True confession – my nickname growing up was ,Worry Wart. It’s funny how my father could see in me a part of myself that I couldn’t see. That is the beauty of sacred loving relationships. Many years later, I was ready to accept that part of myself…the planner, the controller, the worrier. It made me successful in the eyes of the world, but it didn’t serve ME well.
Continue reading “Week Two: Lifelong Learning. Taking a Break from Worry”Recently I’ve been meditating on the truth that “It is not that we have loved God, but that he first loved us.” (John 4:10) On some level, yet again, I thought it was all up to me, thinking I needed to earn God’s love. God is God and He loves me even should I not love Him. This has been a hard concept for me to understand.
Continue reading “Week Two: Lifelong Learning. Already Loved”Do ever find yourself pushing too hard and challenged to take care of yourself? Putting your oxygen mask on last, rather than first?
Continue reading “Week Two: Lifelong Learning. Greatness Within”The way we learn the ways of the Spirit, including forming virtue in our soul, is through prayer. I find the most difficult part of learning the ways of the Spirit is that I get in my own way. My self-reliance, pride, or “it’s all up to me” mentality are all road blocks that keep me from where I want to be. They keep me in worry and anxiety which harden my heart. But in prayer and finding God’s goodness, I learn what it means to have the virtue of a humble heart. And with grace, I will be where I need to be.
Continue reading “Week Two: Lifelong Learning. A Humble Heart”Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. After Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and He heard “you are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:15-16) How often do you hear God’s voice saying this to you? Baptism is a work of God accepting us as we are. There is nothing we can do or fail to do that will damage this relationship. By virtue of our baptism, we have the Holy Spirit within us revealing the mysterious ways of God. Our job is to have the courage to get comfortable with silence and listen. The voice that says ” I am God’s beloved child called and sent to make a difference in the world.” This is our lifelong learning, the theme of this week.
Continue reading “Week Two: Lifelong Learning. Sacred Silence.”Sunday – Day by Day Finding God’s Goodness. Spending just five minutes each day in prayer, meditation, reflection on God’s word and the examples of the saints, we can awaken our hearts to this goodness.
Monday – Choosing Wisely. Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it.
Tuesday – Believing God is Goodness. “Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do.” — St. Thomas Aquinas
Wednesday – Learning Peaceful Ways. “Lord, make me know your ways. Lord, teach me your paths. Make me walk in your truth and teach me: for you are God my savior.” Psalm 25
Thursday – The Superpower of Curiosity. “Fear (or awe) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, understanding marks all who attain it. “Psalm 111:10
Friday – Meaningful Priorities. “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself” (Matthew 6:34).
Jesus, artful Master of Parables,
Your prudence eluded the hypocrites.
Your actions were known before creation,
Displaying all the wisdom of Your prudence.
Eternity must have attended to minutia.
Being prudent in Your best interest,
You considered all potential consequences,
Securing the outcome of Your earthly life.
Grant me the prudence to always be cautious
And sensitive to the basic needs of others.
Jesus, You have shown great foresight,
Prudence truly originates from Your Being.
A few years ago, I never really thought much about God’s goodness. Sure, I was grateful and felt like I was living a good Christian life, but I never really understood what was available to me and the impact it could have on my perspective and my heart. My disordered thinking deceived me into thinking that living life was all within my control where I was able to freely chart my destiny. Looking back, I can see how self-absorbed I was. In a nutshell, I don’t think I wholeheartedly trusted God’s goodness.
Continue reading “Believing God is Goodness”
It is difficult to pursue the good life or virtuous life if I don’t know what virtue is. It’s been fascinating to explore the teachings on virtue of our early church fathers as their simplicity resonates with me. Even stoic philosophers like Marcus Aurelius found the virtues an extraordinary thing indeed!
Continue reading “Choosing Wisely”
With the weight of the past few years, do you feel you’ve been living the good life? How would you like to spend a few minutes each day cultivating a life worth living. Living the good life is the journey to find the divine within. It’s not so much looking outside ourselves but inviting our Creator to reveal the goodness present in the day-to-day moments of our life. Too often we are hurried, unconscious or unaware of the gifts of peace, hope and joy that are ours for the taking if only we seek the things that feed our soul such as our relationship with God. The whole of the Bible is about how we can restore and build this relationship with the Divine. God, who is always good, constantly seeks us and is ever present. It is we who turn away, following our own agenda and trying to fill a God-size hole with things other than grace and divine love.
Continue reading “Day by Day Finding God’s Goodness”
Continue reading “Gift of Goodness – January 1, 2022”And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Luke 2:19
Smitten With Goodness 