Tag: Love

Being Loved

Awaken the Memory of Hope

Smitten With Goodness

“Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope.”
—Pope Benedict XVI

Hope begins not in our striving but in remembering. As we light the first candle on our Advent wreath this week. We are called back to the tender truth that God entered our world as a child, fragile, dependent, and utterly human. This memory heals because it reminds us that God is not distant from our daily lives but has chosen to dwell within us.

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Being Loved

Awake to the Whole: Advent Hope

Smitten With Goodness

“You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light…” (Eph 5:8)
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Eph 5:14)

Advent is a season of awakening—not only to the light, but also to the truth that darkness has shaped us. Saint Paul reminds us that we were once darkness, yet now we are light in the Lord. Hope does not erase the night; it transforms it.

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Being Loved

Awake to Hope This Advent

Smitten With Goodness

“It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Rom 13:11)

Advent begins with a summons: awake. Saint Paul’s words stir us from the slumber of routine and distraction, reminding us that the Lord’s coming is not a distant dream but a near and living reality. Salvation is closer than we imagine, and hope is not deferred—it is dawning.

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Being Loved

Breaking Open With Love and Hope

Smitten With Goodness

The deepest struggle in marriage is not money, miscommunication, or even differences in personality—it is hardness of heart. When our hearts grow hard, we stop listening, stop forgiving, and let the sorrowful mysteries of life overwhelm us. Instead of turning toward one another, we retreat into silence or resentment.

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Being Loved

Discernment and Decision

Smitten With Goodness

Do you need the grace of courage?

In Luke 16:1–8, Jesus tells a surprising parable: a dishonest steward is praised—not for his cheating, but for his resolve. Faced with crisis, he examines his situation, acknowledges his weakness, and acts decisively. Jesus invites us to do the same—not in cunning, but in spiritual courage.

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Being Loved

Get Hinged to Hope This Advent

Smitten With Goodness

The season of Advent invites us into a sacred rhythm of waiting, expectation, and discovery. It is more than a countdown to Christmas-it is a time to pause, reflect, and rediscover the deeper meaning woven into these weeks of preparation. In that spirit, I’m delighted to share the Hinges of Hope Advent Retreat guided by Fr. Hung Pham, SJ.  This retreat offers a space to gather with friends from across the globe, to breathe deeply, to ponder our deepest hopes, and to reflect on how the “doors” of our lives might open wider to grace, to love, and to one another. You’re warmly invited to register here for the ZOOM session and step into this journey of reflection.

As we begin Advent, I offer you the following meditation on Holy Doors, a journey through the door of Christ.

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Being Loved

Thanksgiving: The Lived Experience of God

Smitten With Goodness

Our spiritual life is most deeply shaped not by abstract ideas, but by lived experience. The divine is the depth dimension of everything that exists—God as Being itself, dwelling at the core of who we are. When we discover a place of at-homeness within ourselves, we awaken to the unique God-dimension planted in each soul.

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Being Loved

What Are We Really Paying Attention To?

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Every day, our attention is under siege. Notifications buzz, headlines flash, algorithms whisper, “Look here.” Social media, phones, and the endless scroll of the internet promise connection, entertainment, even meaning. But in the rush to consume, are we missing what truly matters?

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