I was just read an absolutely BRILLIANT article about multitasking and the impact it has on your spiritual life by Claire Dwyer (you can find it here– St Francis de Sales and Multitasking), and it really hit home HARD. In particular, it reminded me that in order to put “first things first”, then we need to be about those things with God, before we can even begin to attempt to do things for, or what is even better, to work alongside Him in the vineyard. I hope you find Claire’s article as thought provoking as I did, and I also […]
christina.semmens
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To assist you in your growth towards holiness… Say Yes to Holiness Newsletter #20 Greetings, my Fellow Pilgrims on the Way! Food for the Head “Let the Word of God come; let it enter the church; let it become a consuming fire, that it may burn the hay and stubble, and consume whatever is worldly; there is heavy lead of iniquity in many; let it be molten by divine fire; let the gold and silver vessels be made better, in order that understanding and speech, refined by the heat of suffering, may begin to be more precious.” — St. Ambrose […]
Today is the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, and one of my favorite quotes of his is: With this mandate of St Ignatius in mind, and on this, his feast day, I want to declare publicly to each of you what it is that drives my ministry and is the foundation upon which the Say Yes community is built. I pray that these statements may resonate with you, and inspire you to strive for holiness each and every day of your life, so we may ALL become the living, breathing, wonder-working […]
I just realized that I have neglected to post my weekly Say Yes to Holiness newsletters here on my blog in addition to sending them out as a weekly email. (Duh!) My Newsletter is designed to inspire, encourage and challenge people to strive to live lives of holiness in the midst of the challenges, joys, and struggles of daily life. I will try to rectify my oversight going forward, but in the interim, please enjoy my latest newsletter that I sent out this week. God bless! Say Yes to Holiness Newsletter #19 Greetings, my Fellow Pilgrims! Food for the Head […]
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 […]
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. […]