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May 22, 2006
A Daily Reflection, Taken From The Writings of Elisabeth Leseur
In trying to grow in our relationship with God, my wife and I incorporated different devotions into both our family and personal lives. We try to pray the rosary daily as a family (she is better at remembering this than I am). She also reads the readings from Mass each day and a reflection from the Magnificat, her personal favorite for her daily devotion. The following is the reflection from last Thursday (05/18/06) that she shared with me. It is from the writings of Elisabeth Leseur, a French married laywoman whose canonization cause is currently underway. Enjoy!
The Responsibility of the Commandments
Every life is a serious matter and ought not to be led carelessly. Whether we consider it to be the prelude or a rough outline of the fuller, better life that we cannot enjoy here below, or whether we look at it as a fruit (a very bitter fruit sometimes) and not as a seed, nevertheless, we arrive at this conclusion that every life involves responsibility, and we are accountable not only for the evil that we do, but also for the good that we do not do. We are convinced also that our smallest actions and our most unnoticed sacrifices have a lasting effect in time and space, and that we continue forever the good or evil that we have once begun.
As a result, nothing is indifferent in our moral life; the neglect of the smallest duty has consequences we never suspect. This is why we must live in such a way that no obligation, great or small, may be left undone…
We ought to organize our tasks carefully, never letting the less important ones replace those of greater significance. Moral obligations are the most important; if I give them precedence over the rest, it is because they include the rest, and because the way in which we fulfill our obligations depends upon the way we approach this one. You must not think that the moral life does not need nourishment; one’s spirit, just as much as one’s body, can be ill, strong, or anemic. If you do not want it to waste away, you must provide it with daily food, and […] you must practice two things, namely, meditation and examination of conscience… Meditation is the gathering of oneself into the very depths of one’s being, to that point where, as theologians tell us, in the silencing of outward things, God is found. There you will find the source of all good (and this is God), strength, and beauty (and that is God). There you will strengthen yourself in the thought of what is eternal in preparation for the struggle; and there you will understand, as your ideal becomes daily more clearly defined, both your own weakness and all that you can do here below in the cause of good.
I highly recommend clicking on following link to read about the life of this extraordinary woman.
A Marriage Saved in Heaven: Elisabeth Leseur's Life of Love
In Christ,
Joe
Posted by jay at May 22, 2006 10:47 AM
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