God expects us to love beauty and to create beauty. This is central to our commission as Christian people. It is bound up in the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
Continue reading “Beauty is Our Testimony”Beauty is Our Testimony
The Universe and God’s Law
Our universe is held together by a rhythm. Everything that moves in harmony with that rhythm thrives. The Scriptures call this the Law of God. Our goal as Christians is to align ourselves to that Law, as a community, in our personal lifestyle, and even in the way we breathe.
Continue reading “The Universe and God’s Law”A Separate Culture
“The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15)
These words were like a bolt of lightning from heaven. They fractured humanity and ripped it in two, imposing two separate kingdoms, two races, two cultures: the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of man. Too often, we fail to recognize the separateness of these two worlds. Today, as society drifts farther from the Kingdom, we share a challenge: can we rediscover what it means to be Christian?
Continue reading “A Separate Culture”A Heart at Rest
“Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22).
Joy is the byproduct of a heart at rest in God. We lack joy because we are distracted. We are troubled because our heart is fixed on everything transient and temporary. True joy comes when our heart is anchored on Jesus Christ.
Continue reading “A Heart at Rest”Listening to God
Are we training ourselves to hear God’s voice? How are we listening? Christ is the Good Shepherd. His sheep are those who know his voice.
Continue reading “Listening to God”Nostalgia for Paradise
Every heart suffers with nostalgia for paradise. Pascha is the season for cultivating that nostalgia. We must nourish it in every part of life. This nostalgia inspired St. Thomas’ holy doubt. This nostalgia makes men into saints. The same nostalgia is the part of our soul we must tap into if we wish to move deeper towards God.
Continue reading “Nostalgia for Paradise”Cherish the Joy of Pascha
Cherish the joy of Pascha. The Pascha joy fills everything, transcends everything, changes everything. It is the foundation of our Christian life. The empty tomb tore a chasm into humanity. It separated those on one side from those on the other. The first still live in the tomb, with death and sadness. The second has resurrected with Christ, into a new world, a world vibrant and sublime, where every bird and every blade of grass sings: “Christ is Risen!” Yesterday, we ended our 40 days fast. Today, we begin our forty days feast. Pascha means Passover. We pass over into a new life. Do not let the world behind extinguish the Pascha joy. Cultivate it, kindle it, feed it, from the moment you wake till the moment you sleep.
Continue reading “Cherish the Joy of Pascha”On the Back of a Donkey
An ordinary donkey carried God to His Kingdom. Our Lord enters into Jerusalem today, an entrance symbolizing His entrance into our hearts, our parish community, and the Heavenly Kingdom. Today renews the importance of the life to which we are called. But we cannot forget, in all the grandness of Palm Sunday, Christ arrives on a donkey.
Continue reading “On the Back of a Donkey”Existential Darkness
“And Moses said unto the people, ‘Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.’ And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Exodus 20:20-21).
God is mystery like a dark cloud. In order to pursue God, we have to be willing to step into that mystery. This road carries us through times of doubt, confusion, and suffering. It was the same for Moses, for the disciples, and for Christ himself on the way to Golgotha. It is the same for us.
Continue reading “Existential Darkness”The Saunter with God
How is your Lent going? It is hard to evaluate, maybe impossible. Like life, we have our own ideas of how things should go, and stuff happens. In reality, God’s grace does the healing, and His Grace is in the Life of the Church. Our part is to simply open ourselves to it. So how is God’s Grace working right now?
Continue reading “The Saunter with God”