Grace: To be with Christ as he faces those who indict Him unjustly. Their indictments say more about their character than Jesus’. Text for Prayer: Matthew 26:59-68, Luke 23:7-11, Matthew 27:11-26 Reflection. GK Chesterton once wrote that man longs for simplicity, but tends toward complexity. So it was with the intentions of earthly powers in… Read more »
Posts By: Mr. Joseph Simmons, S.J.
Reform: Shaping our Lives Anew
| XXIII.Grace: To sense more deeply the possibility of deep renewal and reform in my life and the desire in God’s heart for that renewal of me. Text for prayer: Lk. 18:18-27 Reflection: In Georges Bernanos’s classic The Diary of a Country Priest, Monsieur le Curé writes, “No, I have not lost my faith. The expression ‘to lose… Read more »
The Finding in the Temple
| XVIII.Grace: An intimate knowledge of our Lord, Who has become man for me, that I may love Him more and follow Him more closely. Text for Prayer: Lk. 2: 40-50 Reflection: An 18-year-old boy, Paul, enters Notre Dame Cathedral on Christmas Day 1886: he is a bright non-believer. Hearing Vespers and taking in the architectural… Read more »
Prodigal Son: “Going It Alone” and the Road Back to God
| XII.Grace: To know the mercy of the Father and His unconditional love for me — even in the midst of my sinfulness. Text for Prayer: Lk. 15:11-32 Reflection: The Prodigal Son story is one of the most familiar parables in the New Testament that one can return to time and again. We recall the basic… Read more »
Venial Sin: Are You ‘Plumb Enough’?
| VI.Grace: a growing intense sorrow and, if God so wishes, even tears for my sins. Reflection: I just finished reading a fictional novel that followed the life of a college professor whose life is a series of decisions that were petty and selfish as a young man, though he grew wiser and more generous as… Read more »
“Return to God” with St. Ignatius and Some Young SJs
| I.Welcome to the Spiritual Exercises Daily Blog for Lent 2011! Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, when we begin Lent and have a unique opportunity to respond to God’s call to return to Him: Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not… Read more »