Month: January 2022

Finding God's Goodness

Week Five: The Path. The Obstacle

Smitten With Goodness

A few years ago, a friend gave me the book “The Obstacle is the Way ” which changed my perspective on how I look at difficulty in my life. I’ve always had the tendency to want to live in the comfort of a stress-free life free of problems, the world I created as a child to survive. Unfortunately, this is not a real world this side of heaven. But we are hardwired for truth, beauty and goodness and to live a life of virtue. As I think about virtue, it’s easy to be attracted to its beauty and excellence, but we rarely think about the difficulty it takes to attain it.

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Finding God's Goodness

Week Five: The Path. Vulnerability

Smitten With Goodness

Are you looking for more meaning and purpose in your life? Has your shine started to dull with the ongoing challenges we face in our world, trying to live in the balance of a new normal? Finding God’s goodness in my day to day life gives me more meaning and purpose, leading me to a deeper spiritual life. This discovery leads me to hope and a joyful heart.  There are many ways we can walk the spiritual path but recently I’ve been contemplating how vulnerability plays a role in our progress.

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Finding God's Goodness

Gift of Peace: Looking for God’s Goodness and Weekly Reflection Summary

Smitten With Goodness
Month One: The Virtue of Prudence. Valuing God and finding wisdom and peace.

Looking for God’s Goodness in contemplation and prayer.

When we seek, we find. Today provides an exercise for you to practice flexing your finding muscle. You might find goodness in the following Thanksgiving Examen as previously published here by the Center for Action and Contemplation.

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Finding God's Goodness

Week Four: Unshakeable Peace. Surrendering the struggle

Smitten With Goodness

Anxiety can wreak havoc in my life. If I allow it to, it robs me of my joy, the little bits of heaven I receive from living in the present moment. When I am preoccupied with the external events of my life, they can consume a lot of my time and energy. This keeps me from accepting the gift of peace that I am promised through my relationship with God.

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Finding God's Goodness

Week Four: Unshakeable Peace. Enjoy the Journey.

Smitten With Goodness

As I contemplate the virtue of prudence and orient my soul towards the good, I see how my actions, sparked by my faith, lead to a peaceful heart. I’m learning that my faith must grow, it needs to be sparked by desire if I am to grow in relationship with God. Like any journey, I need to prepare.

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Finding God's Goodness

Week Four: Unshakeable Peace. Larger Than Me.

Smitten With Goodness

As I orient my whole being towards God and find His goodness, I tap into the source of wisdom beyond my understanding. I tap into a source that is much larger than me. Infused with the theological gift of faith, through the Holy Spirit that lives within me, I start to understand the snippets of the divine plan that God reveals to me.

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Finding God's Goodness

Week Four: Unshakeable Peace. Asking for help.

Smitten With Goodness

The virtue of prudence orients us to the good. Over time we start to see and understand that God’s goodness is present in the details of our life. But often I need help in seeing and feeling the unshakeable peace of God’s presence.

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Finding God's Goodness

Week Four: Unshakeable Peace. The Ultimate Gift.

Smitten With Goodness

As we enter this final week reflecting on the virtue of prudence, I can feel God’s wisdom as I orient myself to His goodness.  When I seek God in the day-to-day activities of my life with great faith, I receive the ultimate gift of peace.  

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Finding God's Goodness

The Wisdom of Faith: Weekly Reflection Summary and Looking for God’s Goodness

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Week Three: Summary and Practice

Sunday – My Life Is Not About Me. Faith is an attitude of trust and how I approach God.

Monday – Finding Security. Faith is more than our greatest gift; sharing it with others is our greatest responsibility.

Tuesday – Sign of the Cross. The Spirit of God teaches us how we can live our faith.

Wednesday – Rooted and Alive. Every strong and beautiful flower must have a strong root in the ground.

Thursday – Radical Detachment. Faith allows me to live in detachment from all the ups and downs of life.

Friday – Peace of Heart. Do you accept that the goodness that God lives within your heart?

Looking for God’s Goodness in contemplation and prayer.

See if you find goodness while meditating on this Act of Faith

O my God, I firmly believe

that you are one God in three divine Persons,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I believe that your divine Son became man

and died for our sins and that he will come

to judge the living and the dead.

I believe these and all the truths

which the Holy Catholic Church teaches

because you have revealed them

who are eternal truth and wisdom,

who can neither deceive nor be deceived.

In this faith I intend to live and die.

Amen.