You Did Not Mourn:

The saints knew suffering beyond what most of us can imagine, yet bore it with grace. Are you preparing for Christmas with joyful anticipation, or are you letting the strain of a hundred tasks sour your mood? Give everyone you meet today the gift of a smile.

Obstinacy– Faith:

In today’s Gospel, Jesus points out that we can be obstinate in our refusal to be open to the Truth of God’s infinite Love for us. We seem to prefer the materialistic and secular ways of living that are meaningless and empty than to follow God’s path the leads to eternal life.

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In detachment, the spirit finds quiet and repose for coveting nothing. Nothing wearies it by elation, and nothing oppresses it by dejection, because it stands in the center of its own humility.

- Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591)

If you only knew what goes on within my heart—Sometimes the pain is so great that I feel as if everything will break. The smile is a big cloak which covers a multitude of pains.

—Mother Teresa

Never was fount so clear, undimmed and bright; From it alone, I know proceeds all light although 'tis night.

- St. John of the Cross