Thoughts Of The Servant Of God
Mother Thecla Merlo

Always Young!

"Seek to be perennially young and do not become disheartened by difficulties. The years don't count; even at seventy or eighty years of age, one can be youthful and energetic. Only good will is needed."

"We know from experience that we need patience with ourselves, patience with others, patience in everything. We need patience to live and to die. Let us become sturdier in spirit, that is, more patient, strong."

Heaven Is Our Goal

"We enjoy hearing about heaven, and we would be so much more willing if we could go there without... dying, right? But it is necessary to go that way! Therefore, we need to prepare ourselves well."

"Life passes quickly; let us strive to progress day by day, to be alert, with lamps lighted, when the Lord comes again. If we pull back from sacrifices, our lamps will burn out. Let's be prudent virgins. Thus, whenever God calls us, we will be tranquil."

"Sometimes we forget that we are here only for paradise. When daily living involves a simple sacrifice or something which costs, we forget this. We should keep heaven uppermost in mind; the recollection of it should concern us most. People who do not reflect on heaven do harm to themselves. Let us be wise!"

"Live the Gospel. Its maxims, its teachings must be our guide and support. We must model ourselves on them always. Let each of us see to it that our life is a clear witness to the Gospel."

"God is a very good cameraman. At the last judgment, He will project the film of our lives. Be sure to be good stars, radiant stars."

"May we always desire heaven, and seek it with every ounce of our strength - not only for ourselves, but also for those whom God has entrusted to us and for whom we must carry out our apostolate."

Chastity - Call To Total Love

"Love God and desire the salvation of all people. If we fill our hearts with these loves all other things will fall back into their rightful place."

Saying "Yes" To God

"Which is the most perfect union with God? It is union of our will with His. Loving the Lord means uniting ourselves to Him, mind, will and heart; but what guides and dominates all our faculties is the will. This is so much so that if we always do well what God wants, we unite ourselves intimately to Him in this life and will be perfectly joined with Him in heaven."

Generous In His Will!

"May we be happy doing the will of God and seeking to embrace our daily crosses (disappointments, misunderstandings, and so on.) in penance for our sins. Thus we can do our purgatory here on earth, and then when we shut our eyes in death, we will open them again directly in heaven. Let us be wise! Let us make every effort to earn as many indulgences and merits as possible. Life is like looking out a window. As we grow older, we realize that it is passing by ever more swiftly."

May Charity Reign!

"May charity reign! And let there be, first of all, charity with our closest neighbor, with the ones we rub elbows with from morning to night, towards whom we need more patience."

"We should not believe ourselves to be in peace with God when we pray more rosaries or participate in more Masses, and then lack charity with our sisters. Rosaries and Masses are means and not ends of religious life. The prayer of one who remains in church when she should be with her community is not listened to by God."

"Problems are all solved with a little prayer and mortification and by exercising a little charity with the others. If we do not love our neighbor, neither do we love God."

Cover everything with the mantle of charity. Know how to excuse; know how to be understanding. If we know how to do this, our Lord will excuse and overlook our failings. We have so many debts with the Lord. Let us say the Our Father well."

"The sign of our love for God is the love of our neighbor. It's easy enough to love those who are far away. We must love all the people in the world, pray that all may be saved. But then we must love and treat well those closer to us. This is what's more difficult. It's true that in living together we see the virtues of others, but we also see their defects."

"If we willingly accept everything that happens to us and offer it to God in penance for our sins, we will make many merits. We all have something to atone for; even if we had committed only one sin, we would deserve to do penance for all our lives, so great is the Lord we have offended."

Always Look Upward!

"Always look upward, to heaven! That is our real homeland, our very own place, prepared for us by the Divine Master. To it we must aspire; there we must arrive at any cost whatsoever, and we must aspire to not just any place, but to a high place, our own place."

"If we are united to God, if we elevate our minds above the things of this earth, we will always be happy. Let's be enthusiastic over life, over our apostolate, our every duty. I know that between morning and night I'm bound to get tired. But what is a little fatigue in comparison with the eternity of heaven? Let's be smart and not act so foolishly that at the judgment of God we will have to admit: I could have earned so many more merits and I only gained these few. The Lord grants us the time and provides the opportunities for us to gain merits."

"Be tranquil and serene, for all will go well even when it seems the contrary to us. We must distrust ourselves and our opinions, and only and always have faith that all that happens is disposed by God for our good."

Humility Paves The Way

"Let us make a good examination of conscience to see if we have discovered the roots of our pride. Admit, at least, that we are incapable of doing anything without the grace of God. The more we humble ourselves before God, the more God will give us His grace."

"At times it can happen that we do something good, and yet we are reproved for it. If our self-love makes itself felt then, it is a sign that we still do not work only for God. It matters little whether people praise or scorn us; what counts is that we are praised by God, and that He is pleased with us."

"Realizing our miserable condition is a grace of God. If He were to let us see it to the very depths, oh, then we would really keep our proper place. Many times we think we are good, and have already offered much to God, whereas when He enlightens us we see how wretched we are."

Courage And Confidence

"Have courage, have confidence, because spiritual graces are precisely the ones to which the promise of God is linked: `Ask and you will receive. Knock and it will be opened to you' (cf. Lk. 11:9). If we ask the graces needed to correct ourselves, they will certainly be granted."

"Some people think they cannot stay on their feet unless they have their little bottle of medicine. Let us trust God much more, and not invent problems. What are we here for? To please ourselves or to become saints?"

"Let us not be discouraged at seeing ourselves so full of defects. Let there be great confidence in the mercy of God. He will give us the grace to overcome our failings so that we will not have to account for them at our judgment. While there is life, there is always the opportunity to improve."

Carry Serenity Everywhere!

"It is well to be cheerful and even to joke around a bit, because when one is serene, she lives better. It is very bad to be glum or moody. Why make a long face with God? He already has many others who displease Him. At least we who have received so many graces from Him should show our happiness."

"Do not fear, God is with us. Be serene, joyful, happy. Carry serenity, joy and a smile everywhere, especially where smiles are missing because God's grace is missing."

"With Jesus among us, we ought always to be serene and peaceful. Often, if we go to the heart of the matter, we find that our sadness comes from wounded self-love. If we cannot always be joyful, we can always be at peace."

A Share In His Cross

"Life brings many crosses: those we make ourselves, those which come from others, those which God sends us. There is something to suffer every day. If we accept crosses willingly, from the hands of God, we will do much good. If we avoid them, we will not accomplish what God has destined us to do."

"In His mercy, when He called us, God did not show us what we would have to suffer. Some of our sufferings are deep within our heart and cause us much sorrow. No one else knows about them, but God sees everything and He will give us our reward."

"Remember that sufferings are a sign of God's special love. Let us not fool ourselves. On this earth we must all suffer, and the more willingly we accept sufferings the happier we will be in heaven."

"The peace and serenity brought to us by the crosses which we accept well from the hands of God are unmatched, and we will know all their merit and glory in heaven."

"If we meditate on the Passion of our Lord we will have the grace and strength to take up our cross daily. You see that each day there is a cross to carry; some days it is big, some days, smaller. But we ourselves are the biggest cross, with all our defects, with our evil inclinations. We must go against ourselves and carry our cross. May we have the grace to carry it well!"

Be Great-Hearted!

"We must have a great mind, a great heart. Think of the whole world, of the many people who are lost, of the millions who await the light of the Gospel. Even though we cannot go to them directly, we can offer our small sufferings for them. Let us forget ourselves more and remember these people who arouse our pity."

"It is necessary to set up a barrier against the evil that Satan is promoting in the world. To do this we must first of all pray for souls, we must carry them all in our heart before God. We cannot think only of ourselves."

"Let us be other Marys, bringing Jesus wherever we go. When a person is full of love for God, without being aware of it, he inculcates holy thoughts and good inspirations. May our life be one of intimacy with God."

"Be concerned about the glory of God, about becoming perfect, about doing the apostolate well, and all the rest will be given you by God. Daily recommend to God all the faithful, all sinners, all unbelievers. Be big-hearted enough in prayer to embrace everyone in the world. And the Father, who sees our intentions, will be as generous with us as we are with our neighbor."

Loving And Active Silence

"Silence at certain times (especially when the heart is agitated) is the most effective solution to many problems. Reflect on the fact that we must give an account of every idle word and even more, of all criticism and complaining."

That Spirit Of Sacrifice!

"If we want to be pure, we are to practice mortification. If we please our body, it becomes a tyrant, and after a while we can no longer control it. And if the spirit is no longer in command within us, where will we end up?"

Time - Eternity

"In a hundred years, none of us will still be here. Is there anyone of you who thinks she will be here then? We will all be on the other side, in eternity. Blest will we be if we have spent well these days and years which the Lord gives us."

"Time was not given us for ourselves, for our own satisfaction, but for God and for eternity. Let us remember that every moment has its repercussions in eternity. This thought should influence us throughout the year. Let us so act that every minute, every hour, every month will be for God. We are here for this only. We are religious, but sometimes we forget that we are on earth to know, love and serve God well, and to become saints."

"Thank God for having kept us alive until today. Will we see the end of the new year? We don't know how much longer the Lord will let us live - until the end or only halfway through the year, or for many more years. However, we do know this: that we must offer everything to God."

"We should not think of the year or the month to come, but only of this day. And not even of this day, but only of this hour, this minute, because we do not know if we will still be alive in another hour. If the present moment is well sanctified, so will the day be, and the months and the years of life."

God-Centered

"When our thoughts are fixed on God, when we reflect on His presence, how beautiful our life is! Who among us can outdo God in generosity? Consider His goodness more than His justice. Then we will find it very easy to love and serve Him."

"Why are there sadness and long faces at times? We are too preoccupied with ourselves. If we abandon ourselves to God, we would be more joyful, knowing that we are in the hands of a good Father, who loves us and disposes everything for our own good."

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    Yes is Forever, by the Daughters of St. Paul, Copyright © 1981, Daughters of St. Paul.
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