Fr. Ed and his special guest, Fr. Tom Looney, Provincial Superior of the Eastern Province of
Congregation of the Holy Cross, gave us a intriguing behind the scenes look at the Order of Holy Cross and the life of the recently canonized St. Andre Bessette of Montreal.
If you missed their discussion, you can listen at our podcast link below. St. André Bessette, pray for us!
Thursday's Women of Grace Live Radio Program
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Fr. Ed shared this beautiful quote by
Ron Quinlan on the Catholic Exchange website during today's Women of Grace live radio program. It beautifully illustrates God's deep and abiding love for us. Happy St. Valentine's Day!
My Beloved Child,
Yes, you are my beloved child. I know this is hard for you to believe. You see all your mistakes and failures, all the times you lost your temper, all the times you’ve hurt people, all the times you stayed away from me. You look at yourself and see your failures.
I look at you and see your beauty. I see the love you’ve given to those you encountered in your life. I see the times you tried to love others, all the times you’ve given of yourself. I see a beautiful person struggling to become the person you were created to be.
There is a beauty and love deep inside of you. Right now you may not see it but someday the whole world will look at you and see this rare beauty, someone very special and unique, a gift to the world — for you are my gift and my beloved child.
So often you’ve been afraid of me. You run and try to hide, hoping that I won’t notice your mistakes. So many hours you spend, doing everything you can to stay busy, too busy to think, to busy talk to me. You run away from me but I long for your company. I long to shower you with my love, to pour my blessings upon you. I yearn to comfort and console you, to be there for you in your pain. My desire is to take care of you. My passion is for you to come to me, seeking me, to know and love me — for that is why I made you.
I want you to know that I know everything you ever done — and I love you with a passion so intense that human words can not describe it. Your past is forgiven and forgotten. I remember nothing you have confessed. I passionately desire to forgive you everything. All you have to do is repent and confess.
So come to me; come so that I may pour my blessings upon you. There is so much I want to give you. I want to do so much for you. I want you to know my peace. I want to set you free from the guilt that robs you of your joy; from the fear that plagues you; from the worry and anxiety that is tearing you apart. I want you to know my joy, to know my freedom, to be secure in my love.
Come, now! There is nothing you have to change or do, no improvements you have to make before you come to me. Come as you are. I love you exactly as you are. Just, come!
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Do you struggle with worry? I know I do on occasion. Life for the Christian is a daily exercise in surrender to Divine Providence and
Venerable Solanus Casey knew this all to well. Recently, I have found the following quote from Venerable Casey to be most helpful. It is a wonderful reflection to use during your prayer time this week, especially if you are struggling with worry.
"Worry is a weakness from which very few of us are entirely free. We must be on guard against this most insidious enemy of peace of soul. Instead let us foster confidence in God, and thank Him ahead of time for whatever he chooses to send us.
If we only try to show the Dear Lord a good will and ask Him for resignation to the crosses He sends or permits to come our way, we may be sure that sooner or later they will turn out to have been just so many blessings in disguise."
Venerable Solanus Casey, pray for us.
Related Resources:
Saints of the States with Dan Lynch
The Heart of a Saint: Ten Ways to Grow Closer to God
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"The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will." St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
As a Catholic revert, it was with great joy and surprise that I was introduced to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. I, like many, at the beginning of my faith journey, viewed sainthood as something that was only attainable to priests and religious who dedicated their entire lives to prayer, fasting, and extreme penances. In other words, it wasn't for a lay person like myself. Mrs. Seton taught me differently.
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Lent is upon us. I’m wondering if you have asked yourself how you will make your Lenten preparation for Easter? It’s a good question to ask.
Life being what it is, I have often found it beneficial to come up with a plan and a strategy to help me enter more deeply into the Lenten season.
In years past, I have planned and strategized how to “give up” ---
Certain foods or treats -- don’t buy them;
Activities and recreations -- don’t go to them;
Habits and behaviors -- don’t do them.
One year I even gave up going to the mall -- don’t drive by it.
That was my longest Lent ever!
Along with the exclusions, I have often added a few inclusions: more time in prayer, study, and adoration; additional acts of charity; exchanging a bad habit with a good one.
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"
My daughter, be diligent in writing down every sentence I tell you concerning My mercy, because this is meant for a great number of souls who will profit from it."
So said Our Lord Jesus Christ to Sister M. Faustina Kowalska, a religious sister of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. And so began one of the most influential spiritual movements of our day and time -- Divine Mercy.
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Today is the Feast of the Guardian Angels.
Throughout history many poets have found the angels to be a topic of great inspiration and insight. My final post in
this short study on the angels features just such a poem. It is written by J. Corson Miller, an American poet who was born in 1883. The time of his death is unknown.
However, we do know that J. Corson Miller was a devout Catholic of whom one critic wrote, "
Imagination, passion, facility of musical and expressive word and phrase, lyrical tone -- these natural endowments are augmented by education, vision and Catholic faith."
Interestingly and not without note, Miller pledged his life to Our Lady and promised to be her "consecrated knight in deed and song." Many of his poems were written about her and to her.
As you read Miller's poem,
Hymn to the Guardian Angel, look for his profoundly Catholic worldview, his knowledge of the faith, and the imagination and passion he employs to communicate it.
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Today is the Feast Day of St. Therese of Lisieux, one of my favorite saints since childhood.
Since today is her special day and this week of my blog is dedicated to the angels, I am posting a poem St. Therese wrote to her guardian angel.
May it inspire you to seek the intercession of St. Therese and also that of your guardian angel!
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Today's post continues our short study on the angels, a perfect week to consider these marvelous and holy creatures
of God as we celebrate two feast days in their honor. We will be looking at their function and mission. I encourage you to read my earlier two posts on the angels if you haven't done so already.
St. Thomas Aquinas, called the
Angelic Doctor because of his theological and philosophical study of the angels, tells us that the hosts of heaven are divided into three hierarchies of angels with three choirs in each hierarchy. The angel’s hierarchy and choir are directly related to his function and his divine office.
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Happy Feast of the Archangels! Yesterday's post began a short study on the angels. We discussed who the angels are and who the angels are not. Today we are going to take a look at the characteristics of the angels.
Angels are marked by a number of characteristics that are specific to the angelic. First, no two angels are alike. Each of them is a separate and distinct creation, his own species if you will, and each one of them reflects a separate and distinct attribute of God’s divine perfection -- His love, His strength, His goodness. Taken all together, the angels represent the Immensity of God (
St. Michael and the Angels, pg. 12).
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