Month: April 2023

Inspiration

God Is Calling Your Name

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

Sometimes we may be caught up in grief, despair, and distractions, and we need to hear God’s voice.  We forget that as Christians, this life is one of rejoicing. No matter what weighs us down we have the gift of faith. We have confidence in a God that has been with us, for all time, and continues to show his grace and mercy. One that calls us home at the end of our earthly lives.  Close your eyes, take a breath, and imagine Jesus calling your name today.

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Inspiration

Recognizing the Living Christ

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

This Easter season, I feel like Mary Magdalene weeping by the tomb of the risen Lord. She stays near to where she knows Jesus to be but when she sees Him, she doesn’t recognize Him immediately. But she knows, deep down and by the sound of His voice. 

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Inspiration

What Easter is Really About

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

In the following Lenten reflection by Joan Chittister, OSB, from In the Light of the Messengers, we see the reality of the struggle between living in the dark and the light:

“The true division of humanity,” Victor Hugo wrote in Les Miserables, “is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness.” Victor Hugo, it seems, understood Easter.

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Inspiration

Witness to the Resurrection

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

How has the witness of the Resurrection touched you this Easter season? 

Jesus goes into the kingdom of death and brings to that dark place the light of God—and more to the point, He brings the power of God, and with this power, He breaks the hold that death has over us. In the language of the Church Fathers, Jesus has tied up and defeated the devil, thereby freeing us from the one who held us for ransom. Thus the Resurrection of Jesus is the declaration of victory over this terrible power. All of the Gospel accounts mention the huge stone rolled across the entrance of Jesus’ tomb. This seems to stand for the awful finality of death but in Jesus’ victory, that stone is effortlessly rolled away.

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Inspiration

Five Life Changing Words

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

Today we celebrate the Divine Mercy, the devotion to the merciful love of God and our desire to let that love and mercy flow our own heart towards those who need it. There is no denying that we are living in challenging times my friends.  Living through the pandemic and all its challenges that have been exposed has been tough.  From job loss, health crisis, identity crisis and watching the social injustice, it is easy to become hopeless and feel like there is nothing one person can do.  But there is.  Each and every one of us can say these five words which will profoundly impact our world:

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Inspiration

Humble Love

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

Prayer, humility, and charity towards all are essential in the Christian life: they are the path to holiness. Our quest is to learn how to love God with our whole being.  We distance ourselves from this truth and we struggle to love God in such a humble way.  This is the spiritual battle. St Brigid of Ireland provides us with how God wants us to love Him:

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Inspiration

Patience Is The Call

Smitten With Goodness
Reflections for contemplative living

As we complete our Lenten journey, the importance of our spiritual well-being is fresh on our minds and of highest priority. It reminds us that death is certain; life is short and vanishes like smoke. We must fix our minds on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and eternal things. 

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