Category: Words of Wisdom

Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” – Luke 9, WEB

It’s so easy for people to speak about peace and finding time for quiet and solitude when they do not live amidst noise and chaos. We all desire the relaxing sound of the waves near the shore, or the chirping of the birds in a secluded forest. But what of those who live in the midst of cities and noisy streets? Or of those who cannot afford a quiet spot of their own? Who cannot even find a place to rest after the exhaustion of the day’s labor? A place to pray and ponder and heal after the countless battles one has fought?

Let us pray for God’s mercy, trusting that Jesus Himself knew what it was like to have no dwelling of His own though He made all the universe and everything that’s in it. He left heaven itself to abide with us, to live in this restless world right where we are.

“But pray, my children. God will hear you in a short time. My Son allows Himself to be moved by compassion.”– Our Lady of Hope

There are things God allows us to have not that we may retain possession of them, but that we may have something to offer as a sacrifice of love. – Jocelyn Soriano

Why do we have to lose the most important things? The most important people? Why do we have to suffer such a terrible heartbreak? Such a terrible terrible loss?

We love, we give it our all. We hope, we put everything we’ve got in it. And in one moment, everything is lost! Everything becomes meaningless.

Was there ever a meaning to everything we’ve gone through? Was there ever a worth to the love we gave, to the love we have received?

If everything’s supposed to end this way, what’s the meaning in all that?

But you tell me to trust in You, O, Lord. You tell me to have faith. You tell me to hope still amidst all hopelessness. And you tell me to go on loving even though my heart would eventually break from the pain of it all.

And even though the pain still lingers. Even though I still couldn’t understand a thing. I will let You hold me and lead me. I will trust the Heart that has been wounded too, out of love.

Lead me each step of the way for I fall. I’m blind though I walk with the Light.

I will trust that though I walk now through the valley of the shadow of death, you will never leave me alone.

The king said to Araunah, “No; but I will most certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.” – 2 Samuel 24, WEBBE

Out of my distress, I called on the LORD.
The LORD answered me with freedom.
-Psalm 118, WEBBE

There is something within us that rebels whenever we are prevented from doing something. The human spirit, it seems, does not want to be restrained, but yearns to be free. Free to do as we wish, free to roam as we desire.

Yet even the highest of freedoms do not free us from the consequences of our choices. When we choose one door, we reject another. When we choose to be bound in one direction, we reject the freedom to go the other way.

Which paths then shall we choose? In which shall we truly be free?

Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? . . . No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. – Pope Benedict XVI