The joy of conversion, Christian community, and the Catholic faith
God lets me wait for the surprise ending as my sisters did. My older sister would make me wait, just like I did my little sister, for a surprise kiss or cookie until the big task was finished — cleaning the bathroom, cooking dinner or decorating for a party.
When I work hard at my goals and wait on Jesus, I enjoy the ending more than the start because of the joy of looking in his eyes and anticipating a glorious ending.
Pope Francis encourages us to proclaim God’s Word by the way we live. You can allow God to be God, living in your heart and working through you wherever you are, or you can do the sidestep dance and be miserable.
What will be your response today during the trials of sickness, financial worries, children acting out, and the overwhelming minute-by-minute demands of motherhood? Are you tempted to focus on yourself? Your needs? Or is the Holy Spirit inspiring you to become the good news?
One way you can approach your day is to name your battles. The tasks may seem impossible and they may well be—for you. God does the impossible—through you. Because he lives in your heart, every characteristic of his nature is available to your nature.
Circumstances turn on a dime, but what is your constant? What no-matter-what tool do you have? Praise — in all things.
Balance that list of looming battles by listing the characteristics of God you need to help you through today. Then praise him for each attribute. Many were bestowed at your Baptism, Confirmation, or in the sacrament of Matrimony. They increase with every Reconciliation and Eucharist.
If you are wondering what good can come of the pandemic for you, let God lead you inward. Be open to His healing transformation and get ready to look outward. This is a time of opportunity to use our struggles and losses to encourage others to persevere and find God in their circumstances. . .This transition can bring us into a new way of looking at our life and living purposefully. God is transforming us into the beloved son or daughter He created us to become. He nurtures us with inexhaustible love. Then He sends us out to evangelize others by sharing how He is at work in our hearts.
I recognized the woman wandering around outside the church as I was leaving Mass. I called her name. At my greeting, she sank onto the bench in front of Our Lady’s statue and laid one hand on the bench. I joined her as she brushed tears from her eyes. She was relieved to talk about her frustration with one of her older sisters. Like me, she adored her sister and gladly served her every need — until the day the sister betrayed her, and sisterly love turned cold. For years the younger sister waited for the apology that never came. Now she felt guilty that she wasn’t a good sister. This bitter woman was telling my story. But it was the “before” story, not the “after God’s grace” story.
God lets me wait for the surprise ending as my sisters did. My older sister would make me wait, just like I did my little sister, for a surprise kiss or cookie until the big task was finished — cleaning the bathroom, cooking dinner or decorating for a party.
When I work hard at my goals and wait on Jesus, I enjoy the ending more than the start because of the joy of looking in his eyes and anticipating a glorious ending.
Nancy Ward details how gratitude helps us keep hope alive, even in the most difficult times. It is not joy that makes us grateful, it is gratitude that makes us joyful. (Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast) We know that the Covid-19 quarantine will come to an end without returning us to our former status but with...
In 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Paul teaches us that as members of His Body, we are given specific gifts by the Holy Spirit for building the Body.
During the pandemic, I’ve grown more aware of the presence of Jesus in the corporate Body of Christ around me. The individual members of His Body just don’t look like Jesus, and most of their actions don’t measure up to what I need to console me.
Perhaps I’m looking for big signs – a billboard that reads, “God loves Nancy,” While I read an email message from someone expressing love in their appreciation of me.