Tag: Catholic

Faith is believing in the unseen until it can be seen or known. We are given faith by our birthright but living in our humanity, it can be hard at times to practice this, especially when it comes to valuing and accepting my body. I’ve always struggled with accepting my body and the current limitations of aging are no exception. But by faith, I’m surrendering to acceptance that I’m where I need to be, right now, exactly where I am. Whether I weigh more than I did six months ago, can’t do the yoga that I love due to a bad knee or am recovering from Covid and need to take it easy, I’m accepting I’m where I need to be today. Acceptance is a mindset.

Looking for God’s Goodness in contemplation and prayer. A Contemplation on Honoring the Body.

The practice of honoring the body is born of the confidence that our bodies are made in the image of God’s own goodness. As the place where the divine presence dwells, our bodies are worthy of care and blessing and ought never to be degraded or exploited. It is through our daily bodily acts that we might live more fully into the sacredness of our bodies and the bodies of others.

My body is a gift to God and to others. How will I honor this gift today?

If I’m not separate from my God, why does my thinking say otherwise? If I’m not attached firmly to the spirit then I’m living a disconnected life. A life where my base desires run the show, usually wanting more, more, more.

Episcopal priest and Center for Action and Contemplation teacher emerita Cynthia Bourgeault writes of the difference between our modern understanding of emotions and the teachings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers in the following reflection:

In contemplating Rembrandt’s painting of The Prodigal Son, do you identify with the younger son or the older son from the Parable of Two Brothers that we know so well from the Gospel of Luke (15:11-32)?

Embodiment, which is a key element of identity or a sense of self, is the experience of one’s body in the world. The experience of being embodied signifies a consciousness of the feelings and sensations within one’s body, especially as it relates to the outer world. Embodiment is not just awareness of the body as an object; rather, it is awareness as a body.

Looking for God’s Goodness in contemplation and prayer.  Temperance in a Modern World. Acquiring virtue. In the face of all the inducements against the practice of temperance that the world throws at us today, how can people hope to acquire this indispensable virtue?

I’ve always been stubborn and sometimes it takes a big smack on the head to get my attention. After successfully avoiding Covid for two and a half years, I finally got a mild case and am recovering. However, in this space of isolation, I can see clearly how the “achiever” in me has gotten caught up in the “doing” since returning to work and living a post Covid life. I’ve let all this interfere with my “being”. “Being” allows me to listen to the whisper of God’s voice, feel secure in who I am and “whose” I am. It keeps me from taking on the weight of the world.