A Daily Prayer and Scripture Guide 2010
JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH
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Deeply Rooted in ChristJANUARY
St. Arnold Janssen is the father, leader and founder of the Society of the Divine Word (S.V.D.) Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters (SSps), and Holy Spirit Perpetual Adoration Sisters (SSpSAP).
Born in Goch, Germany in 1837, St. Arnold was ordained a priest in 1861, became chaplain and director of the Ursuline convent in Kempen in 1873, and led the diocesan Apostleship of Prayer as Director in 1874.
Following St. Paul's exhortation to the Philippians, "Have this in mind, which was in Christ Jesus", St. Arnold built up the spiritual ideal that the best form of devotion to the Heart of Jesus is to make our wishes conform to those of His heart. Like Jesus, we should live our lives not for our own honor and glory, but according to God's will and for His glory.
St. Arnold considered this mandate for himself and his missionary society, teaching his followers that sanctification is God's work, but it requires human cooperation. He once remarked: "An essential feature of surrender to God is to desire to have His will concerning us fulfilled in every regard... then God will enlighten us to sanctify and enable us to do all things in Him Who strengthens us".
For St. Arnold, the will of God and religious obedience were one. He once wrote: "Look upon the will of your superiors as the holy will of God and try to comply in all simplicity and sincerity." He would have been deeply grateful to read the new document on authority and obedience from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life (May 2008): "to seek the will of God means to seek a friendly and benovelent will that desires our fulfillment... Obedience is not humiliation, but the truth on which the fullness of human persons is built and realized. Hence, the believer so ardently desires to fulfill the will of the Father as to make of it his or her supreme aspiration."
In His farewell conference in June 1908, the Founder concluded his recommendations for the future of the Mission House with these words: "May God's will be done; this most holy will must always be adored!"
Born in Goch, Germany in 1837, St. Arnold was ordained a priest in 1861, became chaplain and director of the Ursuline convent in Kempen in 1873, and led the diocesan Apostleship of Prayer as Director in 1874.
Following St. Paul's exhortation to the Philippians, "Have this in mind, which was in Christ Jesus", St. Arnold built up the spiritual ideal that the best form of devotion to the Heart of Jesus is to make our wishes conform to those of His heart. Like Jesus, we should live our lives not for our own honor and glory, but according to God's will and for His glory.
St. Arnold considered this mandate for himself and his missionary society, teaching his followers that sanctification is God's work, but it requires human cooperation. He once remarked: "An essential feature of surrender to God is to desire to have His will concerning us fulfilled in every regard... then God will enlighten us to sanctify and enable us to do all things in Him Who strengthens us".
For St. Arnold, the will of God and religious obedience were one. He once wrote: "Look upon the will of your superiors as the holy will of God and try to comply in all simplicity and sincerity." He would have been deeply grateful to read the new document on authority and obedience from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life (May 2008): "to seek the will of God means to seek a friendly and benovelent will that desires our fulfillment... Obedience is not humiliation, but the truth on which the fullness of human persons is built and realized. Hence, the believer so ardently desires to fulfill the will of the Father as to make of it his or her supreme aspiration."
In His farewell conference in June 1908, the Founder concluded his recommendations for the future of the Mission House with these words: "May God's will be done; this most holy will must always be adored!"
St. Arnold died in 1909.
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