Month: December 2023

Inspiration

Advent Day 11: The Spirit of Goodness

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, Reflect, Respond

Read: Selfless desire to be generous to others. Ephesians 5:8-10

Reflect: Goodness is a gift of the Holy Spirit when we renounce evil and strive to do God’s will. What exactly is goodness? The word good is used so frequently in our everyday lives that it almost loses its meaning. For example, how many times a day do we say, good morning and good luck and good job? But the Bible tells us that the word good actually means holy, pure and righteousness. Literally goodness is godliness.Goodness comes from living a life of virtue, of good habits. At the end of the day, the foundational or cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance are the only things within our human power to control. Like a muscle, these powers get stronger when used. Virtue allows us to perfect our thoughts and our actions, have courage, and moderate our desires and passions. Infused by grace, we bear the fruits of the Spirit. We become smitten with goodness. We are drawn to more goodness and drawn away from the attractions of the world.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23:6

Respond: Lord, help me to be a person of great integrity—the same inside and out.

Inspiration

Advent Day 10: The Spirit of Kindness

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, Reflect, Respond

Read: Merciful, gracious, and tender temperament. Jeremiah 9:23-24

Reflect: Kindness is a gift of the Holy Spirit when we give with a merciful and compassionate heart. What is kindness? It can be difficult to define such a vague word. When thinking about kindness, I usually think of a warm and friendly disposition toward another person. It is going out of your way to help others. It is showing gentleness and compassion towards everyone around you. A kind person is polite and well mannered, respectful, considerate, pleasant, agreeable, cheerful, upbeat, caring, helpful, positive, and complimentary. But the fruit of kindness, also known as benignity, is more about being kind to and tolerant toward others and is more than a simple smile or a generous act. It is shown out of a deep-rooted love. The kind of love a parent shows their child, unconditionally and eternally. Kindness is having a heart that is willing to do acts of compassion and give to others above and beyond what we owe to them. True kindness is aligned closely with forgiveness.

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

Respond: Today, I will practice many acts of kindness and gentle charity toward those I like the least.

Inspiration

Advent Day 9:The Spirit of Patience

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, Reflect, Respond

Read:

Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly. 

Proverbs 14:29  

Reflect:

Patience allows us to have compassion for people despite their flaws and weaknesses. This fruit comes from an understanding of our own imperfect state and how God has given us His unconditional love and mercy so we should do the same for others. Patience is the virtue of suffering interruption or delay with composure and without complaint; to suffer annoyance, insult, or mistreatment with self-restraint, refusing to be provoked and to suffer burdens and difficult tasks with resolve and determination. It is also the willingness to slow down for another’s benefit, to set aside one’s personal plans and concerns, to go at another’s pace, and to take whatever time is necessary to address their needs.  Patience is waiting with grace, and it is what enables us to live in this demanding world and still have love, joy, and peace, and all the other fruits of the Spirit. But patience is much easier said than done

Respond:

Love is patient and I have so many opportunities to practice patience. It is not easy.  Holy Spirit, help me find the calm within that helps me and gives me patience to love others, myself and you.  May I endure the cross of impatience by slowing down, breathing deeply and being confident you are my God. 

Inspiration

Advent Day 8: The Spirit of Peace

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, Reflect, Respond

Read:

Contentment and unity between others.

John 16:33

Reflect:

Peace is a gift of the Holy Spirit when we live in harmony, putting our complete trust in God. True freedom and real peace can only be found in the person of Jesus Christ. Nothing else will free us from the disturbances, worry or anxiety of our life. When we know the Prince of Peace, we are blessed with His peace. We are united with Him bringing love, joy, and peace into our hurting world. In peace, the Spirit rests.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; Where there is hatred, let me sow charity; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is error, the truth; Where there is doubt, the faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; and Where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying to ourselves that we are born to eternal life. Amen

St. Francis of Assisi

Respond:

Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace.

Inspiration

Advent Day 7: The Spirit of Joy

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, Reflect, Respond

Read:

Gladness not based on circumstances. 1 Peter 1:8-9

Reflect:

Joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit when we delight in living an eternally ordered life. When our joy comes from knowing and loving Jesus, we have meaning and purpose. Our eyes are focused on what is important and the storms of life are less likely to throw us off balance. We believe and He fills us with an inexpressible and glorious joy!

Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ.

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium

Respond:

Help us seek the values that will bring us lasting joy in this changing world. In our desire for what you promise to make us one in mind and heart. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Inspiration

Advent Day 6: The Spirit of Charity

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, Reflect, Respond

Read:

Commitment to the wellbeing of others no matter what. 1 John 4:7-12

Reflect:

Charity is a gift of the Holy Spirit when we unconditionally love God and our neighbors. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . . . If we are children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. We must love the Lord your God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5) and be committed to the wellbeing of others; seeking good for all people, no matter what. (1 John 4:7-12)

We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become.

St. Claire of Assisi

Respond:

The Spirit lives. Let Your good Spirit lead me on a level path.

Inspiration

Advent Day 5: Where I’m Supposed to Be

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent.
Read, Reflect, Respond

Read:

Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. Romans 13:14

Reflect:

So much of sin is a product of our pride and ego, thinking that we know more and what is best rather than surrendering to God who has knowledge of the whole plan of eternity. We have expectations that life should be a certain way rather than treating each day and breath as a gift. When I’m jealous of what others have, or live in excitement of the next party or relationship to ease the hole inside me that only God can fill, I create division in myself and become divided for the divine within. I must resist the work of the flesh of envy, drunkenness, and carousing which lead me away from you God. Let my mustard seed of faith grow my confidence in you allowing me to accept that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.

More souls go to Hell because of the sins of the flesh than any other reason.

Our Lady of Fatima

Respond:

Lord, because nothing but my self-will separates me from you, call me to love you more than anything so I can be aligned with you.

Inspiration

Advent Day 4: Building Healthy Walls

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent.
Read, Reflect, Respond

Scripture: A man without self-control is like a city broken into without walls. Proverbs 25:28

Reflection: We live in an impulsive world full of toleration. It’s the I’m OK, You’re OK culture. Our society doesn’t have a north star or know how to define truth. This promotes ignorance and lack of healthy boundaries. It breeds dysfunctional marriages, families, relationships, communities (including faith), countries and the world. Works of the flesh like hatred, strife, rivalry, jealousy, anger, rage and selfishness cause division, creating fractured families and communities. Evil divides while God unites. Do I build healthy walls in my life based on virtue, humility, modesty, and self-restraint?

Wise Words: It is by resistance to temptations that we give God proof of our love. St. John Vianney

Prayer: Lord, give me the self-restraint to respect any holy boundaries I need to set today.

Inspiration

Advent Day 3: The One True God

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent.
Read, Reflect, Respond

Read:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

Reflect:

The next two sins of the flesh, idolatry and sorcery, are when we fail to praise and thank God for His goodness. We worship things, like power, wealth, and status more than our Creator. Coveting is idolatry as it reveals desires that rule in human hearts, so that the desired thing takes precedence over God. With Piety or Reverence, we have a deep sense of respect for God and the church. It is in this posture that I recognize my total reliance on God and come before Him with humility, trust, and love. Piety is the gift, at the Holy Spirit’s instigation, where we pay worship and duty to God as our Father. It is also the perfection of the virtue of religion. While we tend to think of religion today as the external elements of our faith, it really means the willingness to worship and to serve God. Piety takes that willingness beyond a sense of duty, so that we desire to worship God and to serve Him out of love, similar to the way that we desire to honor our parents and do what they wish. True piety instills in us a desire always to do that which is pleasing to God.

Wise Words:

The closer one approaches God, the simpler one becomes.

St. Teresa of Avila

Respond:

Lord, help me to contemplate you as my heavenly Father and grow in reverence towards You.

Inspiration

Advent Day 2: Sins of the Flesh

Smitten With Goodness
Preparing our heart in Advent. Read, reflect, respond.

Read:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, and they are: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality” Galatians 5:19

Reflect:

Identifying works of the flesh does not demand extraordinary spiritual discernment. We can clearly see they center around sexual sin. Think about ordering your physical appetite according to your vocation in life. When we lack restraint with our passions and our thoughts, we can start down the slippery slope of considering others as mere objects to fulfill our desires. Ask yourself, do any of my thoughts, words or actions go against the beliefs of my faith? Does my heart hold any strong cravings or desires that are impure? How does my behavior, including the entertainment I consume, reflect my values and nourish my soul?

Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow. St. Augustine

Respond:

Today, Lord, please purify any of my desires that do not come from You.