GOOD NEWS SPIRITUALITY is based on an acceptance of God’s love. Abraham, in freeing himself from his pagan roots, could not have made his prodigious leap of faith without first having experienced and accepted God’s unconditional love.
As Fr. Freeh pointed out, just because something’s a mystery, doesn’t mean it’s not real. Love can’t be weighed or measured, but we feel and see it in action. The Church celebrates this truth, and leads us to a spirituality based on the central mystery of God.
“Great is the mystery of the faith!” The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles’ Creed…and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy…so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father…. This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer.
– Catechism of the Catholic Church 2558
There is a difference, said Fr. Freeh, between knowing about God, and knowing God. The Catechism defines this difference as “a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God” and goes on to say, “This relationship is prayer.”
Several times we’ve reflected on prayer as the root of our spirituality. Now is a good time to recognize that our lives become what we are rooted in. In living a spiritual life, our lives become our prayer…and we are transformed. We decrease, and Christ increases.
No, we can’t explain it. And yet…we can understand it. Living in God’s love, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are energized by Him. We become the candle to His flame, the lamp to His light, and we illuminate the world.
Based on Fr. Freeh’s closing remarks, I believe that next week (no, I don’t read ahead!), we’ll be considering the different ways in which we can be Christ’s light in this dark world.
In the meantime, here’s one of my favorite songs, which captures the spirit of this week’s reflection.
Sung by the incomparable Alison Krauss, “A Living Prayer” was written by Ron Block, a member her band, Union Station. Enjoy. And peace be with you!
We’ve focused a lot on private prayer as a first step in our response to God’s word. This week, we explore how the sacramental life of the Church makes us members of the Mystical Body of Christ.
Christian spirituality is not “navel gazing.” Christ requires more than a private response. Jesus founded His Church for us to share in the worship, prayer, and action of the community of the faithful, together striving to grow in our love of God and neighbor. To move beyond private prayer and enter into the Mystical Body of Christ, we need the sacraments.
“Everything that Christ did on earth, is done in the sacraments.”
To get the “wow factor” in that statement, you have to consider everything Christ did on earth. Praying. Teaching. Blessing. Forgiving. Feeding. Healing. Saving. If you want Jesus to act in your life now the way He did in the lives of His disciples 2000 years ago, you can find Him in the sacraments. But how can we unleash the power of the sacraments in our lives? The same way his first disciples did: through faith.
Remember what Jesus said to the woman who was healed of a twelve-years’ hemmorrhage by touching the tassel of His cloak: “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” (Mt 9:20-22)
How many Catholics routinely line up for Communion on a Sunday–emphasis on the “routine”? A few months ago, I went to a presentation on Eucharistic miracles. One of the speakers asked an interesting question: If Catholics receive the Real Presence of Jesus in Holy Communion at each Mass, why isn’t our Church on fire with the Holy Spirit, the love of God and neighbor? He had an even more interesting answer: Because of our indifference or worse, disbelief. We receive Jesus, but we don’t really believe. We “treat Him as a dead object,” as He complained to St. Faustina, the Polish nun who gave us the Divine Mercy chaplet.
In essence, we commit sacrilege…which is no way to call the Holy Spirit into our life, the life of our parish, the life of our Church. In fact, the speaker put it more strongly, saying that when we receive Holy Communion without recognizing and welcoming Christ’s Real Presence, Satan enters us at the same time. Now that is a scary thought, and it explains how Judas could leave the table of the Last Supper, having partaken of Christ’s Body and Blood…and go to the Pharisees and betray Him to His death.
On the other side of the coin, St. Alphonus Liguori said that “there is no prayer more dear to God than that which is made after Communion.” Speak heart-to-heart with Jesus, or pray as the saints did. Or both. You know your troubles. Your hopes. Bring them to God through Jesus.
In the Eucharist, we receive Jesus–Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. What would happen in our lives, in our parish, in our Church, in the world…if we received so generous a gift with the faith of the woman who was healed merely by brushing His cloak? That’s a question, and a challenge, we should ask ourselves each time we receive Holy Communion.
“Give me your sins.” Fr. Freeh’s example of the difference between human and Divine forgiveness keeps coming back to me: “You can forgive me my lie to you…but I’m still a liar. But when God forgives me…I’m no longer a liar.” I had never realized how thorough Confession is, not only taking away my sins, but changing my very character. Telling the truth in the confessional really does set you free.
The more I think about Jesus’ request to give Him my sins, the happier I am, and the more I look forward to my next Confession. No, really.
Begin now to move beyond “going through the motions” ritual. Go to Confession having made a good examination of conscience with a firm purpose of amendment. Be fully present at Mass. And after Communion, be sure to welcome Jesus into your heart, into the dark corners of your life, to bring healing and peace. Courage! Your faith has saved you.
Welcome, friend! Today we return to our regular series of reflections for Ordinary Time.
Happily, we’ve also just celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration, the glimpse of glory Jesus gave to His apostles Peter, James, and John to carry them through the dark days of His passion and crucifixion.
Maybe you’re going through some dark days of your own. Maybe you, too, have been reading the newspaper and watching the news, finding nothing good there. Maybe you’re getting a little burned out on the whole “spirituality” thing…like today’s session says, “enough already.”
Maybe, this would be a good time to remember what spirituality is about, and reach for the promise and hope of our own transformation, before we cast it aside as a bad job. Let’s spend a few minutes with Fr. Freeh:
I empathize with John’s disciples who wanted to hear “something new.” I see in them my wish that there’s one last, final mystery, the “something new” that will finally unlock the “secret of life” and make everything…easy. I’ll finally get it all right, never screw up, lose weight, dispense to lesser mortals the wisdom of Solomon with the aplomb of Miss Manners, and maybe even win the powerball lottery. (On such desires, the entire late-night infomercial industry is built.)
But that’s not how it works. As Fr. Freeh points out, we must “put first things first.” Having heard the message of Christ, so succintly declared by the Beloved Apostle as “Love one another”–now, we have to live it. We must unpack the real meaning of Love in every moment of our lives. In our thoughts, our decisions, our words, our works. Not only what we do, but even what we don’t do (remember the lesson on sloth?).
But what is the first thing?
Prayer.
As Mother Teresa of Calcutta put it: “I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.” And in a paradox only God could create, as we pray we become more truly who we are meant to be, finding our identity and purpose, by transcending ourselves moment by moment–by abandoning ourselves and conforming ourselves to Christ, sharing in His transfiguration.
Are you using the prayer process outlined by Matthew Kelly of DynamicCatholic.org? It’s a great first step. But St. Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes.) So you might want to expand your tool kit….
This is where the “devotions” that Fr. Freeh mentions come in. I’ve highlighted a few on this blog already (for example, the Flame of Love and the Sacred Heart of Jesus). Here are a few more resources:
Let’s start with the obvious. Read the Bible for fifteen minutes a day. Want to read the entire Bible? You can get reading plans online, and yes, there’s an app for that.
If you haven’t said a Rosary in a while, now’s a good time to pick up this spiritual weapon and do your part to promote world peace. Fifteen minutes a day really can change the world. It certainly worked at the Battle of Lepanto. Never learned to say the rosary? Here’s one link among many websites to help you learn.
A relative newcomer, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy was first promoted by a Polish nun in 1933, and championed by St. Pope John Paul II the Great.
Speaking of apps…Have a smart phone? Get Laudate, “the number one free Catholic app.” This one app will open the treasures of Catholicism for you. The readings for daily Mass; the Order of the Mass; a Confession app (examination of conscience only; sorry, you still have to actually go talk to a priest!) 😉 the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy; prayers…more prayers. Don’t leave home without it.
Pray More Novenas…along with 125,000 people, for both your private intentions and public needs (currently, for persecuted Christians around the world). A new novena is launched every few weeks.
Combine any of the above together with a visit to the Blessed Sacrament!
Remember the caveats Fr. Freeh mentioned about the place of devotions in our spirituality. They must be doctrinally solid; lead us to a better understanding of our faults and a firm purpose of amendment; and lead us to exercise charity. Devotions should help us to act on our faith in real and practical ways. And–as we nurture our personal prayer lives–should also enrich our participation in the liturgy of the Mass, our prayer as a community of Jesus’ disciples.
I’ll mention one more devotion, tying together our private and communal prayer. It’s okay to read ahead for Sunday Mass. Here’s a link to get you started.
Enough already? I’ve only scratched the surface. What are some of your favorite devotions? (I’ve got St. Anthony of Padua on speed dial…how ’bout you?) Please share!
What I have done is about 6000 miles of road-tripping for family reunions. But I’m home now…and have some catching up to do. Here, Fr. Freeh discusses the Feast of the Sacred Heart, in context of the feasts with which it is associated, Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi.
Although I’m too late for the actual feast day, today is the First Friday of the month, a day traditionally set aside for “offering reparation for the outrages committed against the Blessed Sacrament on the First Fridays and the Promises of the Sacred Heart”–so it’s a good day to delve into this expression of God’s love for us.
I encourage you to go beyond the Fr. Freeh’s ten-minute reflection. There are some tremendous resources out there for inviting the Sacred Heart of Jesus into your life, and the life of your family.
I’d planned to also include a link to the renewal of the family’s consecration, but I couldn’t find one without a typo! So here it is…
Most sweet Jesus, humbly kneeling at Thy feet, we renew the consecration of our family to Thy Divine Heart. Be Thou our King forever! In Thee we have full and entire confidence. May Thy Spirit penetrate our thoughts, our desires, our words, and our works. Bless our undertakings, share in our joys, in our trials and in our labors. Grant us to know Thee better, to love Thee more, to serve Thee without faltering.
By the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Peace, set up Thy kingdom in our country. Enter closely into the midst of our families and make them Thine own through the solemn enthronement of Thy Sacred Heart so that one cry may resound from home to home: May the triumphant Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved, blessed and glorified forever! Honor and glory to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary. Sacred Heart of Jesus protect our families.
Amen.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus garden on the family farm.
My family has a long tradition of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. My grandparents consecrated their new family to the Sacred Heart on their wedding day, a practice that many of their children and grandchildren have followed.
We say this prayer together at the start of the family reunion, and at the New Year’s day dinner. Many of us make it a part of our daily prayer life.
I hope you’ll begin this devotion in your own homes. Honor and glory to the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
Sunday, June 22nd we observed the Feast of Corpus Christi, celebrating the central mystery of our Catholic Faith: The Real Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
In this video, Fr. Freeh reflects on God’s great gift to us:
Sometimes I wonder…what is the human soul, that we are best fed by God Himself? This blog post was harder to write than usual. Not for lack of things to say, but from sheer overload of everything I could say about the Eucharist, hailed by Pope St. John Paul II as “the source and summit” of our faith.
I find it disturbing that the average Catholic doesn’t understand, or believe in, the doctrine that distinguishes Catholicism from every other Christian denomination. Especially since, for the first fifteen hundred years, Christianity was unanimous in declaring the Eucharist to be truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.
Those Christians who have abandoned this truth are now split into countless denominations. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church, adhering to this truth, is still “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.” Despite our very human failures to live up to all we are called to be, we find our unity as a church, and our unity with God, in our faith in the Eucharist.
But for as long as there has been faith, there has also been doubt. We all need a regular reality check…which is why we have the annual feast of Corpus Christi. This is our opportunity to reconnect with our faith in the Eucharist in a deeper way. We need to ask ourselves, What do I believe? And how much do I believe?
My own faith in the Eucharistic has been revitalized by three experiences in the past year.
First, a friend lent me Scott Hahn’s book, The Lamb’s Supper. In clear, direct language, Dr. Hahn examines the powerful liturgy of the Mass, using the Book of Revelations to explore its biblical nature, and highlight why Pope Saint John Paul II described the Mass as “Heaven on Earth,” explaining that what “we celebrate on Earth is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy.”
The second experience: Friends lent my husband and me a DVD called Signs from God: Science Tests Faith. Australian journalist Mike Willesee (think the Aussie version of Mike Wallace) investigates claims of Eucharistic miracles. What he finds causes his reversion to his lapsed Catholic faith: a consecrated host, discarded in a candle rack at an Argentinian church, was placed in a shallow dish of water and kept in a tabernacle until it dissolved for appropriate disposal. Except the host didn’t dissolve.It began to bleed. The local cardinal, Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio (you know him better as Pope Francis I) authorized an investigation. The forensic scientists who examined the sample–not knowing where it came from–verified Catholic truths they couldn’t explain.
The third: Another friend sent me an email during the last days of Lent inviting me to spend 60 seconds with Christ crucified, stripping away the iconography to reveal the very human agony beneath, the price Jesus paid for our salvation. Send me a request at gnspirituality AT gmail DOT com, and I’ll send the email on to you.
Looking at the paragraphs above, I notice I’m blessed in my friends. I also noticed I cheated, keeping this post short by pointing you to other resources. But in cheating, I also have a point to make. There’s a lot more material out there for you to read and study. Celebrate this feast with more than a ten-minute video and a 625-word blog post.
Take the time to deepen your understanding of the priceless gift of the Eucharist. Learn more about how much Jesus loves you, and let Him lead you to love Him in return.
In this week’s session, we continue to break from the regular reflections. Here, Fr. Freeh gives us the broad-brush overview of what the Trinity is, how our belief in a triune God sets Christians apart from every other faith, and how expressing that common belief could be an important step toward real ecumenical progress…in less than 10 minutes!
[Note: I’m playing catch-up on the feast days here owing to travel. Trinity Sunday was this past weekend. Despite more travel, I hope to have the post for Corpus Christi up in time for this Sunday, and post in time for the Feast of the Sacred Heart on the following Friday, for those of you who are keeping track.]
Like Vicki, I’m wondering what the beeping was all about–and also wondering if Fr. Freeh’s hearing is what it used to be! 😉 I’m discovering these sessions are “like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’ll find.” Except maybe something good to chew on. You might want to invite a Protestant friend to reflect on Fr. Freeh’s discussion of the meaning, worship, blessing, consecration, protection, and witness of the Sign of the Cross…and take that first step to unity.
The Holy Trinity, as Fr. Freeh points out, is the key to understanding our redemption. But what do we understand about the Holy Trinity?
A few years ago, I got into a discussion about the Holy Trinity over a drink with someone. The conversation went like this:
Me: “I know the Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith, and there must be more to it than this…but on the first-pass level, it makes perfect sense to me. God is love. Love is necessarily a relationship, so He has to be more than One Person. God the Father knows Himself perfectly, and that perfect knowledge of Himself is His Son. And the perfect love between them is the Holy Spirit. And since love unifies, Perfect Love must necessarily be Perfect Unity–One God.”*
Someone: “My understanding of God is a little more abstract than that.”
Me: “You realize that, by definition, an abstract of something is less than its reality. Right? And the real God will never be less than complete and entire.”
Someone: “Hmmm.”
For me, one of the keys to going beyond my first-pass understanding of the Holy Trinity is to understand our eternal God in the dynamic present tense. I’ve often fallen into the trap of associating “eternal” with “long past,” or “far future.” This perspective removes Him from what matters most to my spiritual life: Right Now.
When we proclaim Jesus Christ to be “the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages,” we’re not talking about something over and done with before the Big Bang was a twinkle in God’s eye. The Word of God is begotten by God the Father always, and everywhere… including right now, right here. The same is true for the Holy Spirit, the everlasting–and ever present–expression of the Love between the Father and Son.
The same is true, by the way, for God’s creation of the universe. When I was kid, I learned the prayer to the Holy Spirit, but I never understood the line, “Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.”
God had already made us. What’s this about “they shall be created”? The earth seemed pretty darn solid to me. How can God renew the face of the earth?
What I didn’t even begin to understand back then is this truth: God didn’t just wind us up like a clock and walk away. He’s holding us in existence right now. In Him, “we live, and move, and have our being.” It follows, then, that He has the power, in this ever-present moment of Creation, to create in us clean hearts, to heal us, to transform us. If we let Him. If we give ourselves to Him. In this moment.
The best example of this is, of course, our Blessed Mother. Her self-gift was entire, to each of the Three Persons, as daughter, mother, and mystical spouse. If you want to understand the relationship God wants with each of us, ask Mary to teach you.
So, is your understanding of God more of an abstract thing? Or do you want to enter into relationship with each of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity…and enter into the unity of Love Himself?
Now.
And Forever!
*And here’s a shout out to Sr. Marguerite, OSF, who explained the Trinity in my high school religion class, and probably wondered if anyone was paying attention!
We depart from our regular conversation this week to reflect on Pentecost, both in the life of the Church, and in our own individual lives.
(And apologies for the sound quality on this particular video. Although it did suggest the title for this post. God works in mysterious ways.)
Yeah, I kinda wondered what that penguin was doing on the table, too.
But it did nicely demonstrate one of my favorite metaphors for nurturing our relationship with God: “Staying connected to The Power Grid.”
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and Our Blessed Lady in the form of tongues of flame. In His light, they were transformed, and being transformed as individuals, they established the Church.
Human beings are hard-wired for a relationship with God. He knows this, even if we don’t. He gives us all kinds of grace through the sacraments of the Church. He feeds us with His very self. He sends us the Holy Spirit to confirm us in grace. When we walk in His light, His grace draws us ever closer to Him; we become the people He yearns for us to be. And as we become better people, the Church becomes a better Church.
Cut off from His grace…we cut our power cord, tape over our solar panel, and we experience the worst kind of “technical difficulties.”
Want proof? Next time you’re in line at the grocery store, take a good hard look at those tabloid headlines screaming broken marriages, adulteries, addictions…and consider just how much misery would be avoided had those celebrities lived in the light of grace. (And how grateful you are not to be on those covers yourself.) Watch the news, the window onto a world mired in lust, anger, war…a dark, cold, world that denies human dignity at every turn. (If we were a solar-powered penguin…we’d be shutting down, too.)
The Holy Spirit has the power to transform our lives…transform our world. We desperately need such transformation.
But we have to allow Him to enflame our hearts, and our culture, with love for God. Prayer is the key to our hearts. Like the Apostles, we should be praying with the Blessed Mother for God to send us His Holy Spirit. Toward that end…
Just today, a friend gave me a booklet (bearing the imprimatur of Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia) on a Marian devotion, The Flame of Love.
The devotion began in Communist Hungary in the 1960s, when Elizabeth Kindelmann began hearing Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin, desiring her to spread the Flame of Love throughout the whole world for the salvation of souls, and for peace.
One of the simplest ways to participate in this devotion is to pray the Hail Mary, and include the following petition: “Spread the effect of grace of Thy Flame of Love over all of humanity.”
But don’t stop there. Learn more. And invite the Holy Spirit into your life:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created. R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
P.S. Happy Feast Day of St. Anthony of Padua! St. Anthony, pray for us!
Welcome! First…I hope you had a happy Memorial Day weekend. To all veterans, and all those who gave their lives in the cause of freedom…thank you for the many blessings we now enjoy because of your sacrifice.
Memorial Day is summer’s official start. As Gershwin said, “Summertime, and the living is easy.”
There’s a different pace to life, and we seek to refresh and renew ourselves. We make time for barbecues, pool parties, summer vacations. Now is a good time to consider how we’ll make time for God. In other words, how will we develop a true spirituality? What does that even mean?
I’m struck by how often we’ll fling words around without pausing to consider their real meaning, the truth of the reality they represent. Here, Fr. Freeh digs into what “spirituality” means, and the gifts a true spirituality can bring to our lives.
In a stream-of-consciousness kind of way, here are a few points that jumped out at me…
The division of Christianity. How many ills in this world would be unthinkable, if there were no divisions in the The Body of Christ? Let’s pray for the unity of Christians everywhere.
“Jesus became human in order to become more fully the Son of God.” Still trying to wrap my mind around this one. I get as far as humanity has a greater dignity than we could imagine, that God should wrap His completion around us. But the mind boggles, to think that this could be true.
“Our humanity is the means by which we, in our humanity–not just in our heads, but total mind, soul, body, and heart, everything–is the way in which we give our selves to God.”
Many kinds of “spirituality” denigrate our humanity. They see it only as a burden. But our humanity is God’s gift to us. In authentic spirituality, our humanity is our gift to Him.
It is God Who makes us holy. “Spirituality” is what allows God to make it happen. Authentic spirituality opens our life to the Holy Spirit, through prayer, confession, active participation in the Mass…. This is true refreshment and renewal. Make sure your summer plans make plenty of room for them.
“Holy” being one of those words that can be a little off-putting to the modern ear, I’m going to go off-video here and invite you to consider what “holiness” is, as Matthew Kelly (of DynamicCatholic.org) puts it. Holiness is nothing less than becoming the best-version-of-yourself. Not settling for anything less than what God imagined you to be. Living a life full of purpose and peace. Living the promise, “I came that you should have life, and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Welcome! I hope you’re enjoying the videos. If you’re looking for high-gloss production values, you’ve probably figured out by now that this isn’t the place. But as I go through them (and I’ve been viewing one each week, without peeking ahead) I’m finding that there’s a lot of content to chew on. This week is no different. Buckle your seat belts, boys and girls, we’re going to learn about the undoing of sloth…and Solzhenitsyn!
Russian authors aside, a couple ideas jumped out at me.
One…that sloth shouldn’t be confused with laziness. It’s being way too busy with things that don’t really matter to us.
The other…Sloth is not so much something to be fought against, as something to be replaced by the acceptance of God’s love.
If we accept God’s love, we are drawn to become the people He created us to be. We won’t have room in our lives for sloth.
And how do we accept God’s love? To circle back to a previous post, it starts with prayer. You can’t accept God’s love if you don’t know Him. You can’t know Him if you don’t spend time talking with Him…and even more important, listening for His word, and His love.
Pentecost is coming soon. A good time to ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to put God’s love at the center of your life.
Too often we share Fr. Freeh’s childhood impression of piety, and our impulse is to reject the constricting notion of fitting into the “pious mold” of a plaster saint.
We forget–or never really understood–that Piety is a gift of the Holy Spirit. And whatever else the Holy Spirit is, “constricting” He’s not.
Here’s a quote to ponder:
…Everyone who has joined the ranks of Christ must be a glowing point of light in the world, a nucleus of love, a leaven of the whole mass. He will be so in proportion to his degree of spiritual union with God…
– Blessed Pope John XXIII, Pacem in Terris (1963)
As Fr. Freeh points out, Piety is the nucleus of holiness, our “spiritual union with God.” Through the gift of Piety, the Holy Spirit invites us to become the vibrant individuals God the Father created us to be. How do we know this? Take a hard look at the calendar of saints of the Catholic Church, and you’ll see no two are alike. Our age touts “diversity” as the foremost virtue. The Catholic Church is way out in front–2000 years out in front–with the largest collection of the most varied, dynamic, and downright colorful individuals ever celebrated.
Clearly, Piety leads us away from imitating plaster saints. It even leads us away from being pale imitations of ourselves. Through Piety, we become our best selves.
There’s something radical about this. There’s a reason Thoreau said “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.” In every daily decision, we choose our lives, and often our choices make us smaller than we should be. We do the least we can to get by; we pursue our own narrow self-interest. We hug the shore, and don’t cast out into deep water. As deeply as we might regret where our choices have led us…our fear still keeps us from choosing differently. With the gift of Piety, God challenges us to collaborate with Him, to surrender our will to Him and trust the destiny He has in mind for us, to live with confidence in His promise,
“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Yeah, I know. Surrender. Trust. Confidence. Easier to write or read about than do.
But here’s another thing to think about. What would you do…what would your life look like…how would the world be different…if you knew you could be your best self?
The Easter season leads to Pentecost, the feast when the Holy Spirit comes to give us gifts. This year, I’ll be praying hard for the gift of Piety.
Good News Spirituality 