Month: May 2024

Teach Us To Pray

Closer than You Think

Smitten With Goodness
Season of neediness in prayer

The Church celebrates St. Catherine of Siena this week and quotes from her writings are relevant to us today. Meredith Frediani shares her perspective on one of her popular quotes.

The soul is in God and God is in the soul.  God is closer to us than water is to a fish.

He is with us. He is within us. When we cry, he showers love down on us. When we rejoice, he dances too. He created us to desire him. We are restless without him. He knows us better than we know us. He created us with purpose and intent. When we doubt, when we fear, when we do not know what to do, we can call to him and he will remind us that he never left. A fish pulls oxygen out of water to breathe. God is closer. God is our breath. He sustains us. 

Lord, thank you for always being close to us, closer than we can possibly imagine. Help me be steadfast in knowing You sustain us and our soul rests in You. Amen

Teach Us To Pray

Wonderfully Made

Smitten With Goodness
Season of neediness in prayer

The Church celebrates St. Catherine of Siena this week and quotes from her writings are relevant to us today. Meredith Frediani shares her perspective on one of her popular quotes.

“These tiny ants have proceeded from his thoughts just as much as I. It caused him just as much trouble to create the angels as these animals and the flowers on the trees.”

When I wake up at night for no good reason, I reflect on God’s creation. When I look up at the stars I don’t feel small. I feel awe. I feel amazed that I get to be part of all of this.

God had a big pile of nothing and from it he created everything. All of it fits together perfectly. Everything has a purpose and it is vast beyond our ability to comprehend. There are giant planets and huge rocks flying through space. And if I imagine a big funnel I can think about that enormity gradually becoming smaller: our planet, the oceans, the land, the animals, the people, the ants. 

The same God who made Jupiter made bugs, and both are necessary and needed in his plan. I don’t understand why it is important for there to be centipedes. They only serve to startle me as they dash across my bathroom floor but God made them. The oceans are miles deep and contain creatures we do not even know about yet. The forests are full of flora and fauna of an endless variety. There is weather! Why? Why can’t it always be sunny and 75 degrees? I don’t know, but that’s what God wanted. 

And we get to live here with all of it because he created us too. 

Lord, I am wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and I praise You for that. I praise You for Your generosity in giving us this beautiful place to live. Amen