Tuesday, July 20, 2010

We Are Made by God And For God

As I woke early this morning before dawn and walked downstairs to the kitchen to fill my teakettle with water, I looked out the window into the darkness of my backyard. A single lamplight shown on the face of St. Francis as he waited patiently for the first of the three Hummingbirds that come each morning to drink from the fountain beneath his feet.

We have had this garden statue of Francis for over twenty years. It was blessed by a dear priest friend of ours, and the sound of the water trickling into the fountain can be heard from my bedroom window at night. It is quite soothing on a hot summer eve.


 I poured my tea and was saying my prayers, when sure enough, just as the sun took its place in the sky and the sparrows began to sing their morning praises to the Lord, there they came to take their morning dip into the fountain and to feast on the sweet nectar of the nearby Jasmine. We all need our daily nourishment to survive.


“As the body cannot live without nourishment, so our souls cannot be spiritually kept alive without prayer” St. Augustine



We were made by God and for God. Jesus says “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). This life that he refers to is eternal life and consists of sharing in the very life of God himself, and dwelling in His presence.


It is not enough to be a good person. We are called to be holy people. Prayer calls us to holiness because it calls us into the presence of God who is all love and all holiness.



Just as most of us not only nourish our bodies in the morning or the evening, so too, our souls need nourishment throughout the day. Prayer is our spiritual nourishment that keeps us in the presence of our Almighty God.

The spirit of the world keeps us busy and it keeps us preoccupied. We become so busy that we often forget to notice the spirit of Christ in the ordinary things and situations around us. We fail to notice the presence of God dwelling in our midst.


How do we place ourselves in the presence of God? To do this we must cultivate a spirit of prayer; one that is always with us, like the air we breathe. We must realize that God’s presence is in all things and in all places. We must remember that His divine spirit entered us through baptism and His loving gaze is upon those who love Him, especially those in prayer. (Taken from St.Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life)


COME, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,
and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

18 comments:

Abbey's Road said...

Absolutely beautiful, Grace! So enjoyed this ... oh, and I LOVE the little hummingbirds who come back to us year after year and give us such a beautiful glimpse of God's infinite creations.

Come by and see me as I have tagged you for a Meme!

Abbey♥

Karen said...

What you say is SO true! Peace comes from recognizing that Presence. And we come to recognize that Presence through Prayer. Thanks for sharing!

Karen said...

What you say is SO true! Peace comes from recognizing that Presence. And we come to recognize that Presence through Prayer. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

A beautiful post! I could see you in your kitchen as I read this. Made me miss you! So very grateful of God's nourishment of the many blessings that I have that include you and your family! Keep up the great blog! Love ya Barbara

madyjojjef said...

God creates this beautiful nature & your post show such things with prayer as well as from picture.
God bless you

Daily Grace said...

Barbara,

I miss you too my friend! I think of you often, it's time to get together!

Also, I have seen some of the California Milk commercials on the TV lately, you all are doing such great work for the dairy farmers. You are all in my prayers!

God bless

Daily Grace said...

Abbey,

Thank you for your comments and for choosing me for the MEME. It will be one of the next things I blog.

God bless

Daily Grace said...

Karen,

Thank you for comments. Prayer does keep us in the presence of the Almighty. May you dwell in His presence today and always.

Daily Grace said...

madyjojjef,

Thank you for your kind words and for stopping by my blog.

God bless

Lisa notes... said...

“It is not enough to be a good person. We are called to be holy people.” So true. Thanks for sharing such lovely thoughts today. I'm blessed by them.

kam said...

In the overwhelming business of daily life (work!) the mind tends to stray, burdened by this and that (like today!) My cell phone alarm goes off at 6:00am and 12:00 noon to pray the Angelus, but I'm not in the office. It goes off for an hour, calling to no one! Help me Lord, to be in constant prayer.

Victor S E Moubarak said...

What a lovely post. Thank you for this. I wish I had a statue of St Francis or Our Lady in the garden - not available here.

Thanx for this post.

God bless you.

Happy Catholic said...

I loved this post! Fantastic imagery and I very much needed this reminder. May God bless you dear soul, and thank you for encouraging us all!

Daily Grace said...

Thank you Colleen,

I am just being introduced to St. Francis de Sales. His writings touch me deeply and I kind of paraphrased his words here because I thought they tied in so well.

God Bless you and your day!

Anne said...

I love the image you have painted in my mind of St. Francis with a single light shining upon him and the fluttering wings of a hummingbird dancing nearby.

So wonderful!

Rosario said...

Beautiful post. I love the picture of the humming bird.

Daily Grace said...

Rosario,

Thank you for visiting my blog and for commenting.

God bless you and your family

Mary N. said...

Your post painted a beautiful mental picture and made me wish I was gazing at your garden, too! Do you know that I've never seen a live hummingbird in my life? They are beautiful little birds but I don't think we have any up here. If we do, I've certainly never seen one!