We must allow Christ to be crucified.

So often these days there is conflict in Christian communities between "orthodox" and "non-orthodox" Catholics. The tone of these debates is often concerning, because the love of Christ is missing-- whether in its compassion or its truth. Particularly on the orthodox side, there is a deep vein of pride which runs through their arguments-- they feel that they are Christ's body guards, and nothing may be allowed to be thought or done which harms Him.

Let us remember, however, the Gospel:

Matthew 16: 21-23
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

I believe that if Christ were to witness these prideful men and women "protecting" Him, he would declare "Get behind me, Satan!" For they are denying the power of His crucifixion and resurrection; they are denying the necessary truth that it is through suffering and death that God had redeemed us and brought our hearts to Him. Should they not serve and love their Lord? yes, but as He desires them to-- by denying themselves, taking up their cross, and following Him. By standing at Calvalry at the foot of His cross as Mary and John did, in witness to His love and power. In witness to the truth that He is the Son of God. He does not wish us to use the sword to win His kingdom-- He chooses His suffering, for could He not call upon His Father and be provided with 12 legions of angels?? What need has He of us?

Matthew 26:21-24
And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?"

Truly we must never back down and leave our Lord to be crucified alone-- but He has also made clear that He must be crucified. He is not taking His kingdom by sword, but by sacrificial love. Until we are willing to serve Him-- to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him in love-- we are an obstacle to Him. We must leave our pride behind.

There are also those who refuse to acknowledge that Christ was crucified. They prefer to worship an empty cross. They choose to believe in a counterfeit love that is not sacrificial, that does not acknowledge that suffering is a part of Christ's path. They enjoy a warm and fuzzy love, embracing all people and all behaviors, professing that Jesus would not care how they worship or what they teach so long as it is with so-called "love". However you cannot worship the cross without His divine body torn and bleeding. You cannot worship Him without acknowledging His teachings or moral issues no matter how unpopular they may be to those who do not understand them. To these, who preach that Jesus not only loves all, but tolerates all, forget the Jesus who threw out the money changers in the temple and the Jesus who told us that a man who looks with lust at a woman is guilty of adultery. They deny that Christ has redeemed and purposed suffering for a higher order and a greater purpose. They run from the foot of the cross, refusing to see Him crucified by the evil that they pretend does not exist. To them too, Christ would say "Get behind me Satan... you are not thinking as God does, but as humans do."

"We walk by faith not by sight." -2 Corinthians 5:7

It does not matter that we do not know where we are going. Faith would not be Faith if it could be seen.

Original Sin

Original Sin is man's "casting of doubt in his heart on the deepest meaning of the gift" --TOB 26:4

We must not repeat this sin. We must never doubt God's love for us, we must never lose trust and hope in Him. We must avoid this sin in dealing with others, that we do not grasp or shun gifts from others because we doubt the meaning of that gift-- we must allow God to heal us that we may know and believe the deepest meaning of the gift. This healing is most especially important in marriage that two may truly become one.

Dry Spells

I once heard these words of wisdom: It is when your wife is cold that you must love her all the more.

Indeed, this goes both ways-- for marriage to work, the warmth of one spouse must make up for a lack on the other's, no matter the reason for the sputtering flame. It is through loving each other more through those difficult times that the flame will burst forth with new life. It is the same then in the marriage of the Lamb. We know that God is always pouring forth His infinite love for us, especially when we turn away does He gently woo us back. We must return this love, that when we have dry spells in our spiritual life that we make the decision to love God MORE, not less, that our flame may burn all the more brightly in time.

Complementary Beauty

Christopher West re-states Adam's exclamation upon seeing Eve for the first time: "Look, the beauty that completes me by revealing to me my beauty!"

And how true this is! It is only through interacting with man that woman can come to see her emotions as something beautiful and not a hindrance. It is through woman that man can come to see that his strength is not something of death and domination but of love and protection. It is through man that woman can see the beauty and creativity of her body, and through woman that man can see the beauty and purpose of his body. Too often in our wounded state we instead allow interactions of the opposite sex become oppositional, and in trying to grasp the other sex for ourselves try to make them become like us. How sad! It is exactly in our difference that we are so beautiful and complementary for each other.

"Christ is the head of every man, and a husband the head of his wife, and God the head of Christ"--1 Corinthians 11:3

The husband is the head of his wife, the wife is the heart of her husband-- and the body cannot live without the heart nor the head. Men tend to be logic and reason while women tend to be the compassion and emotion in the world... But it is important to note that if we look at things biologically, the head "controls" the heart in that it automatically keeps it beating-- but it has no direct voluntary control over how fast it beats, or when it beats. If you look at the heart as the emotions, the head has no control over that either. It can rationalize/ lessen/ increase input from the heart, but it does not control it and in fact is reliant on it. So when it is said that the man is the head of his wife, it does not suggest domination or place the woman on a lesser rung.

On the night of His betrayal...

With these words in the Eucharistic Liturgy, the priest reminds us that when Jesus took the cup and bread, blessed them and offered them to his disciples, He did so knowing that they would betray Him soon after. It was Himself that He offered to His Church; He did not withhold any of Himself from them even when He knew her to be unfaithful. And when He was betrayed, He chose to love her more, and gave of Himself so completely that He made His Bride white with His blood.

What love is this, that He would lay Himself in our hands and on our lips, surrender Himself so completely to us, on the very time of His betrayal! What faithful, everlasting love that surrenders self even to the one whom He knows will that very night deny Him not once, but thrice! And what does He ask in return? "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He does not seek anything but our love. He aches for our love!! And when we respond, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you!" He commands: "Feed my sheep." For true love is a fruitful love. Christ asks that we feed His sheep--His children--for we are His Bride. If we are a faithful Bride truly in love with her Bridegroom, we will be a fruitful Bride who nourishes her offspring.

Let us burn with love!

Without love, deeds--even the most brilliant--count as nothing.

--St Therese of Lisieux

The Lord alone is her leader.

The Lord has nurtured and taught her; he has guarded her as the apple of his eye. As an eagle spreads its wings to carry its young, he has born her on his shoulders. The Lord alone is her leader.
--Deuteronomy 32:10-12

At His command...

"And so, Father, we bring you these gifts. We ask you to make them holy by the power of your Spirit, that they may become the body and blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate this Eucharist." -- Liturgy of the Eucharist

"A wife does not have authority over her own body, but rather her husband, and similarly a husband does not have authority over his own body, but rather his wife" --1 Corinthians 7:4

St. Paul writes that husband and wife no longer have authority over their own bodies but rather each others. They are to love and serve each other as themselves and be in perfect obedience to each other. Out of this obedience and trust can perfect love grow and blossom. This is true also in our union in one flesh with Christ in the Eucharist. It is at His command that we celebrate the Eucharist, that we, His bride the Church, are united with Him in one flesh-- yet by becoming the bread and wine He has given us complete control of His own body as well. Thus in the Eucharist we have the most perfect of obedience, trust and surrender of Love.

Incarnation

"In perfect love this law holds: that the lover become like the one he loves; for the greater their likeness the greater their delight. " St. John of the Cross writes this as the Father speaking to His Son, explaining the Incarnation--the Word made flesh. God our Bridegroom and Lover became like the one He loves--His Bride! He did not simply "take on" our flesh, He became our flesh because He loved us, His Church, so deeply. The Church in turn, through her love for Him, has become His body. Love is a transforming power. This should give great hope to the Christian soul--so long as it loves God, it will become like Him and find eternal union with Him in heaven.

"I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord" --Tobit 12:15

To be an angel that may enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord!! What astounding Beauty they are honored to witness and serve, what love and light must flow from those that may enter Love and Light!! And it is one of these that is sent to wrestle the demon that had killed all of Sarah's betrothed, so that Tobiah and Sarah may consummate their marriage-- that they may join in the earthly union which mirrors our God in Heaven. God will go to infinite lengths to preserve the sanctity of marriage, our purity and love, if only we, like Tobiah, ask it of Him!!

"Be constant in prayer" --Romans 12:12

"If you want to pray without ceasing, never cease to long for God. The continuation of your longing is the continuation of your prayer; and if you cease to long for him, your prayer will also cease." --St. Augustine

Rocking the Baby

Why is it so soothing to us to be rocked?
The first motion we feel is our mother's breathing rocking us in the womb.

Your character affects your body

Excerpt from Christian Self-Mastery by Basil W. Maturin pp. 175-6

"The deeds that the body does upon earth, the habits it forms, and the life it lives must as surely affect its future as they affect the future of the soul. Character is stamped upon the whole bodily frame; the way a man walks or sits or stands all help to show something of his character. We are told that every thought is registered in the molecular changes that it effects in the brain.

"And certainly the face is the mirror in which the soul is reflected, upon which it stamps with ever-deepening lines its thoughts, its passions, and its ambitions. The difference between the face of a child and the face of a ma is the same as that between a white sheet of paper and one covered in writing, or between a new garment and one that has been long worn.

"It has been said by a well-known and learned psychologist, 'I believe that we are subject to the law of habit in consequence of the fact that we have bodies. The plasticity of the living matter of our nervous system, in short, is the reason why we do a thing with difficulty the first time, but soon do it more and more easily, and finally, with sufficient practice, do it semi-mechanically, or with hardly any consciousness at all. Our nervous systems have grown to the way in which they have been exercised, just as a sheet of paper or a coat once creased or folded tends to fall forever afterward into the same identical folds.' [William James]

"Had we but eyes to see, we might take scalpel and microscope and read in the bodily frame the moral history of the life of the soul that was its tenant. Indeed, many a characterisitc is stamped so clearly that none can fail to see it. Many we fain would hid but cannot; the telltale flesh has, so to speak, materialized the thoughts of the mind, given them form and shape, and revealed them to the world.

"As the body lies still and silent in death, its mystery and its pathos is that it has been the instrument and cooperator, and remains the material record of the soul's life. No thought ever passed through the mind for one brief moment without the body taking its part and writing the record. Was ever history written with such unerring accuracy as is written the history of the soul in the body it inhabits?"

Saints

The saints are the "great luminous trail on which God passed through history." --Benedict XVI

This is what God asks of us when He asks us all to become saints-- He asks us to allow Him into history, to give Him ourselves that He may affect the world through us. He asks us to surrender that His Kingdom may reign on earth!

Blessing

We ask our priests for blessings, why not ask Jesus? Go to Him in adoration, bow your head and ask for His blessing. Ask Him to pray for you to His Father. Feel the warmth of His holy hands laid upon your head. Feel His prayer wash over you, protecting you from all that is dark and evil. Allow Him to place you in a cloud of grace.

Show me a garden bursting into life

This generation is beginning to see the beauty of true love, of a love that desires the completeness of true communion rather than passing pleasures. It is a generation that feels the desire to experience a love that is fruitful. It is a generation that begins to see how love perfects human nature.

"I don't quite know
How to say
How I feel.

Those three words are said too much
They're not enough.

If I lay here
If I just lay here
would you lie with me
And just forget the world?

Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden
That's bursting into life"
--Chasing Cars Snow Patrol

Purifying Beauty

A woman's beauty is something which is meant to call a man to holiness-- it is meant to be a purifying fire that destroys his lust and calls him to true manhood. This type of beauty is that which radiates from a woman who is committed to her Lord, and in Him has found Love.

"Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell
It was love from above that could save me from hell
She had fire in her soul it was easy to see
How the devil himself could be pulled out of me

There were drums in the air as she started to dance
Every soul in the room keeping time with her hands"
--Into the Night Santana and Chad Kroeger

"Supplement your faith with virtue." --2 Peter 1:5

Faith is the kite which flies us to the heavens, but virtue is the string which by anchoring it, allows it to soar.

"I can do all things in him who strengthens me" --Philipians 4:13

"God will do great things in you provided that you believe much more in His power than in your weakness" --Bl. Teresa of Calcutta

Water seeps through a wall at its weak points, eventually wearing through the wall and sending it crashing down. God seeps into us through our weaknesses, eventually tearing down our false self in order to flood our souls with His living waters of Grace. Once flooded He is our strength, and we no longer need that wall that He has demolished. He is our Shield, our Fortress, our Rock. Be not afraid.

"I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts" --Jeremiah 31:33

God has written His law upon our hearts. It is up to us to learn the language and its nuances in order to truly enter into its endless beauty! For some who have never heard His language, the laws are formidable and incomprehensible. Others know the language well enough to comprehend what the laws are saying, but are unable to enter into the incredible artistry with which He has written His laws!! Blessed are those who are able to comprehend that the writer of this Law is the Master Artist, and study His work closely to find ever anew the beauty and logic of His work. This requires complete submersion in it, and a close study of the history of the Artist as well as all His works. Let us devote ourselves to this study, that we too may marvel at His ingenuity!

"During the fourth watch of the night, He came toward them, walking on the sea." --Matthew 14:25

Our Lord's power over all of Creation must never be doubted. When we pray, let us not doubt His power, let us not limit God in what He can do for us! If you are wondering why there is so much trouble in your life, know that it is because you limit what God can do for you by your weak prayer. If you are truly open to His grace and mercy, your troubles will remain in this world, and He will call you to dwell with Him above its turmoil. He will call you to step out of the boat of faithlessness and walk on the very sea that tossed it about. But if you doubt Him, you will be pulled down into the endless chaos by the gravity of this world. Let us pray always for a deep Faith in Him. Let us pray for abandonment to Him and rest soundly in Our Fortress.

"All creation hangs on Your every word
With the sound of Your voice
Waters still, You are Lord over all
With the touch of Your robe
Sick are healed" --MercyMe

Beat of the Sacred Heart

When we are wounded or see others wounded-- these are wounds to the Sacred Heart. The Heart is torn and bleeding for us. Let us go then, and enter the Heart through these gashes, be covered in that Sacred blood and take shelter in its source. Let us huddle in the warmth of that Heart; let the pulsating rhythm that echoes through its chambers unite our lifebeat to its own. Let its deep beat consume us, and let all our being join its bass line such that our whole self becomes integrated and healed in Him.

"Love hopes all things." --1 Corinthians 13:7

"Hope always draws the soul from the beauty that is seen to what is beyond, always kindles the desire for what is hidden through what is perceived." -- St. Gregory of Nyssa

Unnecessary Words

We spend so much time trying to come up with the right words for our prayer. We agonize over what to ask for, how to ask for it, what we could possibly say to express our gratitude, our love, our agony. We worry when we have dry spells and simply cannot come up with any words at all.

How silly we are! Truly we need no words to communicate with our Father in Heaven. He knows all that we feel, all that we experience, and all that we need better than we ever will. A prayer is a sigh to heaven; it is a complete surrender to God. It is a heart placed upon the operating table, content to be operated on and healed without ever knowing what took place unless the Surgeon deems it necessary to ensure the continued health of that heart.

Prayer is time. Time given to our Lord that He may make us His. It is time when we place ourselves within His fold, to be counted as one of His sheep. It is time when the wounded lamb comes before the shepherd to be carried until he is once again healthy enough to walk. Words are never necessary for prayer. Only a complete surrender of the heart and mind to God.

"Be still, and know that I am God." --Psalm 46:10

The Beat

Every human loves a good beat-- it moves us, draws us in, motivates or soothes us. A beat brings us to dance. Where does this love come from? Why does it have this power over us?

A priest recently suggested we look at our beginnings. What is the first sound our ears must hear? The beating of our mother's heart. This is why babies are often soothed simply by resting their head against their mothers' chests. There is something beautiful and comforting in that beat.

Through rap music, Satan takes this fact and uses it to lure us into his trap. He hooks in his prey with the strong beat, and then whispers his evil to them, and perverts the beauty of our mothers' hearts.

Beauty Conquers Evil

Beauty is God's greatest weapon against evil. Satan has many ways to distort this truth. He may try to convince us to seek a false beauty, which is commonly seen and experienced by all. But for those who are not convinced, who have experienced and understand True Holy Beauty, he takes a different tactic. He tries to convince us that Beauty invites evil. He tries to convince Beautiful women that they cause men to lust and that they should be afraid of and hide their Beauty. He tries to convince all people that Beautiful things must be sinful or cause sin, since false beauty can be seen to do so. But in truth, True Beauty is like the coal the angel places on Isaiah's lips-- it is purifying. Beauty is an encounter with eternity; it is an encounter with the divine. It lifts us to contemplate things greater than ourselves, and calls us to this higher plane. Beauty is Truth, Life, and everything Holy. Is this not Mary's great power over evil?

Sacred Heart

When we offer up prayers to the Sacred Heart, let us not suppose that we are pointing out unknown wounds. His Sacred Heart is throbbing with love for us all, and bleeding profusely from the innumerable wounds that we have inflicted on it. Each of our concerns, each of our hurts, is causing the Heart to bleed. When we offer up our prayers it is as though we are cupping a few drops of that most Sacred blood in our hands and offering it back to Jesus, honoring His sacrifice for us and trusting in God's divine plan and mercy.

Trust

Who hasn't at sometime thought "I want to trust in God, I just don't"? What silliness. If you truly want to trust God, then you will. Everyone must have the journey from the head to the heart, through prayer and grace. But truly-- to trust in God, we merely have to want it and ask for it. God will be more than happy to oblige us. And what joy and peace come from such trust!! God proves Himself ad infinitum. How beautiful His works, how beautiful His plan!!

Simplicity

Everything is so simple. Faith in God is a simple matter--living a holy life is a simple matter. We need never fear, never grow distraught, never feel hurt and pain. All of this must always be turned over to God, we must always submit to His will. It is so simple. People say that it is not really that easy-- that it sounds easy, but that in reality it is hard, it is a struggle. But it does not have to be so. It is, in actuality, that easy. Our disordered attachments tell us to hold on to our pain, and so it becomes a struggle. Our complicated nature tries to rationalize sin, twisting our minds and hearts into Gordian knots. We must let Christ come and cut the knot, and free us from our complications. In reality, it is so simple; it is easy. A holy life is purity, clarity, and fulfillment. It has a love that warms like the sun on a beautiful day, encouraging all to thaw, relax, and blossom.

Static of the Heart

We must not lose patience with those who have the static of the world turned up so loud in their hearts that they cannot hear the Truth. We too have been guilty of static, of trying so hard to make sense and meaning of meaninglessness that we cannot hear God's whisper. Yet when we finally do turn down the white noise, the purity and simplicity of God's Truth will ring clear. It is not the static but the silence that we must turn up in our lives.

Fool vs. Man

"The foot of a fool rushes into a house, but a man of experience stands respectfully before it. A boor peers into the house from the door, but a cultivated man remains outside. It is ill-mannered for a man to listen at a door, and a discreet man is grieved by the disgrace." Sirach 21:22-24

It strikes me that this parallels a man courting a woman. The fool will try to reach inside her beauty and strive to gain entrance to her, emotionally and physically. But a man who has experience of God will stand respectfully before her. If she knows her dignity and keeps him outside and her door closed, then the fool will peer into her and listen at the door to try to gain entrance to her heart and being. But a good man will remain outside, and be grieved by any other man attempting to force his entry. The good man is like a sentry, guarding her door for her rather than trying to force his way in.

Faith, Works, and Chastity

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ...Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble." --James 2:14,17-19

It struck me in Mass that this is very much what is so lacking in the realm of chastity. So many "believe" in the good of chastity, and yet in actuality they do not. How can you tell? The way they dress, the way they act-- is it respectful of the dignity of their own person? Is it respectful of the dignity of others? How do they speak? Do they laugh at crude jokes? We must not merely pay lip service to this virtue, but truly live it and allow it to penetrate our beings. Even the demons know that chastity is glorifying to God and important for our souls-- that is why they attack it! And yet we so often shrug it off as not a big deal. We are talking here about the dignity of human persons. We are talking about the attainment of eternal life. Face it: it is a big deal.

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." --Mark 8:34

In a homily today, the priest pointed out that it says we must take up our cross. It does not say we must bear our cross. These words of Christ do not mean endure and bear your pains and sufferings. It means that it is our choice to take up the cross, to carry and live the Gospel! We will all suffer; it is rather a matter of choice for whom we will suffer. This requires action, not passivity. Either we will choose to suffer for God, and offer it up to Him and glorify Him, or we will offer it to the devil for his evil designs. It says take up your cross. Christ is the one who who will carry our cross--it is too heavy for us! In fact, He has already carried our cross. But in order for Him to carry it for us, we must choose to take it up!

The One Who Doubts

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudg-
ingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways."--James 1:5-8

We must be steadfast in our Faith, and allow God to calm the storms of our hearts. So often we call out to Him, but do not expect to hear back; we do not listen, and so do not hear his answer. And when we do not hear His answer, when we do not trust that He will answer, we are swept about by our emotions and passions and the opinions of others. We must trust in the Lord always, and listen for His counsel; we must still the storms of our passions and emotions and attachments so that we can hear His divine whisper of peace.

Immaculate Conception

excerpt from Saint Maximilian Kolbe:

In Lourdes, Bernadette asked the Virgin Mary her name and she replied: "I am the Immaculate Conception." By her luminous words, Mary expressed that she was not only conceived immaculately but that she actually was the Immaculate Conception. It is like the difference between something white and whiteness itself, or something perfect and perfection.

(...) The Holy Spirit is the uncreated Immaculate Conception. (...) The third person of the Trinity is not embodied as we all know and our word "spouse" is insufficient to express the relationship between the Immaculate and the Holy Spirit. It can be said that the Immaculate Conception is in a sense "the incarnation of the Holy Spirit."

"Put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." --John 20:27

"Christ is recognized now, not so much by His face, as by His wounds. Thomas believes that the qualifying signs of Jesus are above all, the wounds which reveal the point to which He loved us."--Benedict XVI

Know Christ's passion. Know His suffering and crucifixion. Know His love for you, as an individual, His bride. Let Him love you. Know that He died for you, to make for Himself a spotless bride. Put your hand in his side, and believe His love for you!

"In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world." --John 16:33

No matter what happens in your day or in your life, take confidence that though a battle may have been lost, the victory has already been won! Satan can do nothing to take away from Christ's total victory. All we must do is choose to cling to Christ, to choose to make His victory our victory!

Love is a Rose

Love is a rose but you better not pick it,
It only grows when it's on the vine.
A handful of thorns and you'll know you've missed it,
You lose your love when you say the word 'mine.'
--Neil Young

Love is not possessive. Love does not grasp or take. Love is a gift of beauty from God. It is a beautiful rose that unless connected to God, cannot grow, cannot blossom, but rather dries up. When you reach to pick that rose, two things can happen. Either you miss the love altogether and end up being hurt by the thorns of lust, or you do get your hand on the love, but your lust detaches it from God, and its life and beauty is taken out of it. This is so important for courtship. Each person is a rose. He or she can be admired and loved, but if one goes to pick it to take home, if one tries to possess the other as an object, then the thorns will prick and the love will wither.

"Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, but not into the hands of men; for as His majesty is, so also is His mercy." --Sirach 2:18

Consider the Lord's majesty. Consider His power to heal the sick, to part oceans, to place His infinity in the finite bread of the Eucharist. Consider the grandeur of the mountain peaks, the vastness of the oceans, the beautiful delicacy of a tiny flower. Consider the power of nature, of storms, consider the extravagance of the sun's rays glittering on creation. His majesty is infinitely above all of this! Sirach tells us that His mercy is as great as His majesty. His forgiveness and love is vast like the oceans and gives light and warmth after the rains like the sun; except so much more! Trust in the Lord, and let yourself fall into His hands. This is not a trust that believes we will never be hurt, but rather that He is so much greater than pain. He can and will heal us from all our wounds, He can and will fashion beauty from brokenness--every time, always, for eternity.

"Woe to the faint heart, for it has no trust! Therefore it will not be sheltered." --Sirach 2:13

The faint heart cowers before evil. It trembles as it witnesses the darkness of the world, and dares not let its light shine out. Shame on it! Where is your trust, O heart? Trust in the resurrection, the joy of the Lord! For He who is light has come to banish all darkness; He who is Good has conquered evil! You will be given the deepest darkness that His light might shine brighter for you; you will not be kept from evil that you might come to understand what is good! Your trials are to strengthen you, to strengthen your resolve in the Lord. The Resurrection has made all realms tremble, let you tremble no more! Be steadfast in God, trust in Him who is eternally Trustworthy, that you may rest in peace and be a beacon of light.

"Accept whatever is brought upon you, and in changes that humble you be patient...

...For gold is tested in fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation." --Sirach 2:4-5

Ah, what a blessing is humiliation! It is the gift that fells pride, that vice from which all others come. The only road to humility is through humiliation-- with gratefulness should we bear this cross! Grateful that God should think us worthy to keep us from the sin of satan, that He should think us worthy to share in His own crown of thorns! With confidence we turn to Him in these moments, supreme confidence in our own smallness and His incomprehensible greatness!

Faith and steadfastness in God will bring about infinite changes in your life. Be not afraid! Do not cower before the trials, do not shrink from the challenge of becoming your true self! Embrace these changes, become who He created you to be, that He may know you in eternal life!

"To fear the Lord is wisdom's full measure; she intoxicates men with her fruits" --Sirach 1:16

What does it mean to fear the Lord? "The fear of the Lord is glory and exultation, and gladness and a crown of rejoicing. The fear of the Lord delights the heart, and gives gladness and joy and long life" --Sirach 1:11-12. Fear is that which is instilled in the heart by understanding the infinite majesty of the Lord. It is a feeling of being awe-filled rather than awful. This understanding recognizes the glory of God, the glory of man made in His image. It exults in being humbled, is full of gladness at the mercy of the Lord, partakes in a crown of rejoicing for our salvation! The heart delights in having its deepest desire fulfilled, and overflows with gladness and joy as it journeys to eternal life!

This is wisdom's full measure, that we should know God! The fruits of this? An overflowing of virtue and love, most of all a purity of heart that achieves the overwhelming peace and joy of the interior gaze. Knowing God means knowing Love!!! Nothing could be more intoxicating than His divine, pure love!!! In it we are cleansed, we are healed, we are delighted in; we give of ourselves completely to Him in response to His love, and become more like Him, we are transformed into our true selves! We become truly free, truly fulfilled! "Look to Him, and be radiant"-- Psalm 34:5.

Anything less than pure love is not a fruit of wisdom, and is not God-fearing. It is addictive, not intoxicating. It will only increase desire that can never be fulfilled, and turn the infinite mystery of a person into something that is finite, boring and discardable. We must lay hold of wisdom, that we may enjoy her fruits! We must know God, that we might know an eternal exchange of Love that lifts and captivates! May we all come to fear the Lord, to know the Trinity, to understand our gift of sexuality, that we may be intoxicated by the fruits of wisdom!

Joyful Spirit

Recently, as I began to pray the Joyful Mysteries, I was struck by the joy of the Holy Spirit in these mysteries. Usually it is the joy of Mary, or us, His people, that I am meditating on, or the fact that each joyful mystery required pain or suffering of some sort. But the Holy Spirit, the spouse of Mary and father of our Lord-- the joy He must have had in each mystery!!

The Annunciation--what man is not ecstatic when his love accepts his proposal? And here is the Holy Spirit, God, whose proposal to His most perfect creature, has accepted His proposal and He incarnates His Son in her womb. His plan for the salvation of all of His people, His plan to unite us all with Him, has not been thwarted, but lovingly and trustingly accepted! Oh, the joy that the Holy Spirit must have experienced!

The Visitation--here we see the Holy Spirit sharing with Elizabeth and her son John of His own joy, that the Savior of the world is come! His joy is so infectious that it causes John to leap in his mother's womb!

The Birth of Our Lord--As Mary labors to bring His Son to the world, the Holy Spirit is close beside her, and already aligning the stars--literally!--to announce His joy and pride to the world! He shines a gloriously bright star over Bethlehem, He calls to the shepherds with His Good News, He calls to the Magi--His joy is spread far and wide!

The Presentation in the Temple--Again the Holy Spirit, the proud father rejoicing in salvation brought to the descendants of Adam, shares His joyful knowledge with others. He gives Simeon the gift of the knowledge of the babe Messiah, He shares the message with Anna; He shares with such joy the glory of His Son!

The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple--Here the Holy Spirit has spoken through His Son, teaching the elders of Himself and the Father. He rejoices in teaching His Son, in bringing Him before others and sharing with the World her salvation!

The one who heard God's word and kept it

"As he said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!' But he said, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!'" -- Luke 11:27-29

So often we hear people say that Jesus' response implies that Mary is not blessed, or that those who keep God's word are more blessed than she that bore Him. This is absurd! Who is it that heard God's word and kept it so closely to her that she gave birth to His Son nine months later?? Mary! Jesus here is giving Mary her rightful praise. She is blessed not merely because she gave birth to Him, but for the reason why she gave birth to Him-- because she heard the word of God and kept it! He is reminding us all of our feminine role in relation to God, of conceiving God's word within us that we might bear His fruit to the world with Mary as the archetype. Jesus is also protecting Mary-- we see Mary shielded from much of the public spectacle through out the Gospels. She is there, but is not the focus of attention of the people. When you think of how glorious and beautiful Mary must have been, it is a wonder that she was not badgered by people constantly, is it not? For she was without sin! Without blemish! God's most perfect creature! God protected her from the eyes of the people, thus allowing her to follow her Son without worry for her own safety. It was also in line with Mary's own wishes, for she is constantly pointing to her Son, 'Do whatever He tells you.' She would not desire the praise of others, but rather have them praise God and His Son, and learn to follow Him and conceive His word.

Not "Here's the guy I want"

When reading Joshua Harris' book Boy Meets Girl, something he quoted a woman saying really caught my attention. I think that this is the shift in mentality that all of us women must make (and guys, there's a parallel for you!).

How does a woman know that she has met a man with whom she could consider courtship?
It is not from a feeling of "Here's the guy I want" but rather "Here's a man I can follow." This is so key! In order for a relationship between a man and woman to work smoothly, they must fulfill their complimentary and individually beautiful roles of man and woman. A woman is looking for a man who draws out the true woman in her. Following is a vulnerable role. Receiving is a vulnerable action. For a woman's feminine gifts to blossom, she must be in a place where she can trust that her vulnerability will not be taken advantage of. We are all called to follow Christ and receive His gifts to us--and Ephesians 5 tells us that a woman must seek a man who she can follow and love in the same way. This means she must find a man who will give himself completely to her, a man who can give pure gifts, for a pure gift can always be received. One of the many reasons why it is so hard for women to receive today is that it is so rare they are offered a gift that is pure! But there are men out there who can, and strive to make pure gifts of themselves. Woman, you know you have found the man whose courtship you can accept when you have found a man who gives you the protection--from the world and himself--that you can trust, and have your beautiful femininity called out. You seek a man who will allow you to blossom into a rose in God's garden.

A man should choose to court a woman not because he thinks "Here's the girl I want," but rather "Here's a woman I can give myself to." He seeks a woman who inspires him to become the true man he was created to be. He needs to be able to love her and her femininity with a love that reaches deep down in his core and fortifies his will to slay his selfish desires, a love that will untwist what the fall has twisted. He needs a woman who will completely accept him, his gift of self, a woman who will allow him to love and serve her and receive that gift properly and totally. He needs a woman who, through being a true woman, will call him out of himself to give purely and totally rather than someone who will "pick up the slack." He needs a woman who inspires him to become the guardian of God's garden.

"My sister, my bride" --Song of Solomon 5:1

Really, I could have quoted this as an number of lines from the Song of Solomon, the love song of the Bible. And it's importance is great. We are first sisters and brothers in Christ. Then, should God choose to give us another with which to become one flesh, are we wives and husbands. This could be talked about at length, but in bringing this to light I had a specific purpose in mind:

We must not categorize each other. Single people are constantly keeping track in their heads of the people of the opposite sex that they meet. Potential spouse, just a friend, no potential here... This severely injures our ability to treat each other with the love that Christ has asked of us, and makes confusing complications and fuzziness out of our relations with others. However, in reality, it is very simple. We are all sisters and brothers in Christ. We are FIRST sisters and brothers in Christ, and ALWAYS sisters and brothers in Christ. If we orient the way we think about and interact with each other in this way, we will find ourselves blessed with many deep friendships, and loving, straightforward relationships. Will there still be a tension? possibly, but it is no longer a negative tension, but a positive one. What is a positive tension? I would define it as a tension that can be diffused at will, and that when present enlivens and creates with beauty and joy. However it is not until we are ready for courtship, ready to engage in "romance with a purpose," as Joshua Harris describes it, that we can begin to discern God's will for us with regards to our vocations and possible marriage partners. If we are constantly categorizing then we are not allowing nor trusting God to provide for our futures, but are rather living in a grasping manner, repeating the sin of Eve.

Guard Your Heart

I feel like this phrase is often tossed around: guard your heart, protect your heart... often it is referred to in discussions of purity or dating and courtship. But what does this really mean? How do we guard our hearts?

Let us look to the source of this command, Proverb 4: 23-27.

"With closest custody, guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life. Put away from you dishonest talk, deceitful speech put far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead and your glance be directly forward. Survey the path for your feet, and let all your ways be sure. Turn neither to the right nor to the left, keep your foot far from evil."

Our hearts, we are told, contain the sources of life. The sources of life? God, love, beauty. We speak of the heart as that part of us which loves, which is relational. Well then it is equated with our soul, that which is relational to God, and to our bodies, which are the expressions of our souls. So when we speak of guarding our hearts, it is not merely our emotions, but our souls which we are commanded to guard. And how do we do this? Through guarding our bodies.

Our bodies and souls are indissolubly united (though distinct--think Trinity). Our bodies are how we interact with and experience the world (and God! He often chooses to speak to us through our bodies when we are in prayer), thus they are the expression of our souls. This means then that when our body contacts something it is also contacting our soul; if we allow it into our bodies, then we are allowing it into our souls. Foods, Jesus tells us, pass through our bodies, therefore they cannot make us spiritually unclean. However whatever we see, whatever we hear, whatever we say-- all of these things are within our bodies, and therefore within our souls. Does that ring a bell? "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil"?

It makes sense, then, that the command to guard our hearts is immediately followed with a command to speak with purity and truth, to keep our eyes and our glances only forward [towards purity, eternal life], to keep walking only forward towards Our Lord and Savior, and to keep ourselves far from evil. Watching, hearing, saying anything impure, deceitful or offensive to God soils our souls. Our white baptismal robes become crimson.

In our world today, it is so hard NOT to hear and see evil. But we must always do our best to avoid doing so, and when we do, to go to Christ in prayer and if necessary in confession, for cleansing. However there is never an excuse for speaking evil-- not ever. Here we are always at fault. We must always go to confession. For by its very nature, the act of speaking is an intentional act; it is not passive, it has always come about through our will. We may see and hear something without the consent of our will, but in speech this is impossible. It important to remember that whatever we say, whether in jest or seriousness, enters our souls and has an effect on it. If we only say things that are pure and good and give glory to God, so too will our souls. But if we allow anything unclean to pass our lips, if we say anything that is offensive to God, then so too are our souls.

Thought is also important to look at here: thoughts come into our minds without our control. However whether or not they stay there depends upon us aligning our will to them. And thoughts become words and action. Therefore Proverb 4 implies the necessity of guarding our minds as well, that we carefully weed them like gardens, never allowing that which is uninvited and impure to remain there. When we have aligned our will with impure thoughts, our soul too has become unclean, and we must take them to confession. If we are barraged by impure thoughts but constantly weed them out, then we must take refuge in prayer that Christ will purify our souls and our minds from them.

Giving and Receiving

I heard someone say recently that in marriage counseling they often hear that the husband and wife, though not having a problem giving and receiving physically, are having a problem giving and receiving emotionally and spiritually.

This is a blatant falsehood!! This separates our bodies from our souls, which can never be. Husband and wife are NOT giving and receiving physically if they are not also giving and receiving emotionally and spiritually. If the souls are not in communion, then the bodies cannot be! The giving and receiving is reduced to taking and grasping. What a sad state of affairs! And the souls know this deep inside, and the resentment and wounds which inhibit the emotional and spiritual giving and receiving will only fester and grow from the dis-integration of body and soul.

Practicality in Dating and Courtship

So many people ask the question of how far is too far when dating, which to one who is serious in the faith, is obviously the wrong question. The right question is what I can do such that I can honor the dignity of myself and the other, as made in the image of God? How can I stay always truthful in my actions?

The shortest answer I've heard in a practical sense, is that neither person should ever become aroused, or something has gone spiritually wrong. Why?

Well, lets look at arousal in its beauty within marital love. What is sexual arousal for a man? It is his body preparing to give a gift, to give up his body for his bride. It is his body preparing to be the initiator. What is sexual arousal for a woman? It is her body preparing to receive her husband's gift, and through fully receiving his gift of his body, giving herself as a gift to him.

This makes it clear then that arousal outside of marital love is a lie of the body. The man's body is telling a lie, because he will not initiate a gift, he will not give himself to the woman. The woman's body is telling a lie, because she will not receive his gift, and will not become a gift back to him.

In dating and courtship, your body must always be speaking the truth, which should be an expression of the truth of your soul.

Gift

How does an exchange of love occur? A gift is given, it is received with the reception becoming a gift back to the giver, this gift is received, which becomes a gift, and so on. On a simplistic level, you can picture giving someone a present on their birthday. You take the time, through your knowledge and love for them, to pick out a gift that would speak to them, and truly be a gift to them. When they accept your gift, open it, and delight in it, that acceptance and delight are a gift back to you, and you too are filled with joy, and your joy overflowing increases their joy.... This is certainly not a perfect analogy for the exchange in marital love, because the gift and the gift back consist of the bodies--the very selves--of man and wife.

What is the difference then between receiving and grasping? Receiving always becomes a gift back to the giver. Grasping keeps the gift for itself; it shorts the exchange. It also, rather than waiting with open hands, reaches out and snatches the gift from the other person. It's the little child who opens her gift under the tree before everyone else is gathered, or the little child who upon opening the gift begins to play with it without acknowledging the purpose of the gift (love!) or the giver (lover!).

Let us remember too--so much of this joyful exchange depends on the gift and the manner in which it is given. It must be a gift that is for them, at that moment. Those gifts are easily and joyfully received. But if the gift is rather for the giver, or has no thought in it, or would have been great five years ago or ten years from now, what good is it? Do you give a six year old a passifier? Do you give a forty year old a walker? No! If someone has just lost their dog, do you give them that stuffed animal that looks just like Fido? Well this case depends upon the person, and requires a loving knowledge of the person. Within the context of the marital exchange, (and the exchange of courtship!) this becomes of the utmost significance. The offer from the man must be pure, self-sacrificing love; if it is, the wife will be able to receive it with a gift of herself. If not, there is no gift to receive and she is left with three options: rejection, passivity, or grasping. None of these involve joy.

But let us keep our focus on the beauty of a proper gift, true reception as a gift, and the wonder of the exchange as God intends it.

The Giver

God, the Giver, has created man male and female in order to provide him with an understanding of both the relational nature of the Trinity, and the relation between God and man. Within the Trinity, for God to be Love, there must be the lover, the lovee, and the love. Thus we have the lover, the initiator, who gives to the lovee, who receives, and that reception becomes a gift back to the lover. And what is passed between them? Love. Thus we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God made us male and female (and gives us children! the physical sign of the love of husband and wife) that we might come to better understand His mystery.

God is always the initiator towards man. He is the Creator, we are the created. We receive His love and His grace, and through receiving are able to then give back to Him, most especially when we conceive His life within us. In order to show us our relationship with Him, He made us male and female (with children!). Who is Man? The one who by giving receives. In order to teach us His role as initiator, as Giver, God had to make a human who was the initiator. Who is Woman? The one who by receiving gives. In order to teach us our role as receiver, as conceiver, God had to make a human who was the receiver and conceiver. It is not that God chose to give one or the other a lesser dignity by having one represent Himself and one represent humanity. Rather, their very natures were created in order that they might have stamped in their very bodies their relation to God. And of course, it is only together, in communion, that they fully image the Trinity, and therefore neither has a lesser dignity.

Shame

We know that Adam and Eve were naked "yet they felt no shame" (Genesis 2:25). However, after the fall, the first thing that they do is cover themselves--they cover those parts of themselves which spoke to the other I am a gift for you. Why? because they had shame. Shame is something felt when you know that you are being seen as an object by another (or when you know that you are seeing another as an object!). Why? because they have robbed you of your subjectivity, they have robbed you of your dignity as a person who images God in your free will, rationality and relationality. Your body, which should speak of gift, becomes the language of use. Your body is no longer something which you give to another, but rather something the other takes.

Our bodies and souls tell us that we are made to be gifts to each other. That is what it means to be human--to be a gift. If someone robs you of your gift, whether with their body or with their eyes, or with their imagination, you feel shame because you feel you have been robbed of your dignity as a person made in the image and likeness of God.

"Taste and see how good the Lord is" --Psalm 34:9

Taste. This is not a call for us to be distant, but intimate with our Lord. You cannot taste something unless you have brought yourself close to it, have taken it in your hand and placed it on your tongue and in your mouth.

Taste your Lord. Taste the honey of His love. Taste the salt of His justice. Taste the meat of His faithfulness. Does He refresh your palate with His forgiveness? Or sooth your roughened tongue with His mercy? Let the milk of His peace wash away any bitterness or heat in your mouth. Let the spice of His pursuit enliven you. Savor His perfection. Let Him satiate you. Let Him leave you in ecstasy.

Denying the Holy Spirit

In the Holy Trinity, the love between the Father and the Son is so powerful and real that it is a third person, the Holy Spirit. This is imaged in the family, with the love between husband and wife so real that it gives life to a new person. When a man and woman deny the creation of new life, whether through contraception or abortion, they are literally denying the Holy Spirit. The Trinitarian Love, which is divine love, is thrown away. The image of God in the family is discarded. In the creed, we call the Holy Spirit the Lord and Giver of Life. It was the Holy Spirit who espoused Mary when she conceived Jesus, the fruit of her womb. Denying the new life that flows from the marital embrace is denying the very essence of the Holy Spirit.

Grace Tells Another Story

Satan would have us believe that we cannot be saved, that we are not worthy of being saved, that we can never be free from our sins and addictions. But Grace Tells Another Story, as these lyrics by MercyMe proclaim...

They say don’t waste your time
You simply cannot find
An ounce of good within the heart of man

They say we’ve got to lay
In the bed we’ve made
And live this life without a second chance

But I’m inclined to say
There must be something more

We’ve been told that the heart is just too far gone to save
But grace tells us another story
Where glory sends hopelessness away
Oh grace tells us another story

They say we cannot change
There is no other way
Get used it cause this is all there is.

They say don’t raise your voice
Cause we don’t have a choice
We’re dealt this hand so learn to live with it

Well I have to believe
There must something more

We’ve been told that the heart is just too far gone to save
But grace tells us another story
Where glory sends hopelessness away
Oh grace tells us another story

And though we may not understand
Why You’d give us another chance
We praise You who lets us start again

We’ve been told that the heart is just too far gone to save
But grace tells us another story
Where glory sends hopelessness away
Oh grace tells us another story

Get out of jail free...

"The high priest...filled with jealousy, laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said, 'Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.'" --Acts 5:17-20

Satan, filled with jealousy, has laid his hands upon us, and put us in public jail. He has, through deceit, chained us in sin, separating our souls from God. But in this night, this blackness in our lives, the angel of the Lord comes, and opens the doors of our prison, inviting us to the light, inviting us to testify to the saving power of God--to the Truth of this life, of the life He wishes to give us. The angel leads us out--he does not leave us on our own. He releases us from under Satan's nose, with Satan's minions reporting to him, "We found the jail securely locked and the guards stationed outside the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside" (Acts 5:23). This is the power of the resurrection--to release us from our bondage, in a way that Satan could not counteract, could not understand. Did he not think that he had won when he had Christ crucified on that Cross? When he heard Christ say "It is finished" (John 19:30)? How surprised he was to find Christ come to hell to destroy him, and to raise up the dead! Did his minions not report, that the nails were fast in Him, that a spear had been thrust in His side, that He had breathed His last? And yet Christ was released from that prison, and turned the Cross into the very freedom that we are now free to partake of! How glorious is the resurrection of our Lord!

Adoration

At the Boston Eucharistic Congress for young adults, a speaker on the Presence and the Eucharist spoke of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as kissing our Lord. For Communion is the consummation of our marriage to our, the Bridegroom, Christ. This analogy struck me very deeply, in both directions. It has deepened my understanding of Adoration, and the intimacy of it even without being united to Him in the flesh. Likewise it has finally crystallized for me what a pure kiss between a man and woman is meant to be. It is a demonstration of love-- but not merely an action to say I love you, but rather an act of reverence and awe in the presence of a mystery created by God--it is like the woman pouring the expensive oil on the feet of Christ, or breaking the alabaster jar--like Christ washing the feet of His disciples. I was one of those whose feet were washed by the priest at the Holy Thursday Mass. When Father poured the water over my foot and so tenderly wrapped it in the towel to dry it, and then so reverently kissed it--that is the love with which spouses should kiss each other always, whether it be the cheek or lips or hands of their love. The love with which we kiss the wounded hands and feet and side of our Lord crucified; the love with which we kiss the wood of the Cross on Good Friday. That is the love which we all crave, so deeply in our hearts!

He is Risen, Alleluia!!

Excerpts from: Our Lady's Easter

by Albert H. Dolan, O. Carm.

"Regina coeli laetare," the Church sings at Easter; "Rejoice, O Queen of Heaven, because He is risen as He said." Indeed, there is no Easter meditation more consoling, more uplifting and more rich in grace than reflection upon Our Lord's appearance to His Blessed Mother early Easter morning.

This visit is not recorded in the Gospels but is attested by a definite and ancient tradition; by the Fathers, by spiritual writers without exception, and by the faithful who are as certain of it as they are of His appearance to Magdalene and to the Apostles.

We need not dwell long on the fitness of such an apparition. Even if we had no evidence, from tradition, of their meeting, our hearts would tell us that Our Lord would not cruelly neglect His Mother; that if He appeared to the Apostles and to Magdalene, He would surely appear first to her, the companion of His passion, to her who had the strongest claims upon Him, to her in whose heart there was incomparably more faith and loyalty and love for Him than in any other human heart. To Mary's eyes first was His victory to be proclaimed. The fitness of the visit being assumed, let us inquire where and when it occurred and what was in their hearts at their reunion.

After the burial of Our Lord, Mary had been conducted by St. John, the beloved disciple, to the home of one of his friends in Jerusalem. According to tradition, Mary spent Good Friday night, Holy Saturday, and Holy Saturday night in her room in this house in solitary, expectant prayer, filled with faith and hope which approached certainty, a faith which was as strong before as it was after she saw Him risen.

Let us visit Mary just before dawn on Easter Sunday morning. Counting from noon on Good Friday, she is completing her fortieth consecutive hour of lonely prayer. With eyes closed, she kneels in humble supplication, patiently begging God the Father to hasten the hour of the coming of His Son and hers. Although she does not know it yet, her dolors are over; her hours of suffering have passed. The dawn has not yet broken, but it is at hand and will soon break with a splendor the earth has never seen before or since.

Leaving Mary now in the darkness of her room, let us journey in imagination to the tomb of Our Lord. Without, the soldiers are sleeping; within, by His power as God, His soul enters and reassumes His Body. Instantaneously, even while the angels are rolling back the stone from the sepulcher, He is on His way to Mary, for we are not to think that He was less eager than she was for their reunion. Both had traversed such vast mysteries since He had seen her with His bodily eyes that He hastened towards her, as if long years instead of days had intervened since their parting. He longed for her presence.

Let us return to Mary just before His appearance. New graces are just being bestowed upon her – graces to strengthen her to bear the joy of the sight of her glorified Son, for these new graces and powers are necessary, lest joy should crush the Immaculate Heart that sorrow could not break. Just as these graces enter her soul and just as the first faint streaks of dawn brighten the hilltops, a dazzling brilliance fills her room and startles her closed eyelids into opening, and being open, they behold standing before her – her risen Son. The Queen of Sorrow raises her eyes and becomes the Queen of Joy. No other human being has ever seen a sight so glorious; to no other on earth was so much of His Divinity and glory disclosed.

What does she see in Him? Oh, first of all love, love for her greater and more tender than His eyes had ever beamed upon her before. His joy as well as His divinity causes this new brightness in Him. And what is the cause of His joy? Mary – as she is the "cause of our joy." He rejoices at the sight of Mary; He delights in her sweet sanctity; He recognizes again her resemblance to Him, as He exults in her delight at seeing Him. As God and as Man, He rejoices in His pride in her, His Mother, the Mother of His Body; and in His pride in her, His creation, the first and fairest of His creatures. He rejoices in the fresh beauty He sees in her, a new beauty created by her dolors and shining not only from her soul but from her now transfigured countenance.

Did they speak? Not, I think, at first. If there ever was an occasion in which words were needless, it is this; and they remain speechless while they read the messages so plainly written in each other's eyes. Then finally, of course, He speaks, for she is not to be deprived of the joy of His voice, and it is her holy name He pronounces. And in answer, there is heard her voice, and it is His Holy Name she whispers. It is her only word, but what a world of love it contains! As she speaks His Name, she throws herself at His feet in loving adoration and in adoring love. Then He gently raises her and embraces her, pressing her head tenderly against His wounded side. Who will be so bold as to guess how long He kept her there and what He said to her, or how soon and how often He promised to come to her again? We will not be so rash as to speculate further, but in the sight of Jesus and Mary, Mother and Son, re-united in love and joy on Easter morning, we see the end, the termination, the goal of our own earthly trials. If we bear our trials as they (Jesus and Mary) bore them, if we suffer with them and for them, we shall one day have our Easter, wrapped in closest union with them both, in love and in joy which will endure not merely for an hour but for all eternity.

These thoughts, almost heart-breaking in the spiritual joy they invoke, these thoughts of the union of Mary and Jesus, their mutual love and their mutual gladness, are not for Easter alone; rather are they for reflection each time we say the first Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, reminding ourselves always that to suffer with them is to rejoice with them. To endure our Good Friday with them is to spend our eternal Easter with them, united to them forever in unspeakable love and glory and joy and gladness.

Joy of the Resurrection

CS Lewis once spoke to the obligation of all Christians to be as happy as possible. How can he make such a claim? Because we all always have something to be joyful about-- and it isn't a small thing!!!!! The Resurrection is the source of all joy in Christian life; it is the source of hope, of love! It is through the Resurrection that mankind is redeemed, and has received as a gift from God the grace to overcome all sin, to love purely and selflessly. No matter what we go through, we must always keep this thought at the forefront of our minds, for it is our hope that our trials will be redeemed through Christ, and our joy for eternity!! May the triumph of our Lord be always sung by hearts!!

"God loves us, not because we are good, but because He is good." --Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty

Indeed, love is not something that can be earned, it is something freely given. God's love for us is simply from His own infinite goodness.

"This is my body which is given for you." --Luke 22:19

As we celebrate the Last Supper, we must remember that "The Eucharist is the supreme proof of the love of Jesus" --St. Peter Eymard. It is where we consummate our union with Christ, our Bridegroom. He gives His entire self to us, and so in receiving Him we are made more like Him. Through subordination to His love and sacrifice, through receiving His body as He freely gives it up for us and to us, we are cleansed. He has done this that He might present us to Himself spotless and without blemish, His true Bride.

"And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him" --John 12:11

In doing the good work, and spreading Christ's love to people, we too become targeted by the devil for destruction. However, we must always trust in the Lord: "Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear; Though war be waged upon me, even then will I trust...I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:3,13). For the rejoicing in heaven over even one lost sheep returned home is well worth whatever suffering is encountered!

In living out the Theology of the Body in our daily lives, through commitment to the Lord, chastity, and truely loving, we, like Lazarus, call people to return to their Bridegroom and taste of His banquet. We image the likeness of God, making His presence hear on earth even more tangible, which Satan does not like. Satan seeks to destroy this image through lust, hatred of fertility and unforgiveness; we must seek refuge in the joy of our God and persevere. For He tells us,

"I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." (Isaiah 42:6-7)

"Again He gave You thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples and said: Take this, all of you, and drink from it...so that sins may be forgiven"

Upon hearing this in Mass today, I recalled Christ's second prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!" (Mathew 26:42). Christ had free will--every moment of His suffering was chosen; His drinking from the cup was a purposeful action, freely chosen in order that the world might be reconciled to His Father. When He offers the cup to the disciples to drink at the Last Supper--and in Mass to us--it is the cup of salvation. It is the cup of the Passion and the Crucifixion. It is a cup of suffering. We too must drink of this sacrifice in our own lives, that we might be resurrected with Him and all the world; that sins be forgiven and hearts transformed.

"What return shall I give the Lord for all His goodness to me?
I shall take the cup of salvation." --Psalm 116: 13,14

"My soul magnifies the Lord" --Luke 1:46

"Have you ever taken a lens or magnifying glass and focused the rays of the sun through it onto a piece of paper? The paper turns brown, then black, as the concentrated heat acts upon it, smoke appears, and finally the paper bursts into flame. This analogy describes what we as intercessors are called upon to do by focusing the power of God on people and situations through prayer. We do not have any control over His power, and we cannot direct it of ourselves; but we can bring those things for which we intercede within range of this power through our prayers. We should then make ourselves available to God as a 'lens' of prayer, through which He can focus His grace onto these things, so that His power is at maximum intensity. As we do this, we shall see the effects of this power, leading ultimately to the pure pentecostal fire of the Holy Spirit burning within the situation that we have brought before God in intercession. As well as magnifying the Lord before the world, we are also called to magnify the world before the Lord, and, through our prayers, offered in accordance with His will, to set it on fire with His love, grace, and peace. We are instruments in the hand of our God: instruments, moreover, whom He asks to cooperate freely with Him in the building up and extension of His kingdom. Is there any task that could be more satisfying and fulfilling?

"A dirty lens, or one that is poorly ground, is not very efficient at focusing the sun's rays. We cannot expect to be effective 'focusers' of God's power from the moment we begin our intercession. It takes time for a lens to be ground out of a piece of glass, and it will take time for God to form us in accordance with His will, so that our intercession may be correct and pleasing in His sight. Just as a dirty lens needs to be washed clean of accumulated grime, so we too need to be cleansed of our sins and faults by the mercy of God before we can operate effectively in this ministry. This is not to suggest that a slightly dirty lens cannot focus light, or that we cannot intercede if there is still sin in our lives (or else no one would ever be able to intercede); but we should be prepared to turn away from this sin, so as to be able to intercede more effectively."

[This post is entirely quoted from Peter Grant's book The Power of Intercession: Effective Prayer for the Needs of Others, end of Chapter 5]

"Two other sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards the salvation of others...

...if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so." CCC 1534

Through living the Theology of the Body, spouses sanctify each other. Through living in that all encompassing complementarity, man teaches woman the meaning of her body and soul, and woman teaches man the meaning of his body and soul. Each comes to a deeper understanding of God, the Holy Trinity, and their relationship to Him. Through God's gift of children, husband and wife are brought closer to an understanding of Jesus' command that we become like children in order to enter the gates of Heaven. Service and sacrifice to each other and their children bring personal sanctification to the spouses; obedience to their parents and service of all of their family bring personal sanctification to the children.

Through living the Theology of the Body, celibate men and women dedicate their lives to witnessing the union with God in heaven that marriage images, as well as interceding for all of the Body of Christ, and all of the world. Service, both in the form of intercessory prayer and material help, brings personal sanctification to each of them as well.

"Through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink."-Eucharistic Liturgy

"I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing." --John 15:5

The wine we offer at the Mass is indeed fruit of the vine... in so many ways! In His creation, the grapes of the vines are made into wine, and through His goodness we have wine to offer that His Son might become present to us. But we also, as the branches and fruit of Him, the vine, are made into new wine through Christ's Resurrection, the "good wine" of the Wedding of Cana, saved for last. Through the fully God and fully human hands of Christ, we attain this living water, our spiritual drink!

"My soul magnifies the Lord" --Luke 1:46

This speaks of the gift of femininity: to conceive, nurture and bear forth new life! Mary's soul in so many ways magnifies the Lord, not least of all in the gestation of His one and only Son! The body is the expression of the soul--Mary's soul magnifies the Lord so perfectly, that He is formed in her womb, and is brought forth to the world as it's most precious babe.

"seek to serve him constantly" --Ps 105:4

We must serve the Lord constantly, continually, ceasing never! How is this possible, when our minds are so distracted, when we must attend to the day to day business of living? Through our bodies!! As body persons, our bodies are united to our souls; they are our very being in this world. And in every moment of every day, we are our bodies! If we always do good with our bodies, then we can always be serving the Lord, and always giving praise and glory to Him. If we are truly integrated, body and spirit, then every action becomes a prayer to Our Father, and we cannot help but serve him constantly!

"the truth will set you free" --John 8:32

When Jesus says this, He is saying that He will set us free, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He will set us free from the bondage of sin, as the Truth sets us free from the lies of the devil.

"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him...

...they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God." --Daniel 3:95

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego yielded their bodies to a furnace rather than commit idolatry and worship a false god. But how many of us today are willing to do so?

In our culture today, that false god is sex. It is worshipped through lust, the desecration of the marriage bed, pornography, prostitution, promiscuity... it is everywhere! We must be willing to yield our bodies to the fire of the Holy Spirit that we might be cleansed. We must yield our bodies--and by our bodies our very selves!--to purity, chastity, and therefore worship Him who created us. We must trust that He will send His angels to bring us through the trials, and that it is possible to acheive this purity through His grace and power! Through chastity, the sexual union of marriage becomes a means by which we glorify Him, and celebrate His plan for union with us in Heaven. We celebrate His gift of His Son, our bridegroom, who has suffered, died, and risen that we might become His spotless bride.

"Do you want to be free? Lift your chains, I hold the key, All power on Heav'n and Earth belong to me. You are free." --Casting Crowns

God sent His only Son so that we could be freed from our sins. Freed from the chains of the devil who binds us to this earth and the flesh, and keeps us from an integrated body and soul. We live in the age of historical man, the fallen world. But we live in redeemed historical man. We can choose to be set free. All we must do is offer our chains to Christ, and say "Jesus rescue me... Set me free of the chains holding me." For He holds the key, and all the power on Heaven and Earth!!

"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? ...

... She replied, 'No one, sir.' Then Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.'" -John 8:10-11

A friend wrote me excitedly that when meditating on this passage he "was struck by how Jesus addresses her as 'Woman.' He's not just speaking to her here, but to Woman, to all women throughout history!" How powerful this is! Not one person was able to throw the first stone to condemn the woman caught in adultery because they too were all in sin. The world cannot pass judgment on those it has misled into sin. Judgment is passed so quickly on a woman who has committed a sexual sin--she is mocked by both the "righteous" men and those men who are guilty with her. But is her confusion in seeking for fulfillment in the wrong places not caused by the lies of the men and the world? Jesus tells Woman, "Neither do I condemn you." Jesus knows what it is that she is seeking. Sexual sins are most revealing of the person's deep longing for God and the need to find Him, for sexual union is meant to be the sign on earth pointing us to union with God in Heaven. He tells her, "Go, and from now do not sin any more," to take from Him a living water to quench her thirst. He untwists and affirms her desire, revealing to her that her longing and ache is for Him, her true Bridegroom.

This is what we must do for the women in the world today. Their desires for protection and love too often drive them to date the "bad boys," ignoring their bad in the hopes that their attention and physical strengths will provide what the woman's heart seeks. But they use her and then throw her away. That ache for "shelter and affection" can only be fulfilled by God, and can only be protected by a man of God. And to bring them to that love! To bring them to the forgiveness and protection of Our Lord, that they may be washed clean and have the infinite hole their heart filled! For as in Hosea, Our Lord desires to unite Himself to us, and as in Ephesians, to present us to Himself as His spotless bride!

"She is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
She is trying
But the canyon's ever widening
In the depths of her cold heart
So she sets out on another misadventure just to find
She's another two years older
And she's three more steps behind.

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away.

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

If judgment looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we've never even met her.

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?"
--Casting Crowns

Sloth

"Sloth is not, as many think, simple laziness (although that is usually a side-effect). Instead, it is a sadness about the good set before us, a boredom with the things of God, a failure to respond with the proper repentance, joy, zeal or love to God's works and goodness. Sloth is a spiritual "ho-hum" or "whatever" in the face of Christ crucified. Once this spiritual languor sets in, we can easily become lazy louts — because we see no reason to make an effort." --Fr. Scalia

Vast love

God's love for us is so vast!! In comparison to us, our sins are a suffocating burden that we cannot carry. This leads many in sin to refuse to admit they are doing wrong--if they were to face the truth of the sins they have committed, it would crush them. But in comparison to God's love, our sins are infinitesimal!! All we must do is give them over to Him and accept His transforming love, and His vastness will engulf our sins. All that remains is His love.

"provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old" --Luke 12:33

In all things, we must love the incarnate soul that is the other. A body can grow old. A habit can grow old. Expressions can grow old. But the soul of a person, so intimately expressed through the body--this can NEVER grow old. The mystery of each person is so deep, one can never claim to truly know and understand the other. A person can never get old, may never be discarded but only loved ever more as their mystery unfolds. When a man or woman enters a relationship based on his/her physical attraction to the other, the other will get used, used up, and discarded. The physical is finite, and cannot sustain a relationship. But when a relationship is entered because the man and woman have entered the mystery of the soul of the other, then there is infinity to discover! This is the purse that never grows old and sustains a lifelong relationship.

God as Mystery

Understanding God as mystery does not mean that God is incomprehensible. Rather, it means that God is infinitely comprehensible. Because He is an infinite being, it is impossible for us as finite beings to fully understand God--but we can understand each finite piece that He gives to us. This is why all of the metaphors He has put in creation for us to discover are so powerful; they express pieces of infinity! What better analogy to express His infinite nature than the never ending mystery of a person? What better analogy to express His never ending delight in us and desire for union with us than the marriage of a true man and true woman? Or the love a father and mother have for their children? He is constantly drawing us closer and deeper into His infinite nature, deeper into His eternal love.

"Whoever does not gather with me scatters." --Luke 11:23

The journey of faith is not one on which we can take a breather. You are either moving forward, closer to God, or you are moving away from God. If you think you are in neutral, then you are drifting away. The same is true for spreading God's love and God's word to other people: either we are helping them towards God or we are helping them away from God. There is no inbetween.

Forgiveness

We must be willing to receive God's forgiveness. Matthew 18 tells us that God will forgive us only as we have forgiven others. This is not merely so that we get our just desserts. One who has not learned to forgive others is incapable of accepting someone's forgiveness of himself. We must accept God's forgiveness if we are to enter heaven, for it is only through His mercy that we may be worthy of His presence. If we have not learned to forgive, however, then how can we understand His forgiveness of us? We will hold our sins to ourselves and not let Him take them away, because we do not understand how or why He would want to. We must learn to forgive others--allow God to teach us how--in order to allow God to forgive us and remove our sins from us as the east from the west.

"But He passed through the midst of them and went away." --Luke 4:30

We have no need of fearing those who persecute us for doing God's work. No matter their anger or actions, they cannot touch us until our hour has come. And that hour is the hour for which God has prepared us, and therefore we have no need to fear it. Until that hour, we too will pass through their midst and go away unharmed. At that hour, we too will glorify God and play our part in the salvation of man. Let us pray then not to be spared, but rather to be prepared.

"If the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it?" --2 Kings 5:13

We, like Naaman, are prone to expecting God to work in extravagant ways befitting our own views of His majesty. And so, we miss His smaller directives through which He intends miracles! We must listen closely and learn obedience so that we let Him work in His majesty that allows Him to work miracles from a simple washing. Is not the God who can with a whisper change the human heart more majestic than a God reliant on stars shooting fire? It is like in confession. We must not expect large penances in accordance to our sins--nothing we do can remove them from us. We must then humble ourselves, and accept and trust in God's mercy, "Wash and be clean."