Seek the Truth in Jesus

One of the best things that I have learned since my conversion is to seek the truth in Jesus. This is hard to do. It requires using the conscience, allowing a little time to pass before speaking or acting, allowing time for prayer and reflection. By nature I am often an act first think later type of person. Being Christian involves so much thought, so much analyzation as I try to apply the Beatitudes to my daily routine, as I try to love my neighbor as I love myself, as I try and follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

The world presents great, unending sorrow, turbulent anxiety, tempestuous anguish to direct our gaze away from Jesus Christ. The secular world encourages a life based upon uneasiness and fear, self-centered and selfish. Everything is temporal. Everything is needed now.

As Catholics we are the adopted children of God. We share covenants with God. Each day of our lives hopefully presents a moment to give God praise and glory. It is not always easy to follow the law, but having God’s law and striving to be obedient to it, to follow it does give me comfort, does lead me toward salvation, does make me think more.

Each day provides an opportunity to become closer to God, to learn more about God, to learn how to nurture and strengthen my spiritual life.

Seek the truth in Jesus. Allow yourself time to see all of the beauty and goodness around you. Allow yourself time to relax and enjoy the presence of God in your life. This might take a little while. There are so many distractions and diversions in our lives. We sometimes need to have a moment of actual silence and solitude away from everything, everyone, every gadget, every bit of technological wizardry which connects us to distant computer servers. We need to tune our ears so that we can reap the benefits of spiritual silence, so we can hear and answer God whenever he calls.

Being Christian is often difficult. It is easy to forget kindness and peace. It is easy to toss wisecracks, ignore the suffering of others, stir of trouble with a smile and downcast eyes. Being Catholic presents an opportunity for renewal, for peace; the Eucharist gives our lives a special and unique majesty. Each Mass is both a memorial and sacrificial celebration. Each Mass reminds me that I am human, that I am a sinner and then encourages me to do better, to turn away from sin.

Turning away from sin is difficult unless you seek the truth in Jesus.

Being the Best Christians

Discernment and vocation are connected. Discernment is not limited to becoming a priest, becoming a nun, getting more.

Discernment is the process where each individual Christian strives to become a better Christian, a better person. Discernment does not stop at ordination or when vows are said. It continues.

Discernment continues each day of our lives as we learn how to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

All Catholics are encouraged to try and be the best Christians who follow God's commandments and who create lives based upon the social justice teachings of Jesus Christ.

Simple Text

Being a Christian is a state of loving and praying and remembering and

Seeing God

Starting a project is often a time of diffidence, a time to have all thoughts of insufficiency, inadequacy, inability revived.

Although each Christian is asked to love and obey God, there are many different ways to accomplish this. Each person has the responsibility of finding the correct way, the way which God wants them to do his will. Each person creates many varied definitions and descriptions of God based upon modern Hollywood cinematic imaginations, classical literature, paintings and sculpture. All contain both art and beauty. All present creatively inclusive hypotheses relating to God. Science and commerce encourage the thought, the desire for solid, tangible items. It is always necessary to remember that not everything is seen, not everything is understand. Human beings exist as much by luck as by science. God's existence is not an aesthetic problem to be solved, it is a reality to provide strength, confidence, courage as needed which and to constantly, continually teach us to love. To understand the mystery of God is to understand the mystery of love.

There is a tendency to aestheticize the image of God while forgetting the work of God, forgetting that obedience and sacrifice are part of being children of God.

Discernment is often a time of diffidence as many questions are asked and many answers and solutions are suggested. The life of a Christian affords the opportunity for continual discernment, continual striving to serve God, continual attempts to become closer to God, continual desire to serve God.

Discernment helps each Christian plan a part of the journey to God but continual discernment is necessary to receive eternal salvation. Each Christian is asked to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, to create a life based on Christ's social justice teachings.

There might be both difficulty and uncertainty attached to discernment. Learning to serve the Lord asks for patience, sacrifice. This is a time of mystery and exploration as we search to hear God's voice, search to see God's face.

This search can and will last a lifetime.

Summer of Mercy 2.0 - Rosary Procession

The remarkable love of virtue and life and the zeal for following in the footsteps inspired parishioners from the Archdiocese of Washington to attend a special Mass on August 3 at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle. This Mass was Summer of Mercy 2.0 event. It was an illustrious moment of prayer and reflection and diligence. 

Approximately one hundred people joined the procession and said prayers while walking on the narrow rush hour sidewalks. What a great moment of catechesis! One hundred people moving through the streets of Washington reverently praying and reflecting.

Understanding

Discernment requires both theological and philosophical truth and understanding to find the vocation path of humility, loyalty, obedience, and truth. This endeavor has no clearcut timeline, no average time to completion. It is a time of civility and charity; it is the business of hope. Each discernment is acknowledged and encouraged by God. The practice of each vocation search is varied. There is not just one way to discern how to serve the Lord, how to decide upon a heaven bound path. The business of faith is the business of vocation, the journey toward God, the journey toward salvation. Each search for vocation is a search for honor, charity, mercy leading to a higher ground of service and adoration of God. Discernment is a period when we downplay and forget wanting silver and gold. Discernment asks for truth, discernment requires a strong love, unconditional, universal. Here is the time to develop the confidence to believe in God, to develop the courage to declare and affirm the belief, to develop the ability to bring the belief alive with personal sacrifice. Discernment can be a course, winding and crooked, dark and shadowy; it is a mixture of both truth and untruth, dream and nightmare. All that is within the heart, mind, and soul will be represented during discernment. Allow love and honor to govern your heart, mind, and soul. Remember to be humble. This is a time for theological inquiry and reason. This is a time to reflect upon walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. This is a time of holiness and grace. Discernment is the search for faith signatures in our lives; vocation is how we want to share, how we allow ourselves share our faith.

Daily Discernment - All Love

Being Christian asks us to be better, to do more. Our intentions are as important as our actions in the sight of God. How we live, how we love is important. Being Christian does not imply being perfect. Being Christian is not synonymous with being sinless. Both the exterior and interior views are important to God. We are called to be good, to love our neighbor. Modern society likes to create false gods, false temples to lead us toward pagan thoughts which will lead us away from love, away from God.