"I turn to Mary and ask her to obtain for me the grace to imitate Our Lord’s Heart. I saw how perfectly her Heart copied His."  

St. Claude de la Colombiere

FAITH IS NOT BELIEF WITHOUT PROOF, BUT TRUST WITHOUT RESERVATION.

D. Elton Trueblood

“Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing until my last evening on earth, when your Immaculate Heart will present me to the heart of Jesus in heaven, there to love and bless you and your divine Son for all eternity.” 

 Blessed John Henry Newman

God Listens

"You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear." (Lamentations 3:57)

Before we call upon the Lord, He knows that we will be calling upon Him. He is always listening with great love to all of His children.  As a loving Father He listens carefully and compassionately to all we have to say to HIm.  And in His infinite love He pours His Spirit upon us and answers in the quiet of our hearts and minds.  Every cry we make to the Lord is heard and answered.  We may not hear words, but we will get a gentle assurance that we have been heard and answered.  

We need never fear for God is always with us, loving us, blessing us, and caring for us.  We are His precious children and He will never forsake us.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for always listening to my prayers, needs, hopes and dreams.  Help me open my heart and mind to recognize when You are speaking to me and answering my prayers.  I know that You love me and care for me and I will not be afraid.  Amen.

God Listens

"You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear." (Lamentations 3:57)

Before we call upon the Lord, He knows that we will be calling upon Him. He is always listening with great love to all of His children.  As a loving Father He listens carefully and compassionately to all we have to say to HIm.  And in His infinite love He pours His Spirit upon us and answers in the quiet of our hearts and minds.  Every cry we make to the Lord is heard and answered.  We may not hear words, but we will get a gentle assurance that we have been heard and answered.  We need never fear for God is always with us, loving us, blessing us, and caring for us.  We are His precious children and He will never forsake us.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for always listening to my prayers, needs, hopes and dreams.  Help me open my heart and mind to recognize when You are speaking to me and answering my prayers.  I know that You love me and care for me and I will not be afraid.  Amen.

God sayings

Picture from: Britt Hermann

Trust in God

"Stop trusting in mere humans." (Isaiah 2:22)

It is so easy to place our trust in others at home, at work, and at school. But God calls us to go beyond trusting in mere humans to placing all our trust in Him.  God challenges us to entrust everything we are currently doing and will do to Him.  He calls us to submit completely to His will for us and to have faith that what He has planned for us is greater than and better for us than anything we could plan for ourselves.  No matter what our circumstances are we can believe that God will work everything together for our good and His glory.  Let us entrust everything to the Lord and find peace in knowing that He loves us and desires the best for us.

Prayer:

Lord I entrust all that I am doing right now and all that I have planned to do to You.  Grant me peace in knowing that You will work with me to accomplish all that You wish for me to accomplish.  I know that You love me and want what is best for me.  Thank You for taking such good care of me every day.

The Lord is Good

"The Lord is good to those who hope is in him, to the one who seeks him." (Lamentations 3:25)

When we seek the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul and trust in His providence we open our eyes to see God's loving presence in our lives. We are able to hope in all that God has promised us and believe that He will fulfill those promises.

As we turn to God, trusting in Him, He blesses us and fills us with every grace we need to live our lives loving and glorifying Him.  There is nothing He will deny us if it brings us closer to Him and helps us to be obedient to His will for our lives.

God loves us.  We are precious to Him.  He desires for us to know and experience His love and mercy. May we always seek His love and hope in His goodness.

Prayer:

Lord, You are so good to me.  Thank You for all You do for me. You always have my best interest at heart and You never cease to amaze me.  You know what I need before I do and You always bless me with Your love.  May I seek You each day and hope in You with all my heart. 

“Immaculate Heart of Mary, cause of our joy, pray for us.”  

St. Francis of Asissi

The gift of grace increases as the struggles increase.

St. Rose of Lima

We can believe what we choose.  We are answerable for what we choose to believe.

St. John Henry Newman

Evil Good and Good Evil

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil." (Isaiah 5:20)

Let me begin by saying - this is a tough scripture verse to write about.  It is clear God is warning us to not confuse good and evil and be very clear about what is right and wrong in very serious matters that can be controversial and complicated, as well as, fraught with emotion.  That being said I am going to write what I feel called to write as a Catholic Christian even if it may be perceived as unpopular or antiquated.  Please know I am no expert on any of these tough issues.  I hope I do not offend those Catholics who are on the fence about the tougher issues when it comes to Church teaching, but I do have to follow my conscience.  And to my non-Catholic, Christian followers, please realize this particular post is written from a specifically Catholic perspective.

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There are many Catholics today who ignore, disagree with or just simply choose to do that which is against Church teaching.  They believe they can pick and choose what they will and will not believe and remain sacramentally active - at least receive Holy Communion, often without having gone to Reconciliation for their blatant disregard for or choice to go against Church teaching in their lives.  Many Catholics consider the Church's stance on contraception, sexual activity outside marriage, same sex marriage, fertility, even abortion as bad or wrong.

It is not easy to be a faithful Catholic in the world today.  It takes courage, sacrifice, and fortitude to be obedient even when it costs one personally or relationally.

There is no question that many Catholics consider what was once considered evil as good and that which was good evil.  There is a lot of confusion and misperception regarding Church teachings.

As Catholics we are called to be faithful to all the Church teaches in her wisdom.  The laws and precepts of the Church are there to protect us from harming ourselves or others and to guide us to lives of grace and virtue in a chaotic, ever-changing, and complicated world.

May we as Catholic Christians see evil for what it is and good for what it is and not be misled or confused.  May we prayerfully search the Church's teachings on subjects we don't know well so that we can in good conscience, intelligently, and humbly obey them.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to discern right from wrong and good from evil.  Help me to be faithful to all the Church teaches in her wisdom even if it is unpopular or costs me personally or relationally. Guide me with Your Holy Spirit as I search to learn what the Church teaches when I do not know her stance on difficult or tough issues.  I just want to be a faithful and loving child of Yours as a Catholic Christian.  Amen.

Reflecting God

"As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart." (Proverbs 27:19)

What is in our hearts is reflected in the way we choose to live our lives.  If our hearts are full of virtue and grace our actions will be a direct reflection of that and will be evidence of God's love manifest in the world.  Our actions of love will draw souls to God and our example will be one of humble, loving submission to the will of God.

If our hearts are clouded by sin our words and actions will reflect that.  If our hearts are disturbed by our mistakes and sins let's turn to God and ask to be reconciled to Him.  Let's approach Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and allow Him to bless us with forgiveness, draw us to Himself, and change our hearts so that our words and actions will once again be a direct reflection of His loving presence within us.

Prayer:

Lord, I want my words and actions to be a direct reflection of Your love and presence within me. I want to walk humbly doing Your will and be a blessing to all those whom I meet.  Help me to draw others to You and to Your love.  Amen.

Hardships

"We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)

Life is difficult and fraught with problems but God is greater than any issue, circumstance or difficulty we face.  If we are open to and willing to accept the strength, grace, courage and patience God pours out upon us we can lovingly carry with Him any hardships we face.  Each hardship is a stepping stone towards God, towards heaven.  As we offer our pain, discomfort or suffering in unison with Jesus' for the salvation of souls we are blessed with peace, wisdom, and renewed hope.  To bear all with Christ is a joy that leads to eternal life.  May we embrace every hardship and find Love in the midst of it.

Prayer:

Lord, I ask for the grace and strength to embrace the difficulties and hardships in my life in a way that brings honor and glory to You.  May each one be a stepping stone towards a deeper more intimate relationship with You and a step towards eternal life in heaven.  Amen.

God loves us, and loves us with all His heart.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Bound and Loosed

"Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)

To harbor anger, resentment, bitterness, hatred or unforgiveness is to hold both ourselves and others bound.  In genuinely and sincerely offering these to the Lord we can find freedom, peace, forgiveness, compassion, acceptance, and understanding.  If we let go of all that holds us and others bound in life and in death we can open up to allowing God to change our hearts, minds and souls and we will discover that what was once bound is loosed.  If we allow Love Himself to bless us completely with His grace we can find within ourselves the courage and strength to let go of those things that have held us bound.  When Love permeates our very beings and fills us with the ability to surrender all of who we are to Him we find freedom, peace and joy.

Prayer:

Lord, I give to You all my resentments, all my anger, and anything I have not forgiven in myself or in others.  I want You to change my heart and bless me with Your peace and joy.  Free me and those whom I have held bound.  Thank You, Lord.  Amen.