Fr. Michael Sliney, LC
“Life shines brightly not because we are rich, beautiful or powerful. Instead, it shines when we discover within ourselves the truth that we are called by God, have a vocation, have a mission, that our lives serve something greater than ourselves.” Pope Leo XIV
In honor of my mom in this Mother’s Day, I want to share with you some of her last words to me as she was dying:
“Don’t be afraid of death. Death is peace. God is giving me great peace. Yesterday, I felt like Jesus on the cross. He did that for us and he did not even know us. He could have taken himself down, but he stayed on that cross for us. I wanted to be taken down from that cross. I wanted the pain to go away, but I offered up all of that pain. They asked me how bad was the pain on a scale of 1-10…I told them it was a 12. (She laughed). As I was dying, I thought most of my children. The ones I love the most, and I was afraid of losing that love. I love you, Michael, and I am so blessed to have you as my son. Every day, I make the sign of the cross and thank God for everything he has given me and for everything he has taken away. Thy will be done, Jesus. I’m going to make it to my 100th birthday and you need to have a big party.”
“To keep ourselves spiritually alive we must continually renew our faith. We are like pilots of fog-bound steamers, peering into the gloom in front of us, listening for the sounds of other ships, and we can only reach our harbor if we keep alert. The spiritual life is, then, first of all a matter of keeping awake. . . . always able to respond to the slightest warnings that speak, as though by a hidden by instinct, in the depth of the soul that is spiritually alive.” Thomas Merton
“Today Christ is asking each of you the same question: do you love Me? He is not asking you whether you know how to speak to crowds, whether you can direct an organization or manage an estate. He is asking you to love Him. All the rest will ensue.” St. John Paul II
“Friendship with Christ, which forms the basis of faith, is not just one aid among many others for building the future; it is our guiding star.” Pope Leo XIV
“I leave myself in God’s hands to work out my sanctification as He planned. In order to arrive at what I cannot understand, I must go by the way I cannot understand. And each time that I make up my mind to do this, I am more convinced that He will lead me by the way of solitude. Every time I pray, get into my cloud, get recollected, that desire and that conviction deepen. I only need to leave everything absolutely to Him and go blindly where He leads me.” Thomas Merton
“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” St. John Paul II
