I was reading a beautiful article by Bishop Robert Barron that described one of the key ideas of the spirituality of St Ignatius of Loyola and it is also an underlying principle and part of the rationale for why I created and made my own First Things First online course (you can check out a description of the course here). In the midst of life, I have found that it is the ability to have “eyes to see and ears to hear” how all the people, events and circumstances in my life are interconnected, in addition to seeing and hearing […]
Yearly Archives: 2019
82 posts
This article from Leilamiller.net (and also shared via SpiritualDirection.com) does a beautiful job describing not only the three stages along the path of holiness, but also provides a great synopsis of how we perceive suffering during each stage. An illuminating read for anyone striving to grow in holiness. Enjoy! Because our culture is all about rejecting the cross, and because the cross is our ladder to Heaven, I want to talk about our perception of it. It’s spiritually helpful to know that our disposition toward the cross (suffering) will depend on where we are in the interior life. Traditional Catholic […]
This is a great review of a PHENOMENAL book that I HIGHLY recommend, especially for those desiring to experience peace in the midst of daily life. A highly informative read! Lord, Jesus, may I know myself and may I know You. — St. Augustine — Read on spiritualdirection.com/2019/07/17/54978
“Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” These words from the Gospel always give me strength and encouragement, rather than condemnation or fear of judgment, particularly when I am faced with changes in my life like are going on right now in the aftermath of my mom having a stroke. When I’m faced with my cross—the one God has personally prepared especially for me, and what He will use to transform me into the saint He created me to be, I still have to be willing to take it up. Additionally, […]
Evening, my Friends! Have some news to share. First, my apologies for my absence in the last week as I have been dealing with managing the care for my mom in the aftermath of her having a stroke last Sunday. Praise be to God that she is recovering and is now doing acute rehab–3 hours a day of Occupational, Speech and Physical Therapy–so I would ask that you please keep her in your prayers in the weeks and months ahead as she works to recover. Second, I am pleased to be able to share the link to the episode of […]
I often am asked by people how it possible that the “care of the one” could possibly result in the “care of the whole.” The “Care of the one is care of the whole” is the idea that caring holistically for the needs of the one person, actually results in the eventual care of the whole community. Now in a world that is so completely captivated and focused upon the amount and number of people that can be influenced and impacted by our efforts, this “care of the one is care of the whole” idea is absolutely paradoxical in nature. […]
Greetings! Am SO very excited and pleased to announce that the folks over at Stay Close to Christ have shared my blog post, The Irreplaceable Importance of Fatherhood on their website for their audience! A link to the article on their website can be found here: Guest Post–The Irreplaceable Importance of Fatherhood If you are not familiar with the Stay Close to Christ ministry, John and Kelly Roselle from Tulsa, Oklahoma began the company after marrying in the summer of 2017. The motto “Stay Close To Christ,” came from a phrase John used in the classroom teaching Theology. The company’s […]
Two weeks after celebrating Pentecost, and more than eight weeks after Easter, to the casual observer who was to look at the daily life of many Christians, it would appear that they, along with the rest of the world, have “moved on” from remembering the great mysteries that were celebrated on the high feast days of the Sacred Triduum. For Roman Catholics, however, the liturgical year of the Church brings the great mysteries that are celebrated during the Sacred Triduum back to the forefront of our consciousness, particularly through the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi–or the Feast of […]
As Father’s Day is celebrated this weekend, it caused me to reflect upon fatherhood, and it also brought to mind something that many people might not know—the IRREPLACEABLE importance of fathers regarding the spiritual lives of children, society and the world. This statement is almost revolutionary in our “everyone is equal” world that we are living in. A world that has tried its best to negate the role of men to merely a difference in chromosome. But the facts don’t lie. Fathers DO matter. But for purposes of this post, let me focus upon what I consider to be the […]
Hello, Friends! In the spirit of helping to develop and grow in virtue each day, I am excited about a new e-course that was launched by CatholicsOnline that addresses one of the most challenging facets of our life–social media. Below is a description of the e-course from one of the course creators, Sara Estabrooks: This e-course is designed to help Catholics live out their faith more fully online, by being aware and intentional about what they post and what they consume, by setting healthy limits, and by looking for opportunities to integrate the faith with their social media use. This […]