"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!