Dear Friend,

We need to possess an enduring love. Endurance: the power to withstand hardship or stress, to keep on going despite all setbacks.

I recently heard of a Catholic woman who, after having four children, started running and then entered marathons. This year, she is running the London Marathon, but before she does, she will run four other marathons each day before the London Marathon.

Dear Friend,

Walter Sangster began to notice some uneasiness in his throat and a dragging in his leg. When he went to the doctor, he found that he had an incurable disease that caused progressive muscular atrophy. His muscles would gradually waste away, his voice would fail, and his throat would soon become unable to swallow.

Dear Friend,

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used to tell that on one occasion he was preaching on the importance of confession of sin and, wherever possible, of restitution for wrong done to others. Afterward a young man named Patrick came up to him and said: "Archbishop, you have put me in a sad fix. I have wronged another and am ashamed to confess it or try to put it right. I am a boat builder, and the man I work for is an unbeliever. I have talked to him often about his need of Christ and have urged him to come and hear you preach, but he scoffs and ridicules it all.

Dear Friend,

Of all the classical Spiritual Disciplines, Christian Stewardship of Time Talent and Treasure is the most conductive to the growth of humility.

When we set out on a consciously chosen course of action that accents the good of others and is for the most part a hidden work, a deep change occurs in our interior spirit.

Dear Friend,

Jesus calls us to be people who live in present tense. An average person’s anxiety is focused on:
40% things that will never happen
30% things about the past that can’t be changed
12% things about criticism by others, mostly untrue 10% about health, which gets worse with stress
8% about real problems that will be faced

God promised peace to those on whom His favor rests. God has not promised skies always blue, Flower strewn pathways all our lives through; God has not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

God has not promised we shall not know toil and temptation, trouble and woe; He has not told us we shall not bear many a burden, many a care.

Every branch that bears fruit must be pruned to bear much more fruit. A friend of mine has a fruit tree that has been living for a number of years. Every winter the cold weather and heavy breeze kills more than half of the branches and leaves. If he does not prune the dead, it will spread and kill the whole tree. Therefore, he must prune what is wilted to save the rest of the tree. In turn, the tree grows bigger, stronger, and bears more fruit than before. The fruit doesn’t only multiply, but they are much more pleasing in their flavor.

Dear Friend,

Three things in life that, once gone, never come back:
1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity

Three things in life that can destroy a person:
1. Anger
2. Pride
3. Unforgiveness

Dear Friend,

Sin demands to have a person be alone. It withdraws the individual from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him or her, and the more deeply the person becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is the isolation.

Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of the unexpressed, it poisons the whole being of a person.

Dear Friend,

One day, two Irish monks, James and Patrick, were walking through the countryside. They were on their way to another village to help bring in the crops. As they walked, they spied an old woman sitting at the edge of a river. She was upset because there was no bridge, and she could not get across on her own. James, the first monk kindly offered, "We will carry you across if you would like." "Thank you," she said gratefully, accepting their help. So the two men joined hands, lifted her between them and carried her across the river. When they got to the other side, they set her down, and she went on her way.

Dear Friend,

The great inventor Charles Kettering suggested that we must learn to fail intelligently.

He said, "Once you've failed analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading up to the cathedral of success. The only time you don't want to fail is the last time you try."

Here are three suggestions for turning failure into success:

Pope Saint John XXIII often reminded people, "Do not forget your prayers. These may be as short as you wish if you find long prayers too hard, but do not forget them. Even a sign can be a prayer. " We all have our routine and we don't always want to change it. Nevertheless we can find more time for prayer, if we just look at our daily routine.