Thought for the Day - October 7

Keep your life simple. Seek to make your life pure.

Simplicity remains a very complicated ideal for many people. Simplicity requires focus, discipline. Simplicity asks for only the necessary, only the essential. Pray to create a life of simplicity in thought, speech, action. May your every action be directed toward God, directed toward salvation. May each thought, each action begin with charity, humility, and obedience to God. Simplicity asks us to decide who we love, to make God the center of our lives, to establish and promote God and the loving of God, and the serving of God, our using our individual free will to do God’s will as the most important and precious singular activity of our lives. The Christian life when the true focus is God becomes a life of true love, pure hope. The Christian life focuses on love, encourages love, nurtures love. The Christian life is one of giving, sharing. Simplicity asks us to simply love, to believe and accept that God loves us. Do not look for thanks, praise, or love to be shared automatically. Do not desire love in reciprocation for actions. Simplicity asks us to share love unconditionally, to share love universally. Simplicity involves letting go, trusting in goodness, holiness, kindness. Simplicity asks us, then reminds us to trust God, to love God, to have faith in God.

Simplicity leads us on a journey of focus on Jesus Christ and God, respect for the power and authority of God, reverence for the teachings of Jesus Christ, purity of intention creates a powerful connection between our souls and God when our prayers are true and honorable.

From Becoming A Devout Disciple

All Catholics Asked to Evangelize

C. Colt Anderson spoke at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle after the Wednesday 12:10 Mass as part of the parish Fall Lecture Series. Mr. Anderson's topic was "What is the New Evangelization?" The lecture was arranged by the Faith Formation Committee. 

The lecture was part history of the New Evangelization movement and part application techniques. The aim of this lecture was to motivate people to evangelize, to share the stories of their conversion and belief in God, and to encourage others to share their stories.

C. Colt Anderson speaks about New Evangelization.

"The aim of New Evangelization is directed toward lapsed Catholics, Catholics who have fallen away from their faith," explained Mr. Anderson. "New Evangelization is really re-evangelization."

New Evangelization comes out of an European and secularization context with different levels of government involvement, explained Mr. Anderson. “Now New Evangelization needs to be translated in an American context.”

Mr. Anderson explained that evangelical is the Greek word for gospel. Gospel means the Good News. "Being evangelical means being in agreement with the Gospel, at least in theory. We can at least say we agree with the Gospel." 

Mr. Anderson acknowledged that most American Catholics are uncomfortable with using the term because the word evangelical is often associated with fundamentalist Christian groups.

Evangelization is the work that is assigned to the laity, that is best done by the laity.

We find faith by hearing it spoken, by hearing it proclaimed. New Evangelization is a request for faithful believers to share their stories, to share their faith. "We have to proclaim the full significance of Christ."

Baptism admitted each Catholic to a holy priesthood. We are asked to give an account, to spread, and to defend the faith by word and deeds.

"The agent of the New Evangelization has to be a lay person. We all have had problems with the Church." stated Mr. Anderson. "We live in the world. It is easy to dismiss a priest. Lay people have to take up half of the task of evangelization."

Mr. Anderson provided simple instructions on how to prepare to be an evangelist. The most important items are know your audience and ask and then listen to their response to why they think how they do.

"People really are different. Some are motivated by love., some are motivated by fear. Different people are motivated by different things. People have different strengths, weaknesses, vices." declared Mr. Andesrson "Each person's spirituality is also different. Never presume that others have to follow your path."

C. Colt Anderson speaks at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle.

A brief lesson on rhetoric was presented. The aim of New Evangelization is to persuade the lapsed Catholics to return to the church community. Anderson stated that many of the Catholics who have left the faith will be hostile.

Mr. Anderson briefly described apologetics, catechesis, polemics and explained how and why they can be useful when discussing your faith with someone. He provided good advice about being polite, being attentive what the person is saying. Being honest is important when discussing the Church. Mr. Anderson stated that it is better to state the problems with the Church instead of whitewashing them. “Evangelization requires truth.”

"The aim is to win them over, not to beat them up." declared Mr. Anderson. "Christ was humble, shouldn't his disciples be humble too? Humility is attractive."

With Obedience and Reverence for God

Approach your faith with reverence. Keep compassion and mercy in your heart, mind, and soul. Live each day governed by patience and wisdom. Seek only goodness, holiness, kindness in yourself, in others. Prepare for happiness, prepare for sorrow. Offer praise to God. Offer thanks to God. Prepare to be misunderstood, misused. Find strength in your faith. Find strength in your prayers. Find strength in Jesus Christ. Find strength in God. Approach your faith and your life with charity, humility, obedience to God, and reverence for God.

To Serve God

We pass through each days observing yet not always seeing, loving yet not always touching. Each Christian contains prayers not prayed, questions not asked. We have opinions, dreams, desires, daydreams. Life engulfs us, splashes against us, taunts us, haunts us. We seek salvation, entrance to the Kingdom of heaven. Our actions often make us pause, our actions make us wonder if we are truly worthy.

 

We often create all types of signs, find all types of reasons to stop, to not seek that which God wants us to seek. If the purpose of all Christian lives is to serve God, then the decision is already made for us and all we have to do is allow ourselves to serve God with charity, humility, and obedience.


As Christians we are encouraged to behave as God's children, as God's flock of sheep. I often wondered why we are not ever encouraged to act like a flock of pigeons. Birds are not docile creatures. Birds are not always easily controlled. Birds have a winged individualism much like the human rugged individualism. Birds can be part of a group yet be concerned only for themselves.

Birds are very interesting to observe as they go about their lives searching for food and flying. Depending upon the moment birds are great metaphorical or great allegorical creatures.

 

Sooner or later we all make a mistake. Life is filled with grammatical and typographical errors. How we deal with our mistakes, with our sins is important. Is "repent" part of our vocabulary? Is "penance" an action, a chore, or simply avoided? Do we accept our mistakes or simply walk away hoping to forget, hoping others will forget.

We forget so many things. We misplace so many things. So many bits and pieces of our actions wait to be discovered by others, wait to be uncovered by others. Secrets only exist within our minds. In reality things are often lost, often left behind like keys on a park bench.

 

We are members of different communities. We are asked to become team players, to do things for the good of the team. This is not always easy. This can create stress, anxiety, bad Hollywood movies.

As Christians being a team player is an interesting proposition. We are asked to believe and to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ. We are asked to join others both living and dead in serving the Lord. God wants us to be loyal, loving servants who have freely chosen to do his work, to sacrifice our lives. It is using our free will, using our minds to make choices, hopefully the good choices which will help ourselves and others become closer to God.

Being part of a team makes serving God a little easier, makes seeking goodness, holiness, and kindness a little easier.




It is always good to remember how God sees us, how we are encouraged to treat each other. God sees us as children, as his adopted children. That is very important, very instructive. Although we are created in the image of God we are not created as equals of God. We spend our entire lives learning about ourselves, about God.

Prayer is an essential element in developing a loving relationship with God.

As Christians we are asked to put our faith in God's hands, in the hands of other Christians, and in our hands. Depending on the moment, we are taking big steps or small toddler steps.

Hopefully as Christians our legs carry us toward God, toward salvation. Hopefully help and prayers are there when we need them.




Sometimes a picture of a squirrel on a fence is just a squirrel on a fence other times it is a metaphor for how we relate to our world, to God, to each other. Assigning meaning, making choices, accepting consequences these are things which we do every day. As Christians a purpose for our lives has been given to us. It is our responsibility to accept it.

Choose God

The choices we make remain important. If you are lucky enough to hear and answer God’s call please remember how important your life is to God. The blessings in life begin with the little deeds we are able to complete, over time God may appear to us. Seek courage and confidence. Humility, gentleness, patience are important to each one of us. Remember the Holy Spirit. Remember and cherish each moment of your life. Believers are we. Being Christian puts us on a particular path toward righteousness, toward salvation. Christians are allowed, are encouraged to be independent, to teach and acceptance the Gospel teaching. With freedom, listen for God’s voice, listen for God’s call. Remember that each life contains goodness, kindness. Always be selective whether married or not, always cultivate a certain type of belief in goodness, holiness, kindness. We are asked to be selective as we begin to do do good work in the name of God, to glory the name of God. Goodness, holiness, kindness create a whole lot of gallery of loving, obedient, patient lives. We live in a multi dimensional world creating a mood of low light, creating a certain uniformity, a definite conformity. Be honest. Be loving. Remember the sensitive, intelligent, anguished young men. Being good goes beyond earthly actions. Life contains darkness. Life contains lightness. Remember to seek truth. Remember to live lightness, to encourage love, to inspire hope. The tendencies of charity, humility, obedience present a gallery of giving and receiving. We have magazines, stage plays, stage magazine. This is the time of graphic film. This is the time to want to discover the next blockbuster, to discover the majesty, splendor, and love of Jesus Christ.

I wonder if complete immersion in study of the people and events of both the New and Old Testament would help teach us how to interact with each other. Each day we live notebook worthy events that we are unable to write down.

Our choices can help us move closer to God. Please remember this fact.         

Living the Lessons of Jesus Christ

We live in a restless time. Fear finds many heads, rules them. Ignorance of God displays itself in self-help book titles and many newspaper opinion pages. Hope, Love, Charity remain hidden from the view until a disaster occurs. We live in a dangerous time. The nation’s economic life rests on a perilous precipice, tilting toward recession.


Christians aren’t born from comfort. They’re born from conflicts, tensions, loss, injustice. I’m beginning to believe that the need for renewed evangelization is actually growing in this country. The basic knowledge and understanding of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ needs to be told again and again. That Jesus Christ is a victim of humankind’s brutality, jealousy, violence can not be forgotten or whitewashed. His death achieved eternal life for all true believers. We are asked to use our lives as witness to the Gospels, as witness to the grace and goodness and power of God. We live in an age easily coddled and pacified by sin, temptation, technology. Long-term planning is over shadowed by short term returns. Charity, humility, obedience, compassion each become an individual casualty of self indulgence, selfishness. Living a Christian life can be a life of discipline, hard scrabbling, hard decisions. Living a Christian life requires prayer, reflection. Our relationship with God deserves loving reverence, loyal service, continual protection. As Catholics we are asked to be creative and resourceful in our faith as we find new ways to share the Good News. Becoming great, becoming perfect Christians in God’s eyes are very important.

It’s amazing to see how much the world needs our prayer, needs our assistance. Our experience as Catholics provides a living, breathing, hoping face of the church and an image of God. The journey to salvation begins with a desire, a thought. The journey may not always been what you want, what you expect.

Being Christian requests more effort than simply attending Mass on Sunday. Each Christian needs to learn how to defend the face with compassion and love.

The lessons that Jesus Christ taught remain applicable today. Saying that you are Christian remains easy, sharing your faith, offering your life to God is difficult. Being Catholic is an opportunity to imagine the greatness and majesty of God. Being Christian provides each believer with an opportunity to invent ourselves, and our lives as Christians, as Catholics.

In everyday life, many Christians might find the route to goodness, holiness, kindness harder as our society includes scientific thought, allows and encourages permissiveness and sin.

There’s nothing wrong with being Catholic and reminding the world to love God, to love our neighbors . The importance of love in Christian life remains undeniable. Love and forgiveness are important components of Christian life; new evangelization asks each believer, each true believer to be concerned with the totality of his or her life, to make choices based upon the Gospel teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each one of us is asked to be a witness for Jesus Christ, to live our faith boldly, lovingly, obediently.

One Word, One Request

How wonderful life is. How great God is! How easy it is to serve the Lord! As Catholics we only have to remember one simple word, one small word with a large punch. No matter how bad life might be, we only have to think of finding a way to simplify our lives and doing one thing. Prayer can center us, lead us to do this one thing if we let it. We are asked all the time. The request is made week after week, in various prayers, in various readings. The Catholic Mass is both a memorial and a sacrifice; the Catholic Mass is the supreme example of this word. Humility, charity, obedience, compassion, mercy are the foundation of this word in my life. How wonderful is it to think of God, to listen for God’s voice, to believe that God will call! How wonderful it is to go to Mass each, to volunteer to help with the different parish ministries! How wonderful it is to think of stewardship! How wonderful it is to think of others!

For now we approach a glass window, and now we can look into a world brightly. We view the world with faith and hope, we view the world with goodness, kindness, and holiness. Our simple desire is to give evil a bad report, a true report. Our simple desire is to remind our neighbors of God and the search for salvation.

Life can be beautiful, life can be fulfilling, life can lead away from death. Life can lead to the kingdom of God. As Christians we simply have to believe.

We are encouraged to remember to love our neighbors as we love ourselves! All things are possible for us when we remember to love each other, when we remember to love God.

Wonderful Wednesday

I seek the goodness and kindness each day. I believe that to live means to love God above all things. Living is loving God.

The Lord offers mercy and salvation. I am asked to have humility in my heart, humility in my way of being. I know that I can trust God. The Lord offers hope. Loving God allows me to approach the world in a different way, with different thoughts, different insights. I do not fear the world; I live to love God, to serve God.

I believe that to live means to love God above all things. Living is loving God. I seek the goodness and kindness each day.

I ask God for guidance. I ask God for a chance to enter his kingdom of heaven. Each day of my earthly existence I dedicate to God. Each day of my earthly existence is an opportunity for contemplation, reflection, discernment. Each day of my earthly existence is an opportunity to offer praise and thanks to the Lord. Each day of my earthly existence is an opportunity to pray to the Lord.

I live to love God. I seek the goodness, holiness, kindness each day. I believe that God offers each of us life and so much more.

I believe in the beauty of goodness, in the bounty of holiness. These are gifts for those who believe and live for the Lord. Nurture patience, nurture confidence as I wait to meet the Lord. I must grow courage, grow wisdom for I am asked to spread the Good News while I am waiting for the Lord.

I believe in God. I want to serve God.

Earthly life is a temporary event filled with all types of activities and emotions. I feel like a field editor as I live my life and observe others. This can be anthropological, psychological. The circumstances of life present sadness, loneliness, despair to me each day. The circumstances of life reinforce the need for prayer. Murder, madness, and mayhem remain features of entertainment for people moving in lockstep to chaos and emotional danger. There is no normal, there is no regular; there is only consumerism trying to seduce each person with offers of a great, relaxing holiday. Earthly life is filled with many empty holidays. It is time to remember holiness, to observe holy days.

These days offer sensationalism and luxurious misgivings with unabated pleasure. We exist within the cool confines of a computerized solitude and we exist with a detached solicitude wondering if anyone recognizes our work, remembers our name. It is important to remember the impulse to love God first. Keep life simple, keep life honest. Keep life filled with love. These will give you a life of worthiness.

A life of goodness, kindness, holiness blossoms with the right mixture of discernment and solitude. A Christian life is beautiful when it includes a natural solicitude for both God and mankind.

Of the invitation from Christ, and of compassion for the world and for all

Jesus Christ provides a path that will lead each Christian from darkness into the light. He invites everyone to follow him. Each Christian is encouraged to create a life of fairness, a life of social justice based upon Christ’s teaching. Each Christian is encouraged to seek goodness, holiness, kindness; each Christian heart is invited to turn away from stony barrenness of sin and to turn toward the gentle, loving illumination of God’s grace. There is much spiritual blindness in the world. Avarice, selfishness, lust are acceptable and encouraged by the society. The simple life and teachings of Christ remain radical. His life, his character, his sacrifice wait to fill a particular place of importance in the lives of each believer. As adopted children of God, each Christian is asked to adopt the ways of Christ, to adopt his worldview, to adopt his compassion.

His life is an example of supreme hope, supreme compassion. Christ was concerned about the wellbeing both physical and spiritual of all. There was never anyone too dirty, too weak, too rich for him. His Spirit was filled with humility, charity. His holiness surpassed the holiness of others because he asked for nothing for himself, because he prayed to God and encouraged others to pray, and because he was obedient to the will of God. The Gospel encourages us to listen and develop a mind like Christ. The Gospel encourages us to nurture a longing for Christ, a longing to experience his kindness, holiness, goodness; a longing to witness firsthand his humility, charity, compassion, and mercy. This feeling when nurtured with truth, obedience, patience, and hope can help each Christian to find honest wisdom and to understand and love the words of Christ. Lucky is the Christian who seeks to live his entire life based on the teachings from the mind of Christ.

There are many things to divert our thinking, to tempt us. There are deficit talks, nuclear weapons, abortion, welfare, child abuse, domestic abuse, slavery, energy crisis, housing shortages, food shortages, genocide. Each day these appear on television, on news shows, on the internet. Each day we hear of so many tragedies. Each day the Holy Trinity emerges as a reminder of something better, something lasting, something hopeful. Humility is missing in the world of hype and hyperbole. Humility is conveniently misunderstood for weakness. Penance and contrition are also seen as lacking virility, lacking strength. Everyone wants to live a good life filled with the latest technology products, the latest catalog products. This is a time of vanity, a time of consumer induced insanity. The love and grace of God is an afterthought. Buying the latest flatscreen television or gaming system defines many households, many Christians. We must remember the Holy Trinity; we are asked to make decisions pleasing to the Holy Trinity. With humility and obedience we are asked to love and serve God. It is a radical request. We approach it wearily. Some see it as a great risk. Leaving the tempestuous world with all of its neon lighted charms behind us and walking step by step forward to eternal life, to heaven, to salvation involves an evolving wisdom and love for God of a true faithful, loyal Christian.

Prayer, Reflection, Activity

Being Catholic is very important to me. Learning how to be a better Catholic is very important to me. Learning leads to being. Each day there is something new to learn. There are memorials, feast days, solemnities. There are saints. There are prayers. Catholicism provides its believers with a beautiful detailed tapestry of prayers, writings, and scripture to help form a God loving and God serving person. Discernment is at the center of the lives of many Catholics.

Each day I am happier than I was the previous day because I pray a little bit more, because I have compassion for more neighbor a little bit more. Each time I attend Mass I am open to learning, to experiencing a little bit more of the liturgy, to see what moves me, what makes me want to act. I am not perfect. I still sin. I have not completely embraced the idea of the confessional but I do encourage others to go and I plan to go.

I am in a state of discernment. My route involves prayer, reflection, activity. I am involved in my local parish. It is through helping others, listening to others that I am able to see a need, want to answer a call for a need.

Discernment is an ongoing process. It is not for those who want instant gratification. There are different levels of discernment. God loves us. Discernment asks us to seek a way to reflect God’s love for us in our daily lives. There are different ways to do this.

The best way begins with allowing and encouraging yourself to love God completely with your head, heart, and soul. I understand that this is harder to do than it is for me to type. It takes time. Once you allow yourself to give God priority treatment, hearing God’d voice might become a little easier. There will still be distractions and temptations. Discernment is a human activity of searching for the divine, incorporating divinity and spirituality within our lives. Hopefully discernment keeps your heart, mind, and soul active seeking fairness and social justice as taught by Christ. Hopefully discernment provides a moment for reflection of the shepherd searching for the lost sheep.

This a time of discussion. A time of reflection. In a very private way it is a time of evangelization, a time of learning and sharing the Good News. Discernment is a time of establishing a relationship with God. It is a time of prayer for each individual and their community.

There is nothing new or original in this piece. Others have written about prayer more eloquently than I have. The need for discernment, for prayer still exists. All Catholics hopefully will embrace it to form more loving, more lasting, more loyal relationships with God. Discernment is not just for vocations. I would suggest that all Catholics employ it as they plan their lives.

Humility and charity are good discernment companions. On the darkest days, in the lowest moments remember that someone is always praying for you; you will not be alone. In someone’s heart there is love and hope for your wellbeing.

The Cathedral

The Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle creates an aural and visual atmosphere which encourages and nurtures prayers, reflection, and compassion. The Cathedral remains a welcoming quiet space where all thoughts, all concerns, all emotions are not expected to be directly expressed to everyone. Here is a place of love and spiritual development. Here is a place of goodness, kindness, holiness. A bouquet of mercy, compassion, and hope the doors of the Cathedral are often open, help and assistance can be found. Prayer offers a patient intensity. Prayer can lead to more humility, charity, obedience. Prayer can lead to personal discernment about life, vocation. The Cathedral is a very handsome space which photographs well with Brides and Grooms but the space is equally handsome for soul searching about personal themes about religious identity and cross cultural identity and reference points.

The Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle is often at the epicenter of Washington, DC life. Homilies often refer to current topics, world leaders. Prayers are said for all mankind. Although the Cathedral is Catholic, prayers for peace, prayers for all humans are said each and every day. Love is not simply spoken of in the abstract but it is a vital important part of the life of this parish which relies upon the prayers and humanpower of many volunteers to fulfill the mission of the church.

The Cathedral is a place for human beings, a place for sinners, a place for the damaged and the broken, for the abandoned and the forgotten. It is a place to celebrate birth, death, and everything in between. It is a wonderful monument of hope and love. The Cathedral remains stubbornly accepting, stubbornly compassionate, stubbornly merciful to all of those who need it, to all of those who walk through the doors.

Here is a sheltering place of beauty. A place where silence is encouraged. Here is a place to escape the hurly-burly of a fast-paced, frantic life where everybody is psychotic or neurotic , where everybody is talking.

Here is a place for honest, simple communication.

Know the Lord

What is the reason that we are all Christians? What are we trying to do? How are we trying to do it? As Christians we are all asked to love and serve the Lord. We are given the Ten Commandments and asked to obey them. We are given the Beatitudes. We are given one additional request to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We are asked to praise and give thanks to God. We are encouraged to pray to God. What is the real purpose for all of this activity? What will happen to each of us if we do it with love in our hearts, kindness in our souls, honor and holiness in our minds? Our entire being as Christians is a preparation for our eternal life with God. Each moment of each day we are asked to work for our salvation. Each moment of each day we are asked to be compassionate, humble, merciful. Each moment of each day we are asked to work to please God. Our daily lives give us opportunities to serve God. We must work to establish, nurture, and protect a relationship with God. The most important relationship for a Christian is his/her relationship with God. Wanting salvation by itself is meaningless, completely worthless unless we want to know the Lord. Prayer is essential to this. We must learn how to pray. We must make time for prayer in our lives. Prayer filled with kindness, truth, goodness, love, holiness and hope can lead us to closer relationships to God. As Christians we must take time to listen for God's voice, God's gentle call. We are all living, breathing, articulating, gesticulating members of God's ministry. We must understand this with the entirety of our being and then use our lives to share the Good News with everyone with whom we interact. Our actions as Christians are often more important than our words. Each generation searches for something new, something improved. Each generation listens to the campaign promises. Christians have been given a better covenant with better promises. We simply have to believe. We simply have to remember our baptismal promises and try to live a better, more loving life of charity, humility, and obedience. Our purpose here is not to purchase the biggest house, wear the trendiest clothes. Our purpose is to love and serve God. Our purpose is to prepare ourselves for eternal life, to prepare ourselves for salvation.

of erring heart

We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end, for it is said: "Oh, that today you would hear his voice: 'Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion.'" Hebrews 3:14-15

Faithful. Glory. Honor. Faithful in all his house. Take care. Encourage yourselves daily.

These words leap into my imagination as I think of the building a relationship with God. Jesus Christ asks for our love, our mercy, and our honor. Good Christians are people filled with the faith and grace of God. These people are filled with charity and hope which they freely share. Their existence is one of serving the Lord, asking others to serve the Lord. Their existence reflects the hope of God for all human beings and for the followers of Christ. Their existence begins with simplicity of faith, with spirituality organic and growing, with solidarity for all human beings especially those who are forgotten, marginalized. Their relationship with God is the most important relationship in their lives. These Christians live quiet lives of great humility and sacrifice.

Each day is an opportunity to praise and exalt God by their deeds of compassion and mercy. Each day provides one more instance of their obedience to the teachings of God. With faith and courage each one of us can learn how to serve the Lord, each one of us can learn how to listen for the Lord’s voice. With prayer and patience we can learn the will of God when we allow ourselves to be loving, unselfish, quiet.

Modern life creates anxiety. Each day we are encouraged to be selfish, gluttonous, avaricious by the secular world. The flesh is seen as more important than the spiritual. Sometimes modern life seems dirty, dangerous. The media likes presenting images of all types of sin and vice. There is always the possibility of a passive indoctrination, animosity and loathing is encouraged, often heralded. Being good, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ is often presented as weakness, being boring.

There is an intense need for cleansing now. Our society is unclean. Our faith can help us. Our love and obedience to God can save us. We must remember prayer. We must remember God’s greatest gift to each one of us.

We all need compassion, charity, humility, mercy, hope, civility, love.

We must be willing to help our neighbors with deeds and prayers. We must be willing to praise God with deeds and prayers.

The world is filled with demons, with evil. With God’s help we can survive and flourish. We must ask for help, we must obey his commands.

has given us discernment

So this joy of mine has been made complete. John 3:29

Being Christian is a journey to warmheartedness. It is a journey to love, a journey of faith, a journey of loyalty, a journey of confidence. The destination is a close relationship with God. Being Christian is a journey of sacrifice.

Patience is a necessity which all Christians need to possess. Anxiety can cause doubt, can impair a person’s judgement.

Simplicity is a Christian’s best friend. Learn how to love unconditionally; learn how to love all mankind universally. The love that Jesus wanted us to share with each other is more broad, more powerful than romantic love and infatuation. Keep love simple, keep love humble.

Learn who is your beloved in Jesus Christ. Allow yourself to be silent, to look for goodness, kindness, holiness in yourself and in others. Remember that a Christian life is a journey. Remember to avoid complaining, remember to remain alert. As Christians we should always be ready to accept God’s request for us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, accept God‘s request that our lives be filled with charity, compassion, humility, and obedience, and accept Jesus Christ as the only begotten son of God who will lead us to eternal life.

Each Christian is asked to believe and embrace love universal, love unconditional. It is important that we learn how to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It is important that we learn how to praise and petition God. It is important that each Christian learns how give thanks to God. Having a close relationship with God is the primary goal of Christianity. Love, universal and unconditional, is a vehicle for faith, hope, mercy to be shared. This form of love is difficult to master. It requires a selflessness, it is completely unselfish. This love is simple, youthful, fair; the basis for this love begins with the social justice teachings of Jesus Christ.

Universal and unconditional love prepares each Christian to remain in a state of welcoming to all people encountered, especially those in need. As Christians we must be prepared to welcome God into our lives.

Pureness in thought and deed will help us find righteousness, help us move closer to God. Christian morality starts with obeying the word of God. We must honor and praise God with our entire lives. Our hearts, minds, and souls must become incorruptible to sin.

If we observe anyone sinning or if we ourselves are on the verge of sinning always remember to pray. Prayer does help. Use prayer to walk on the right road, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Learn the power and beauty of self-appraisal. Always seek to improve all your activities done for or all the activities in the name of the Lord. Examine yourself fairly, learn from your vulnerability, learn from your fear. Be fair, be just. Remember that you are human. Accept that you might fail, accept that you might sin. Learn to forgive both yourself and others.

This is a great expedition of faith and hope. Allow it to be your life’s great purpose and pilgrimage.

Always remember Jesus and the Apostles preaching and baptizing in Judea. Let your life proclaim that Jesus Christ is the true son of God and he is the true God.

Hear Them

Learn all you can about love; learn the meaning of love; learn the signs of love; learn all you can about Jesus Christ, his life, his times, his ministry, his death, his resurrection. Allow the knowledge about Jesus Christ guide you toward holy living. Learn how to lift up your soul and others. Seek and understand goodness and kindness. Fill your mind with the Good News and words from good books. Allow yourself to remain ignorant of about much of the secular world when it goes against the laws and wishes of God, when it blocks access to God with deceit, deception, distraction, diversion. Learn to confess your sins frequently as needed. Always strive to be humble. Always read and reflect on the Word of God. Search for ways to serve and to obey God. Remember that life begins with love.

Are you a member of God's flock? Are you one of the herd? Is this your weekly rendezvous? How do you consociate with God? It is time to be lionhearted for God, to display a bold dauntlessness defending the faith, to share a compassionate valiance in the name and glory od God.

Allow charity, humility, obedience to help create the hypotenuse of your relationship with God; explore the hypostasis of love, universal and unconditional; and seek the essence of goodness, kindness, and holiness within your soul.

Simple Thoughts

Being Christian is being part of a never-ending expedition. It is an adventure. It is a way of life. Words like morality, moralistic, morals, good character, incorruptibility, virtue are frequently mentioned. Being Christian is an exercise in charity, humility, obedience to God. It is not simply high ideals. It is action, it is reaction. It is prayer and reflection and hope. It is tears and laughter. Being Christian is an eternal struggle of good against bad. Being Christian is an intimate interior dialogue between the soul, the heart, and the mind. It is an argument. It is a choice. Being Christian is often difficult. Being Christian means saying yes to God, yes to sacrificing for God, yes to being obedient to God's wishes. Being Christian can be very public or very private. Being Christian means believing in and loving God. Being Christian means seeking out those others who believe and love God, too.

Courage is needed. Faith is required. Simplicity is needed. Love is required.

Getting the Right Steps

Now is the time to think of the International Date Line! Now is the time to wish that there was an International Prayer Line. Each Christian must always remember that God is always close by, that God is always waiting patiently whether we are in the Black Forest or in the Loire Valley or Palestine.

Now is the time to renew the quest for goodness.

Now is not the time to talk about morals; it is the time to create and to protect them. Each second of our lives should be filled with the charity, humility, obedience, and love which Jesus Christ preached about.

Now is not the time to talk about high ideals; it is the time to fill each moment of our lives with love and service for God. It is time action. It is time for prayer. It is time for righteousness. Whether we are in Death Valley, or listening to an anecdote about a vacation in the Great Sandy Desert, or looking at a photograph of the Painted Desert allow your eyes to discover the beauty, the mystery within each minute of your life. Allow yourself to accept God's love, to welcome God's call, to embrace humility, charity, obedience.

God is present in Aberdeen and Bethlehem. God receives prayers from Bangkok and Buenos Aires. Canterbury provides God with tales and reconciliation. God is present in London and Thunder Bay. God receives prayers from Saint Andrews and Sarajevo. Tokyo provides God with tales and reconciliation. God is present in Uranium City and Zurich. Where is God in your life?

A Moment Please - January 1, 2011

It is great to begin a new year wishing everybody warmheartedness. It is great to begin each year with an expanding feeling of tenderheartedness. Now, prepare for the journey thru the next twelve months. Accept that each day will not allow you to feel "fine and dandy" but resist the temptation to complain. Now is the time to accept life, to accept all that is presented with great humility. Embrace pain and adversity with love and charity. Avoid anger and rudeness. Allow yourself to welcome the mystery and beauty of each moment of your life. Avoid rushing, avoid anxiety. Time does not stop for a slice of apple pie but you can. Always remember to pray. Always remember to praise God each and every day. Always remember to give thanks to God, each and every day. Always remember to love God forever.

Do not be afraid to be moral. Allow yourself to use the lessons of the Bible to develop your moral code. Love, universal and unconditional, is the foundation of moral integrity. Avoid jealousy, selfishness. Look to those who exhibit qualities of charity, humility, obedience, mercy, goodness, holiness, kindness, and love. Learn from those. A good character leads to honor, honor leads to virtue, virtue leads to God. Always move toward God.

Live a life that is favorable to God; listen for God's request; allow yourself to make loving sacrifices for and to God.

Let each second of your life be in service of God, each second be lived with the wonder and mystery and newness of a first pilgrimage, a grand pilgrimage of love, obedience, and service.

We have fellowship with him - December 28, 2010

Have the courage to allow yourself to be humble. First read the Bible. Reflect upon the lives and the decisions of each individual mentioned in the different books and chapters. Each person mentioned is important; each person provides a clue about acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Not all people in the Bible are humble. Not all people in the Bible are Good. The Bible provides valuable lessons about how to serve and how to love God. Humility is very important.

Remember to always share and present reverence and respect for God. Have the courage to seek the charity in others as a way of finding it within. Remember to praise those who need to be praised, to love all without condition, and to use each moment of your life to praise God, to love God, to serve God.

Allow your faith to move you closer to God naturally. Allow your faith to help you become God's loyal servant.

Strive for humility, avoid pride. Learn from the Bible. Love humanity with the entirety of your being. Have the courage to allow this love to direct you toward the heavenly kingdom.

Each movement taken forward in the name of God, for the glory of God, is important when done lovingly, when done with charity, humility, and obedience to God.

ABUNDANT JOY AND GREAT REJOICING - December 25, 2010

training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age Titus 2:12

It was a time of warmheartedness, a time of tenderheartedness surrounded by hope. There were thick white candles with delicate orange flames reaching toward the ceiling, dancing toward heaven.

How easy it is to forget the journey, to allow the moment, this minute to dominate the mind, the imagination. Life does not stop. Each minute flows into the next. Minutes flow into hours; hours flow into days. The journey continues whether we are prepared or not, whether we are able to upgrade or not. There is always motion, always a need for patience.

And here is a moment of delicate welcome, the lingering embrace of remembrance and forgiveness which recalls yesterday's hope, yesterday's love.

This is a moment of familiar songs, familiar sayings. For this instance the thick white candles offer reassurance, offer hope, offer continuity and faith. Here in this instance each individual is fine and dandy, each individual cannot complain. Here is a moment when good is allowed to triumph!

This is a moment of red and white and green leaves. This is a moment of soft lighting. This is a time to remember to be moral, to remember the Church's moral code. How romantic and perfect this night appears with the white lights on the evergreen trees. What a great moment to reflect upon personal morals. Each Christian is asked to live a morally-sound life of goodness, kindness, holiness; of charity, humility, and service to God. Each day provides opportunities for moralistic evaluations and decisions. Each day provides opportunities for honor, good character. Remember that each candle has one purpose: to provide light. High ideals are great companions to have as we walk on the right road, following the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Sharing love and hope freely, gently is always a boon. Each day we are given an opportunity to exalt the goodness, the mercy, the presence of God in our lives. We constantly make choices. We must remember to do what is productive for God, what is beneficial to God. As Christians, God must always be an active part of our individual decision making process.

The candles stand guard, patiently sacrifice their wax to provide light. Allow each Mass to be a pilgrimage, an expedition to holiness, to love universal and unconditional.