[M]ay you continue to be well and happy–the way God wants you to be. Joys and sufferings constantly follow one after another in this life and each must be accepted by us in whatever manner God sends them.
–Blessed Luisitia Josefa (1866-1937)
Don’t worry about anything that’s going on in this world. Concern yourself with the next. In all of your difficulties and fears, turn to your good Jesus. He will help you and inspire you as to what you should do. He will give you strength and all the other virtues you need as well. Therefore, be happy and filled with confidence wherever Our Lord places you and however He wants you.
–Blessed Luisitia Josefa (1866-1937)
Shouldn’t we gratefully accept both good and bad as coming from the hand of God, for both are inclined to our advantage if we know how to profit from them.
–Saint Madeline Sophie Barat (1779-1865)
It is one of the most firmly established and most consoling of the truths that have been revealed to us that (apart from sin) nothing happens to us in life unless God wills it so. Wealth and poverty alike come from Him. If we fall ill, God is the cause of our illness; if we get well, our recovery is due to God. We owe our lives entirely to Him, and when death comes to put an end to life, His will be the hand that deals the blow.
–Saint Claude de la Colombiere (1641-1682)
Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.
–Henri Nouwen (1932-1996)
[W]e must be as satisfied to be powerless, idle and still before God, and dried up and barren when He permits it, as to be full of life, enjoying His presence with ease and devotion. The whole matter of our union with God consists in being content either way.
–Saint Jane Frances de Chantal (1572-1641)
