Posts

Forgiveness is a powerful medicine (Spanish) El perdón como medicina poderosa.

Image
     Dios nos mira siempre con misericordia. No tengamos temor de acercarnos a Él. Él siempre nos perdona, es misericordia pura, es misericordia pura . ¡Vayamos a Jesús!. Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, máxima expresión del amor divino y símbolo por excelencia de la misericordia de Dios: Pero no es un símbolo imaginario, es un símbolo real que representa el centro y la fuente de donde nace la salvación para toda la humanidad.    

As the Morning Rising: God as Remedy

As the Morning Rising: God as Remedy : God is the remedy for every ailment.

Lord Save Me From Myself

Image
Today’s Gospel:  Mark 7:14-23 The Gospel passage today focuses on the problem of evil. It would be a depressing scripture if it were not for the reality and power of the Cross, because evil is so deeply ingrained in our being that we really do not have a clue how to eliminate it from our lives. After seeing how the Pharisees try to purify themselves, Jesus is very frustrated, “ Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them?“ Still today, people foolishly tend to focus on outer rules, prayer and spiritual disciplines to purify themselves just like the religious leaders did in New Testament times. This drive to save ourselves is based on both a fear of God and a desire to impress other people. continue reading

Place Your Confidence in Christ

Image
In what do you place your confidence? Might it be your own knowledge? Your abilities to conquer any situation? Where does Christ fit into the equation? Do you face this world on your own, or do you place your confidence in Christ? When we place our confidence in Christ, we are in essence doing the following: Acknowledging Christ’s omnipotence (all-powerful Being), His omniscience (all-knowing), and His omnipresence (ability to be present everywhere). This requires some humility , acknowledging our own limitations. Trusting in His promise to always be by our sides, guiding us (Matt 28:20). This requires some faith , acknowledging... Read more...  

Poets and Poetry

Image
Happy February! February is considered by many to be the month of love! And what better time than now to talk about poetry. Poetry has been a big part of my life. Nerds far and wide, unite! I have taken consolation in poetry over the years, and being an English major, I have had to read my fair share of poetry.  Although sometimes challenging, I love all things reading and writing poetry, and naturally, my favorites have risen to the top over time. ;-) E.E. Cummings (excerpt!  ;-) in Just- spring   when the world is mud- luscious the little lame balloonman whistles far and wee What is the value of poetry? I have a memory from when Molly was a toddler and I was pregnant with Frances. One Spring, an elderly lady - very distinguished (instant friends!)- came up beside me at the swings on the playground and started chatting. She asked me several questions about Molly and the baby-to-be as she pushed her grandchild on the swing...😉 Then, out of nowhere, she started quoting

Only Spirit Inspired Evangelization Is Effective

Image
Trained to evangelize, with social media at their fingertips, modern Catholics might be surprised to discover that the most effective missionaries are still those who humbly carry Christ in their hearts to others. When Catholics actually  carry Christ , they are filled with the love and joy of the Lord, which is infectious. These ordinary folk spread the Good News everywhere they go to those who still live in darkness, existing outside the heart of the Church. The Heavenly Father asks such disciples, who are attuned to His voice, to write and speak about their spiritual experiences and to share the truths found in the Church. In this way, modern Catholics are like jet landing strips, or perhaps modems, connecting the presence of the Unseen God in a tangible way to those on earth who are seeking heaven. "joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."  St. Teresa of Calcutta. Evangelization Techniques continue reading

Struggle with Pain; Suffer with Christ

Image
Do you struggle with pain? I do! I live with congenital clubbed feet. This means that I was born with all of my bones, from my toes to my pelvis, twisted out of alignment. In essence, my feet curve inward, where your feet stand straight. At birth, the doctors thought that I would never walk; that I would be in a wheelchair my entire life. Yet, I defied the odds, and at age two, stood up and started walking, albeit clumsily. This meant that I would need special shoes. Throughout my almost 60 years, I have... Read more...

As Often as I Draw Breath

Image
(from The Cloistered Heart)

Natural Law, Our Rules

Image
Back in my 'good old days,' a half-century back, some claimed that science, technology, and a changing culture, made the 'outmoded morality' we'd been working with obsolete. Others apparently believed that moral decay was caused by newfangled gadgets like the telephone and television: and, of course, 'Satanic' rock music.... ...Folks who claimed that a changing world made 'conventional morality' obsolete were right: sort of. That may seem odd, coming from a Catholic who agrees with Fulton Sheen.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

As the Morning Rising: World Day of the Sick - World Missions Ireland

As the Morning Rising: World Day of the Sick - World Missions Ireland : http://www.wmi.ie/ Each year in the approach to World Day of the Sick a beautiful booklet of prayer and reflection is promoted by ...

10 Minute Daily Retreat: Broken Hearts

Image
‘My doctor is  discussing palliative care.' Mary looked at me with sadness in her eyes. My friend had just had the worst news and all she could think of was how it would affect me. Three weeks later  I got the phone call. ‘Mary is in the hospice and is failing fast.' Her bed has  been pushed out in the garden in the shade of a leafy tree. An impossibly blue sky stretches overhead and friends gather to pray and say farewell. Sadness overwhelms me.  We support each other, wondering why life has to be like this. She slips into  unconsciousness. We hold her hand and sing her favourite songs. We even dare to smile a little though our hearts are breaking. A gifted vocalist,  Mary exited the conscious world in the same way she had thrived in it, amidst singing and music. Mary's heart was  ready. We witnessed God's final note on Mary's page.  We, her bereaved  friends, pray. We give thanks. For we know that with the same infinite care, our Lord G

Much Ado About Laughter

Image
PLEASE CLICK HERE

Climbing the Mountain of the Lord

Image
We can often think that the spiritual life and our journey to heaven is just a straight line but it is not. We are called to climb the mountain of the Lord.  This mountain however is not like other mountains. You can not just go straight up this mountain. The path on this mountain has dips and valleys. Every time you make a dip and take advantage of the valley, you go up a little higher when you come out of it and obtain greater freedom. I like to think of a spiral staircase that slopes down before it goes up. A staircase like this can not really be found because it isn't natural. No one would naturally choose to go down before they go up. Naturally, it isn't very practical and it would take longer. This is more of a supernatural concept. God's ways aren't always our ways!  Continue reading @ beautifulthorns>

Footprints in Ancient Ash

Image
Scientists are pretty sure that Saccorhytus coronarius is an ancestor of lancets, sea squirts, fish, amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, and mammals: including us. Much more recently, about 3,660,000 years back, five Australopithecus afarensis strolled across volcanic ash. One of them was "astonishingly larger" than any other A. afarensis we know of. Exactly what that means isn't, I think, clear. Not yet. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

'Let your light shine before others' Sunday Reflections, 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Image
A View of Toledo, El Greco 'A city built on a hill cannot be hidden' (Mt 5:14) Readings  (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings  (Jerusalem Bible) Gospel  Matthew 5:13-16 ( NRSV )  Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.’ Childhood of Christ, Gerrit van Honthorst  'Let your light shine before others . . .' (Mt 5:16). One of the darkest periods in the history of the world was 1939 to 1945 when much of the world was at war. At the heart of the darkne

When a Fish Tries To Fly

Image
Consider these quotes from the saints: "If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world a blaze! "  - St. Catherine of Sienna   " The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are. " -  St. Teresia Benedicta (Edith Stein)                                                                                                        In other words, be who you were created to be; discover who you are in Christ and then simply allow this inner reality to slowly manifest itself in your life.  Then, consider this humourous insight b y Einstein: continue reading

February: The Month of Love and Kindness

Image
Today, we usher in February, known familiarly as the month of love and kindness. During this month, we celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 12-18. And let’s not forget Valentine’s Day smack-dab in the middle of the month on the 14th. We see hearts everywhere, on boxes of candies and greeting cards; in store-front windows and in commercials on TV, as if we needed a reminder to show our love and kindness to others. I think it is all well and good that we highlight these virtues during the month of February, as I am all in favor of highlighting virtue, given any opportunity! Yet, we are called to express these virtues day in and day out; not just during one week in February. Test Your Love and Kindness Quotient Here’s a little quiz for you to see how much love and kindness flows from you on a regular basis: Read more...

Praying with Our Feet

Image
As an English major in college, I learned that much literature has a journey motif. Think of the Canterbury Tales where pilgrims are en route to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket and Huck Finn floating on the Mississippi with Jim. Journeys also mark our spiritual history. God sent seventy-five-year-old Abraham from Ur to Canaan and later sent his descendants on a forty-year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Luke built his gospel around a journey theme, following Jesus as he makes his way from Nazareth to Jerusalem. For centuries Christians have embarked on pilgrimages—spiritual journeys. The preeminent pilgrimage is the journey to Jerusalem, which saints like Ignatius and Francis of Assisi made number one on their bucket list. There the faithful walk the Way of the Cross in the footsteps of Jesus. Perhaps the second most famous pilgrimage is the Camino de Santiago de Compestelo, the one to St. James shrine in Spain. I know someone who returned from that pilgrimage

Who is My Neighbor?

Image
Folks were hanging around after an evening prayer service Sunday, when someone came into the building and started shooting. 19 of the 50-plus folks there were injured, five hospitalized in critical condition. Six are now dead.... ...This week's news hasn't been all bad. A GoFundMe page raising funds for the Islamic Center of Victoria, Texas, that burned last Saturday has collected upwards of $900,000 so far. 1 I've never met the men who died Sunday night, I don't know their families. The same goes for folks affected by Saturday's fire. Why should I care what happens to them? I've got reasons: some involving enlightened self-interest . More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Modern Tolerance or the art of living by "anything goes". (Spanish) Tolernacia desvirtuada en la cultura moderna

Image
    En un mundo plural y diverso, la palabra tolerancia ha ido tomando importancia ante la globalización e interconexión del mundo   para saber convivir con el otro cuando éste piensa o es distinto de nosotros .Pero en el camino a la popularidad se le ha asignado una esencia radicalmente distinta a su significado e intención que le ha asignado la cultura del individualismo moderno, , rayando en la indiferencia y el abandono. Pero entonces ¿es tolerancia lo que se promueve en las esferas políticas y organizaciones internacionales?