Category: Spirituality

1. By asking for the grace of God
to protect our souls from harm and
to do the good which we cannot do on our own

2. By looking through the eyes of mercy
mercy for those who do not know yet what they do
mercy for those who, knowing what they do
will merit eternal separation from the love of God

3. By forgiving and allowing God to heal us
for the pain caused by these evil,
and not expecting the one who caused us pain
to be the same healers of our wounds

4. By firmly believing that God is truly and indeed
the One who is still in control, and
good will certainly triumph in the end.

“Merely to resist evil with evil by hating those who hate us and seeking to destroy them, is actually no resistance at all. It is active and purposeful collaboration in evil that brings the Christian into direct and intimate contact with the same source of evil and hatred which inspires the acts of his enemy. It leads in practice to a denial of Christ and to the service of hatred rather than love.” – Thomas Merton, Passion for Peace; Reflections on War and Nonviolence

It is  the divine maternity of Mary which explains both her perfect excellence and her perfect holiness. It is the key to all her gifts and privileges. For the excellence of each creature is to be found in the degree in which it resembles its Creator. . . . Mary was made as like to Him [Christ], as being a mere creature, she could be made. For, having no earthly father, our Lord bore the human likeness of His mother in all His features. Or rather, she bore His likeness…

For He was formed by the Holy Ghost of her flesh. And His blood, that saving blood which redeemed the world, was taken from her heart. And whilst the Godhead dwelt bodily in Him, He, for nine months, dwelt bodily in her. And all that time . . . the stream which nourished the growth of life in Jesus flowed from the heart of Mary, and, at each pulsation, flowed back again, and re-entered His Mother’s heart, enriching her with His divinest spirit. How pregnant is that blood of His with sanctifying grace, one drop of which might have redeemed the world. . . . Next to that union by which Jesus is God and man in one person, there is no union so intimate as that of a mother with her child. . . .( William Ullathorne)

I believe in the elect, that God has predestined some for His Glory. None can snatch them away from the Father’s hand. Yet except by Divine Revelation, how can we be assured that we are amongst the chosen ones? How do we know if we have ‘truly believed?” For it is easy to say that we believe in Jesus, that by His death He has redeemed us. Do we not also say in our daily lives how we believe in certain things yet change our minds later on and realize we haven’t really believed in them? When we are lost and we are given a map, and we say we believe in that map to help us find the way, do we stop there? No, we prove that we really believe by following the directions the map gave. There may come a time though, when after following a map and one still seemed lost and exhausted, one may say that maybe that map wasn’t right after all, so he’d just throw it all away. Did he really believe in the first place? But wasn’t it that at that point of receiving the map, he thought with all his heart that he really believed in it?

May the Good Lord grant us the grace of final perseverance.  May we never despair but hold on to the living HOPE that we have. May our hearts not be filled with fear, but with trust and gratitude upon His Infinite Mercy.  And may we never boast on our presumptions, but with all humility, acknowledge the supreme wisdom and authority of God, who alone knows all things.

It’s easy to say that we should be patient because God has been patient with us.

But we may argue that we have not been as bad as those around us who have offended and harmed us.

We can also say that we are quite ignorant of how God has truly been patient with us, and how we have offended Him.

But aren’t others guilty of the heavier offense? Where is justice then?

How do we reconcile all these?

It is like Job saying, “I am a righteous man, why do I suffer like this?”

Well, there is none who is more righteous than Jesus, and there is also none who suffered like He did!

We, as followers of Jesus will also suffer like He did.

We can’t find the justice we want here on earth.

But then we are told that we should rejoice! Why?! Not because we can see justice being fulfilled in this world, and not because we are happy with the evil being done. But because we have been deemed worthy to suffer for Jesus and like Jesus, and have a great reward in heaven!

Love is not happy with evil.
Love is not happy with injustice.
But love hopes. Love continues to believe. Love endures. And in the end, love will succeed.

It is for this mercy that we are thankful for.
And it is this mercy that we can give away.

We give the same patience that God has given to the world – of putting up with people to their very last breath, until the very last moment they can be saved.

And since we are not God, we don’t know everything in a person’s life. We don’t know if they will change or when they will change. We don’t know how much they may be punished for their sins. We just trust that God is just and that He knows everything. So we put vengeance upon His hands.

To be patient is to trust God and to love Him.
To be patient is to allow God to save us and to guard our hearts from evil.
To be patient is to not lose hope and to fix our eyes upon our true joy, upon eternity.
To be patient is to understand God’s love for us.

One of the most difficult things in dealing with patience is the thought that God is not loving us anymore, that He has forsaken us, and that He has favored those who made us suffer.

We just have to believe that this is not true.

God is patient and merciful even with the damned and the fallen angels. God’s love is the same love Jesus carried upon the cross just to save us.

Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. -John 15:9 (WEB)

Nothing changes and heals us more than knowing that we are loved, truly loved.  To know that we matter, that we are valued and cared for, that we are seen, that someone is delighted that we are alive.

It isn’t enough to know that one does something good for us.  It isn’t enough that another person sacrifices something for us and desires the best for us.  We still need to know that we are loved, because when we are loved, we are not just a burden or an obligation to be fulfilled.

We are persons, human beings with souls.  We need more than contracts and technicalities.  We need more than existence.  We need life, a life filled with love.

Jesus has given us such a love.  Jesus said, “Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you.”  Could there be anything greater than the Father’s love for the Son?

We may doubt Jesus’ love for us.  We may say that Jesus died for us, but that is just because He wants to save us.  But we could never doubt the Father’s love for Jesus.  To know how much the Father has loved the Son is to know how much we are loved.