"These little daily acts of charity, this headache, toothache or cold, this bad humor in a husband or wife, this broken glass, this contempt or that scorn, this loss of a pair of gloves, ring or handkerchief, the little inconveniences incurred by going to bed early and getting up early to pray or receive Holy Communion, that little feeling of shame one has in performing certain acts of devotion in public - in short, all such little trials when accepted and embraced with love are highly pleasing to God's mercy. For a single cup of water God has promised to his faithful a sea of perfect bliss...
Great opportunities to serve God rarely present themselves, but little ones are frequent."
- St. Francis de Sales
(William Paxton painting 1909, in US Public Domain)
Thank you for more pearls of wisdom from this great saint, Nancy. As always, St Francis has great practical spiritual advice. My version of his words are this short prayer: "Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me something to offer you."
ReplyDeleteWhen I fail to see or start to fail to see that the annoyances of life are really great opportunities for grace, this one little sentence, that seemed to pop in my mind out of nowhere one day, puts things back in proper perspective.
Thank you, Karinann, for sharing this sentence... how absolutely perfect!
DeleteAhhh...as the sweat pours down my head and back at 8 am in the morning...what a perfect post to read. It's not helping...I am still screaming inside *I hate the summer!!*. Thanks for reminding me though...I need bricks dropped on my head occasionally : )
ReplyDeleteI need the bricks also... and the heat and drought of this summer seem to be just that for some of us. May your bricks be made of cotton :)!
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