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The pathway of the incarnate Son of God winds around the cross and suffering until it comes to the glory of the resurrection. And for each of us, for all humanity, the way is joined to that of the Son of God through suffering and death, to the glory of the resurrection.

O Eternal Father, that You are blessed and glorious in Yourself is no cause for wonder. That all creatures are blessed and glorious through You is no cause for wonder. But that You communicate Yourself to, and take pleasure in, a creature so vile, this is a cause for wonder....

Behold Him here without suffering, full of glory, before ascending into heaven, strengthening some, encouraging others, our companion in the most Blessed Sacrament; it doesn't seem it was in His power to leave us for even a moment.

Our life is the life of heaven. St John of the Cross has said that the contemplative has no task here below that she will not have in heaven. The difference is that on earth that task is done in the obscurity of faith; in heaven there will be no veil between God and us.

The door by which we can enter this castle is prayer. It is absurd to think that we can enter Heaven without first entering our own souls -- without getting to know ourselves, and reflecting upon the wretchedness of our nature and what we owe to God, and continually imploring His mercy.

O sweetest Star of heaven! O Virgin, spotless, blest,

Shining with Jesus’ light, guiding to Him my way!

O Mother! ‘neath thy veil let my tired spirit rest,

For this brief passing day!

God created us in His image. What does the divine image in the human being mean? Briefly summarized, the answer may be found in the words of the Lord: 'You shall be perfect as your Father in Heaven.' I want to point out that the divine image is set forth as a challenge, as vocation or destiny for the human being.

'Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear, forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty’. It seems that this appeal is an invitation to silence; ‘listen ... incline your ear ...’. But to hear, one must forget the house of one’s father, that is, all that binds one to the natural life, that life which was spoken of by the apostle when he said, ‘…if you live according to the flesh you will die’ (Rom. 8:13).

I long to behold the light of his gaze.
Oh! What splendor must shine in his eyes!
In contemplating this Only Begotten of the Father
I will have the Three and I will have all of Heaven!
He will make his light shine in my soul,
He will purify me in divine flames.

O my adored Word
Luminous Beauty,
Look upon me!

Perhaps all the graces that I have received in abundance have come to me through the prayers of some little soul whom I shall know only in heaven!

In the evening of this life, I shall appear before You with empty hands, for I do not ask You, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is stained in Your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in Your own Justice and to receive from Your Love the eternal possession of Yourself. I want no other Throne, no other Crown but You, my Beloved!

I keep my eyes fixed on eternity and in this way I obtain constancy in the vortex of city life, freedom in social relations, and a merry heart.