My dear brothers & sisters in Christ,
The Lord has been speaking, at great length, to my heart, how he is a God of love.
In this time, it is easy to view our God as judgmental, for we know that on the last day, we will face the judgment of God. However, the judgment which we will experience will not be what we expect.When we view our God as "the judge" it becomes harder to view him as he truly is. It is easy to see God as a "kill-joy" because we feel we can't participate in the things of this world. It's not a good thing to go party. We, who desire to live our faith as radical Christians cannot live a "normal" life. This often a struggle for me.
However, there is hope! Our God is a relentless God. He never gives up on us. He is continually with us, reigning in our hearts, directly us to complete his will. There will be bumps in the road. There will be challenges, but the good Lord will be by our side the entire journey, pouring his love & mercy into our hearts.
I want to share with you a time where I intimately experienced God's love. It occurred about a year ago. We were in adoration, at the start of a mission trip, and leading up to the trip I had really been struggling with loneliness. It had been a rough couple months, and I felt totally alone, in a place where I was surrounded by people. I took this all to prayer. I laid it before God, and placed it all on his alter. In doing so I was compelled to simply sit in silence before our Lord. Normally, this was a hard thing for me to do. I had to be praying my rosary or writing in my journal, but in that moment the Lord was calling me to be still; to be silent. During this silence he began to heal my heart. He began to open my eyes, to the love I was missing - his love. I was blessed with a vision of the Lord. He stood with arms open, welcoming me into his most Sacred Heart. What I distinctly recall is the image Jesus had. He was in white, in his glory, and his Sacred Heart was visible, but instead of one hand touching his heart, both were open to welcome me, to welcome me home. In this time, I was fully united to our Lord, and we were dancing. It was a beautiful moment in my life, that I would never forget - prominently because of the way the Lord lavished his love on me, and the way he revealed his love for me to me.
I know the Lord loves each of his children in this same way. Because of this, my dear brothers & sisters, I encourage you to look at God as a God of love and a God of mercy. See him as a God who is forgiving, who is relentless, who is all love, and only desires you well-being.
Seek out this God of love. Seek out his mercy. Allow him to lavish you in his love.
May God bless you.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Condescending Christian ???
It seems wherever we go these days Christians are looked down upon.
I was talking with one of my friends the other day and we decided there is a general attitude towards Christians, where they are looked down upon.
Many people are pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-premarital sex, anti-religion - which if that's what you're passionate about - great, but what about Christians? Are we not allowed to voice our opinion? You see people wearing clothes and posting signs/facebook things about what they're for, but Christians are looked down upon, or laughed at for proclaiming that Jesus loves you. Which the simple reality is that Jesus does love you. He loves me, he loves you, he love Joe, Jeff, John, Mary, Anna, etc. He loves each one of his precious creations, that delicately designed. He knows them in and out. He know their passions, their hurts, the deepest desires and longings. Yet - it is unheard of to speak of this love?
When talking with my friend, we also pointed out how many of friends, who are our age (18-19) are caught up in an attitude of forever alone. There's something wrong with this picture - we're young - we are soo young. This age is the perfect time to be single. It is the perfect time to grow on your own, to develop as your own person, to come to know God in a deeper manner.
In this time of my life, I have chosen to not date a year. Instead of trying to find my fulfillment in things of this world (including people/boys), I am seeking our God - to be my fulfillment, my satisfaction - for our God truly is enough. Yet, as I sit with my friends, dwelling on their loneliness I do not have the courage to speak up.
As Christians - we have a duty to fulfill, a mission, a particular purpose - to introduce others to the love of God, not necessarily by our words, but more so by our actions. By our decision not to seek fulfillment in the opposite sex, by our decision to serve, by our decision to love.
My dear brothers & sisters,
It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel. St. Francis says "Proclaim the gospel at all time, and when necessary use words"
May we choose to live our lives radically as Christians. May we receive courage to proclaim our God as King. May we be consecrated, set apart, counter-cultural - by choosing to set aside our fears of being judged.
I realized what we lack is the courage to stand up for what we believe. People's opinions, view points, etc spread because they have the courage to speak out, to speak up.
May we have the courage to stand up and speak up. May we break the "condescending Christian" attitude and become excited about our faith, our God!
I was talking with one of my friends the other day and we decided there is a general attitude towards Christians, where they are looked down upon.
Many people are pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-premarital sex, anti-religion - which if that's what you're passionate about - great, but what about Christians? Are we not allowed to voice our opinion? You see people wearing clothes and posting signs/facebook things about what they're for, but Christians are looked down upon, or laughed at for proclaiming that Jesus loves you. Which the simple reality is that Jesus does love you. He loves me, he loves you, he love Joe, Jeff, John, Mary, Anna, etc. He loves each one of his precious creations, that delicately designed. He knows them in and out. He know their passions, their hurts, the deepest desires and longings. Yet - it is unheard of to speak of this love?
When talking with my friend, we also pointed out how many of friends, who are our age (18-19) are caught up in an attitude of forever alone. There's something wrong with this picture - we're young - we are soo young. This age is the perfect time to be single. It is the perfect time to grow on your own, to develop as your own person, to come to know God in a deeper manner.
In this time of my life, I have chosen to not date a year. Instead of trying to find my fulfillment in things of this world (including people/boys), I am seeking our God - to be my fulfillment, my satisfaction - for our God truly is enough. Yet, as I sit with my friends, dwelling on their loneliness I do not have the courage to speak up.
As Christians - we have a duty to fulfill, a mission, a particular purpose - to introduce others to the love of God, not necessarily by our words, but more so by our actions. By our decision not to seek fulfillment in the opposite sex, by our decision to serve, by our decision to love.
My dear brothers & sisters,
It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel. St. Francis says "Proclaim the gospel at all time, and when necessary use words"
May we choose to live our lives radically as Christians. May we receive courage to proclaim our God as King. May we be consecrated, set apart, counter-cultural - by choosing to set aside our fears of being judged.
I realized what we lack is the courage to stand up for what we believe. People's opinions, view points, etc spread because they have the courage to speak out, to speak up.
May we have the courage to stand up and speak up. May we break the "condescending Christian" attitude and become excited about our faith, our God!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Perseverence
Ahh - the college life. Monday - class 11-2, dinner & formation 6, 12 bed. Tuesday - class 8am - 12, work 3, 11 bed. Wednesday - class 11-2. Thursday - class 8am - 12, 2-4, Community worship (One Gospel/Women's night) at 12 bed. Friday - class 11-2, work at 3, 1 am bed. Saturday - homework. Sunday - mass, homework.
Essentially, this is the life of a college student. Class, work, homework, sleep, eat. What's missing, may I ask you?
family time? yes.
friend time? yes.
...but that's not what I'm getting at.
prayer, personal quiet time, set aside to build a relationship with our everlasting God.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I tell you now, it is hard to live the Catholic faith to the fullest in this time in our lives.
Tonight, I was with some wonderful brothers and sisters, worshiping our Lord. During this time, the Lord revealed to me the need to persevere. Some days it's really easy to pray. We feel like praying. We have time to pray. Other days - we're exhausted, we're coughing (fighting a cold), have a paper to write, books to read, and really just don't feel like praying or feel like we have the time. Often times, on the days when I don't feel like praying, I don't pray. I'll pray 2 or 3 days in a row - and then just don't feel like praying anymore - so today I want to encourage you to persevere in running the race, persevere in seeking our Lord face to face, persevere through the trials of life. As I was praying tonight, this scripture came to me and I would like to share it with you:
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible
To the Jews I became like a Jew to win over Jews; to those under the law I became like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win over those under the law.
To those outside the law I became like one outside the law—though I am not outside God’s law but within the law of Christ—to win over those outside the law.
To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some
All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.
Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win
Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.
Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.
No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified
My dear friends, we are told in this message from St. Paul that we are all to be for each others' salvation, while seeking to better ourselves. All that we do needs to be to glorify our Lord & our God. We are not to run aimlessly, but to run to reach the Kingdom of God. We train and discipline ourselves so as to live for our God, to serve him - and most of all to love.
Persevere in love.
God bless.
Essentially, this is the life of a college student. Class, work, homework, sleep, eat. What's missing, may I ask you?
family time? yes.
friend time? yes.
...but that's not what I'm getting at.
prayer, personal quiet time, set aside to build a relationship with our everlasting God.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I tell you now, it is hard to live the Catholic faith to the fullest in this time in our lives.
Tonight, I was with some wonderful brothers and sisters, worshiping our Lord. During this time, the Lord revealed to me the need to persevere. Some days it's really easy to pray. We feel like praying. We have time to pray. Other days - we're exhausted, we're coughing (fighting a cold), have a paper to write, books to read, and really just don't feel like praying or feel like we have the time. Often times, on the days when I don't feel like praying, I don't pray. I'll pray 2 or 3 days in a row - and then just don't feel like praying anymore - so today I want to encourage you to persevere in running the race, persevere in seeking our Lord face to face, persevere through the trials of life. As I was praying tonight, this scripture came to me and I would like to share it with you:
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible
To the Jews I became like a Jew to win over Jews; to those under the law I became like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win over those under the law.
To those outside the law I became like one outside the law—though I am not outside God’s law but within the law of Christ—to win over those outside the law.
To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some
All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.
Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win
Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.
Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.
No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified
My dear friends, we are told in this message from St. Paul that we are all to be for each others' salvation, while seeking to better ourselves. All that we do needs to be to glorify our Lord & our God. We are not to run aimlessly, but to run to reach the Kingdom of God. We train and discipline ourselves so as to live for our God, to serve him - and most of all to love.
Persevere in love.
God bless.
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