Life can unexpectedly drop a mystery into your day. One such situation took me by surprise on an early summer morning. Sticking to my usual routine, I was gearing up for the work day while sipping an extra hot cup of coffee. Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from outside the house. It was a fast, bumpy sound, like the clangor sneakers make tumbling in the dryer. With a few loud planes also flying overhead, I didn’t give it too much thought. Not long after I returned to my steaming cup, the strange sound returned. It was louder this time. While I am no Sherlock Holmes in the making, I sheepishly went outside to investigate, but found nothing suspicious. All was well. So with greater intention, I made my way back inside to finish breakfast. However, before reaching the kitchen table, I distinctly heard the muffling noise loud and…
Thinking about the summer activities still left to do? Summer-ween will be here in a wink of an eye! It comes when summer peaks its hottest temperature during the latter half of July. Thinking about that first cool breeze arriving on a crisp autumnal morning is refreshing. As August now beckons, it is a good idea to think about the summer activities that are still left to do. Now is the time to inspire well-being and personal fulfillment. Summer Activities Still To-Do Checklist: 1. Sprout New Ways to Grow Yourself. Summer surrounds us with everything green and beautiful. We happily spend time tending the garden, growing vegetables and planting flowers. However, devoting time to grow your capacity to “grow” from within is so important to personal fulfillment. As the world is always changing, seek ways to expand how you think about your life and the relationships that…
Among Christ’s hypostatic properties (divine and human) is the truth of his unchanging nature. The Psalmist proclaims “But You remain the same and your years will never end” (Ps. 102:27). Every word Christ speaks is eternal and his promises are everlasting” (Mt. 24:35). What great comfort we have in knowing that our circumstances will never determine the measure of God’s infinite goodness and mercy. Only God’s love is the measure of our worth (JP11). While the unpredictable world promises constant change, God’s love endures forever. Out of his grace flows into the soul infused virtues (faith, hope and charity) and the moral virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance) as the sanctifying means to participate in his divinity. These seeds of virtue incline the soul towards holiness, perpetually raising the heart to God. As spiritual gifts, they bring forth a profound desire to “be perfect…
According to Simon & Schuster, more than fifty million copies of Rick Warren’s best seller The Purpose Driven Life were sold last year. Warren’s guiding steps to pinpoint what drives happiness and how to live with purpose can certainly help to answer the question “why I am here?” However for the Christian, setting out to discern one’s purpose begins with understanding the “causes” attracting the soul toward “goodness” as a means to God. The journey does not start out with a question – but with an answer. That is, knowing that God is our Ultimate Destination. We then set out to pursue a life that is a reflection of his image – seeking only the good. God knows that we cannot do all that He desires in our own strength. He gives us an interior power “source” enabling our capacity to seek only goodness. St…
Christ often spoke about the relationship between heaven and earth. In the Lord’s Prayer, he asks that the will of his Father be done on earth as it is in heaven. The apostles are told that whatever they bind on earth, will be bound in heaven (Mt 18:17). Jesus mentions heaven seventy times in Matthew’s Gospel alone. Christ establishes this impenetrable bridge to make known the ultimate destination that awaits us all. We are bound for heaven in a way that remains hidden to the world. Our earthly direction is tracked by the universal GPS – affirming that we are indeed on the way to buy milk, pick up the kids from school or arriving just in time to board the red-eye flight out of JFK. Unfortunately – there is no GPS tracking our way into heaven. Darn. Knowing how close or far we are is left up…
