Are you searching for true joy? Has joy been missing from your life, or that of a loved one?
Joy is both a virtue and a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It provides an experience of happiness parallel to nothing else; a sense of deep contentment and satisfaction.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI shared his thoughts on this virtue in his 2012 address at World Youth day, where he stated, Read more…
What can be done to alleviate the suffering of the poor and homeless? How can one person make a meaningful difference? Caring for the poor and homeless requires that we first acknowledge that the poor and homeless exist and need assistance from you and me. Leaving the task to someone else means that we lack compassion and have only pity.
Watch this very interesting, short video, from the New York City Rescue Mission. It has received over 5 million views. I hope it has the same affect on you that it had on me: to raise your self-awareness of the plight of the poor and homeless. Read more at…
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interest immediately yet hold it as they delved deeper, look no further than St. Mary’s Messenger.
I reflect on what the short Catholic Epistle of St Jude the Apostle teaches us. Considering in particular the path dominated by sensuality and that dominated by the spirit. With a digression, courtesy of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, on the subject of the right use of Scripture as opposed to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura
Because I have a short attention span I’ve always had a soft spot for the Very Small Books in the Bible. I’m especially fond of the Old Testament books of Ruth and of Jonah. They are good stories and, apart from their religious content are full of little vignettes of human emotion from tender love to extreme crabbiness. The Very Small Books of the New Testament are more ‘difficult’ since they lack narrative and touch on deep spiritual and theological themes which you can’t really get to grips with unless you have a good working knowledge of the ideas contained in the rest of the NT. Nonetheless the Catholic Epistle of St Jude the Apostle has several things going for it, its only 25 verses long, it illustrates the wheat and tares parable of our Lord and it is attributed to the patron saint of lost causes who is an appropriate patron for this little cottage blog that dreams of international stardom.
Essentially the letter concerns the presence within the body of Christ of those who do not truly belong to it….
How can you support the sick and elderly by alleviating their suffering and pain? There are several ways to accomplish this that are up for discussion today. As with all acts of compassion, there are differing degrees of commitment of your time, talent and treasure that can be spent on the sick and elderly. I’ll start with the easy ways, and work my way up to the intense means of acting with compassion. Read more…
My husband and I answered 5 questions about marriage for Karee Santos on her blog, Can We Cana? A Community to Support Catholic Marriages. This post was part of a series.
How do you support local children? Where are the opportunities in your neighborhood or state to act with compassion? How can you enter the sphere of suffering to do what you can to alleviate that suffering, without forming judgment? Keep in mind, that at times the call to compassion may take little effort, and then again, sometimes the Lord is calling some of us to do what we think might be daunting. With that in mind, I’ll start with the easy suggestions and work my way up to the daunting ways in which you can support local children: …Read more
Easy craft with a clementine crate, fabric scraps, a single white sock, an elastic, a sharpie and some yellow yarn!
We now have an empty crib …to fill with no mess straw yarn with each good deed, sacrifice or prayer.
and…
We have an adorable Sock Jesus ready to appear on Christmas Eve.
Easy, cheap and ADORABLE!
Check it out at Equipping Catholic Families!
Sock Baby Jesus in a Clementine Crate Crib
and No Mess Straw…added this year!
Advent and the Problem of Suffering
Like many people December is for me a month when I call to mind the death of a loved one, my Mom passed away 7 December 1998. There is a sense that not being jolly at this time of year is a crime against the season. I reflect on how we can use the season of Advent as a time to prepare for the coming into our lives of Jesus, the healer of broken hearts