"May the Lord make you overflow with love for one another and for all, even as our love does for you. May He strengthen your hearts...At the coming of our Lord Jesus..." -- Thes. 3:12-13 Toy collections, food drives, charity bazaars -- all common activities in communities and parishes during the Christmas season. And they are good. They help fulfill Jesus' mandate to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31).
However, this command of Jesus is subordinate to the one preceding it -- "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind."
Love of neighbor flows from love of God, and love of God is a prerequisite for a charitable action. There is a profound difference between a humanitarian act and an act of charity.
A humanitarian action, admirable as it may be, is limited in potential. Rooted in human compassion and accomplished through human incentive, it goes only as far as the individual's generosity and goodwill carry it.
Read the rest
Regional Coordinator, Treva Dillick, gives an account of Women of Grace celebrating their sacred sisterhood on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
"Three years ago the first Women of Grace Foundational Study was presented at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Doylestown Ohio. That group of 12 women decided that after each Foundational Study concludes an invitation would be sent out to every woman who has attended the study previously. The celebrations includes a cover dish dinner and the greeting of the new sacred sisters who just finished the study and are receiving their WOG certificate of completion.
Read the rest
While it is necessary for our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being for us to extend forgiveness, it is just as necessary that we seek forgiveness when we have offended another.
Read the rest
While the six steps toward forgiveness outlined by psychologists can be of great help, forgiveness itself is primarily a spiritual work that takes place deeply within the inner confines of our heart. Therefore, making use of the remedies given to us in Sacred Scripture and through Holy Mother Church are of ultimate benefits.
Today, we will look at three spiritual remedies that enable us to move along the path to forgiveness.
Read the rest
I hope that your time of prayer yesterday was a fruitful one as you began the process of forgiveness. The first three steps we discussed yesterday are fundamental to the healing process and they may need to be revisited often as you journey toward forgiveness.
Read the rest
The following letter came to us recently from one of the Women of Grace Foundational Study participants in South Florida. She had such a life changing experience with the study program that she let her pastor know about it and shared her letter with us as well.
Read the rest
Yesterday, our Advent post introduced us to seven of the most common misconceptions regarding forgiveness. It presented to us that forgiveness does not mean that we condone the hurtful behavior nor does it mean that our pain doesn't matter. It doesn't mean that once we extend it, everything is magically "okay" and it doesn't mean that we allow ill will toward us to continue. It doesn't mean that we stay in an abusive or harmful situation nor does it mean that a just resolution to our situation is unnecessary. And, it does not mean that we
feel forgiveness.
Read the rest
"For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).The whole purpose of Christmas is reconciliation. Through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, His passion, death, and resurrection, God's mercy flowed into the world, the breach of original sin was mended, and fellowship between God and man was restored. Each Christmas commemorates again this wondrous gift of reconciliation and love.
Read the rest
I have often been amazed at how God answers a particular question, responds to a petition, or gives me guidance on a specific issue through Sacred Scripture. The reality of this points to a great truth -- God is always seeking to reveal Himself and His will to us. In fact, one spiritual writer tells us that God already had us in mind when He inspired the evangelists in their writings. Consider this as you pray the Scriptures using
Read the rest
Hopefully, your experience of praying Holy Scripture using the Lectio-Divina form of prayer was a good one. However, it can take a bit of perseverance if this is new to you. Do not be discouraged, but continue to call upon the assistance of the Holy Spirit.
Read the rest
