The Present Moment

By Louis-Marie Parent

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 2980123862
• ISBN13: 9782980123863
• Release Date: April 1991
• Publisher: Editions Paulines
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Living one day, no - one moment - at a time!

Louis-Marie Parent, O.M.I. is the author of many books, but this and two others, "In the Footsteps of Jesus" and "In Intimacy with Jesus" are my favorites. All three were written in French, and translated into English by Theresa Cademartori. If one is familiar with the French language, one can still hear much of the lyrical quality of the original text; little of its poetry is lost in this translation. But here, we have so much more than deeply spiritual poetry! With an authenticity that rings true to its core, Fr. Parent shares his vision of Christian values lived in a genuinely post-Vatican II spirit. Stripped of all religious jargon and psycho-babble, he deftly weaves together the best of Biblical wisdom with the best of Christian psychology, as he calls us away from all that mesmerizes us, and asks us to, "Come and see," where Our Lord lives as Emanuel, God with us. And where is that, pray tell? Here, in the very present moment! Gently, he coxes us away from the comforts (and torments) of dwelling in the past and future, to a here and now. And it is here, in the now, that God-with-us infuses our spirit with an appreciation of that little piece of the infinite in which we live, and breathe, and have our being; that little place where we can do that one little thing, or refrain from that one little thing, that will change the course of ours and other's lives. Fr. Parent's gentle spirit has brought new life everywhere it has touched others. His words edify, build up and bear fruit wherever they are lived out. As founder of the Secular Institute the Oblate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, The Volunteers, and the Institute Voluntas Dei, those fruits are many, but remain somewhat `hidden' in the world due to Fr. Parent's practice of the virtue of `reserve'. While I am as yet a poor example of this fruitfulness, his words have begun to change my inner self, and I live in hope of the future harvest! Toward that end, I begin each morning with a few pages, taken at random, from this little jewel. To paraphrase Fr. Parent, I conjugate the verb to be, and to love, in the present tense. I do so until the phantoms of past and future shrink back into their shadows. Gradually the light dawns, the present moment transfigures, and in radiant Presence, I soak up whatever is lacking. Thus empowered, I begin my day, entrusting to Him all that would sap my energies or distract me from the now that I live in with Him. If you want to move beyond self-help and religiosity, if you want to bear much fruit and long to live a life fully alive... If your heart cries out (as does the psalmist's in Psalms 63) - that you are seeking the living God, your flesh pining and your soul thirsting in a parched-dry place; if you seek to see His power and His glory in your life and all around you, then start here. Learn how to enter into the present moment, the only place where you can embrace authentic joy and all else that is authentic in life. Come and see where He