That we may disappear and he may live completely. Only and always Jesus!

A. Deep. Breath. That was what I needed first to break the power of the day's lingering memories. Another breath and another...I imagined the tension and worry flowing out from my fingers and my toes until I relaxed enough to bring my day to the only One who could show me the way through the struggles to the radiance of surrender. I showed it  all to him and then listened.Like the people who met Jesus in the Gospels. They showed him their leprosy, their fears, their sins, their doubts.....

This is part 9 of the nine part series of meditations on the Word of God with reflections from the writings of Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo and Blessed James Alberione.During the Spiritual Exercises of 1934, Mother Thecla chose four points to work on in her spiritual journey. These points remained constant throughout her life: To keep God always in view Jesus Christ as Model The Blessed Mother for a Helper All of us, in an attitude of continual sacrificeMother Thecla brought all ...

This is part 8 of a nine part series of meditations on the Word of God with reflections from the writings of Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo and Blessed James Alberione.This theme coincides with Mother Thecla’s spiritual experience at the end of her life. Her dominant characteristics in this period were total acceptance of the will of God, intimate union with Christ, and participation in his life to the point of union of life with him.Meditating the Word I have been crucified ...

This is part 7 of a nine part series of meditations on the Word of God with reflections from the writings of Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo and Blessed James Alberione.Mother Thecla lived her apostolic Pauline vocation in a spirit of exultation: “I am extremely happy in my vocation. I wish I had a thousand lives so that I could dedicate them all to this noble apostolate, in spite of the many vexations and difficulties” (Letter to her brother, in 1947). She lived her voc...

This is part 6 of a nine part series of meditations on the Word of God with reflections from the writings of Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo and Blessed James Alberione.Mother Thecla’s constant concern was to guide the Daughters of St. Paul and its individual communities to communion, mutual understanding, and a deep sense of belonging. Her pedagogy was enlightened by the Pauline texts concerning love, summarized in the phrase from the Acts of the Apostles: “united, hear...

"Jesus is our prayer, because in His own Person, in His humanity,He supplicates the Father.Jesus is a living prayer, and His prayer is absolutely efficacious.Jesus continuously offers to the Father his merits and prayers.He adores, thanks, satisfies, implores mercy for sinners,grace for children, for the weak, for the suffering, for all mankind.It is prayer of infinite value, efficacious through the merits of Jesus,who is "heard for his godly fear" (Hebrews 5:7).All those who go t...