Catholic Fire

"Christian prayer is not an exercise in self-contemplation, stillness and self-emptying, but a dialogue of love, one which "implies an attitude of conversion, a flight from 'self' to the 'You' of God". It leads to an increasingly complete surrender to God's will, whereby we are invited to a deep, genuine solidarity with our brothers and sisters." ~ From "Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life", Pontifical Council for Culture, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta would do nothing without first praying and adoring God in the Blessed Sacrament. She was the contemplative active, which Pope John Paul II called us to be to spread the gospel message in our world. Prayer for the grace to know and to do God's will in our lives must precede all our actions. Many other saints have instructed us to do the same. The power of prayer and offering up one's daily sufferings and trials can be jus...

Eight French Jesuit missionaries came to North America in the 17th century, amidst the hardships of sickness and extreme poverty, to bring the Word of God to the native Indians. They endured many horrific tortures and death in order to accomplish what they had set out to do. In 1625, St. John de Brebuf, at age 32, entered into the Huron tribe in the harsh frontier of Canada. John had tuberculosis, but the climate so agreed with him that the Hurons, surprised at his endurance, called him Echon, which meant load bearer. John was tortured and martyred in 1649. The Indians, hoping to gain the incredible strength he had, drank his blood. St. Isaac Jogues was sent to Canada in 1636, where he worked among the Mowhawks. He was taken captive by the Iroquois in 1642 and imprisoned for thirteen months, where he was kept as a slave and beaten by the women of the tribe. While in captivity, Father Jogues secretly taught and baptized the other captives and slaves of the tribe. His greatest sorrow wa...