Listen to Saint Pio … Wednesday, July 17

Saint Padre Pio stated: “Through the study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds him”.

A Rosary Meditation … The Second Glorious Mystery, the Ascension. “Keep your eyes fixed on Him who is your guide to the heavenly country, where He is leading you. What does it matter to you whether Jesus wishes to guide you to Heaven by way of the desert or by the meadow, so long as He is always with you and you arrive at the possession of a blessed eternity?” ~ St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. When Jesus ascended into Heaven His followers stood there, looking up, looking after Him, watching Him ascend. Jesus is our guide to Heaven, just as Padre Pio said. We can look at the  desert around us and feel slighted, depressed, uncared for, and so take our eyes off Jesus. We can look at the beautiful wonders around us and become so engrossed in them that we lose sight of Jesus. It’s not that we need to be unaware of what goes on around us, we do. It’s just that we need to always remember what’s primary and keep our focus, our priorities, fixed on not the more important aspects of living but on the MOST important aspect of our lives, which aspect is the Giver of Life itself, Jesus. We need to keep looking up, looking after Jesus, with the sure knowledge that this same Jesus will come again. When He comes back what will He find us intent upon? Him or our surroundings? Our priorities matter to Him, they need to matter to us.

Today …

St. Marcellina

St. Marcellina was the daughter of the prefect of Gaul and sister of St. Ambrose. She was born at Trier, Gaul. She went to Rome with her family when she was quite young, and was consecrated to a religious life by Pope Liberius in 353. She lived a life of great austerity, which St. Ambrose tried to persuade her to mitigate when she went to Milan to visit him. It was to Marcellina that he dedicated his treatise on virginity, Libri III de virginibus ad Marcellinam. She obviously had her priorities straight. She’d be a good prayer partner for setting priorities and knowing what those should, and shouldn’t, be.

Consider … Satan knows how to set priorities too. “Have courage and do not fear the assaults of the Devil. Remember this forever; it is a healthy sign if the devil shouts and roars around your conscience, since this shows that he is not inside your will.” ― Padre Pio.