Tag: Goodness

Inspiration

Choosing to See

Smitten With Goodness

Jesus’ parable of the wooden beam is one of his most piercing invitations. “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” The image is almost humorous and exaggerated, impossible, and yet painfully accurate. We are often far more aware of the small faults of others than the large, shaping patterns within ourselves. Not because we are malicious, but because seeing clearly is costly. It asks something of us.

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Inspiration

Stretch Out Your Hand

Smitten With Goodness

On a quiet sabbath morning, Jesus steps into the synagogue and teaches. ( Luke 6:6-11) A man with a withered hand stands nearby, not asking for anything, not drawing attention to himself. Yet Jesus sees him. He also sees the scribes and Pharisees watching, not with hope but with suspicion, waiting for a reason to accuse. Still, Jesus does not let their hostility hold him back. He brings the man forward, right into the center of the room, and asks the question that reveals everything:

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Inspiration

A Pathway to Presence

Smitten With Goodness

Labor Day invites us to pause and honor the dignity of work, not only the work done with our hands, but the work done with our hearts. Few voices speak more clearly into this moment than Brother Lawrence, the 17th‑century Carmelite whose little book, The Practice of the Presence of God, continues to reshape how we understand spirituality.

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Inspiration

Standing Together

Smitten With Goodness

There is a quiet truth about being human that we rarely name: each of us is bound by something. Some burdens are heavy and outward like poverty, oppression, the weight of systems that limit and wound. Others live deep inside such as prejudice we didn’t choose, fear we can’t quite shake, addictions we may not even recognize as shaping our days.

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Inspiration

The Good Gardener

Smitten With Goodness

There is something deeply comforting in the idea of God as the Good Gardner. There is an ancient prayer, a quiet reminder of who God is and how God moves within us. We name Him as God of might and giver of every good gift, but the heart of the prayer reveals something even more tender: God is the One who plants goodness in us and then protects what He has planted.

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Inspiration

A Hopeful Vision of Care

Smitten With Goodness

The heart of Tobit’s counsel is simple and enduring: a life rooted in goodness becomes a life aligned with God. Tobit, an exiled Israelite known for his steadfast righteousness and compassion, holds a cherished place in the Catholic Bible because his story reveals how ordinary faithfulness becomes a channel of divine blessing. His words to his son are not lofty theology; they are everyday practices that shape a holy life.

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Inspiration

Goodness: the Center of Everything

Smitten With Goodness

We are made for great things, not the loud, attention‑seeking kind, but the quiet, courageous tasks that shine with God’s goodness. St. John Eudes reminds us that we undertake these tasks not by our own strength but by the grace that flows from the One who is Goodness itself.

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