Winter of my…Discontent?
Ah, the wisdom of Celestial Seasonings. This morning a quote from the tea box caught my eye and has arrested my attention:
“Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius” – Pietro Aretino
It caused me to wonder if God’s hand isn’t at work in the weather to feed the human soul. What if the blinding blanket of snow or the thick curtain of intense rain that marks the seasons in most of the world was an invitation to Life within? Maybe what I find boring (everything is just white) or smothering (I feel trapped by all this snow), is nature’s way of simplifying the stimuli and affording me an opportunity to draw interiorly , to listen in silence to Wisdom. Benedict XVI said it this way, “Only in silence can the word of God find a home in us, as it did in Mary, woman of the word and, inseparably, woman of silence.”
I have a renewed interest in what winter may bring within by removing the distractions without.
Read MoreDavid, Goliath & the 5 greatest enemies to God being glorified in your life
One of my favorite places to take pilgrims when I guide Catholics through the Holy Land is the Brook Elah in the broad valley where the Israelites faced off against the Philistines and their champion, Goliath of Gath (1 Samuel 17). It is a narrative that has fascinated me since I was a young boy, and it is our first reading in today’s Mass. As you probably recall, the Israelites were paralyzed with fear, listening to weeks of mocking of their God by their enemy, the Philistines and Goliath, in particular. Even the hero-king Saul would not face off against the towering warrior from Gath.
Read MoreThe Holy Spirit and Mary: Iconographers of the Christian soul
There are many important themes that one could explore on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, for my part, I want to turn our attention to an often forgotten element, the presence of the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:10). I don’t think we talk about Him enough! He is not simply a force, bond or power, but rather a full Divine Person, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son, worthy of our worship and prayer. United with the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is actively at work in every area of the Church’s life: He acts in our sacraments, bestows the Church with her hierarchical and charismatic gifts, is the source of our life and holiness, compels us towards Christian unity, and even prays for us (Rom. 8:27). Talk about a Friend in high places!
Read MoreEver Wonder What Kind of New Year’s Resolutions the Saints Made?
13 General Resolutions from St. Faustina’s Diary:
861. Particular examen: remains the same; namely, to unite myself with the Merciful Christ (that is; what would Christ do in such and such a case?) and, in spirit, to embrace the whole world, especially Russia and Spain
I. Strict observance of silence – interior silence.
II. To see the image of God in every sister; all love of neighbor must flow from this motive.
III. To do the will of God faithfully at every moment of my life and to live by this.
Read MoreFeelings, Functions, and Fruit
One of my most popular parish missions has been Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit, taken from Galatians 5:22-23. These nine characteristics are at the core of St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians. His letter is a sharp and urgent argument, with nothing less than the Good News of Jesus Christ at stake. Almost immediately following Paul’s first missionary journey, agitators called the Judaizers, retraced Paul’s journey challenging his credentials and offering a counterfeit gospel to the newly converted Gentiles. Although Paul’s urgency causes him to dispense with the traditional Thanksgiving in the beginning, he doesn’t
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