…the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. – Romans 5:5 God has a deep, mysterious secret. This makes my head spin, but He has shared it with us! Are you ready for it? HE IS LOVE. God doesn’t simply act in love. It’s not something He feels or does. It’s WHO He is. As St. John taught, “God is love” (1…
And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. – Luke 24:49 Have you ever prayed with sacred art before? Visio divina is the practice of “divine seeing.” We practice lectio divina, or “divine reading,” when we slowly read and prayerfully meditate on sacred Scripture. In the same way, we can encounter Jesus by prayerfully reflecting on sacred…
Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. – John 14:23 Where does God live? (I’ll give you a hint: there’s more than one answer to this.) One answer is that He lives in heaven where He is the light and temple of the City of God: “I saw no temple in the city for its temple is…
I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. – John 13:34-35 Jesus is very clear with us in our Gospel passage this Sunday: we are to love one another. How we love one another is a kind of litmus test for our identities as Christian…
No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. – John 10:28-29 When fear creeps up, help me see Your care for me.When worry besets me, remind me of Your providence.When anxiety winds up, calm my troubled mind.When thoughts of dread arise, protect me, Jesus.When uncertainty lurks, lead me on the next…
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the universe, cry out: “To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever.” – Revelation 5:12 Imagine the loudest sound you can dream up: a volcano erupting, a rocket launch, standing next to the speakers at a rock concert! Now multiply that…
Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” -John 20:28 What a humble, loving, and merciful God we have! He meets our every need. St. Pope John Paul II taught that what humanity needs most is God’s merciful love: “There is nothing…
Happy Easter! Our Lord is risen, indeed, He has truly risen! Easter is a time of newness of life. There’s a freshness in the air. A renewed energy and hopefulness. Pope Francis has declared this a Jubilee year of Hope. As Christians, nothing could bring us more hope than Jesus’s empty tomb. Take a moment and imagine if St. Mary Magdalen had found the tomb sealed with Jesus’s body remaining there. Everything would be different.…
My Beloved One, What made you think you could work to build my kingdom without sharing in my royal crown of thorns? jagged – piercing – countless barbsIt was the only crown that graced my head while I walked as King among you. cruel – blinding – breaking inSee the hands of thoseof those who forced itupon my head? mocking – bleeding – themselves tornThe Kingdom I ask you to buildis not of this world.…
Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? – Isaiah 43:18-19 Did you know that I am a convert? Yes! I went through RCIA and became Catholic when I was 17 years old. One of my dearest childhood friends is Catholic, and I sensed something different and beautiful about her family’s faith. The way…