Once, love was too heavy a word to be uttered casually at random people and objects. Once, love was the object of contemplation by the wisest and keenest philosophers. Once, the subject of love was tread upon very carefully lest it would catch fire. Nowadays the word and the concept of love have been reduced […]
There is nothing you can ever do to make God love you less. Nothing. This is very hard for us human creatures to wrap our heads around: a love so generous we can’t do anything to lessen it. Jesus came to make this point perfectly and tangibly clear through His life and death. In the […]
When my grief counselor asked me to explain why I felt the loss of my mother so acutely, I couldn’t come up with my own language for it. It was all so natural and obvious to me. She was my mother! But not everyone has a mother like my mother, I learned, so first we had […]
There is a prevalence of inordinate fear and anxiety in Western culture today. Yet, we are called not to live a fear-driven life, but rather a life of deeply rooted faith and trust in our loving, all powerful, caring Father in heaven. Yes, He is your Father. We all innately desire safety and security. But, […]
Loved as I Am: An Invitation to Conversion, Healing, and Freedom through Jesus (Ave Maria Press, 2014) is written by a religious sister who has experienced conversion in a very dramatic fashion, but this book is for anyone who is wounded, suffers from addiction, or feels unloved and/or unlovable. Sr. Miriam James Heidland, a member […]
There are many and varied images that we see of Jesus Christ. One that seems to cause the greatest curiosity may be the Sacred Heart image. This is the image where Jesus is pulling back his cloak to reveal his heart which is flaming and surrounded by a crown of thorns. Jesus appeared to St. […]
“Lifting His eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, ‘I pray for those who will believe in me’” (John 17.20) Comprehending God’s enormous love for us isn’t always easy. St. John helps us understand a good measure of it in today’s Gospel, where he presents us with the amazing prayer of Jesus to His Father. What tender words […]
When we mothers see our children suffering, the slip off the cliffs of despair can be easy. When Pope Francis tells us, “Let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God” (April 7, 2013), the trust doesn’t exactly overflow. Mercy would be nice, Lord; how about a cure please. But we are commanded […]
I remember sitting with my father in a boat on the middle of a still prairie lake. It was August of 1969 and I was sixteen years old. A cool mist rose from the surface of the lake that August morning. Fishing was good just after sunrise and so there we sat still half-asleep, casting our […]
Part I Part II When then Cardinal Wojtyla arrived at the 2nd Vatican Council, he had 1 question. What happened? Up until the 20th century, mankind was trekking along pretty okay. Yes, there were hardships; yes there was fighting. But in general mankind was doing okay, at least in terms of 100 year increments. Then […]
Where did Francis’ journey to Christ begin? It began with the gaze of the crucified Jesus. With letting Jesus look at us at the very moment that he gives his life for us and draws us to himself. If I read only those three lines from Pope Francis’ homily for the feast of St. Francis […]
Dear brothers and sisters, good day. The season of Easter that we are living with joy, guided by the liturgy of the Church, is par excellence the time of the Holy Spirit, given to us “not by measure” (cf. John 3:34) by the crucified and risen Jesus. This time of grace ends with the feast […]
Love is a Person. St. Augustine profoundly realized this when he spoke of the restlessness of the human heart until it rests in God. In reading John Donne’s poetry over the past few months, one witnesses Donne’s search for love, a journey full of distortion and dead-ends. In some writings, he almost treats the concept […]
The title of Teresa Tomeo and Cheryl Dickow’s new book, Wrapped Up: God’s Ten Gifts for Women refers to our being “wrapped up” in God’s love. That can be a hard concept for us women to accept. After all, the world spends a lot of time telling us all the reasons why we are not […]
This Good Friday, I was struck by the beginning of the Divine Mercy Novena, in which Jesus asks us to bring Him all sinners. I found this message especially appropriate for Good Friday, because it drives home the truth that Jesus died for everyone. So often lately, we seem to have forgotten that Jesus died […]
The beginning of Mark’s gospel contains a revealing and prophetic encounter between Jesus and a leper. We are told: “And there came a leper to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down said to Him: If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus having compassion on him, stretched forth His hand; and touching him, […]
“Through Christ we are given revelation about the nature of God-Love. The perfection consists in that this love humbly, without reservations, gives itself over.” –Archimandrite Sophrony God exists as Gift. He is relentlessly Self-emptying, pouring His love and life into this world for our sakes, undeserving wretches though we are. We have such difficulty “knowing” […]
What has heaven to do with earth? Does the Divine One care about the comings and goings of men? After all, He is “the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome” (Deuteronomy 10:17). Even Solomon wondered whether or not the Creator really deigns to walk among His creatures: […]
