Grace and Mercy move the wind.

If you experience your weakness, then you are called by God to throw yourself into His merciful arms.--- Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer

 

What would life be without mercy? Grace and mercy move the wind. We all feel the breeze in various ways, sometimes it is gentle, other times it is furious. Mercy does not always come in the way we look for it. Sometimes it comes as justice, or maybe in silence. Sometimes it comes to us in pain and frustration, or even in the joy of a relationship mended. Mercy allows us to receive grace. Grace allows us to know and become mercy. Without the merciful arms of God, we would be lost to our vices, emotions, and pride. Our call is to throw ourselves into those arms. If we do not, we will be most unhappy.

 

wkm

 

World of Wonders

If we know how to see God in everything, our prayer will become a prayer of faith.--Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer

 

To see God in everything begins with looking at Jesus on the cross. Nothing in this world or in our life surprises God. He is never anxious. The more we stare at Jesus on the cross, the more we will understand His confidence. If we do not know Him crucified, then our sufferings will only be confusing and defeating. Gazing at the Crucifix, we start to understand He is always loving us. It is then we will have a chance in this world of wonders, and the empty tomb will truly be our hope.

 

wkm

 

Confession

Love, then do what you will.---St. Augustine

 

When I was confirmed in the Catholic Church, I chose St. Augustine as my Patron Saint. I did it for a very basic reason, he was transparent. In many ways he was simple, yet, he may be one of the most complex figures in the history of the Church. All of these things drew me to him, and I wanted his help to be an honest child of God. After 3 years in the Church, I have learned so much from my Patron. First, I have learned that he chose me, I did not choose him. I know this sounds very esoteric and mystical, but I believe it. Jesus knew that I needed someone praying for me with a heart of confession. Jesus knew I needed someone who would teach me to dig and see myself honestly, instead of manipulating the situation and those around me. This is one of my great weaknesses. Jesus gave me St. Augustine so that I would learn to candidly lay everything before Him as I walk this path. Augustine is teaching me that there is no use in playing games with God. He always wins. If I love, truly love, then I can be transparent and honest about all that I feel and struggle with. St. Augustine said this too, "O Lord, You know me better than I know myself."

 

wkm

 

There are Some Things ( Psalm 164)

There are Some Things ( Psalm 164)

When he finally sees the storm clouds pass,

How's he gonna take the clear blue sky?
When he finally has an answer to what he's always asked,,
How's he gonna feel how to fly?

When he finally hears the "yes" that's never come before,
How's it gonna feel to walk through the door,
That's been closed so tight  for so long  O Lord,

  How's it gonna feel how to fly?

 

There are some things i may never know
Some things always seem  just out of reach

No matter how strong the calling may feel,
Some things remain a  mystery

 

When the calling isn't  clear
  it  makes him bitter and weak
What was meant to grow his  faith
only seems to make it shrink

 

The thing that's so hard,  is the carrot on the string,
that keeps dangling before his heart, and  keeps him in the dream.

 

He lives in the mystery and hopes,
that some way he'll find  how to cope,,
with the silence that he swallows in his bed late at night,
God, it's so damn dry in his throat!

There are some things i may never know
Some things always seem just out of reach

No matter how strong the calling may feel,
Some things remain a  mystery.

But he keeps on, cause he's gotta keep on,
Cause' he knows the song, and as long as there's a song,,
he'll keep  waiting...

wkm
Jan 28, 2009
Oxford MS

 

Point a trembling finger...

Though housed in a narrow prison, Paul dwelt in Heaven.---St. John Crysostom, bishop, 5th century

 

Where are our minds today? Where do we dwell? A prison of anxiety is where many of us linger. This makes us moody, depressed, and angry, which is the fruit of ego and selfish pride. This fruit nourishes the twisted drive to turn in on ourselves. We see only the turmoil of self. We become irrational, and we freeze in the ice of envy and strife. We cannot move! It is nearly impossible to trust when we are locked away in this cell. We don't feel His kiss upon the wounds our souls are undergoing. We no longer feel grace, and the light is dim. But, the light is still there! Even if only a sliver makes it through the cracks of this immature image of our Beloved, the light still shines. God is for us! He is not against us! Diablo wants to make us think that God is an emotional task master. The devil knows if we start thinking life is, "God vs us", we will live defeated lives. We must strain to turn our eyes to Jesus, and with whatever strength we can muster,  point a trembling finger to the Crucifix , whispering to diablo, "There is the key to my prison, there is the reason for my hope!" We do not deserve anything from God, yet He gives us everything. No one understands this life. It is confusing. But if we dwell with Jesus, the prisons this life brings will have no hold on our vision of where and who we are. We will always be tempted to fear, and to rage against our crosses, but we can taste peace no matter what we face. Like Paul, we can dwell with Jesus in Heaven, regardless what we go through down here. God have mercy!

 

wkm

 

over the top for Jesus.

Death itself and pain and whatever torments might come were but child's play to St. Paul, provided that thereby he might bear some burden for the sake of Christ.--St. John Chrysostom, bishop, 5th century

I imagine that St. Paul would make things very uncomfortable for many of us Christians were he walking the earth today. He was over the top for Jesus. He was radical! His desire for Jesus was all consuming. He was a devout Jew devoted to Jesus. He may have been the most detached man that ever lived. Everything he had ever accomplished he counted as dung compared to knowing Jesus. He told his "children" in the faith to, "follow me as I follow Christ.", and this means that we are to consider his way of following Jesus. None of us gentiles would know Jesus if it were not for St. Paul, so in this we too are his "children." What are some ways we can mimic Paul? He counted all things loss compared to the riches he gained in Jesus. He knew nothing among his listeners but Jesus Christ crucified. He preached the cross. He said it was no longer he who lived but Christ Who lived in him. He longed to be at home with the Lord. Everything was about Jesus, especially when he told the Corinthians to never receive the Lord's Body and Blood as if it were merely bread and wine. St. Paul wants us to follow him, and if we do, we will find Jesus in a way we never imagined.

wkm

Even then....

With God there is nothing without purpose, nothing without its meaning and reason.---St. Irenaeus, bishop, 2nd century

 

This is so easy to say, but, it is another thing to truly believe. "...there is nothing without purpose.",  this is hard for someone who just lost their job. It is hard for someone who just found out that they, or someone they love, has a fatal disease. It's hard for someone who has great hope that God is calling them but nothing ever seems to work out. There are so many things that seem to have no purpose other than to beat us down. This is why we must keep the cross ever before us. I am thankful the rosary has a crucifix waiting at the end of the prayers. If you are reading this, you have not yet tasted the resurrection, you are still walking with me among the crosses. We need these crosses, for they allow us to become one with our Lord in all things even as He became one with us in all things. This is sometimes the only sense our crosses will make, and even then, it is damn hard.

 

wkm

 

 

The understanding..

..the measure of a man's love for God depends on how deeply aware he is of God's love for him.--Diadochus of Photice, bishop

 

This understanding is The understanding of our lives. Mother Teresa is a great example of this. Because she understood how deeply and madly she was loved by God, she was able to love deeply and madly the least loved. Her love for the loveless and forgotten was her way of loving her God whom she could not see. No matter which Saint you choose to build a relationship with, you will find they had this as the foundation of their existence. They understood how loved they were. If we meditate on this, first by gazing intently upon the Passion of Jesus, we could live to be 200 years old and never even get close to embracing it. But the more we meditate and contemplate this truth, the less we will sin, the less time we will waste, the more we will help others, and the more we will be able to laugh at the devil when he tries to beat us down by reminding us of our inability to love perfectly. We can say to him with great confidence, " Yes, I am a wretch, but His love for me is greater than my wretchedness!"

 

wkm

 

              

Mystics

From now on, regard this life as a desert through which you pass until you come to the Promised Land, the Jerusalem which is above, the land of the living. --St. Augustine

 

We are all called to be mystics in Christ Jesus. A Mystic is someone who has a nagging sense of the invisible Other. We wait for a world that is invisible. We worship a God Who is invisible. We believe more in what we don't see than what we do see. In fact, what we see is many times in opposition to what we know. We are passing through a world of death we see, into a world of life we have not seen. We pray daily to our invisible Father, we ask for the prayers of our invisible family in heaven, and we press on to an invisible reward that lies ahead. We are mystics in Jesus Christ.

 

wkm

 

  

Don't think Twice....

But we cannot pray "at all times" if we do not pray at specific times, consciously willing it.--St. Teresa of Avila

 

Don't think twice, it's alright.--Bob Dylan

 

Do you not feel like setting aside time to pray your prayers today? Is it hard to bow your head? Do you think you are the only child of God to ever feel like this? Do not think that St. Augustine or St. Therese always felt like praying. Don't imagine that St. Francis did not struggle with God, or that St. John of the Cross did not have days where he was tempted to ignore his time alone with his invisible Beloved. We will have days when we do not feel like going to Mass, praying the Rosary, or doing the "spiritual" things. We will have days where we don't feel like spending time alone with Jesus. If today is one of those days, go and pray anyway. Go and spend time with Him anyway. Don't think twice, it's alright.

 

wkm

 

                           

Can't Wait to die!

I desire to leave this world and be with Christ.--St. Paul

 

 He wanted to leave this world and be with Christ. While he was alive He lived to bring Jesus crucified to everyone he met. His conversion changed the world. He was a devout Jew, incredibly devout. He was a Roman citizen. He was a great orator and poet. He must have been a very good craftsman, and he loved sports. But all of these things must have meant very little to Paul compared to the Beatific vision. He desired to leave this world. What if you and I knew someone who said often, "I can't wait to die! I can't wait to leave this world and be with Jesus!" What if this person was our child, our parent, our brother or sister? What if they seemed so detached from the things of this world that it bothered us a little bit? They might be a little uncomfortable to be around. We might even wonder if they needed help. Paul must have seemed this way to those around him. If we do not feel the same way about our Lord, maybe it is we who need help.

 

wkm

 

Trust is the brother of faith.

These are the beginning and the end of life: faith the beginning, love the end.--St. Ignatius of Antioch

 

We need to begin every day with faith. When we open our eyes each morning, we must decide to believe. Making only one confession of faith is at best risky. We must begin every journey with faith. We must take a moment, breathe, and go forward not in our own strength and confidence, but with faith in His strength and confidence. This allows us to have a sure hope. If our anxiety over an issue is stronger than our hope, then we are not grounding the situation in faith. Trust is the brother of faith. We say, "I have faith in You Lord." This declaration then allows us to act and move. What every Saint teaches us is that this acting in faith will produce love. It may not produce what we think it will, but it will always produce love. We may not get what we want, but our faith and hope will bring us love eternal. This is the fruit of our belief, and this is the reward of the race we run, His love that never fails.

 

wkm

 

Better Lovers

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.---Jesus

 

He is Other, yet, He is with us. He doesn't just point the way, He is the way. He did not just speak the truth, He is Truth, and, He is Life itself. We do not use our imaginations enough in contemplating the awesomeness of our Lord. We need to reach higher in trying to love Him and those around us. Heaven is full of nothing but love, for He is also Love. Let's focus on Him today as we go about our routine, and maybe we will become better lovers. Let's pray especially for the helpless Infants in the womb.

 

wkm

 

Mad Crazy Love!

This is my Beloved Son, listen to Him.---God

 

Do whatever He tells you.---Mary

 

Jesus, fully God and fully man. His Father is the Eternal One, His mother, Mary of Nazareth.  We are His brothers and sisters. He is our Elder Brother. This is a family affair. We are not to try this alone. In fact, alone is not God's way at all. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three in One, One in Three. The love that exists in the Family of the Trinity is why Jesus became man through Mary. This mad crazy love is why we are called sons and daughters. It should make us want to shout!

 

wkm

 

 

 

Endless Grace

 Everything is grace.--St. Therese of Lisieux

 

Our whole lives are grace. When we are confused, when nothing makes sense, when God's silence is so loud we could scream, we are closer to grace. The longing we feel for God's nearness and help, this is grace. We must seek and receive the grace to always be aware of God. This is the best purpose of grace, to keep our wayward minds and hearts ever in God through Jesus, our Beloved. His love will never waver, though ours like the waves of the sea move up and down, back and forth. And on those days when our prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling and crash to the floor, when we do not think there is any reason to hope, we must open our mouths and plead for His invisible grace, for the battle belongs to the Lord. Praise You Lord for Your endless grace!

 

wkm

 

Open

"What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like."---St. Augustine

 

Let's keep our ears, eyes, and hearts open today to the world around us. We may be given the chance to bring love to someone.

 

wkm

 

  

Life

 I have come that you may have life.---Jesus

 

Life must be very important to God. He thinks so highly of our lives that He suffered on a cross. This is so easily taken for granted by all of us daily. This is one reason we should study the lives of the Saints, and especially that of our Lady. They remind us of who we are by who they are. They came before us and learned how to see themselves through the eyes of God. This is our great challenge, to see ourselves the way God sees us. St. Therese, the Little Flower, can teach us about this. A great place to begin our contemplation is on the words of Jesus. "I have come that you may have life." The life He was speaking of is life with Him forever, and by His grace, it begins here and now.

 

wkm

 

 

All these Years

Be not afraid...--Blessed Pope John Paul 2

 

What a wonderful thing to hear in our day and time. The angels always say this when they appear to someone. Jesus said this to the apostles when they saw Him walking by them on the water. He says it to all of us in John chapter 14. Down through the ages, these words fall from the mouths of many who follow Jesus. When Pope John Paul said it, he had just been elected Papa of the largest, most diverse, racially integrated, and oldest movement in the world. He was the first Polish person ever to sit on the Chair of Peter. His entire pontificate was about not fearing. He brought humility and courage to the 1.5 billion Catholics around the world. It is so wonderful that Jesus built His Church on the office He gave Peter; and even after all of these years, through many trials, foibles, and glories, the gates of hell have not, and will never ,overcome it. Come Lord Jesus!

 

wkm

 

 

He knows what it takes...

Anxiety is the soul's greatest enemy, sin only excepted. When the heart is anxious and disquieted within itself, it looses the power to preserve those virtues which are already acquired, and also the means of resisting the temptations of Satan, who does not fail to test the strength of that rope.
-- St. Francis DeSales

 

We worry don't we? I do. We try to have faith. We hear about it on TV. We see how certain popular, wealthy, always healthy, well manicured preachers talk about how "their faith" got them what they have. They act as if they understand God. They seem to have Him figured out. This is such bull. What they have is a great publicist, charismatic personalities, and a message that tickles the ears of millions. They don't preach the cross. They preach a sugar daddy god that needs your money in order to make you like them. I don't know this god. The God I know is humble, perfect, demanding, and forgiving. He has scars. He is not some kind of glorified pimp. He gives me crosses, not what I want. In these crosses I eventually find my hope, and hopefully, my consecration. He wants me to be a Saint, not successful. He wants me to have peace, His peace, not the world's peace. He wants me to spend forever with Him, and He knows just what it takes to bring me to His side forever. I don't. Glory to His name..Lord have mercy on my sinful soul.

 

wkm

 

St. Francis De Sales

With us...

I am with you always....---Jesus

 

Why did He say this? Did He really mean it? He says He is with us until the end of the world. He then tells the Apostles to do two things just before He ascends, "Go out and make disciples..., baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Make disciples, and baptize. In order to do this, they had to have a plan, leadership, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  He began a new Tradition. He led by example. He never wrote a word, except in the dust. He gave them ritual and liturgy to follow. He told His disciples, "..do this in remembrance of Me." The early Church met together in the "breaking of the Bread." He is Immanuel in the Eucharist, until the end.

 

wkm

 

 

Busy Being Born

...He not busy being born is busy dying.---Bob Dylan, from "It's Alright Ma"

Jesus said, "Ye must be born again of water and Spirit." We are every moment either growing closer to God in Christ Jesus, or, we are moving away from Him. There is no middle ground. We must be "busy being born", crying out to our Lord for mercy and help when the humdrum of life overtakes us. We must expect miracles, and not tie Gods hands with doubt like those who lived in Nazareth. He could do no miracles there because of their lack of faith. Let this no longer be said of us who are busy being born.

wkm

Sacramental

Someone might ask, "Why would a holy man desire baptism?" Listen to the answer: Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by His cleansing to purify the waters which He touched.---St. Maximus of Turin, bishop

 

Everything with God is sacramental. From the burning bush where, though hidden, He appears and reveals His name to Moses, to the Eucharist where, though hidden, He is truly and really present. From Jesus turning the water into wine, to Jesus changing the bread into His Body, and the wine into His Blood, God uses the very simple things to show us Who He is. God takes the very normal and precious things of life to bring to us the very mysterious and precious things of Heaven. This is how He has always been and will always be. He never changes. His Church is where the Holy Spirit works through these Sacraments. We cannot do this alone. Paul makes it very clear that we must never abandon our meeting together. Those who do such things run the perilous risk of falling away, whether they know they have done so or not.

 

wkm

 

   

Give

 We have a listening group of co-workers (of the Missionaries of Charity) who go to the houses of old people and sit down and let them talk. The elderly tell stories to the co-workers of things that happened 30 years ago. Very old people love to have somebody listen to them. To listen when nobody else wants to listen is a very beautiful thing.  --Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

There are so many opportunities to love. 2009 could be the year of serving Jesus by going to the forgotten ones. Rest homes, jails, juvenile detention, nursing homes, mental institutions, etc.. We could minister unto the Lord in so may lives this year. We don't have to be a nun to do this, we don't even have to know what to say. Being there will be to many the love of God. It is so easy to bring hope. It's a good thing to give ourselves away, it will change us forever if we do.

wkm

 

Hell

May you never be numbered among those whose house is peaceful, quiet, and free from care; those on whom the Lord's chastisement does not descend; those who live out their days in prosperity, and in the twinkling of an eye will go down to hell.--St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest, 13th century

 

We do not think enough of the reality of hell. Jesus would not had suffered and died for us if there was no hell. Very often today we are given the impression that everyone will go to heaven. Many say that if God is a good God He won't let anyone spend eternity in hell. This is a very shallow understanding of God and free will, not scriptural at all. Jesus spoke as much about the reality of hell as He did anything else. Hell is a choice we make, not God. When those nails were being driven into his very human hands, this was for our salvation and sanctification. If hell was not a reality, He would not have had to defeat death by dying. Read Matthew 25 and you will find a very important message from Jesus about hell.

The hard times we all go through have a purpose. Our Father is working in us for our good. Man, it's hard to see this when we are going through them!! We easily become angry, despondent, depressed, afraid, etc... He knows how we feel, He experienced every emotion we possibly could, so let us try and remember this the next time the storms come. God demands perfection, holiness, and purity in all of us. We can't see God without these virtues, and we cannot attain them on our own, we must press in to Jesus. We must offer ourselves each morning to our Lord. We must stand with Mary at the foot of the cross, fixing our eyes on Jesus when we find ourselves on our own Golgotha. And then, we must try our best to smile at our Beloved. I find that daily Mass and praying the rosary help me a great deal in this journey. I need all the help I can get! Please pray for me.

 

wkm

 

 

Piety

The divine power of Christ has freely bestowed on us everything necessary for a life of genuine piety...----St. Peter, from his second letter, chapter 1:3-4

 

This raises the question, are we genuinely pious? Pious means devout. A true pious person cares about the things of God. They are not prideful or full of themselves, they are like little children, and they sincerely care for others. 

 

wkm

 

St. Peter crucified in Rome, upside down.

Mary

Remember, O Most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided.--The Memorare

 

Sadly, from the late 16th century on, much of the "reformed" Christian world slowly lost the long held devotion to Mary. Before the reformation, for 1500 years, the Mother of God was vital to all who called upon Jesus. Even the reformers themselves had deep devotions to Mary. But because of heresy, horrible teaching, wrong ideas, and ignorance...a large percentage of believers today do not know their Mother in the faith. No one who truly understands Mary's role in Salvation History does anything with this knowledge except strive to love Jesus with more passion and sincerity. Her role is to bring people to Jesus, to help us all love Him with a perfect and humble love, like children. It is that simple. Any other idea or opinion is not the true teaching of the catechism of the Church. Catholics do not worship Mary, we honor her, and we ask her help in saying yes to the Father in all things, just as she did. She has always held this high place and filled this role in the Church of her Son. The very first Church communities in the east and west honored the Mother Of God by naming their churches after her. In honoring her, they were humbly pleasing the Son. To seek the mother's help in knowing the Son is the best way to know Him. Any mother will tell you this. The early Church Fathers saw Mary as the symbol of the Church. The Virgin who births the family of God in Christ Jesus, the Mother of all the faithful. To understand her and to love her is to better know Jesus.  I must say this, my relationship with Jesus has grown immensely, and with great depth and beauty, since I began to know and understand Mary. It is all about Jesus. She exists to bring Him to us all. Even in saying this, we realize this is why we all exist as His "brothers and sisters", to bring Him to those around us.

 

wkm

 

 

Virgin and Child. Wall painting from the catacombs, Rome (4th century).

A Big Smile

Let us accept whatever He gives and gives whatever He takes with a big smile.---Mother Teresa

 

This is sounds so simple. The early Church Fathers explained a Saint this way, "a friend of God". Sounds so easy. Mother Teresa's smile became one of the most talked about aspects of her life. And now, as we read her letters about her struggle with a never ending "Dark night of the Soul", we have a new appreciation for her smile. She was a friend of God. Even though her desire to feel His presence and know His nearness were taken from her by Jesus, she learned to smile at Him for it. She willed herself, by grace, to never say no to Jesus. A friend is defined by Jesus as  someone who, "lays down their life for others." The poor became to Mother Teresa Jesus personified. She ministered to Him in every soul she cared for. She is only one example of this great journey of friendship. Starting all the way back to Augustine, we see these smiles at God in the face of confusion, loneliness, dark nights, fear, and silence. There is so much we will face this year that will confuse us. We will be tempted to look to things to give us assurance when God hides from us. He hides so that we might cry out more for Him. We learn to die to self in these dungeons. This is so important to growing our friendship with Him. Our desire for Him must grow to a fever pitch that even seems strange to our own way of thinking. He must become to us a Lover Whom we desire more than life itself, even though He wounds us.( Song of Solomon) Our souls won't rest until they rest in Him, whether we feel Him, get the answer we want, or understand a dang thing we are going through. So let us ask Mother Teresa to teach us to smile at Jesus today.

 

wkm   

 

 

Called

"This is my only comfort, that of being associated with Jesus in the Divine Sacrifice and in the redemption of souls." - St. Pio of Pietrelcina

 

We must always pray for those appointed to serve us in this journey. They are human just like us, but they have heard and obeyed the call of Jesus to serve Him in a very unique way. Their faults will be magnified. We must pray for them often, and encourage them when we can. If we disagree with them, we must do so in love. We must be patient and trust the Lord, for they have been called to the wondrous service of administering His Sacraments.

 

wkm

 

A Roman Catholic priest, Saint Josemaría Escrivá,

 

 

 

 

Heaven is full of slum people...

Now heaven is full of slum people. Jesus must be very happy to have those thousands coming to Him, with love from Calcutta---Please pray for me that I be only all for Jesus through Mary.---Mother Teresa, from "Come Be My Light"

 

God's desire for the souls of men is relentless. Jesus, Who is the second Person in the Trinity, Who is God from God, Light from Light, Who is the Word by which all things are made, took on flesh through the Virgin Mary. We could meditate on this alone for eternity and never truly understand its depth. She was chosen long before that moment Gabriel appeared to her. She was "full of grace" from her conception, long before Gabriel said, "Hail, Full of Grace!" We must see and try to grasp as much as we can of this Truth. It had never happened before and it will never happen again! All for your soul and mine, He left His Father's side to come here to walk this earth, feel hunger, thirst, weariness, temptation...  He came to suffer, die, and rise again. He comes gently, with simple humility. Satan, in his pride, tempted the woman and she grasped, and then Adam grasped with her. Jesus comes to us through a woman who says "fiat", "let it be done unto me according to Your will", she did not grasp. And Paul tells us that Jesus did not grasp, instead, He emptied Himself.  We must bring this message to those around us, we must make sure we have done all we can to help those we meet know this incredible news. Mother Teresa did this, and she teaches us still to see Him in the lonely. Lord, have mercy on us!

 

wkm

 

 

Graititude!

...for unless in humility He had come down to us, none of us by our own merits could ever go up to Him.---St. Leo the Great, pope, 5th century

 

Thank You Jesus! Thank You Father! Thank You Holy Spirit!! What an amazing plan of love our God is working out in us daily! Baptism begins our journey, we are to quote Jesus, "born again of water and Spirit", we begin anew by the Holy Spirit's regenerating power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead! Think of it, we are no longer slaves to ego and sin, and as "new creatures", we must battle ego and sin until the end. It is by His grace that we battle.  This is why we need His Sacraments for they affect the actual grace they represent in our little lives when we join them to our faith. We need His Body and Blood, for this is how He said to abide in Him, and to know Life! We need His forgiveness, we need the penance and humility these Sacraments bring. The Holy Spirit of love is the One working in these gifts given through the Church. It is His work in man. He came down to us in humility so that we could go up to Him in humility. Diablo hates humility. Praise You Jesus, our Beloved!

 

wkm

 

Resolution

Rejoice! -----St. Peter

 

Nothing changes on New Year's Day.---Bono

 

The new year begins. What is new about it? We still have the same bills to pay, the same weight to lose, the same car to drive, the same ailments and challenges as before. So what is new about this day? Actually very little. But a new year is not why we rejoice. We rejoice for we are known fully, and loved madly by the Triune God. Each new day is His gift to all. This is reason enough to rejoice. But no, there is more, each new day is full of mercy, and grace, and help for our weary souls as we fight the good fight. Father doesn't take a day off, not even a moment does He forget us. The "new year" is symbolic of a new beginning. So, let's use this day, when the 8 became 9, to turn our hearts and minds more passionately to our Lord. Let's decide, with His help, to give Him the next 365 days, from dawn till dusk. Let us say to Him, " This is our resolution Lord, to move closer to Your Sacred Heart of love, to take up our crosses and follow in Your steps, and by Your grace, to be like Mary, the Mother of God, who always says yes to Your will. This is our resolution sweet Lord, please help us, for apart from You we can do nothing."

 

wkm