JOY Alive in Our Hearts

The joy of conversion, Christian community, and the Catholic faith

Tagged: patience

Fasting and Feasting

Lent / Prayer / Quotes

Fasting and Feasting

Fast from discontent; feast on thankfulness. Fast from worry; feast on trust. Fast from anger; feast on patience. Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others. Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayers. Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness. Fast from discouragement, feast on hope. Fast from media hype, feast on the honesty of...

Holiday Fruits

Faithfulness / Family / Friends / Holidays / Holy Spirit / Joy / Nancy Ward

Holiday Fruits

Whether the holidays bring us closer to our family or we still keep our distance, they are always our family. Some family members are more loveable than others. We are more loveable to some of them than to others. But we are family. We struggle with accepting them as they are while we long for...

The Fruit Basket of the Spirit

Faithfulness / Holy Spirit / Joy / Nancy Ward / Scriptures

The Fruit Basket of the Spirit

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) At a Day of Reflection Carmelite Fr. Stephen Sanchez led us through a meditation on the nine Fruits of the Spirit. These are the attributes of God that the Holy Spirit gives us, develops in us and inspires...

Catholic / Community / Nancy Ward / Prayer / Sacraments

The Old Wooden Chapel

I missed the Friday deadline for reservations for the Women’s Day of Reflection at a parish in a neighboring suburb. I called the facilitator on Sunday to tell her I would bring the reservations for myself and a friend to the parish office on Monday morning. So after Mass in my own parish on Monday,...