Category

Spirituality

Jan 29
0

Jesus Really Likes Me!

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Just as a mother loves her child not only when he is good and lovable but even when he is wicked, so too does Jesus love us in every situation. And he even likes us, though we are nothing but sinners. —St. Thérèse of Lisieux This past November I had the privilege of witnessing my little sister’s marriage. Her wedding was the third happiest day of my life, right behind my diaconate and priesthood ordinations. I confess that I “ugly-cried” when my dad walked my sister, Claire, down the aisle. That day I noticed something about the bridal proces­sion that I’ve never noticed before. When my sister was walk­ing down the aisle with my dad, everyone stood up, turned around, and looked at her . . . except for one group—the mar­ried women. They were all looking at the groom. Instead of looking at Claire, all the married women immediately…

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Jan 29
0

Prayer for My Lovely Bride of 27 Years by Brian Doyle, A Book of Uncommon Prayer

By | Marriage Enrichment, Romance, Spirituality | No Comments

May you always be as vibrant and gracious and tender as you are today. May you never again in this blessed lifetime put milk on to heat for your coffee and turn the burner on high and wander away and get absorbed in something else and have to shriek and sprint into the kitchen as you have every! single! morning! since I met you thirty years ago. May you always be as selflessly engaged and fascinated by other people and unabsorbed by yourself as you are today. May you never again lie awake sleepless worrying that the children’s struggles are totally your fault because you were not a good enough mom. May you always have those arresting blue-gray eyes exactly the color and potential fury of the sea. May you always be as graciously and kindheartedly and un-greedily you as you are today. May you someday love yourself as much…

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Dec 19
0

Prayers and Reflections from Draw Near: Daily Prayers for Advent and Christmas 2023

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  January 1 Monday in the Octave of Christmas Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Luke 2:19 The shepherds arriving after Jesus’s birth must have been a surprise. Mary and Joseph knew there was something special about the child, and Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, had said the same. But now, for the first time, this little life was touching complete strangers. And they must have looked strange—and smelled even stranger. These were outsiders, and they arrived with wide eyes and fantastical stories about the heavens opening up and a message from an angel. How did they know what was going on with this little family so far from home? When the shepherds left, they continued to share the news about shining angels coming in the night with tidings of joy and praise. According to Luke, everyone who heard their…

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Oct 17
0

Litany of Saints

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Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us. God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. Holy Mary, pray for us. Holy Mother of God, pray for us. Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us. St. Michael, pray for us. St. Gabriel, pray for us. St. Raphael, pray for us. All you holy angels and archangels, pray for us. All you holy Orders of blessed Spirits, pray for us. St. John the Baptist, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. All you holy Patriarchs and Prophets, pray for us. St. Peter, pray for us. St. Paul, pray for us. St. Andrew, pray for us. St. James, pray…

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Aug 30
2

St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910–1997)

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Known throughout the world simply as Mother Teresa, St. Teresa of Calcutta was born in Skopje, Macedonia, in 1910. As a Catholic nun, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, whose mission is to care for the poorest of the poor around the world. Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work in 1979 and was given the title “Blessed” in 2003. She was canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016. Her feast day is September 5. Prayer for Our Family Heavenly Father, you have given us a model of life in the Holy Family of Nazareth. Help us, O Loving Father, to make our family another Nazareth where love, peace, and joy reign. May it be deeply contemplative, intensely eucharistic, and vibrant with joy. Help us to stay together in joy and sorrow through family prayer. Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our…

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Jul 25
0

Prayer for a Simple Kind of Love by Haley Stewart

By | Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Meaning of Marriage, Romance, Spirituality | No Comments

I have trouble sleeping if my husband, Daniel, is out of town. The familiar sound of his breathing as he sleeps beside me is what slows my own breath and beckons me into sleep each night. After fifteen years of marriage, if he is far away it feels as if part of me is missing. “Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” This is how scripture describes the intimacy of marriage (Gn 2:23). A parent and a child are bound together by blood, but a husband and wife take on this kind of intimacy by choice, reflecting the relationship between God and the Church, his chosen Bride. Through sacramental grace, our spouse—although forever in some ways a mystery to all but God—is made intimately known to us and we to him. The differences between Daniel and me remain a source of wonder, occasional frustration, and frequent bemusement. “You…

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Mar 29
0

The Call to Change

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Today we celebrate Christ’s triumphal entrance into the holy city of Jerusalem. The crowds laid their cloaks before him and received him as a king and the hopeful fulfillment of Israel’s long wait: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord” (Lk 19:38). Immediately upon his arrival in Jerusalem, Christ proceeded to upend the comfortable rhythm of religious practice and leadership. From the cleansing of the Temple to the famous “woe to you, scribes and Pharisees” orations, it quickly became clear that Christ brought zeal for restoring right order and casting out all corruption and hypocrisy. Those who were open to Christ—which included the need to acknowledge the faults of their ways—were able to accompany him in the mighty work that had emblazoned his longing heart through all his earthly ministry. They would be the ones who would also share its fruits. Those whose hearts had…

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Feb 28
0

Turning Good Marriages into Pathways to Glory

By | Meaning of Marriage, Spirituality | No Comments

It’s a Sacrament; It’s a Vocation; It’s a Road map to Heaven! Sacramental marriage “aims at a deeply personal unity, the unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul.” —Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio Marriage can be good. With effort, it can be very good. But it takes God to make the union glorious—a foretaste of heaven, in a sense. God can help you find the glory in lifelong commitment through all the highs and lows. God calls you together, he binds you together in a mystical way through the Sacrament of Matrimony, and he sets you on the path to heaven. He wants husbands and wives to seek each other’s salvation and redemption by offering all they have without holding anything back.  Sacramental Channels of Grace  The first step in cooperating with God’s beautiful plan for our married lives is to realize…

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Aug 30
1

An Examination of Your Hearts for Married Couples

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We invite you as a couple to enter into an examination of your own hearts. Spend time asking yourself and each other where there are wounds, and after opening the tomb and exposing the dead life within you, pray with each other for freedom and joy. As you read through this examination of wounds, write down or mark in your book which wounds afflict your heart. We have started a list below. Use our list, or if the Holy Spirit brings things to light that are not written here, add them. Add all of them and leave nothing in the tomb. It’s resurrection time. We will be praying specifically into each area in the next step. Before you begin, make the Sign of the Cross and take a deep breath. Allow your hearts to enter into Christ’s peace. Invite the Holy Spirit to come and reveal what has been hidden….

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Jul 25
0

Tools for Building a Strong Marriage

By | Catholic Weddings, Communication, Family Life, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Spirituality | No Comments

For our love to be life-giving, we need to be connected with one another. Unfortunately, in today’s electronically linked world, we are sometimes more aware of the people on the other side of our phone or the Internet than of the people who are sitting in front of us: the members of our family. How can we provide for their needs and be of service to them if we are not aware of them? John: Invisible People Dave and Diane are a couple in their early thirties. Married seven years, they have two children. Dave is a successful professional, and Diane works part-time at the local library. They are a normal couple and have the problems that all couples have. As I listened to Diane and Dave describe, during a counseling session, their problems and their schedules, I formed a mental picture of their evenings’ routine. It is 7:00 p.m….

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