"We do not seek, nor should we seek, our own glory even among those whose approval we desire. What we should seek is their salvation, so that f we walk as we should they will not go astray in following us...So we seek no advantage for ourselves when we aim to please men. We want to take our joy in men--and we rejoice when they take pleasure in what is good, not because this exalts us, but because it benefits them." St. Augustine

Why do we seek to please others?  For our sake and benefit or for the glory of God and their good.?  It is all in the attitude and the intention. Too often people use others without regards to the other, but for some selfish gain. This does not benefit them or benefit us in what really matters, our eternal salvation. Instead of being our intercessors before God on the Day of Accountability, they will be our accusers. Seek to please God and others for their eternal good and we will be judged mercifully by God.

 "Before we ever seek God, His grace is already seeking us." St. Prosperus

Before we are aware of God, God has created us, sustained  us in existence, redeemed us through his death and resurrection, adopted us as his sons and daughters, fed us with his Body and Blood and forgiven our sins. For the most part, all we did was receive his love without appreciating his love or even responding to his love. Even when we begin to respond with love, it is by his grace that we are able to do so. All is grace! The more we are aware of this, the more we can appreciate his tremendous love for us, maybe even in spite of us. What should our response be? Simple, respond with an authentic love, a love that seeks to be agape love.

 "Where noise ends, God begins to speak." St. William

When Elijah was led  to the mountain to await the word of the Lord to him, he had to enter into the inner silence. There was an earthquake, a storm, a mighty wind, but these were just noises and distractions. As he moved from the distracting noise, he was able to hear the Lord in the stillness of a whisper. Many times when we come before the Lord in prayer, our mind is bombarded with many distractions. We need to shut our these distractions to still our heart and mind. It will be in those moments that, if the Lord wishes to speak to us, we will be able to hear clearly. He is the Lord. We wait on him.

 "To will what God wills, to will it in the way, the time and the circumstances that he wills, and to will all this not for other reasons, but only because God wills it so." St. Joseph Cafasso

This is the surest road to holiness and eternal union with God. Jesus taught us this both by word and by action. He said that the one who does the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of God. In choosing the will of the Father even to death by crucifixion, he lived what he taught, as an example for us. We express this sentiment in the Our Father: thy will be done. God called Adam and Eve to be obedient to his command. They chose, not his will, but theirs. To choose the Father's will in all things does not negate our will, but enables us to unite our imperfect will to the perfect will of the Father for the glory of God and our eternal happiness.

 "Let no seductive good fortune lead us astray. He is a foolish traveler who sees pleasant meadows on his journey and forgets where he is going." St. Gregory the Great

God reminds us of our destiny: not this life but life eternal with him. But how easy it is to get distracted and lose focus as we traverse through time and space with so much impacting us. It is easy to forget who we are and whose we are. We are called to be like St. Paul. He saw all as rubbish. He had only one goal: to reach the prize on high, life with God. He knew he did not deserve it, but he desired it. He knew it was a pure gift from God, but a gift willed for us before time began. Not to reach this goal would be failure beyond understanding. To choose something less would be the ultimate act of foolishness.

 
"If some rich and powerful friend were to enter your home, you would quickly clean the entire house for fear something there might offend your friend's eyes, when he entered. Let anyone then who is preparing his inner house for God cleanse away the dirt of his evil deeds. The Lord comes into the  heart and makes his home in one, who truly loves God and observes his commandments." St Pope Gregory the Great

Why are we more concerned at times of offending a weak, sinful person like ourselves, while not showing a greater respect for the Lord God, who is perfect? Is it because we are more concern with the person we can see than the God we can't see? In the end, the human person will come and go, while God will be the one who judges our lives. While there is time, cleanse the inner rooms of your heart from the various filth of sin. The human person may not see these areas, but God does.

"A good man is not a perfect man; a good man is an honest man, faithful and unhesitatingly responsive to the voice of God in his life.” St. John Fisher

 "I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind." St. Bernard

How powerful is the gift of faith! It is truly a grace from God that we don't fully understand. Yet, without this gift, we would not come to know and embrace the mysteries of God. Out faith is not in the mysteries but in the God who reveals them to us. Without this relationship the mysteries would be meaningless. But with this relationship, I believe because it is God who reveals.

 "We have solid ground for a common rejoicing; yet there will be more genuine and excellent reason for joy if you do not dwell on the thought of our unworthiness." Pope Leo the Great

What is the solid ground for our rejoicing? Is it not all that God has and is doing in our lives out of his infinite love? Is not our joy in the Lord? Then, what interferes with this grace of joy? Is it not when we focus on our own self? Yes, we are unworthy of his presence in our lives, but he chooses to bless us for his sake. While we acknowledge our unworthiness, we prefer to thank God for his goodness and love, which overcome our unworthiness. Rejoice in the Lord always and not in self and the joy of the Lord will remain.

"We should bear in mind and realize that when we call God our Father we ought also to act like sons. If we are pleased to call him Father, let him in turn be pleased to call us sons. We should life like the temples of God we are, so that it can be seen that God lives in us."St. Cyprian

Once we are baptized and adopted by by God as his sons ad daughters, we remain such eternally. We ,may deny and reject him but he will never deny us.  The Prodigal Son while he left his father and rejected his relationship with the father, the father  still considered him his son. The burden of proof of relationship rests not on the Father but on us his sons and daughters. The father of the Prodigal Son waited for him. It was up to the son to return and call him father again. If we call God our Father, then we should seek to live as sons and daughters in relationship with Him.

 "Attribute to God every good that you have received, if you take credit for something that does not belong to you, you will be guilty of theft." St. Anthony of Padua

Do we give thanks to God for all the good that we have received from his hands?  Do we use his gifts for his glory and honor, knowing that we will have to give an account of our stewardship? If so, we are  in right relationship with God. If we are not in this area of our life, then we may be like a thieve who takes from another what is not ours. Examine your conscious to determine the real state of your life with God.

 "Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love." St Margaret Mary Alacoque

Such great love for so unworthy a person as I am! The Lord chose out of infinite love to share our human life, while remaining God. Out of that same infinite love Jesus chose to reconcile us to God by becoming the sacrifice pleasing to God: embracing the will of God by embracing death by crucifixion. From his pierced Sacred Heart comes the blood and water that brings us salvation. How can I respond to this tremendous love? As St. Theresa of Avila once said that the only response to love is love, a love that seeks to avoid sin, which is non love.

 "There is nothing impossible to God." St Rita

All things are possible for God. All that can be done is possible to God. But just because it can be done, God may not will it to be done. Jesus addressed this. A man can to Jesus asking "if you can" asking for the healing of his son. Another person came and said, "if you will." Can Jesus heal? Yes. Will he heal the way we desire him to? Not necessary. It is not for us to determine. We are not God. Our petitions should be made with faith expectancy that the will of God may be manifested, not our will. Recall the words of Jesus in the Garden, "Father, take away this cup, yet not my will but yours be done." What God willed was, not the death of his Son, but the salvation of the world though his obedience. 

 "You will never enjoy the sweetness of a quiet prayer, unless you shut your mind to all worldly desires and temporal affairs." St. Norbert

The focus of prayer is not ourselves nor the things of this world. We go to prayer to be in the presence of the greatest of all Lovers, God himself, to praise and thank him. He tells us: "Be still and know that I am God," Still your mind and your heart and rest in the quiet with the Bbeginning and End of everything. This is not easy to do, if our focus is ourselves and the various things in our life. There will be a time for prayer of petition, But first focus on the goodness and blessings of God. Worship and praise him. Love and thank him. Then just quietly wait upon him, if he desires to share something with you to draw you closer to him. This time of being other focused is the heart of prayer. It takes practice to reach this point. Be patient and faihful.

 "O Lord and King, grant me tp see my own sin and not to judge my brother, for you are blessed from all ages to all ages. Amen." St. Ephrem

It is easy for us to see and condem the other, the faults of others, while passing over our own faults. There is no spirityual growth in that. It doesn't make us holier, though it implies we are holier than the other. Recall the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector praying in the Temple. While exalting himself the Pharisee disdained and condemn the Tax Collector. On the other hand, the Tax Collector asked for forgiveness of his own sins. If we spent our time uprooting our own sins, we will have no time to judge another. That's God's role not ours.

 "All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle" St. Francis of Assisi

That is why Jesus called us, his followers, to be the light of the world.  When we were baptized a lighted candle was given us to be kept burning until we reach our destiny. We by our life light the way for ourselves and others through the darkness of the world. If we remain in union with Jesus nothing, even the attacks of the evil of darkness, will be able to extinguish our light. As St. John reminds us, "He who is within us is greater than he who is outside." Walk confidently with your light held high.

 "Everything that is not for God is empty." St Francis Caraccolo

This is an interesting statement. Yet, how true it is! How much time and energy do we expend in things that are not of or for God? Compare these to the things we do for and in God. Then, see the two in the light of eternity. Which will have greater and lasting merit? What can we do? Even in the mundane things of life, do all for God. Here is a saying I have used often. "Do what you are suppose to do, when you are suppose to do it, the way you are to do it, to the best of your ability for the love of God." In this way, nothing will be empty or meritless.

 "Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes it's the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering 'I will try again tomorrow.'" St. Clotilda

Not only does that inner voice speak to us at the end of the day, but each time we fail, it urges us to try again. Without that grace from God, our life would be hopeless. It urges us never to give up in our spiritual journey to greater holiness. It motivates us not to focus on our failures, no matter how many, but to focus on the grace that God gives us to start afresh with him. This courage is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Pray for a fresh outpouring of this gift each day as we begin anew. For without it, left on our own, we are bound to remain in failure and defeat.

 "Do not be ashamed to confess the cross, for angels glorify in it." St. Charles Lawanga

What has been seen as a symbol of shame and condemnation has become, because of Christ, a symbol of victory and glory. A source of death has become a source of eternal life. The source of man's first sin in the Garden of Eden has become the tree of grace on Calvary. The cross is the bridge between earth and heaven. As Jesus embraced the cross in obedience to the will of God for our sake, so we are called by the Lord to take up our cross for his sake, also embracing the will of God. With St. Paul let us glory in the cross, as we journey to the Lord.

 "Without joy, faith becomes a rigorous and oppressive exercise, and risks ailing with sadness. Let us consider this word: ailing with sadness. A desert Father said that sadness is “a worm that burrows into the heart”, which corrodes life (cf. Evagrius Ponticus, The Eight Spirits of Evil, XI). Let us ask ourselves this: are we joyful Christians? Am I a joyful Christian or not? Do we spread joy or are we dull, sad people, with a funeral face? Remember that there is no holiness without joy!" Pope Francis

This admonition is in line with the words o St. Paul: "Rejoice in the Lord always...for the Lord is near," When we are witnesses of a life of joy, even in the midst of difficlties, we are proclaimg our faith in Jesus as the Lord of our life. People were drawn to Jesus because "the joy of the Lord was his strngth." If he was a prophet of doom, he would not have been so effective.  Too many Christians have a downcast spirit. What draws people to Christ is the spirit of Paul and Silas. Though beaten and imprisoned for preaching about Jesus, they began to sing and praise God. Be a child of the light through joy than a child of darkness though a sad countenance.

 "By examing the tongue of the patient, the physicians find out the diseases of the body, and philosophers the diseases of the mind." St. Justin, martyr

 More important are the diseases of the tongue that affect our relationship with God. What are some of these diseases? There is falsehood and lies, slander amd calamny that are part of gossip, words of anger and unkindness, curses and swearings, using the name of God, sexual inuendos, words of unforgiveness and revenge, words that divide. Jesus, the Divine Physician, has come to remove these spiritual diseases. He prescibes words of truth, love, justice and unity. We are called because of our baptism to turn away from destructive words to life-giving ones, so that our speech becomes pleasing to God.