Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity. Their constitution states: “The spirit of our society is one of loving trust, total surrender and cheerfulness as lived by Jesus and His mother.”
We should trust in the loving care of God the Father, the teaching of God the Son, and the transforming grace of God the Holy Spirit. A beautiful prayer taught by Our Lady of Soufanieh to Mirna (Myrna) Nazzour is: “God saves me, Jesus enlightens me, the Holy Spirit is my life, thus I fear nothing.”
Trust is expressed in prayer. We should believe in the power of prayer and the intercessory power of Mary, the angels, and the saints.
The Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity nurture this trust by spending time in prayer daily and punctually. They wake early for prayer, spiritual reading, and meditation. The Sisters centre their lives on the Holy Eucharist, daily Mass, and holy hour. They always set out to their work in pairs, saying the Rosary as they go.
Our Lord told St. Faustina Kowalska: “Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at My insides. The distrust of a chosen soul causes Me even greater pain; despite My inexhaustible love for them they do not trust Me. Even My death is not enough for them. Woe to the soul that abuses these [gifts].”
He also said to the saint: “The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is — trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts.”
Father Dolindo Ruotolo is known for his Surrender Novena, which mainly consists of praying ten times the invocation: “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!”
Don Dolindo wrote 33 volumes of Bible commentary. Describing his commentary on Chapter Eleven of the Gospel of St. Mark, Elie Dib wrote:
“Trust is at the foundation of any relationship, including our relationship with God… . With humility and wisdom, Don Dolindo probes our tendency to pay lip service to trust in God while functionally relying more on money, drugs, other people’s kindness, or even just natural phenomena… . Like Peter denying Christ, Don Dolindo suddenly realizes the subtle ways he has relied on substitutes—money, medicine, and human approval—rather than fully trusting in Christ, the Shepherd who ‘shall supply my every need’ (Philippians 4:19).
With humility, Don Dolindo sees how frequently he has ‘elevated himself as a judge of God’s Providence’—the very God who declares, ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways’ (Isaiah 55:8)…
“As Don Dolindo exposes gaps between our professed and functional trust, he calls us to sincere self-examination before God. When we humbly admit our divided hearts and rely wholly on divine grace, our trust is rebuilt on the Rock. As scripture promises: ‘A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise’ (Psalm 51:19).”
St. Alphonsus Liguori said: “He who trusts in himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.”
Here is a beautiful quotation:
“Trust in your friends and they will die and leave you. Trust in money and you may have it taken from you. Trust in reputation and some slanderous tongue may blast it. But trust in God and you will never be confounded in time or eternity. Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, and the future to His providence.”
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信賴上主萬事皆成
德蘭修女創立了仁愛傳教修女會。她們的會憲中寫道：「我們團體的精神是耶穌和祂的母親所生活的那種愛的信賴、完全的交託和喜樂。」
我們應該信賴天父的慈愛照顧，天主聖子的教導，以及天主聖神的轉化恩寵。蘇法尼耶聖母(Our Lady of Soufanieh) 教導米爾娜·納佐爾(Mirna （Myrna） Nazzour)一篇的美麗禱文是：「天主拯救我，耶穌照亮我，聖神是我的生命，因此我無所畏懼。」
信賴在祈禱中表達出來。我們應該相信祈禱的力量及聖母、天使和聖人的代禱力量。仁愛傳教修女會的修女們通過每天準時祈禱來培養這種信賴。她們每天早晨早起祈禱、靈修閱讀和默想。修女們將她們的生活中心放在聖體聖事、每日彌撒和聖時上。修女們總是成雙結對地出發工作，並在路上誦念玫瑰經。
我們的主告訴聖女傅天娜：「靈魂的不信賴撕裂了我的內心。被選靈魂的不信賴給我帶來更大的痛苦；儘管我對他們有無盡的愛，他們卻不信賴我。即使我為他們而死對他們來說也不夠。濫用這些恩寵的靈魂是有禍了。」
我們的主還對聖人說：「我的慈悲恩寵只能通過一個器皿來汲取，那就是信賴。靈魂越信賴，將接受越多恩寵。全心信賴的靈魂對我來說是極大的安慰，因為我將我所有恩寵的寶藏傾注在他們身上。我很高興他們要求很多，因為我渴望給予很多，非常多。另一方面，當靈魂要求很少，當他們狹窄他們的心時，我感到悲傷。」
羅特婁神父(Father Dolindo Ruotolo)以他的完全降服於主的九日敬禮而聞名，主要包括誦唸十次禱文：「噢！耶穌，我把自己完全交託給祢，一切由祢照料！」
羅特婁神父寫了33卷聖經註釋。描述他對聖馬爾谷福音第十一章的註釋時，Elie Dib寫道：「信賴是任何關係的基礎，包括我們與天主的關係… 。羅特婁神父以謙卑和智慧探討了我們在口頭上信賴天主而實際上更多依賴金錢、藥物、他人的善意，甚至只是自然現象的傾向… 。就像伯多祿否認基督，羅特婁神父突然意識到他依賴替代品 — 金錢、藥物和人類的認可 — 而不是完全信賴基督—這位『豐富滿足你們的一切需要』的牧者（斐4:19）。以謙卑，羅特婁神父看到他多麼頻繁地『將自己提升為天主聖意的審判者』— 這位宣稱『因為我的思念不是你們的思念，你們的行徑也不是我的行徑』的天主（依55:8）… 。當羅特婁神父揭示我們所宣稱的信賴與實際信賴之間的差距時，他呼籲我們在天主面前進行真誠的自我反省。當我們謙卑地承認我們分裂的心並完全依賴神聖的恩寵時，我們的信賴建立在磐石上。正如聖經所應許的那樣，「天主，你不輕看痛悔和謙卑的赤心。」（詠51:19）。
聖亞豐索說：「信賴自己的人是迷失的。信賴上主的人萬事皆能成就。」這裡有一句美麗的名言：「信賴你的朋友，他們會死去並離開你。信賴金錢，你可能會失去它。信賴名譽，有些誹謗的舌頭可能會毀掉它。但信賴天主，你永遠不會在時間或永恆中感到困惑。將過去交託給天主的慈悲，將現在交託給祂的愛，將未來交託給祂的聖意。」
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