Loving Jesus

 

FRANKLY, I feel unworthy of writing on the present subject, as one who has loved the Lord so poorly. Everyday I set out to love Him, but by the time I enter an examination of conscience, I find that I have loved myself more. And the words of St. Paul become my own:Continue reading

Finding Jesus

 

WALKING along the Sea of Galilee one morning, I wondered how it was possible that Jesus was so rejected and even tortured and killed. I mean, here was One who not only loved, but was love itself: “for God is love.” [1]1 John 4:8 Every breath then, every word, every glance, every thought, every moment was imbued with Divine Love, so much so that hardened sinners would simply leave everything at once at the mere sound of his voice.Continue reading

Footnotes

Footnotes
1 1 John 4:8

The Crisis Behind the Crisis

 

To repent is to not just acknowledge that I have done wrong;
it is to turn my back on the wrong and start incarnating the Gospel.
On this hinges the future of Christianity in the world today.
The world does not believe what Christ taught
because we do not incarnate it. 
—Servant of God Catherine Doherty, from Kiss of Christ

 

THE Church’s greatest moral crisis continues to escalate in our times. This has resulted in “lay inquisitions” led by Catholic media, calls for sweeping reforms, an overhaul of alert systems, updated procedures, the excommunication of bishops, and so forth. But all of this fails to recognize the real root of the problem and why every “fix” proposed thus far, no matter how backed by righteous indignation and sound reason, fails to deal with the crisis within the crisis.Continue reading

Co-workers in Christ’s Vineyard

Mark Mallett by the Sea of Galilee

 

Now is above all the hour of the lay faithful,
who, by their specific vocation to shape the secular world in accordance with the Gospel,
are called to carry forward the Church’s prophetic mission
by evangelizing the various spheres of family,
social, professional and cultural life.

—POPE JOHN PAUL II, Address to the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Indianapolis, Chicago
and Milwaukee
on their “Ad Limina” visit, May 28th, 2004

 

I want to continue to reflect on the theme of evangelization as we move forward. But before I do, there is a practical message I need to repeat.Continue reading

In the Footsteps of St. John

St. John resting on the breast of Christ, (John 13:23)

 

AS you read this, I am on a flight to the Holy Land to embark on a pilgrimage. I am going to take the next twelve days to lean upon the breast of Christ at His Last Supper… to enter Gethsemane to “watch and pray”… and to stand in the silence of Calvary to draw strength from the Cross and Our Lady. This will be my last writing until I return.Continue reading