Who Woman chooses to be

"The story of our fall begins with the words of an angel - albeit himself a fallen one - to a virgin in Eden.  The story of our resurrection begins with the words of an angle to a virgin in Nazareth." Tremendous Lover p. 19

The whole world depends on who woman chooses to be.  Eve? Or Mary? Will you trust in God's love? Will you respond to the events and people He places in your life by pondering them in your heart?  Will you give your fiat? Or will you reject Him?

It is expedient for you...

"It is expedient for you that one man die, than a whole nation."  John 11:50

So says the council of the Jews that condemns Jesus to death.  How old is this sin!  To not value each and every human life as priceless; to think that it is ok to kill an embryo if it means curing another's Alzheimer's.  One life is not only as valuable as any other, but it is also as valuable as all others.  Combined.  None is to be lost.

Virtue must be your tie

"...how little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue..." Pride and Prejudice p.282 

This is Elizabeth reflecting on the prospects of her sister Lydia and Mr. Wickham, who ran away together without getting married.  Indeed, how important is chastity, that you can be sure your and your future spouse's virtues are stronger than your passions!  In all realms of life virtue must overcome passions, whether it is emotions or the flesh.  Without this marriage would be living hell.

Lust

Lust is when the means and ends get swapped-- hence we speak of the soul being disordered.  For example, lust for money is when money becomes the end, rather than the means to a higher end (feeding your family, or paying for your children's education).  Lust for sex is when the person becomes a means to attain pleasure, rather than the pleasure being a means to unite with the person, who is the end.  We must strive to keep our souls rightly ordered; things are never ends, and people are never means.

The Host

In situations where you feel completely vulnerable to another's acknowledgement of your human dignity (i.e. the doctor's office), consider that you are at that moment living Christ's life in the Host.  There He has given Himself over - by choice - into the hands of another who can choose to do with Him what he wishes.  Christ is repeatedly treated coldly, taken for granted, ignored, forgotten, even desecrated.  Even those who wish to receive Him with fervor get distracted or lose it in the routine of Mass and Communion.  But few of these cold-hearted people are intentionally disrespectful.  And Christ still comes and still chooses to hand Himself over for the good that should come of it.

30 pieces of silver

Two Catholics, engaged, were thinking of moving in together for the final months before getting married. The main reason, of course, was monetary. She assured me they were completely committed to being chaste till marriage.  My response (albeit a long one) is below.  This would also follow for anyone tempted to spend the night at her boyfriend's apartment because you traveled to visit him and don't have another free place to stay. The list goes on.  

Do not fool yourselves.  It is not holy.

It affects more than just you: the meaning of scandal

Relationships are a public good.  You are not making a decision in isolation.  Your actions will speak louder than your words.  Do you really think that anyone who lives in the world will believe you when you tell them you aren't having sex? Do you think that your younger siblings won't see this and think later to themselves "well, she lived with him before marriage, why not me? They're serious Catholics after all!" Because the fact of the matter is that in the public eye, two people in love living together means they are having sex.  You are near your new Church-- what if they found out you were living together before your marriage?  What are their assumptions?  The fact is, it does matter what they think; it matters because you claim to be a faithful Catholic couple.  The world is watching to see what you do.  To be a faithful witness to Christ means making not just a private vow of chastity, but a public one; one that the public cannot find fault with. One that does not leave room for the imagination.

Chastity deals with more than the physical relationship. 

Living chastely is not just about not having sex, or staying clothed before marriage, or not kissing before marriage, or wherever a couple draws the physical line*.  It's more than just keeping your imagination pure.  There is also the importance of emotional chastity-- not giving away your heart until you're married, so that you stay detached to discern and follow the will of God.  There is also a chastity of proximity, which would be an antidote to familiarity; this is linked to the physical and emotional chastity, and it has to do with personal space.  The more time and space you spend with someone, the more familiar you become, and your ability to remain physically and emotionally chaste increasingly diminishes. 

The union in one flesh of man and wife is a sign of their irrevocable vow to be one.  But it's only one sign.  Another sign is that they live in the same house, share the same budget, same wallet, same fridge, same dinner, same bathroom etc.  To begin to do this before you are married is a lie, just as having sex before marriage is a lie.  Living together, whatever your physical relationship, is not chaste.

[*For the record, the first two of those would automatically be sins.  The third, it depends who you ask, but kissing is certainly an occasion of sin, and I highly recommend saving it for marriage. Radical to most people, I know, but how much do you love our Lord? It suddenly becomes beautifully simple.]

Sex is only in marriage, but marriage is a LOT more than sex.

While sex can never be divorced from marriage, it is not all marriage is about.  It is not the only thing that should change in your life when you are married.  All types of chastity should lead to a change in your life.  Once you are married, you give your heart completely to your husband, your body completely to your husband, and your time, space, everything about your life.  And that last part is the largest (and hardest) part of marriage.  Newly married, if you are extremely amorous, you may manage to spend 10% of your time in the physical realm.  That means that at least 90% of your time is spent in the other realms-- the realms that you have already given over if you have lived together.  Also, as the woman, you are short changing yourself to leave to the new joys of marriage only to the physical realm.  I've talked to a lot of recently married women and new moms, and the unanimous consensus is that the best part of marriage--even at the very beginning-- is the 90%.  That 90% would fall flat without the sacrament because the forever factor is what makes it so good.

Also, when you first start to live together, you find out a whole lot about each other that you never knew-- some may be good, a lot will become pet peeves.  It takes a lot of negotiation and love to come out on top.  God designed the honeymoon period where everything is new and exciting to make all those other changes easier to handle; He also designed it to be after receiving the sacrament so that He can give you a huge influx of grace.  One of the main elements of the honeymoon experience-- especially for your new husband-- is the intoxication of the new physical love you share as man and wife (to say nothing of the biological bonding caused by oxytocin). Navigating the pet peeves without the uniting power of the physical union-- especially during the last two months of engagement which is already a stressful time-- will put vinegar in your relationship and take away the innocent joy that should be yours on your wedding day. 

Men: Loving means not putting him in temptation 

Because of concupiscence, we need to not just avoid sin, but avoid the occasion of sin.  A man cannot live in the same apartment as his beloved and not be in an occasion of sin.  A woman maybe could-- but the wiring of a man is something that we as women simply cannot fathom.  If you love your fiance, you do not want to place him in this spiritual danger.  I don't care how mature, how strong, how virtuous he is.  A man who knows himself and desires to always please God will not place himself under such temptation.  And his beloved who loves him more than herself will agree to seemingly over-the-top boundaries to protect him in this spiritual battle that she cannot (and never really will) understand.

Let your yes mean yes

In Christ's words, "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'  Anything more is from the evil one." --Matthew 5:37.  In other words, in the moral realm, grey areas are where the devil plays.  To determine if something is chaste, you ask, "Is this chaste?" If the answer is anything other than 'Yes', the answer is 'No.'  

Mental preparation-- personal space

The transition to marriage is a blessed and at times blissful experience.  But it is also extremely challenging, and at times anything but blissful.  You need to use the time before marriage-- every moment of it-- wisely.  You need to take time away from the craze of wedding planning, away from your fiance, away from friends, to be alone with God.  You need your own physical and emotional space in which you can prepare for the change that is about to happen.  You need to provide that space so that God can prepare you, because ultimately only He knows what you will face.  Marriage is good, but don't forget that Christ married the Church by dying on the cross.  Are you prepared to undergo this death to self?  Are you prepared to make all the sacrifices necessary to love your fiance as God would have you love him? To love God as He would have you love Him?  The sacrifice required to carry two rents or find another place to stay is minuscule compared to what you will face in your future.  Exercise those muscles now on small loads so that they're ready for the real challenges ahead.

30 pieces of silver

What is the price of two months rent? 30 pieces of silver.  Lets just call it what it is-- money cannot be used as an excuse for immoral behavior.  But the devil likes to pay us some money to do things his way.

Another's suffering

Mercy is Goodness confronting misery.

When another is suffering, do not simply say "Offer it up." This trite saying is often construed as "Stuff it. I don't want to hear about it."

You cannot know what he suffers.  No two people experience the same situation the same way.  Each event is met in a particular moment of that soul's journey; what can be accepted joyfully by one may be the last crushing blow to another.  This difference is partly one of exterior circumstances, but most acutely of the interior ones.  A soul that is already off kilter can be dealt a death blow by something that hardly tickles another.

Empathy can be helpful for the empathizer, because it helps you to not judge the other harshly. If you have gone through something similar, it is easier for you to react well.  However it is not necessary to the sufferer that you have empathy.  The sufferer needs you to understand what they need, not what they feel.  They need help loving Christ in their pain.  They need help accepting reality.  They need your mercy.  What they need most of all is for you to not judge them in their pain.

Possess your life

Possession of something means having control of it.  How little of our life we possess!  For we have no control over the past, nor the future.  The only piece of our lives we possess is the present moment.  This is why we must take each moment, live it to the full for God, and then let it go in order to grasp the next.  Your will can only act in the present; make use of it!

Reality

How much anguish we experience when we do not accept reality.  Consider what is upsetting you in your life right now: do you accept it as God's will, or are you rejecting it?  You can only move forward and find peace if you accept that what is, is.  Perhaps it is a situation which can or will change, perhaps it is something that is here forever.  Either way, the first step to inner peace is acceptance.  God is real; if you do not live in reality, He cannot help you. God is in the present; if you are not living in the present moment, He cannot help you.  It is in the present moment, and present circumstances that God's grace is seeking you.  If you are not there accepting, it will pass you by.  Do not waste your energy wishing a world that doesn't exist.

Friendship

Your friendships are always deepened by shared experiences.  In fact, many friendships are formed because of these mutual understandings.  Christ wishes to be our very dearest friend; why then does it surprise you that you encounter suffering? He is sharing with you His deepest experience.  Do not be afraid to enter that suffering and go deeper in your friendship with Him.  He will also share with you His resurrection.

Your role

When He calls you to your vocation, He is calling you to a particular piece of Himself.  For Mother Theresa, it was His call of thirst on the Cross.  She was both to satiate and to experience that thirst.  Ask God what He is asking you to live with Him; it will help to make sense of the trials that He sends your way.

"If we consecrate ourselves to Mary, then when we die, we won't get to appear before God clothed with the merits of our prayers and good works.  In fact, we'll have to appear before God with empty hands, because we will have given all our merits to Mary."  --Fr. Gaitley (33 Days to Morning Glory p.39)

What a relief! To stand before God, bare; to be accepted into His fold as His child because He recognizes our Mother, Mary, who will claim us as her own.  She will, in exchange for our gift of our everything, give us her everything.  Rather than our pathetic accumulation of prayers and merits, the merit of her sinless life will be our ticket to heaven.  Give her your all, and she will give you her Son.

Tax collector's prayer

Luke 18:13

"God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

A priest once taught me this very simple and short Act of Contrition: "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner."  Though every priest in the confessional has accepted it, and it suits my poor memory very well, I've always wondered how something so short can be substituted for the long and seemingly more complete Act of Contrition.

Now I have my answer.

In Luke, Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector praying in the temple.  It is the Tax Collector, saying "God be merciful to me, a sinner" with true contrition who goes home justified.

Eucharist prayer

Mother Mary, enclose my broken vessel inside your most perfect vessel and receive your son Jesus. Receive all these graces of the Eucharist for me that they may not be lost through my cracks. Instead, allow me to soak in them, that the cracks rather than letting the grace out, allows the grace in. Let me soak as a cloth in dye, that I may be all Him.

Give me that which is yours

Jesus: "My daughter, you have not offered Me that which is really yours... Daughter, give me your misery, because it is your exclusive property." -- St Faustina's Diary p.473

Soul: But Jesus, if I give you my misery there is nothing between us any longer! You will be too close; You will burn me.

Jesus: My daughter, until you give me your misery, we cannot be heart to Heart. There can be nothing between us if we are to be one.

Loitering at the gate

Soul: I consider, Lord, that You may know best, may want what is best for me, but I do not believe it, because I do not want it and therefore do not will it. I do not want all the pain and sacrifice that comes with my vocation. It is more than I bargained for and I do not feel that I have chosen it.

And yet, to Whom shall I go? This is always what keeps me in Your fold. I am always loitering by the gate, but always inside. I feel trapped; there really is no choice other than You. But I am afraid to choose You - I don't want all the pain and struggle that goes with You. I do not want redemption by the Cross. But I won't choose to go away either - how much worse being torn limb from limb by the wolves!

Jesus, show me the way. Show me you love me - somehow - You know how. I want to know my value in Your eyes. I do not just want pleasant things but I fear the pain because I do not feel You with me - I do not know that You are with me. If I did, losing the sense wouldn't matter. How can I know?

Jesus: You do know, or you would not stay in the gate. Let us spend time, heart to Heart, and you will know My Heart.

Glorifying God

While it is right and just to give praise to God, it is not for His sake that we do so. It is for our sake, that we may remember His glory and act accordingly! Similarly, when we constantly tell our spouse and family that we love them, it is not just for their sake but for our own, that we may remember our love for them and act upon it no matter what we may be feeling that day.

Unique

If you wish to draw closer to our Lord, you must be willing to go on an adventure into uncharted territory. His relationship with each soul is particular to that soul. Let go of your pretenses and how you think you should talk to him. Be real. Be honest. Unless you are completely open and honest with Him, He can never reach the depths of your soul. You are the one keeping the distance between you. Let Him approach.

Union with God

It is easy to consider union of God that of the mystics, one of ecstasy and delight.

However the reality is that union with God means a union of wills. It is not so romantic... or is it? Is this not precisely what romantic love is, the desire to be one with the other in all things? This requires a choice, to align one's "I" into a "we".

No time

It is exactly when you think you have no time that you need to take your time. Take it back and place it in the things that mean the most. If your prioritize with God first, He will take care of everything else.

Safe return doubtful

Captain Shackleton's ad for crew:

"Men wanted for hazardous duty. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness, constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success."

5,000 men applied for 27 spots!! One even stowed away. This is God's wonderful creation of the heart of a man. It is this heart that will marry a woman and agree to shepherd a family.

How many men would respond if a woman ran this ad in the personals looking for a spouse?

Your faults

"He made each of us with our individual character and its difficulties. If we look back we can see how through all our lives it has been the same thing - so we can't help it, can we? For some reason, God has given these things to us to enable us to carry out His will. We must remember that circumstances are always favorable to God's plan, always always. To our own, no, very fortunately for us." -- Fr. Bede Jarrette, O.P.

Keep the end in mind

Faith, hope, charity-- these are not ends, but the means to the end, which is union with God.

Do not allow a virtue to become a false idol. They are merely there to bring us closer to God. They are at the same time a result of being closer to God. But they are not to be pursued in and of themselves. The only One you are to pursue is God.

Children at Mass

Mark 10:13-16

"And they were bringing children to Him, that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it He was indignant, and said to them, 'Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.' And He took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands on them."

I was reprimanded by a priest recently for having my infant son at Mass, as he makes noise. He insisted that if I bring him, I must go to the cry room at the back of the Church so that he is not heard. 

I do not bring my son to Mass for entertainment. I bring him that he might be touched by Jesus - that he may be in His presence and receive the graces that are available at the Mass even to those who cannot receive communion. I will not be segregated for having been faithful to my vocation, nor allow my child to be segregated for being a child. The sounds of Bethlehem were not silenced by the Infant Jesus' divinity, for He was fully human. We will not be amputated from the Body of Christ because you prefer your voice to his.

Mass is not a movie or concert, merely for entertainment. The faithful gather that they may receive the Eucharist and be physically united with their Savior and Lord. They gather to praise God with the angels and the saints, to add their voices to the Hosannas in heaven. Perhaps some voices are too young to articulate the words, or to know exactly what is happening - but is their understanding really that much worse than ours? The mystery of the sacrifice of the Mass is so beyond our human intellect, that really my infant son has, on that scale, just as good a grasp on it as the most learned theologian or mystic. It is recognizing this Truth that enables us to humble ourselves and become like children who may enter the kingdom of God.

Father by lust

"The Lord struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David, and it became desperately ill. David pleaded with God on behalf of the child. He kept a total fast, and spent the night lying on the ground clothed in sackcloth. The elders of his house stood beside him to get him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor would he take food with them." 2 Sam 15-17.

David had fathered this child out of lust, committing adultery and then murder. And yet, when the life of his child is threatened, he fasts in sackcloth despite the desires of the elders. If only men today would stand for the life of the children they father in lust; perhaps some would live.

He loves you

You are struggling. Is this any surprise, when you have lost sight of His love for you? Ask yourself, "Do I really and truly believe that God delights in me?" If the answer is no, ask Him to show you. It is only when you know His love for you that you can find joy in being His daughter and nothing else.

You must give Him more time with your heart.

The Rosary

When you say the Rosary, you are like a little baby cuddled in her Mother's arms, gazing lovingly up at her eyes, patting her face, saying "Mamamama". The baby is full of life, as only one who is fully trusting can be, and the Mother delights in this trusting love by recommitting all of herself to her little one.

Your way

The longer the list of things that have to be your way, the surer you are to be unhappy.

Seek the will of God.

Trinitarian friendships

Think Trinity for friendships: you, the other, the relationship.

Every two people have a unique relationship and draw different dimensions to the fore.

It is easy to become jealous of friends of your spouse, not because they threaten your relationship with him, but because they share something unique that you will never share with him. But yours, as spouse, is deeply unique as well! The friendships enrich your spousal relationship because they help him to develop other dimensions of self that he will then be able to share with you.

This, of course, assumes a healthy friendship. Bad friendships bring out bad dimensions, and should be rectified or terminated.

Blessing

Every blessing is given with the sign of the Cross. Why then are you surprised that suffering must accompany any blessing?

Getting you through

If God asks something of you, He is at the same time committing to getting you through.

Rationalizing

There are two ways of rationalizing your sins, which make it impossible for our Lord to help you.

1. "Lord, it's not me, it's my situation!"

You have placed the blame externally and refused help from our Lord. He can only change you if you admit that it is you.

2. "Lord, you're not expecting more from little me, are You?"

You are denying the power of His grace. Yes, you are infinitely small, but God's grace is enough.

To love Jesus

Love of God + Love of Man = Love of Jesus, true God and true Man

Do you love God? Do you love your fellow men? Because if you lack one or the other it is impossible to love Jesus, who is both God and man.

He is right next to you

Stop crying desperately into the darkness -- He is right next to you, so close you can't see Him.

Honesty and freedom

Unabashed honesty is the path to freedom for your soul. How long will you hide the rot behind whitewash rather than baring your soul to Our Lord? He knows that the wood is rotten, you are not telling him anything He does not know. Ah yes, but you would be telling yourself something you don't know, and how can that be? You have selective knowledge, dear soul. You are so opposed to acknowledging your darkness, your sight denies that it is there.
Let our Lord shed a new light on your soul; you need not be afraid. Your failings do not mean that you are no longer useful to Him. They simply point to the fact that you need a Redeemer: Good News! He's already come! Not looking at your wound does not make it go away; you must go to the physician for cleaning and stitches that it may heal. Only then are you free to perform to your full capacity.

A simple greeting

I'm sure you have experienced a time when in the midst of a gloomy day, God brought you sunshine through a greeting from a stranger. Perhaps it was a cheerful clerk at a store, or a friendly person who held the door for you with a smile. But regardless of who it was, or how it was done, that warmth went through a crack in your armor. You remembered that it is good that you are alive and you were filled with a renewed vigor for life.

We all need to make an effort to use this to bring joy to the world; but how much more so should we ensure that we greet our Lord and His Mother throughout the day? What joy you would bring to them, as they watch so many of their beloved children walk the road to perdition without so much as a glance in their direction. And if you do, you will find that they have been trying to greet you all along, if only you had turned to them! If a smile from a stranger can do so much to lift your spirits, imagine if we accepted a smile from our Lady? Or a loving hello from our Lord?

Mortification of the mind

The most difficult mortifications are those of the mind, specifically that of the memory and the imagination. Yet they are the most important to retain holy purity-- not simply purity in regards to our sexuality, but our whole heart. We cannot claim to be pure of heart if we are concocting scenarios that degrade our brothers and sisters. Perhaps it is imagining how a person will insult you so that you can retaliate. Perhaps it is imagining a friend to perfection, such that you love not the person, but some imaginary portrait of her. These taint your heart and keep you from being able to love.

And memory: only such a great gift from God could be so twisted by the devil! When thoughts of the past come, you must wave them on through, as a police keeps traffic moving through a complicated intersection. Perhaps they are thoughts of past glory, perhaps thoughts of past sins that torment you; either way, you must not dwell on them, especially if they cause you to resist living fully in the present, in the presence of our Lord.

Memory and imagination, like every sense of the body, must be subjugated to the will in order to serve God's will. Only when used prayerfully to contemplate the Goodness of God, to enter into a closer connection with Him and His path for you, are they being used rightly. And indeed in these cases, what Goods they are! Their ability to recall and enter into scripture, to discern the will of our Lord, is truly a precious gift. But they cannot be used for these Goods if we have them occupied with other thoughts. Practicing on thoughts that are not evil in and of themselves, will make it that much easier to wave past any thoughts that are. This is the healthiest of mortifications: give up that which is good, because you love our Lord more.

With a smile

When you turn down an invitation or look away from something to avoid infecting yourself with its perversity, do so with a smile. There is no better way to invite others to the joyful life of purity, than to knowingly smile and turn the magazine around at check out. It will disarm them, and also the devil who is trying to get you to reject the goodness that these temptations pervert. That simple smile will remind you to turn to our Lord, and relish Him that is the source of all Goodness. It will allow you to keep alive in your heart the hope of the redemption of the world.

Custody of the Eyes

How easy it is to say that this is only for men! But it is not true. A woman must also have custody of her eyes, in order that her heart and mind may remain pure. Maybe not arouse, but poison ability to love

Perhaps her imagination and lustful appetites are different from a man's, but this does not exempt her from a struggle for purity. She must not allow herself to look at any picture or movie a man should not. To constantly feed her mind and heart with pictures of "super models", or even more normal women who are dressing and acting in sexual, provocative ways, poisons her soul. She may respond by subconsciously adopting similar dress and habits; she may respond by associating all things related to sexuality as forbidden and perverse. Both responses are harmful to her soul and her pursuit of holy purity.

Let her instead guard her heart through custody of her eyes. If a man should not look at something because it is revealing and perverse, then neither should she. In this way, her heart can be pure and she can respond with a deep and holy love to her husband's overtures, rather than suspicion or degradation.

Manners

Manners are not inconvenient social customs for the high brow. Manners are reflective of the fact that we are not animals and uphold our dignity as human persons with innate, immeasurable worth. Manners respect the dignity of the other persons around us, conscious of our actions’ effects on others. Manners allow us to practice self-restraint, and are a training ground for the self-sacrificial love necessary for purity and true love.

Not a good girl

Our goal in life is not to be "good girls and boys". What husband wants a wife who is simply a "good girl"? He wants her to be Good, not just good. He yearns for his wife to do things not out of duty, but with a lively and passionate love, because she is in love. How is this possible day after day and year after year? By being in love with Our Lord. Neither does He desire you to just be a good girl or boy, but Good, passionately in love with Him, laying aside all other things besides. We must love Him (and him) for His own sake with a noble and devoted affection.

Our sins, not us

John 13:5-11; Jesus washes the Disciples feet.

If we do not go to Christ in confession to be cleansed, Jesus will say to us "Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me."

If we go to confession acknowledging our sins and wishing for our very personality to be changed, He will say "Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all."

Christ will not wash us away; the Lamb of God takes away sins, not personalities, quirks, or weaknesses.

For His glory

Why, my Jesus, do You suffer so much? Why betrayed? Why were you given into the power of Satan?

For my Father's greater glory.

And so it is for all our betrayals of Jesus; we are allowed to fall for His greater glory.

Wives submit to your husbands

I do not understand why women complain of submitting to their husbands; truly, it is my sanity! Where would I be without his ability to ground me with logic? To stabilize me with his deep even keel? To hold firm when I waver?

The gift of the suffering

Mary and Jesus saw their sufferings as gifts. Suffering is a privilege. Ah, the perspective of one without sin! Yet you, little soul, must attain it through the grace of God.

The seed that falls

The seed must fall to the ground to bear fruit. Indeed, so we find that our falls can bear much fruit, if only we will die to ourselves and live for Christ. If the seed falls but does not die to itself, then it remains a seed with no life within.

Imprint of God

Whatever touches God bears His image, just as Veronica's cloth visibly bore Christ's face. Imagine then how He imprints Himself on us through the Eucharist!

Forgiveness restores

"Forgiveness restores what I have lost and could never otherwise regain."

-Fr Richard Veras

Through forgiving, we restore to others what they have lost; and it is only through forgiving ourselves that we can truly regain what we have lost through falling and accept Christ's redemption.

Dangers of the numbers game

Jesus Himself, that is, God Himself, in three years of public ministry formed twelve disciples. Do not fall into the trap of the numbers game. If God formed twelve (and one betrayed Him!), do not expect more for yourself! Where is your humility?

Live what you believe...

...or you will end up believing what you live.

Communion of Saints

You are sad that cannot get to know that beautiful soul; you are sad that you do not get to spend more time with another. Rejoice! For it is in the communion of saints that we are all re-united with our loved ones, who we will never have the time nor opportunity to love and know fully on earth! In eternity we will be joined in full love and knowledge.

Is it any wonder then, the great rejoicing in heaven over one lost sheep returning to the fold? One more life to be fully loved and known! If that soul were to fall to hell, then it is cut off from the others for eternity. It is no wonder that all the saints are interceding for us; how they long for us to join them in heaven!