Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Unless I embrace the cross, I cannot embrace the Resurrection. Don’t get stuck on the cross. We draw our strength from the resurrection. My life as a mother helped me learn how to live out my call to live with the resurrected Christ. When life was stripped down to the basics of survival I was forced to turn to God. Suffering was actually the key to learning how to live in joy. My difficult life was miraculous when I relaxed and allowed myself to live in the moment,  continue reading

Father Marko Ivan Rupnik In fact, everything that exists and moves in the Church – the sacraments, doctrine, institutions – draws its strength from Christ’s Resurrection. (Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa,  Life in Christ ,  67) Even though the Church continually invites Catholics to live in the Resurrection of Christ, many of us cling to our suffering. As a result, our spirituality is focused mainly on the Crucifixion even though we celebrate our release from prison liturgically every year. The candles we light at the Easter Vigil symbolically illuminate our path forward, showing us how to move through the darkness of our sin and suffering to victory with Christ. continue reading

Humour, the ability to laugh and not take ourselves too seriously, puts the grueling process of inner transformation into perspective. If I am self-centered instead of God-centered, everything becomes intense and dramatic. When I take my eyes off myself,  my  faith,  my  religious practices,   my  spiritual ‘progress’,   my  sins and rather look at my Saviour, everything comes back into the proper perspective. I am filled with joy, the joy of the Lord.  Thomas Merton, a Trappist, was asked if  it was possible to tell if someone had truly undergone  inner purification, becoming transformed into the image of Christ. “It is very difficult to tell but usually it is accompanied by a wonderful sense of humour.” continue reading

We have anticipated this night for forty days. It is the most important celebration of the entire year, the Easter Vigil. The Church has taken us through the entire story of salvation in the Old Testament, and we have just heard the prophets who yearned to see what we celebrate on this Holy Saturday night. Now as the gospel is read, the exciting scene unfolds. The angel speaks matter-of-factly as he tells them not to be amazed because Jesus told them exactly what was going to happen. Again and again Christ reminded them that He would be crucified, die, and rise again, but neither His disciples nor these women really understood, really grasped that Jesus was not speaking metaphorically. continue reading