourages us to establish a spiritual plan of life to deepen our prayer and to respond generously to the Father by loving him above all things. 

Listen and reflect on: 

• Growing in friendship with God 
• Loving God with an undivided heart 
• Holiness through daily fidelity 
• Responding to the Father's love 
• Establishing a spiritual plan of life 

Read the full text of St. Josemaria’s homily, “Getting to Know God”, online here. 

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