Friends of God
A canticle to ordinary life, addressed to ordinary Christians, about the extraordinary surprise God has in store for them. This compilation was the first posthumous work of Saint Josemaría
"Let yourselves be helped and guided"
You lack interior life: that is because you do not consider in your prayer other people's concerns and proselytism; because you do not make an effort to see things clearly, to make definite resolutions and fulfill them; because you do not have a supernatural outlook in your study, in your work, in your conversations, and your dealings with others. Are you living in the presence of God? For that is a consequence and a manifestation of your prayer. (Furrow, 447)
“There are countless ways of praying”
A Catholic, without prayer? It is the same as a soldier without arms. (Furrow, 453)
“How many obstacles vanish…”
The majority of people who have personal problems ``have them'' because they selfishly think about themselves. (The Forge, 310)
“We have to pray at all times, from morning to night”
True prayer which absorbs the whole individual benefits not so much from the solitude of the desert as from interior recollection. (Furrow, 460)
“He listens to us and answers us”
'Et in meditatione mea exardescit ignis. And in my meditation a fire shall flame out.' That is why you go to pray: to become a bonfire, a living flame giving heat and light. So, when you are not able to go on, when you feel that your fire is dying out, if you cannot throw on it sweet- smelling logs, throw on the branches and twigs of short vocal prayers and ejaculations, to keep the bonfire burning. And you will not have wasted your time. (The Way, 91)
“Lord, I don't know how to pray!”
You write: 'To pray is to talk with God. But about what?' About what? About Him, about yourself: joys, sorrows, successes and failures, noble ambitions, daily worries, weaknesses! And acts of thanksgiving and petitions: and Love and reparation. In a word: to get to know him and to get to know yourself: 'to get acquainted!' (The Way, 91)
“Practice meditation for a fixed period and at a fixed time”
Practice meditation for a fixed period and at a fixed time. Otherwise we would be putting our own convenience first; that would be a lack of mortification. And prayer without mortification is not at all effective. (Furrow, 446)
“We have to meditate on the life of Jesus”
I advised you to read the New Testament and to enter into each scene and take part in it, as one more of the characters. The minutes you spend in this way each day enable you to incarnate the Gospel, reflect it in your life and help others to reflect it. (Furrow, 672)