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

Thought for the Day - October 6

Those who believe in God are blessed.

Being Christian is to be visionary, is to focus on goodness, holiness, kindness. Being Christian is to look at the world lovingly. Being Christian is to be hopeful, creative, humble in our approach to life. Being Christian is simply cherishing simplicity, extolling simplicity. The genius of being Christian is the ability to love, is the ability to share compassion, is the ability to share mercy. The world needs those radical Christians who love God first, and then those who love their neighbors. The world needs those radical Christians who are amazing in their patience, devotion, and obedience to God, to God’s will. The world needs those radical Christians who seek goodness, holiness, kindness in all human beings. The world needs those radical Christians who are fortunate to share ideas on social justice, stewardship, faith with others. We are fortunate to be friends, to be acquainted with the Gospels, to be acquainted with the Beatitudes and Jesus Christ’s other the teachings of fairness and social justice. We are asked to always remember Jesus Christ. We are asked to always aspire to be like Jesus Christ. We are asked to use our short time on this life to inspire others to be like Jesus Christ. We share one spirit, one body each and every time we allow ourselves to join the Eucharist.

We have thoughts, we have memories, we have God’s love waiting to be shared.

Sin Happens Again

Sometimes language is misused. Sometimes people are simply misunderstood. Social media is a product of the secular world. Social media is a platform for sharing ideas, sharing information, buying and selling products.

The prurience of the secular world is neither for improvement of the community, nor for the improvement of the individual. This prurience seeks only that which titillates, that which scandalizes, that which sensationalizes. This secular world encourages prurient behavior, sinful behavior. Being decadent, being rude, being selfish, being careless are virtues within the permissive world of the individual within the neon colored glossy secular world of endless good times and no personal responsibility.

Morality is a dirty word. That there are consequences for bad decisions is easily forgotten. There are explanations, justifications. There is sorrow. There is regret. But they happy later, the next morning, the next day. Now the party must continue. The fun must be captured, preserved.

Each generation is attracted to sin and temptation and wants to make them attractive and accessible for others to follow without too much effort. Sin is never original. Sin is never new. Each sin has been done before. Technology may change the distribution, the sharing of the sin but the acts remain the same.

We live in a time when no conversation is off limits, we live in a time when sex and being sexy dominates the media.

Our faith asks us to be merciful, to be compassionate. We are not asked to judge our neighbors. We are asked to control ourselves and to use our lives, our choices to lead others to Jesus Christ, to encourage others to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

As Christians we are asked to be aware, to be vigilant for the return of the Lord. As Christians we are encouraged to keep our gaze on goodness, holiness, kindness.

Seek The Lord

When Christianity is discussed many people accept and expect the fire and brimstone verbal lashings of some Fundamentalist Christians who are determined to present faith as sin and punishment or as sin and hypocrisy. Fundamentalist Christians appear ready to judge everyone as a guilty sinner, ready to chart the course to hell. That Jesus Christ was born and taught love and forgiveness barely registers, religion is not a love story, nor a hope story. There is something unhappy, something sad, something misleading in some fundamentalist teaching.

God offers love, hope, salvation. Believers offer God prayers, respect, loyalty, obedience, love.

The intensity of the religious experience, of the conversion experience is a story of diligence, hope, discernment. The importance of discovering and sharing the beginning of an awareness of God is good both for each individual and the faith community.

What is the predecessor to the moment of awareness? A Laurel and Hardy film? Star Wars? A Charlie Chaplin film? An Aretha Franklin song? A Gospel choir? For each person something connects the dots, creates an alignment of God, love, faith, belief, acceptance. Something allows, even encourages our Gminds to linger in moments of enlightenment, moments of reverie. We seek something which we sense is all around, very near and yet very far away, just beyond our physical touch.

We seek an emotional connection, a spiritual connection, a mystical revelation. We seek answers to unasked questions, unanswered prayers. We seek truth, love, hope.

Those who seek God need both confidence and courage. Those who seek God use their souls, minds, hearts. Seeking God requires, demands active participation. Seeking God turns into something more. Seeking God asks us to try love, to try forgiveness, to try fairness. Being Christian involves developing a philosophy based upon simplicity, based upon justice, based upon charity. Being Christian involves a daily exploration of personal humility, of personal humanity. Being Christian is an invitation to love everyone unconditionally. Being Christian is also about rethinking who you are, what is your purpose in life.

Christianity is a search for identity, a search for self-definition, a search for the desire for obedience to God. Christianity is a story of falling in love with God, with serving God, with helping our neighbors. Christianity offers a quiet, understated resonance of goodness, holiness, kindness as each believer, each follower finds their personal path and begins to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Those who hear and obey God’s voice accept and believe that God is always with them.

The Christian experience often is a very romantic experience of determination and humility.

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.         

Aim of Each Christian

Let the aim of each Christian be easy to hear, easy to accept. Let each Christian accept the challenge to use his or her life to magnify the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Let each Christian have the virtue, the confidence, the courage to live and walk the path of fairness, love, obedience, mercy, and social justice that Jesus Christ did.

Let our goodness, holiness, kindness turn heads, touch hearts. Let our deeds be of loving service to others.

As Christians we can choose to live a life that encourages others to seek God, encourages others to filled their lives with humility, charity, compassion, obedience, mercy. Warm summer mornings, warm summer twilights are wonderful times to seek God, to remember the Beatitudes.

It is my aim to live my life quietly, to behave appropriately, to live according to and with reverence for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope that this is your goal too.

Appreciating God

The winding trail to a hilltop with an expansive view of nature’s beauty remains a great metaphor for life. My thoughts sometimes soar above the treetops. Life contains people who need our concern, our prayers. Some are hyperemotional. Some are apathetic. Some are depressed. Some are just out looking for a good time.

The path presents leaves and rocks and sticks as beautiful, as majestic as created by God. The view inspires us to think of God, to seek solitude, to seek escape from the chaos and confusion of modern life, to seek solace and comfort with the Lord. Climbing up the hillside is not easy, wanting to see God is not cheesy. The desire to see God often accompanies a desire to serve God.

God doesn’t get recognized that much, reverence for God appears to be limited to churches. The secular world does not consider goodness, holiness, kindness interesting, educational, or entertaining. Presenting an invisible God to a world filled with doubt, conspiracy theories about their neighbors is not that appealing to the media, to the popular culture promoters. No one knows where God hangs out.

Christians are encouraged to seek the Lord. We can use prayer, reflection, silence. The search may or may not be successful. Calling God is important. Obedience, patience, humility, mercy are important and necessary ingredients to create a true relationship with God. We are asked to offer praise, thanks, loyalty, and loving service.

Appreciation is a great word. Appreciating is easier said than done. Appreciating God requires a sense of selflessness, a sense of unconditional love, a sense of mercy, and a sense of compassion. Appreciating God involves simultaneous observations of the world and our reactions to it; how our hearts, minds, and souls react during certain situations is important; who receives our spontaneous prayers provides insight.

Goodness, kindness, holiness often arrive with a surreal surreal disorientation. The world is filled with scoundrels sharing their wicked schemes and thoughts. This is the current reality glamorized, exaggerated, captured, preserved and beamed from communication satellites into living room televisions. Goodness, kindness, holiness do occur, but they are a rarity, not the normal encounter. Rudeness, selfishness are the norm, are accepted. Talking about God, talking about being good, talking about sin has a weird effect on some people. Saying that they believe in God is easier than actually believing.

Popular culture encourages us to live in a world of make believe where we are not doctors but we pretend to be when it is convenient, while the camera is pointed toward, while we have an audience.

The experience of recognizing God begins with recognizing the truth within each one of us, recognizing the hope within each one of us, recognizing the love within us. The experience of recognizing God in our lives is initially intensely introspective but grows and grows into a desire to share God’s love, mercy, and grace with everyone. There is an intimacy with God that can last a minute, a hour, a day. This intimacy is rare. With prayers, praise, reflection, good deeds many Christians seek that deep awareness, deep intimacy with God all of their lives.

With Joy

What is in your heart at this very moment? What is in your soul?

Learn how to be enjoy being a Christian. Learn how to serve God with happiness in your heart, hopefulness in your gestures. Learn how to say joyful prayers.

Goodness, holiness, kindness provide preternatural insights into God, into love, into ourselves

Always remember and believe that the Lord is God. Remember and believe that God created us, that we are his people, his children, his flock.

Treat each day, each hour, each minute, each second with care. Cherish each second, each minute, each hour, each day. Always be ready for an impromptu meeting, a quick no pressure interview, a meet and greet with God.

Always go to church filled with thanksgiving in your heart, always kneel before the altar filled with praise in your heart. Always offer thanks to God.

Reverence and Obedience to God remain important, remain necessary. Neither are optional. A holy life requires prayer, requires conversation with God.

Nurture charity, humility, patience, wisdom, compassion, mercy, gentleness within your heart, mind, and soul. Allow your soul, your mind, your heart to walk and talk with God.

Always remember to bless God’s name.

Preparing

The Kingdom of heaven somehow creates different images in my mind depending upon my mood. Sometimes it is purely high tech, gleaming, shiny cinematic science fiction science fantasy place of extreme cleanliness and order. Other times it is lush and tropical. Other times it is a majestic place of great statues, great temples, and people wearing robes.

The abundance of images is a product of a fertile imagination.

Blessed the poor in spirit creates an equal number of images, equal number of opportunities to praise and serve the Lord.

As Christians we are asked to trust in goodness, holiness, kindness.

Preparing our spirit is important, preparing our spirit to love, honor, and serve God is important.

As Christians we seek to be like the blessed poor in spirit. We seek God’s mercy, God’s compassion, God’s love.

We seek salvation, we seek eternal life.

We prepare. We pray.

Simple Thoughts About A Complicated World

Never research temptation without God’s help: pray about all things: embrace fast that which is filled with goodness, holiness, kindness.

Do not forget that others need patience and mercy. Their lives from a distance may not be the same as yours. Close-up there is similarity in feelings of hopelessness, despair, torment, pain.

Do learn how to forgive your neighbor. Do learn how to forgive yourself. Base your decisions on reverence and obedience, avoid impertinence.

The art of consumerism is the creation of angst, anxiety, apathy: these weaken and distract the mind, heart, and soul: consumerism leads to polytheism the corporation of idolatry.

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.

Choices and Prayer

There is so much antagonism and anxiety in modern life that it is difficult to decide who our enemies and persecutors are. Enemies and persecutors abound in our day to day lives. They whisper truths and half truths about us. They want to make us look silly, want to see us fall down. Sometime they even desire that we suffer bodily harm.

As Christians we must remember to always keep our faith in God, always to pray for those who are tormenting us. As Christians do not fear those who are plotting, simply forgive them and pray for them. This is in direct opposition to the Hollywood method of escalating conflict.

Prayer is always good. As Catholics we must always be prepared to pray, always be prepared for a moment of silence. We must always remember the Beatitudes, be ready to share kindness and compassion with everyone around us. We must always remember to ask God for mercy for us and for our tormentors. We must never fear the crowd, the whispering voices who are plotting against us. Simply allow your faith in and love for God be your shield.

In the United States there is an epidemic of school bullying. Children are being picked on for a variety of reasons and being called all types of names. Why do some some children bully other children? What type of homes do bullies come from?
We must always remember to pray, to pray often for this world.

This is called the Holy Place

Eternal redemption is the reward, our goal for creating and living with kindness and truth in our hearts. As Christians we must remember to give thanks and praise to God. We must always thank him for the many blessings he have given to us. We must always thank him for the many sacrifices he has made for us. The Passion of Christ should always be in the mind, heart, and soul of every Christian. We must remember that we are asked to avoid sin and to worship the living God. The conscience of each Christian must avoid the evil, fear, hate, envy; anything which would inhibit or block a relationship with God must be avoided. Prayer must be used in this time. The unblemished, loving offering of his life gives Christ an importance for all Christian; an importance and a model. We as Christians are asked to make sacrifices, to learn forgiveness, to cleanses our consciences of all vice, all evil and wicked thoughts. Satan waits to tempt everyone. No one is immune to temptation. With the help of the Holy Spirit and God we can learn how to avoid and to overcome temptation. We can learn how to nurture love, hope, kindness, goodness, holiness and truth in our entire being so that our soul may become filled with charity, humility, obedience, compassion, and mercy. Christians continually seek redemption; we continually pray for it for ourselves and for others.

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.

he would withdraw to deserted places to pray

Listening to the Liturgy of the Word should be an active process, the entire mind should be engaged with each word that is spoken during this time. The Bible is filled with activity. People are always moving around, obeying God, disobeying God. The people in the Bible are always up to something. Although the Bible does not mention texting, email, smart phones, the people of the Bible knew how to communicate with one another without using a telephone or Facebook or Twitter or Youtube. The People of the Bible were good at getting the message.

Jesus was a very busy person. He was always on the go, moving from town to town. His ministry involved motion, involved going to the people, involved listening to the people, involved serving the people. Jesus did not limit his ministry to one neighborhood in one town. He was in Nazareth, Capernaum, Bethabara, Cana, Galilee.

Two Thousand years later there is something magical, something powerful in the names of these places and the connection to Jesus. His ministry moved from the countryside to the synagogue to the countryside. His ministry moved along country roads and city streets.

His message was simple love God and love each other. His message was radical then, and is still radical now.

Even with all the moving about from town to town Jesus always found time to pray.

Christianity asks each believer, each Christian to spread the Good News, to share their blessings and gifts with others, to praise and love God each day. Christianity asks each believer to join a journey of goodness, holiness, kindness, to join a journey of faithfulness and loyalty to God.

It is important to always be attentive, to always be listening for the voice of God. Being Christian often involves a period of discernment, of contemplating, praying reflecting on how to move closer to God, on how to serve God.

Each day there are signs of the Holy Spirit in our lives, encouraging us to pray, encouraging us to help others, encouraging us to avoid temptations and distractions. Each day there are signs of the Holy Spirit directing us toward God, directing us to the path of Jesus. Each day there are signs of the Holy Spirit asking each of to be active Christians, loving and serving God, loving each other unconditionally.

Even with our busy lives of work, family, friends, volunteer activities, each Christian should find time to pray.

Each day I wonder what Nazareth, Capernaum, Bethabara, Cana, Galilee were like when Jesus was alive and moving from town to town. Each day I wonder if there is something more that I could be doing to love and serve God.

A sense of courage is needed. A sense of humor is required. Simplicity is needed. Love is required. Being Christian requires active listening, active participation. Being Christian requires gracious words, loving deeds.

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.

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.

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.

Assemble and listen - December 17, 2010

There is but one thing necessary thing in life. That is to know and love God; to have God within your heart, mind, and soul; to have the benefits of God within your entire being.

It is essential that we learn how to approach and how to adore God, both during Mass and outside of Mass, inside of a church and outside of a church. Personal resources will have to be developed to seek and to experience divinity. We must learn how to detach ourselves from our possessions, from our thoughts, from all things which might be taken, all things which might be lost. It is important, absolutely essential to understand and believe what is eternal. Everything in life which is not eternal is temporary, simply borrowed. All those things which help us gain admittance to heaven are real, are beautiful when they are used appropriately for the glory and love of God. As Christians we are asked to learn, to adore, to understand, to accept, to experience, to share, to teach about God, about his love and mercy for each of us, about loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is a responsibility. This is our duty. This is God’s law, God’s plan. When we follow it, we experience happiness, we move closer to God, closer to heaven. When we truly, honestly, deeply love and serve God nothing can stop us, not even death. The purpose of our Christian life is to develop a peaceful mind, to discover and extoll the presence of God, to discern how to better serve God. Being in communion with God, listening to and following his instruction is the goal. There is no reason to have fear. Let the love for God give you strength. Let it teach you to sacrifice, teach you to pray, teach you to love, teach you to live with the beauty and peace of the principles of fairness and social justice as taught by Jesus Christ. All moral thought and ethics will begin with love and loyalty to God. Let his will act as your guide. All greatness exists for those who do his work patiently, lovingly, gently. Being Christian means allowing and wanting God to dwell within our beings, our complete beings and wanting this completely and consciously. The potential for goodness, kindness, and holiness waits to expand within each Christian, waits for moral fairness, moral decency, moral superiority to flourish. A superiority of spirit, a kind of purity which is obtained and maintained by prayer and discernment is necessary when doing God’s work.

All of this begins with love; all is nurtured by love.

Be strong, fear not! - December 12

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. James 5:7

I meant to write this entry earlier but it was such a busy day that I spent more time at the Cathedral than I had originally planned. I participated in one Mass, photographed another Mass, photographed another celebration, photographed a Christmas present wrapping party, participated in another Mass, had pizza and photographed more gift wrapping, then photographed the choir evening concert, and then photographed happy parishioners singing Christmas carols and drinking wassail. It was a delicious day, filled with prayer, filled with thoughts about the Lord.

It was a day of standing on the marble. It was a day of giving thanks.

The day was dedicated to God. There was something nurturing and playful; there was something healthy and alive, energizing my spirituality, evangelizing my spirituality. There was so much to observe, to experience, to remember.

There were children. There was a procession. There was a recreation.

A miracle was replayed and presented in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

There is something beautiful, something immense in being a part of this parish. Each day can be an expedition leading to goodness, kindness, holiness; leading to God.


Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another? Matthew 11:3