The Secret Adversary

Book written by Agatha Christie.

• Nice hooking fiction story


• Two young friends (a guy and a girl) who are jobless create a venture ready to do anything.


• Even before expected they get involved in a very dangerous situation and they must save the country from a political calamity at the hands of 'Mr. Brown'... Even risking their own lives and not being able to trust anybody around them.

From Prison to Torreciudad

Book written by "Fernando".

Fernando is a guy who spent 10 years in jail (the reason for that is not given in the book), but while in jail he experienced a conversion thanks to the help of a priest and his close union to the Virgin Mary. At some point he promised her that, if he was released during that year, he would go on a walking pilgrimage to her shrine in the North of Spain. After a short while he changed slightly his promise... he would go for such a pilgrimage whenever he was released, even if it wasn't that year itself.

This book is the story of that pilgrimage.

Some remarkable things about Fernando and his trip:

1. His love for Our Lady. It sounds simple, but walking 700 km in less than a month, without a single day break is very tough. He did for love of Mother Mary, to thank her and to ask her for a new job.

2. His daring and boldness to help people, by speaking to them and giving them advice, as well as doing things for others when required... for instance, he saw a forest fire going on and he approached to see if he could give a hand in dousing the fire... it wasn't easy stuff.

Leadership

"We have a crisis of leadership in America because our overwhelming power and wealth, earned under earlier generations of leaders, made us complacent, and for too long we have been training leaders who only know how to keep the routine going. Who can answer questions, but don’t know how to ask them. Who can fulfill goals, but don’t know how to set them. Who think about how to get things done, but not whether they’re worth doing in the first place. What we have now are the greatest technocrats the world has ever seen, people who have been trained to be incredibly good at one specific thing, but who have no interest in anything beyond their area of expertise."

"What we don’t have are leaders."

"What we don’t have, in other words, are thinkers. People who can think for themselves. People who can formulate a new direction: for the country, for a corporation or a college, for the Army —a new way of doing things, a new way of looking at things. People, in other words, with vision."

"Courage: there is physical courage, which you all possess in abundance, and then there is another kind of courage, moral courage, the courage to stand up for what you believe."

"People do not multitask effectively. And here’s the really surprising finding: the more people multitask, the worse they are, not just at other mental abilities, but at multitasking itself."

"Multitasking, in short, is not only not thinking, it impairs your ability to think."

"Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it."

"I find for myself that my first thought is never my best thought. My first thought is always someone else’s; it’s always what I’ve already heard about the subject, always the conventional wisdom. It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the parts of my mind come into play, that I arrive at an original idea."

"You do your best thinking by slowing down and concentrating."

"So solitude can mean introspection, it can mean the concentration of focused work, and it can mean sustained reading. All of these help you to know yourself better."

"But there’s one more thing I’m going to include as a form of solitude, and it will seem counterintuitive: friendship. Of course friendship is the opposite of solitude; it means being with other people. But I’m talking about one kind of friendship in particular, the deep friendship of intimate conversation. Long, uninterrupted talk with one other person. Not Skyping with three people and texting with two others at the same time while you hang out in a friend’s room listening to music and studying."

"Introspection means talking to yourself, and one of the best ways of talking to yourself is by talking to another person. (chat)"

"But it seems to me that solitude is the very essence of leadership. The position of the leader is ultimately an intensely solitary, even intensely lonely one. However many people you may consult, you are the one who has to make the hard decisions. And at such moments, all you really have is yourself."

"These are extracts from a speech given at West Point. Originally published at: http://www.univforum.org/detalle_pdf.php?art=en_597 "

VERBUM DOMINI

Verbum Domini conclusion

Verbum Domini part 1 section 1

Verbum Domini part 1 section 2

Verbum Domini part 1 section 3

Verbum Domini part 2 section 1

Verbum Domini part 2 section 2

Verbum Domini part 2 section 3

Verbum Domini part 3 section 1

Verbum Domini part 3 section 2

Verbum Domini part 3 section 3

Verbum Domini part 3 section 4

Verbum Domini part 3 section 4

VERBUM MUNDO
The Word of God and interreligious dialogue (117 onwards)

• The quickened place of globalization makes it possible for people of different cultures and religions to be in closer contact. This represents a providential opportunity for demonstrating how authentic religiosity can foster relationships of universal fraternity.

• The Church also looks with respect to Muslims, who adore the one God.

• Encourage meetings aimed at helping Christians and Muslims to come to better knowledge of one another, in order to promote the values which society needs for a peaceful and positive coexistence.

• The ancient religions and spiritual traditions of the vatious continents contain values which can greatly advance understanding between individuals and peoples. Frequently we note a consonance with values expressed also in their religious books... In Hinduism the sense of the sacred, sacrifice and fasting

• Dialogue would not prove fruitful unless it included authentic respect for each person and the ability of all freely to practise their religion (religious freedom)




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Verbum Domini part 3 section 3

VERBUM MUNDO
The Word of God and culture (109 onwards)

• God does not reveal himself in the abstract, but by using languages, imagery and expressions that are bound to different cultures

• I wish to reassure all those who are part of the world of culture that they have nothing to fear from openness to God's word, which never destroys true culture but rather is a constant stimulus to seek ever more appropriate, meaningful and humane forms of expression.

• The whole Church expresses her appreciation, esteem and admiration of those artists "enamoured of beauty" who have drawn inspiration from sacred texts. ... Many of them have helped to make somehow perceptiblein time and space, realities that are unseen and eternal.

• Among the new ways of mass communication, nowadays we need to recognize the increased role of the Internet, which represents a new forum for making the Gospel heard. Yet we also need to be aware that the virtual world will never be able to replace the real world, and that evangelization will be able to make use of the virtual world offered by the new media in order to create meaningful relationships only if it is able to offer personal contact which remains indispensable.

• In the world of the Internet which enables millions of images to appear on millions of screens throughout the world, the face of Christ needs to be seen and his voice heard, for "if there is no room for Christ there is no room for man"

• Inculturation is not to be confused with processes of superficial adaptation, much less with a confused syncretism


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Verbum Domini part 3 section 2

VERBUM MUNDO
The Word of God and commitment in the world (99 onwards)

• We tend to halt in a superficial way before the importance of the passing moment, as if it had nothing to do with the future. The Gospel, on the other hand reminds us that every moment of our life is important and must be lived intensely

• To all those who take part in political and social life. Evangelization and the spread of God's word ought to inspire their activity in the world, as they work for the true common good in respecting and promoting the dignity of every person (politics, human dignity )

• It is primarily the task of the lay faithful, formed in the school of the Gospel, to be directly involved in political and social activity.

• Christ "is our peace", the one who breaks down the walls of division.

• Religion can never justify intolerance or war. We cannot kill in God's name ! Each religion must encourage the right use of reason and promote ethical values that consolidate civil coexistance.

• We should never forget that "love -caritas- will always prove necessary even in the most just society... Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such."

• From St Paul... Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

• Youth is a time when genuine and irrepresible questions arise about the meaning of life and the direction our own lives should take. Only God can give the true answer to these questions.

• If we let Christ into our lives, we loose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are t e doors of life opened wide... When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return.

• If human words seem to fall silent before the mystery of evil and suffering, and if our society appears to value life only when it corresponds to certain standards of efficiency and well being, the word of God makes us see that even these moments are mysteriously "embraced" by God's love.

• Those who suffer should be helped to read the Scriptures and to realize that their condition itself enables them to share in a special way in Christ's redemptive suffering for the salvation of the world.

• We also need to recognize and appreciate the fact that the poor are themselves agents of evangelization.



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Verbum Domini part 3 section 1

VERBUM MUNDO
The Word from the Father and to the Father (90 onwards)

• We cannot keep to ourselves the word of eternal life given to us in our encounter with Jesus Christ: they are meant for every one... Everyone today, whether he or she knows it or not, needs this message. It is our responsibility to pass on what, by God's grace, we ourselves have received (apostolate)

• The First Christians saw their missionary preaching as a necessity rooted in the very nature of faith

• Many of our brothers and sisters are baptized but insufficiently evangezed.

• The need for a new evangelization must be valiantly reaffirmed in the certainty that God's word is effective.

• In no way can the Church restrict her pastoral work to the "ordinary maintenance" of those who already know the Gospel of Christ. Missionary outreach is a clear sign of the maturity of an ecclesial community (apostolate ad fideam)

• The word of God is the saving truth everybody wants to hear

• On the one hand the word must communicate everything the Lord himself has told us. On the other hand, it is indispensable, through witness, to make this word credible, lest it appear merely as a beautiful philosophy or utopia, rather than a reality that can be lived and itself give life (apostolate)

• Young people need to be introduced to the word of God "through encounter and authentic witness by adults, through the positive influence of friends and the gat company of the ecclesial community"



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Verbum Domini part 2 section 3

VERBUM IN ECCLESIA
The word of God in the life of the Church (72 onwards)

• Catechesis must be permeated by the mindset, the spirit and the outlook of the Bible and the Gospels

• A knowledge of biblical passages, events and well known sayings should thus be encouraged.

• Enable every member to realize that history of salvation is also a part of his or her own life.

• Need to approach the word with a docile and prayerful heart so that it may deeply penetrate his thoughts and feelings and bring about a new outlook in him -- 'the mind of Christ'

• Christian laity live out their specific vocation to holiness by a life in the spirit expressed in a particular way in their engagement in temporal matter and by their participation in earthly activities

• Part of authentic parenthood is to pass on and bear witness to the meaning of life in Christ... Spouses are the first to proclaim God's word to their children

• The Synod urged that every household have its Bible, to be kept in a worthy place and used for reading and prayer

• Women have an ability to lead people to hear God's word...they are messangers of love, models of mercy and peacemakers; they communicate warmth and humanity.

• Need for a prayerful approach to the sacred text as a fundamental element in the spiritual life of every believer

• Understanding Scriptures demands, even more than study, closeness to Christ and prayer.

• The prayerful reading of the Bible, personal and communal, must always be related to the Eucharistic celebration.

• To whatever degree we are united with Christ, we are united to one another, and the supernatural life of each one can be useful for the others (communion of saints).

• I urge that Marian prayer be encouraged among the faithful, above all in life of families, since it is an aid on meditating on the holy mysteries found in the Scriptures.

• The Holy Rosary ponders the mysteries of Christ's life in union with Mary. It is fitting that the announcement of each mystery be accompanied by a brief biblical text

• The Angelus allows us to commemorate daily the mystery of the Incarnate Word

• It is a Marian prayer traditionally recited at sunrise, midday and sunset. Can help us grow authentic love for mystery of incarnation

• Peace which is Christ himself, born of Mary for our salvation.

• The Synod Fathers recalled the felicitious phrase which speaks of the Holy Land as the "Fifth Gospel". How important it is that in those places there be Christian communities, notwithstanding any hardships!

• The more we turn our eyes and our hearts to the earthly Jerusalem, the more will our yearning be kindled for the heavenly Jerusalem, the true goal of every pilgrimage



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Verbum Domini part 2 section 2

VERBUM IN ECCLESIA
The liturgy, privileged setting for the word of God

• The liturgy is the priviliged setting in which God speaks to us in the midst of our lives

• Every liturgical action is by its nature steeped in sacred Scripture.

• See that all faithful learn to savour the deep meaning of the word of God which unfolds each year in the liturgy... This in turn is the basis for a correct approach to sacred Scripture.

• The liturgy of the word is a decisive element in the celebration of each one of the sacraments of the Church

• In salvation history there is no separation between what God says and does. His word appears alive and active. ... In the liturgical action too, we encounter his word which accomplishes what it says.

• The profound unity of word and Eucharist is grounded in the witness of Scripture (cf. Jn 6; Lk 24)

• Unless we acknowledge the Lord's real presence in the Eucharist , our understanding of Scripture remains imperfect

• The Church has honoured the word of God and the Eucharist with the same reverence, although not with the same worship

• St. Jerome speaks of the way to approach Scriptures and the Eucharist : "... For me the Gospel is the Body of Christ;... When we approach the [Eucharistic] Mystery, if a crum falls to the ground we are troubled. Yet when we are listening to the word of God , and His Word and flesh and blood are being poured into our ears yet we pay no heed, "

• All those entrusted with the office of reading should be truly suitable and carefully trained. The training should be biblical and liturgical, as well as technical

• The homily is a means of bringing the scriptural message to life... It should lead to an understanding of the mystery being celebrated... Generic and abstract homilies should be avoided as well as useless disgressions which risk drawing greater attention to the preacher than to the heart of the Gospel message .

• The faithful should be able to perceive clearly that the preacher has a compeling desire to present Christ, who must stand at the center of every homily.

• He is undoubtedly barren who preaches outwardly the word of God without hearing it inwardly.

• The role of Scriptures in the sacraments of confession and anointing of the sick is often overlooked.

• Avoidi the the danger of the celebrations of the word being confused with celebrations of the Eucharist : "on the contrary, they should be privileged moments of prayer to God to send holy priests after his own heart".

• Popular piety can find in the word of God an inexhaustible source of inspiration, insuperable models of prayer and fruitful points of reflection.

• Our is not an age that fosters recolection; at times one has the impression that people are afraid of detaching themselves, even for a moment, from the mass media.

• Only in silence can the word of God find a home in us... Our liturgies must facilitate this attitude of authentic listening.

• "The reading of the Gospel is the high point of the liturgy of the word".

• Concern should be shown for Church acoustics, with due respect for liturgical and architectural norms

• Churches should give a place of honor to the Sacred Scriptures, even outside of liturgical celebrations.

• No text of spirituaty or literature can equal the value and riches contained in Scriptures

• Responsorial Psalm is also the word of God... Should not be replaced... Most appropriate that it be sung

• Prefernce should be given to songs which are of clear biblical inspiration ... I think in particular of the importance of Gregorian chant


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Verbum Domini part 2 section 1

VERBUM IN ECCLESIA
The Word of God and the Church

• To receive the Word means to let oneself be shaped by him, and thus to be conformed by the power of the Holy Spirit to Christ.

• The Church draws life not from herself but from the Gospel.


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Verbum Domini part 1 section 3

The Interpretation of Sacred Scripture in the Church

• Without faith there is no key to throw open the Sacred text... It is impossible for anyone to attain knowledge of that truth unless he fist has infuse faith in Christ, which is the lamp, the gate and the foundation of all Scripture.

• We can never read Scripture on our own. We come up against too many closed doors and we slip too easily into error. It was written by the People of God for the People of God ... Only in this communion can we truly enter as a 'we' into the heart of the truth God wants to convey to us.

• Access to a proper understanding of bibcal texts is only granted to the person who has an affinity with what the text is saying on the basis of life experience

• "the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of theology"

• The history of salvation is not mythology, but a yrue history, and it should thus be studied with the methods of seious historical research.

• An attitude of respect, esteem, and love for the Jewish people is the onlyn truly Christian attitude in the present situation, which is a mysterious part of God's wholly positive plan.


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Verbum Domini part 1 section 2

Our response to the God who speaks

• We were created in the word and we live in the word; we cannot understand ourselves unless we are open to this dialogue.

• In this dialogue with God we come to understand ourselves and we discover an answer to our heart's deepest questions

• The Book of Psalms, where God gives us words to speak to him

• Man's sin is essentially disobedience and refusal to hear

• Our apostolic and pastoral work can never be effective unless we learn from Mary how to be shaped by the working of God within us.

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Verbum Domini part 1 section 1

The God Who Speaks

• There is no greater priority than this: to enable the people of our time once more to encounter God, the God who speaks to us and shares his love so that we might have life in abundance.

• The Word of God makes us change our concept of realism: the realist is the one who recognizes in the word of God the foundation of all things.

• This realism is particularly needed in our own time when many things in which we are tempted to put our hopes, prove ephemeral. Possesions, pleasures and power show themselves sooner or later to be incapable of fulfilling the deepest yearnings of the human heart.

• This 'condescension' of God is accomplished surpassingly in the incarnation of the Word. The eternal Word, expressed in creation and communicated in salvation history, in Christ became a man.

• The Son himself is the Word became small - small enough to fit in a manger. He became a child, so that the word could be grasped by us.

• From the beginning, Christians realized that in Christ the word of God is present as a person. The word of God is the true light that men and women need. In the resurrection the Son of God truly emerged as the light of the world. Now, by living with him and in him, we can live in the light.

• We can compare the cosmos to a 'book' -Galileo himself used this example- and consider it as "the work of an author who expresses himself through the 'symphony' of creation.

• Since he has given us his Son, his only word (for he posseses no other), he spoke everything at once in y¡this sole word - and he has no more to say...

• Private revelations... Whose mission is... to help live more fully bt it in a certain period of history.

• Private revelation is an aid to this faith, and it demonstrates its credibility precisely because it refers back to the one public revelation.

• We cannot come to understand the meaning of the word unless we are open to the working of the Paraclete

• Ultimately, it is the living Tradition of the Church which makes adequately understand Sacred Scripture as the word of God

• Althouth the word of God precedes and exceeds sacred Scripture... It contains the divine word "in an altogether singular way".

• Whenever our awareness of its inspiration grows weak, we risk reading Scripture as an object of historical curiosity and not as the work of the Holy Spirit in which we can hear the Lord himself speak

• Christ experienced the silence of the Father when He was on the Cross (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?)... God also speaks by his silence... Is the situation of all those who, having heard His word, must also comfront his silence. God's silence prolongs his earlier words.

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Verbum Domini conclusion

CONCLUSION (121 onwards)

• I wish once more to encourage all the People of God, to become increasingly familiar with the sacred Scriptures.

• The greater our openness to God's word, the more we will be able to recognize that today too the mystery of Pentecost is taking place in God's Church.

• The proclamation of the word creates communion and brings about joy. ... This joy is an ineffable gift the world cannot give. Celebrations can be organized but not joy. According to the Scripture, joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.


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What they don't teach you at Harvard Business School

By: Mark H. McCormack

This is a very recommendable book for all those who are doing something else more than just a 9 to 5 job. It could be helpful for people who like business, or who help running a club, association or institution, or who are into the sales or marketing of their company, or those who aspire to go up the ladder within their company... and of course, for entrepreneurs!

I think that most of the things he says in the first part of the book (about people) boils down to live human virtues, and how those don't will find it harder to be successful.

His approach towards self-organisation in the third part of the book (Running a business) it's really quite good! Most probably I won't use his system but it helps me to improve my own system.

Below go some few points he made which I was able to take note at that moment... most probably there were more points I would have liked to write down, but couldn't do it at that moment.

► The people who get ahead have a need, are driven to perform a task well, no matter what the task is or how mundane it may actually be... Carpenters who became contractors at one time had a need to drive a nail straighter and truer than anyone else... Some executives, had they started in the mail room, would still be sorting mail - and misrouting most of it!

► Playing dumb is a valid negotiating technique, and 'I don't understand' is a legitimate negotiating response. But to ignore the other party's position or to pretend you didn't even hear it because you don't want to hear it only will build up frustrations.

► Companies are often shy about doing this (charging for their expertise). It always reminds me of the story about the woman who approached Picasso in a restaurant, asked him to scribble something on a napkin, and said she would be happy to pay whatever he felt it was worth. Picasso complied and then said, 'That will be $10,000'. 'But you did that in thirty seconds', she replied. 'No', Picasso said. 'It has taken me forty years to do that.'

► Getting things done is a matter of controlling your business day rather than having it control you, of forcing activities into the time available, rather than trying to expand the time to accommodate the activities. But many people fear that if they don't seem out of control they aren't going to seem busy enough or important enough. They really don't want to manage their time well. Once you really believe that controlling your time is not only more productive, but more pleasant, then the rest is fairly easy.

► Business is a competition, and any high-level, sophisticated competition is almost exclusively a head game. The Inner Game of Business, as this could be called, is understanding the Business Paradox: the better you think you are doing, the greater should be your cause for concern; the more self-satisifed you are with your accomplishments, your past achievements, your 'right moves', the less you should be.

► So if this book has left you feeling satisfied with your own business acumen, you may have a lot of catching up to do.

Book No.: r017

Asunto: highlights

Fecha: 18/03/11

The Ball and the Cross

By: Chesterton

• According to the introduction, this book is an allegory to the author's long written discussion with an atheist about the existence of God.
• The two main characters are an English atheist and a Scottish stanch Catholic who want to have a duel after the later broke the shop's window of the first one because the atheist had published a blasphemous article against the Virgin Mary.
• Throughout the book they try to fight but are always stopped by the police and other people who consider them mad.
• They run away for so long and talking so much while trying to find a place to fight, that they end up loving each other.
• By then end of their trip they land in a madhouse, which seems to be being run by the devil who has somehow managed to convince the world that anybody who takes the existence of God seriously (i.e. The duel of these two men) must be mad. Thus, all the people who have come in contact in one way or the other with our two characters during their flight, are put into the madhouse as well.
• They manage to create a revolt, make the devil run (with his helpers whom he kills soon afterwards) and destroy the madhouse. The only thing is left after the burning of the house are the two swords with which they had been trying to kill each other which they found lying on a cross position.

BookNo.: r014

 

Rugby Club

http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/san-josemaria-rugby-club

Funny article about a Rugby team with great devotion to St. Josemaria Escriva.

Book review: Don Camillo's Dilemma

By: Giovanni Guareschi

• Series of short stories written by the author periodically to be published in a magazine
• Don Camillo is the priest of the village
• Peppone is the Mayor as well as mechanic and blacksmith. Communist
• The stories are mainly about the funny encounters between the communists and the opposition (of which Don Camillo is part) in the village
• Very good humor about village life and village politics.

BookNo.: r011

Asunto: highlights

Fecha: 02/01/11

Friends of God, chapter 3

By: St. Josemaria

Ch. 3. Time is a treasure

• each year that ends is a step that takes us nearer to Heaven, our final home.
• Brief indeed is our time for loving, for giving, for making atonement
• We mustn’t squander this period of the world’s history which God has entrusted to each one of us.
• we are ready from this very moment to be generous and courageous, and take loving care of little things: we are ready to go and meet Our Lord, with our lamps burning brightly
• It is precisely those who are in love who pay attention to details, even when they’re doing apparently unimportant things
• How is it that sometimes we just can’t find those few minutes it would take to finish lovingly the work we have to do, which is the very means of our sanctification?
• How are we so lacking in calm and serenity when it comes to fulfilling the duties of our state, and yet so unhurried as we indulge in our own whims?
• these trifles are the oil
• He calls each one bearing in mind their personal circumstances,
• when you sense he’s beckoning you, even if it is at the last hour, how can you think of lingering in the marketplace,
• We should never have time on our hands, not even a second
• If you have time on your hands, ... It’s quite likely that you have become lukewarm; ... you are not doing all the good you should be doing to the people around you,
• What a shame it would be to have as one’s occupation in life that of killing time which is a God-given treasure
• God may have given us just one more year in which to serve him. Don’t think of five, or even two. Just concentrate on this one year, that has just started. Give it to God, don’t bury it! This is the resolution we ought to make.
• Allow me to insist. You think your time is for yourself? Your time is for God!
• He was hungry. The Maker of the universe, the Lord of all creation, experiences hunger! Thank you, Lord, for inspiring the sacred author to include this small touch here, a detail that makes me love you more and which encourages me to desire ardently to contemplate your sacred Humanity!
• There are no bad or inopportune days. All days are good, for serving God. Days become bad only when men spoil them with their lack of faith, their laziness and their indolence, which turns them away from working with God and for God.
• Our lives are so very short. Yesterday has gone and today is passing by. But what a great deal can be done for the love of God in this short space of time!
• Youth need not imply thoughtlessness, just as having grey hair does not necessarily mean that a person is prudent and wise.

BookNo.: r010

Asunto: highlights

Fecha: 31/12/10

Tags:

Friends of God, chapter 2

By: St. Josemaria

Ch. 2. Freedom, a gift from God

• Lord do not depart from me for w/o you I can do no good at all.
• In all creation only man can decide whether to give or deny glory to God.
• This is the light n shade of human freedom
• The fruit of the best freedom of all is deciding in favor of God
• Freedom is used properly when is directed towards the good; and misused when turned away from the Love of loves.
• It should lead to ask, what do you want from me Lord?
• Truth will make you free.
• If do not realize is a child of God, is unaware of the deepest truth about himself.
• Freedom is insufficient by itself, it needs a guide. Christ
• Choices that prefer error do not liberate
• Men's supreme dignity lies on this, that they are directed towards the good only by themselves and not by others
• God's love is jelous, not satisfied if we come with conditions.
• Serving Christ involves suffering
• Even when God's will seems painful, it coimcides perfectly with our freedom
• A person who does not choose freely to follow an upright code of conduct, ends up being manipulated by others.
• W/o love of God, individual and reponsible use of freedom becomes impossible
• Is false to oppose freedom and self surrender: the later is consequence of the first
• Freedom can only be given up for love
• Because we love freedom we tie ourselves down. Pride sees such bonds as heavy chains
• The only freedom that can assail faith is a missinterpreted freedom = license.
• Freedom of consciences means nobody can licitly prevent man from worshipping God
• No one is permitted to impose on somebody the practice of the faith he lacks
• Each soul is master of its own destiny
• When man sins he acts against reason, being led by the impulse of another, so anyone who comits sin is a slave to sin
• Wherever there is comitment (to something good or bad) and real passion, the person involved lives enslaved, joyfully devouting himself to fulfill his task
• We will be slaves either way. But if we recognize Love makes us slaves of God, we become then friends, sons. We will then do the same as others do but with peace in our hearts.
• I opt for God because I want to, freely.
• We are answerable to God, no room for anonimity
• We can be forced to many things, but we can only believe if we want to
• Religion is the greatest rebeloion of men, who refuse to live like animals
• Dilemma: children of God or slaves to pride, to sensuality, to selfishness
• Love of God marks out the way of truth, justice n goodness
• When we decide for God we loose nothing n gain everything

BookNo.: r010

Asunto: highlights

Fecha: 30/12/10

Tags:

Friends of God, chapter 1

By: St. Josemaria

Ch. 1. The richness of ordinary life

• Jesus is at our side guiding us like a shepherd
• He has chosen us to be part of his family to be saints
• His invitation obliges us to struggle to the point of heroism
• These world crisis are crisis of saints
• Concern for souls follows from the fact that God has chosen us.
• Success in attracting souls depends on how much interior life we have
• Ppl are not born holy. Holiness is formed by God's grace n man's correspondence.
• Holiness God asks of us is in daily duties, n these will almost always consist of small realities.
• You will not lack opportunities to show love of God in the small n ordinary things around you.
• We are few n worth little
• A disciple of Christ calls error error but the person in error he will correct with kindness
• Victory only comes to those who strive to behave as Christians. Thus there are so many who from a human point of view should be happy but aren't. They appear to be, but just scratch the surface and...
• Interior life consists of begining once n again... The struggle is never ending
• Child helping the fishermen...if we come to God like that, knowing our weakness, we shall more easily reach the goal
• You must let yourself be helped by a spiritual director
• Have you been pursuing God's or your own glory in everything you do?
• Ppl who fly to the heights w/o interior life are like that fellow flying on the wings of a plane...frightening
• In work n dealing w others we should maintain dialogue w God which is not audible but does manifest outwards in the care we put in doing things.
• Be of one piece
• The more we advance in interior life, the more we see our own failings
• Saints were ppl like us, with weaknesses who managed to master themselves for love of God.
• Your boat -your talents, achievements, etc- are worth nothing if not left in Christ's hands.
• If we let him take command, how safe the boat will be!
• We want him to do as he pleases with all we posses
• Only in his shelter will we find true happiness

BookNo.: r010

Asunto: highlights

Fecha: 29/12/10

Look up to Mary

By: Antonio Orozco

More lessons from Mary

• Maternal duty
• To say thst the sense of modesty just be strenghthened n informed is not to deny its natural character
• There can be no elegance without modesty
• If the body is everybody's property, then it becomes no one's posetion, leat of all its original owner's
• Without modesty the body looses its soul.
• If we are to elevate woman, we must dress her well: simply, tastefully, modestly. Then we men won't be such brutes.
• The Woman who sums up all enchantments of Creation: holy Mary.
• Fidelity
• While she was spared the inclination to sin, she was not confirmed in grace, she remained perfectly free and as perfectly responsible
• Heeding God's call
• That God calls us to holiness is clearly taught in sacred scripture: Eph 1:4-5
• Best vocation
• Doubtless it's the one I have
• Time for loyalty
• Love is so busy giving that it has no time to calculate or exact its "due"
• Only by being faithful to God can man attain all the good to which he is called
• Accepting hardships might make our hearts grow
• Is the time to look to Mary
• Only by being faithful to God can man attain all the good to which he is called
• All is good
• To say yes to God sometimes means saying no to his creatures
• At times normally good things could be bad
• In gral all pleasure is good, but not for everyone, not at every moment, not at any price
• Sexual pleasure is good, clean and holy in marriage for the right reasons and at the right time, place and mode.
• By dispensing with sexual pleasure (those called for that), we accede to other pleasures, less sensual but higher & deeper
• For them to crave pleasures reserved for marriage would be not just wrong but foolish as well
• No to no
• Every No to God is a Yes to Satan
• Yes to love
• Jesus was used to saying No
• Love asks for love
• One No to God if not mended, can undo a lifetime of Yeses
• We must shout No to No

Close to Heaven's gate

• No one can love the Virgin for you
• Isthere anything more beautiful than a child's love for its mother? Only one thing: a mother's love for her child
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BookNo.: r005

Fecha: 01/01/11