Meds
In Conversation with God:
Some people are inclined towards a superficial optimism and think evil is merely an incidental imperfection in a world which is continually evolving towards better days… We find in our day all the features of an intense evil which cannot be explained in terms of human behaviour alone… the whole of man’s history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil…
As a result of the redeeming work of Christ, the devil can only cause real harm to those who freely allow him to, by consenting to evil and separating themselves from God…
… God has given us the means to overcome all temptations; nobody sins necessarily…
In his temptations the devil has recourse to deceit, because he can present only a false good and a fictitious happiness, which inevitably turn into loneliness and bitterness…
The devil – and our angels – cannot penetrate our innermost thoughts if we do not want them to. The unclean cannot know the nature of our thoughts, they can only conjecture at them from outwardly perceptible indications, or else by examining our dispositions, our words or the things they notice that we tend towards… what we have not chosen to exteriorise so that it remains hidden within our souls, is totally inaccessible to them…
The devil is unable to violate our liberty so as to incline it towards evil…
… the devil is a great chained dog which puts people to flight, which makes a great noise, but which only bites those who come to close…
CCC #158
“Faith seeks understanding”: it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. the grace of faith opens “the eyes of your hearts” to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God’s plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the centre of the revealed mystery. “The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood.” In the words of St. Augustine, “I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe.”
Totus Tuus:
Mary, indeed, lived the mystery of the cross in a total darkness (and therefore in a hope coming out of a total poverty), but also in a burning love (one in which everything is given) with Jesus and for him and for the Father… she who suffered intimately more than we have suffered is capable of understanding our sufferings, all of our pains, all of our sadness, all the forms of rejection that we endure…
Playlist
… i wish you could see me now, i wish i could show you how i’m not who i was… when the pain came back again like a bitter friend, it was all that i could do to keep myself from blaming you… i found my way around to forgiving you sometime ago, but i never got to tell you…
With Open Hands 