Spirituality

Spirituality is an awareness that we long to reach a dimension beyond ourselves. It’s a search for union with that Holy Mystery we call God…a mystery we believe was revealed in all creation, but especially in Jesus. Our spiritual search is rooted in the Gospel. There we find the words that speak to us of God’s justice, forgiveness and inclusive love. There we find the compassion and courage of Jesus to be one with the poor, the suffering and the oppressed. As Sisters of St. Joseph, we try to look at our fragile, broken world through the lens of the Gospel. Through communal prayer...personal contemplation...interaction and ministry, we commit ourselves to live and work to bring all into union with God and one another.

December 26, 2011.

Prayer

Prayer

Prayer is essential to the spiritual life. It is a disposition, an attitude toward God not a formula. When a person’s mind and body are quiet and there is silence within, God’s unconditional love is allowed to manifest itself. Here are some of the thoughts of notable spiritual guides to inspire and energize us to make time for prayer and to be persevering in it. "Prayer is not asking ...it is a longing of the soul. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart”

“Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“Prayer does not change God, but changes the one who prays.”
Soren Kierkegaard

“The purpose of prayer is to prepare our own hearts for the inbreaking of God...
Joan Chittister,OSB

“The fruit of prayer is silence, the fruit of silence is faith, the fruit of faith is hope,
and the fruit of hope is love, unity and peace.”
Mother Teresa

“When you pray, allow the reality of God’s unconditional love to embrace you… To be filled with the sense of God’s abiding faithfulness means being consumed with the desire for God’s recognition everywhere and by all.”
Barbara Fiand, SNDdeN

“Prayer is less about changing the world than about changing ourselves”
David J. Volpe

“Be constant in prayer”
Romans 12:12

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
Colossians 4:2

“Pray without ceasing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ’thank you’, that would suffice.”
Meister Eckhart

“Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed; the motion of a hidden fire
that trembles in the breast.”
James Montgomery

“Prayer opens the way to God, and is the means by which the soul , though empty, is
filled by God.”
John Buchan

“Grant that I may not pray alone with my mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.”
Martin Luther

“Prayer is the spirit speaking truth to Truth.”
Philip James Bailey

“I am where God is. There is no place else where I could be. This I become alive to
in prayer.”
William Shannon

“...the state of union with God is our true existential state. We were created to live life joined to the sacred, and to manifest the reality of God’s presence through our own being.”
Maria Jaoudi

Spiritual Articles

Below are articles on spirituality you may find enlightening.

These will change regularly according to the liturgical season.