Tag: Authentic

Inspiration

Day 4: Honoring Those Before Us 

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Reflection by Jacquelyne Rocan

Do I remember and honor my dead family and friends?

The past few years have been filled with heartbreaking news — the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters, mass shootings, economic hardships, and the war that continues to be waged in Ukraine.  The death tolls from each of these events are reported and it is easy to be overwhelmed by the number of people that lost their lives and the impacts of those deaths on their family, friends, and communities.  

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Inspiration

Day 3: Enjoying Life

Smitten With Goodness
Reflection by Jacquelyne Rocan

Do I take time to enjoy my family and friends?

As the new year begins, I am always excited to open my new calendar and stare at the blank pages, imagining all of the wonderful events and activities that will fill the new year.  I start to write down upcoming activities, appointments, and reminders, and suddenly those blank pages are filled and I become overwhelmed with all that I believe I need to accomplish.  I look at these filled pages and become tired, before I really begin the new year.

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Inspiration

Day 2: Where Do You Turn?

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Do you turn to God in the struggle?

Recently I was in a group of trusted people receiving some feedback. A question I asked to them was how to get through feeling stuck when asked a question during a spiritual direction session. One person invited me to dig a bit deeper around the fear of feeling disappointment in not responding how the directee might expect. Another person suggested I get comfortable with the uncomfortable.  

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Inspiration

Day 1: Listening to God’s Voice

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What is God telling you to do?

God‘s presence is in all of creation and speaks to us in more ways that we can imagine. One specific way to become familiar with God’s language is by contemplating scripture, especially the gospels. 

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Acts of Goodness

Three Steps to Learn and Grow in Love

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Recovering the divine image.

The true and essential work of all religion is to help us recognize and recover the divine image in everything. It is to mirror things correctly, deeply, and fully until all things know who they are. A mirror by its nature reflects impartially, equally, effortlessly, spontaneously, and endlessly. It does not produce the image, nor does it filter the image according to its perceptions or preferences. Authentic mirroring can only call forth what is already there and what is in our heart.  We are called to love and to be God’s Light.

As Pope Francis recently said, “The Lord of life wants us to be full of life, and he tells us the secret of life: we come to possess it only by giving it away.

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