Quote of the day, 15 March: Silvio José Báez, ocd

It’s true that God seems to be hidden in the pain, but in reality, he’s present, always working mysteriously for our good, even now.

In the difficult moment that humanity is experiencing, we have to walk with serenity like the blind man in the Gospel of John (9:1-41); we have to face uncertainty without losing our inner peace…

The blind man’s perseverance, walking in the midst of conflict and incomprehensible hostility, teaches us that we recover our sight to the extent that we recognize that we don’t see everything clearly, that we don’t understand everything completely, but we trust in Jesus and resist with the light of faith and the strength of his love.

When we feel tired, anxious, and afraid that this long night won’t end, let’s recognize with serenity that we don’t see clearly—that darkness surrounds us. Jesus came “that those who do not see may see” (Jn 9:39). He wants to sharpen our interior gaze, to cure our blindness, and to give us his light so that we may see more deeply.

During this Lent, we must take time to be silent and pray, to listen to the Word of God, and to pray as a family. It’s time to prostrate ourselves before the Lord and adore him. God may seem to be absent, but right there where he doesn’t even seem to be, he is consoling us and giving us strength, marvelously weaving a plan of life for all of humanity.

God consoles us in our helplessness and pain and gives us the strength of his love so that through everyone’s solidarity and sacrifice we can save ourselves. God is with us— and through Jesus, the light of the world, he sustains us in our littleness and gives us the capacity to see in the darkness, beyond all blindness.

Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.

Auxiliary Bishop of Managua
Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (excerpts), 22 March 2020

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Christ Healing the Blind Man, Gioacchino Assereto (Italian, 1600–1649), c. 1640 oil on canvas. Image credit: Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (Public domain).

The Fullness of Joy, Not Work!

In His presence is the fullness of joy, not work! #motivation #biblestudy #bishopshammahwomackel #faith #spiritualgrowth #presenceofgod #belikechrist #joy #lifeinchrist #wordofgod #purpose from Bishop Shammah Womack-El

https://bishopshammahwomackel.wordpress.com/2026/02/07/the-fullness-of-joy-not-work/

Quote of the day, 4 February: Blessed Marie-Eugène

The contemplative is an explorer of realms that begin at the outer limits of human understanding and extend into the infinity of God. Having reached God, how could such a soul not also one day discover Mary—the one through whom every divine gift passes? In these mysterious expanses, the contemplative advances by the light of living faith: “The Lord lives, in whose presence I stand” [1 Kgs 17:1].

It is the living presence of God that the contemplative seeks; why, then, should that same gaze not also seek the living presence of Mary?

The contemplative discovery of the Blessed Virgin closely resembles the contemplative discovery of God Himself. It is of the same nature and unfolds under the same conditions. Both rest upon a presence within the soul of the living realities they are called to encounter.

God is present within us because He continually sustains our existence by His action and because He communicates to us grace, a participation in His own life. To this active and sustaining presence is added a new mode of presence brought about by grace itself. By drawing us, as children, into the movement of Trinitarian life, grace enables us to enter into relationship with God and to know Him directly and immediately as an object of knowledge and love. It is for this reason that this new mode of divine presence, created by these relationships, is called an objective presence.

With regard to the Blessed Virgin, we may affirm that there is a certain mode of presence, which we deliberately refrain from defining. We leave this task to theologians, so as not to tie truths that transcend all schools of thought to any single theological opinion… Mary could not communicate supernatural riches to us unless she were in real contact with us.

Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus

Heureuse Celle qui a Cru: Découvrir Marie (1943)

de l’Enfant-Jésus, M 2017, Heureuse Celle qui a Cru, edited by Institut Notre-Dame de Vie, Éditions du Carmel, Toulouse.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Detail from Madonna and Child, an undated oil on wood painting attributed to Bernardino Luini. Image credit: Smithsonian American Art Museum (Public domain).

#BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #BlessedVirginMary #grace #presenceOfGod #relationship