The Life of Virtue

My friends, I am inspired today! The Holy Spirit has been working overtime in the past twenty-four hours to reveal an essential principle to me. It certainly is amazing that revelation can happen even though we are ignorant or unexpecting. The following Scripture passage comes from yesterdays first Mass reading: The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom...it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy annd singing. ... The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.... And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35: 1-10) To...

As I meditated in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at my parish today, I came across a brilliant paragraph written by Thomas A Kempis in The Imitation of Christ . Indeed, the passage could serve as a wonderful morning prayer if one only had a few moments to spend with the Lord. Every day renew your dedication to God, arousing fervent devotion in your heart as if it were the first day of your turning back to God. Pray to Him, saying: "Help me, Lord Jesus, to persevere in my good resolutions and in Your holy service till death. Help me to begin this day well, for up to now I have done nothing. Let's ponder: what good could come about if every Christian the world over would say, and live, this prayer on a daily basis? I imagine that the world would spin out of control from all the kindness, love, and joy that would be generated. Hey, it beats the world spinning out of control from hunger, disease, murder, and moral relativism... God Bless.

I know that Pride is one of the seven capital sins, but I am really proud of our parish's RCIA team. I am proud to be associated with that team, and I am proud to be associated with each of the other members. If you would like to examine (and listen to) the work that the Lord is doing in our parish, click here for a complete list of dates and topics with links to download each weekly session . If you are able to do this, please leave a comment so that I can pass the encouraging words along to my teammates! God Bless.

We must learn it, folks! We must learn to trust Our Gracious God for all that we need for this life; and to lead us into eternal life. A quote from Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta should serve to make this point quite well: Don't give in to discouragement.... If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people's opinions. Be obedient to truth. For with humble obedience, you will never be disturbed. God Bless.