Category: Words of Wisdom

“Earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.” – St. Thomas More

The death of a loved one may fill us with a sense of deep loss and grief. It is a time of parting, a time of looking back and a time of sensing a vacuum in the future. Our hearts may be filled with a mixture of emotions – longing, regret, bitterness, pain.

Yet in all these, it is quite possible to also have consolation. It is possible to still have hope.

For though this day be a day of parting on earth, it is also a day of rejoicing and triumph in heaven. Though this day is a day of emptiness here below, this day is also a day of fullness up there where our loved one finally meets Him who alone can give eternal rest and joy.

Let every parting then be not only a day of loss but of consolation. Let every pain be healed with hope. For in God there is life far better than one we could ever imagine to be. In His arms there is bliss and healing and peace.

The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil. He enters into peace. – Isaiah 57, WEB

“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” – St. Augustine

Oftentimes, we wonder why God hasn’t answered our prayers, why He hasn’t given us what we desire. We were taught that we only need to ask to receive and that we only need to seek to find, but we have asked so many times and sought for so long, but we still fail to find what we were looking for.

Could we have forgotten something else? Could God have forgotten our prayers?

Many times, the answer is not whether God is willing or not to give us what we need, but whether or not we are ready to receive His many blessings.

Could we be asking for all the wrong things that won’t do us any good? Could we be refusing greater blessings because we just couldn’t let go of what we think we want?

God is more than willing to give us great things, He desires it for us much more than we could ever desire them for ourselves! But He is waiting for us to open our hands and receive them. He is waiting for us to let go of what little we think we have, so He can bless us with more, to finally be empty enough to be truly full!

I am the Lord, your God… Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. – Psalms 81:10, WEBBE

He who trusts himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.- Saint Alphonsus Liguori

We live in a world where we are constantly told that we can believe our own truths, and no matter what that may be, we can fight for it as a right that ought to be given us. We are taught that the world revolves for our sake alone, and that the only thing we must value is what can give us pleasure in this short life that is ours. We have been robbed of faith. We have been deprived of hope.

Must we be surprised then that we find no true meaning to life? Must we be perplexed that we can find no lasting joy in all the pleasures and desires we have sought? Must we be amazed that we feel so worthless even if we exalt ourselves to be the children of a great and vast universe we live in?

I tell you, we mustn’t be surprised at all. For this universe we boast about isn’t something that could love us and know us as we are. These rights and pleasures we seek are not the things we really need so we can be found. Though we boast of our strength, it will fail. Though we exalt our knowledge, it cannot understand. For we have blinded our eyes to the Truth. And we have preferred darkness because we are afraid of the Light.

He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in the Lord’s name, and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who adorn yourselves with torches around yourselves; walk in the flame of your fire, and amongst the torches that you have kindled. You will have this from my hand: You will lie down in sorrow. – Isaiah 50, WEBBE

For you formed my inmost being.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
-Psalm 139, WEBBE

Revealing ourselves for who we really are comes with it the risk of being unloved.

When you reveal your heart and open yourself, you may be accepted, or you may not. You may be loved or you may not be loved.

But unless you give yourself and others the chance to love you as you are, all the affection you would ever feel will only be superficial and skin deep. This is because you know that what other people love is not the core of your being but the mask you wanted them to see. Do you really desire to be loved as somebody else and not as you really are?

“Don’t waste your time dreaming of being someone else. Don’t try to be someone else. Work and pray at being yourself. Be who you are, where you are. Concentrate on the little everyday problems and pains that beset you. Reserve your best efforts; expend your spiritual energy on what is right before you. This is what God asks of you. Listen closely. This is very important – and very misunderstood – for we all prefer to do what is to our personal liking. Very few of us choose duty first, or the will of God. Don’t cultivate someone else’s garden. Grow where you are planted.” – St. Francis de Sales

I see now that my deeds which have flowed from love are more perfect than those which I have done out of fear. – St. Faustina

There are many reasons why we do the things we do.

There are things we do because we have a duty or a moral obligation to do them.

There are also things we do out of fear. We’re afraid that certain things might happen if we do not perform certain actions so we act out of our need to address our fears.

We can also add to this the things we do out of guilt. There may be some people who can hold our hearts hostage and we do what we can not to disappoint them or cause them pain.

It would be hard to create a sure formula to determine the things we must and mustn’t do. We all need God’s wisdom to show us the way. There will also be times when we must do those things we take no liking or pleasure in.

But through it all, let us not forget the most important reason for our actions, which is LOVE.

More than fear or guilt or duty, may we find ourselves doing more and more things out of love.

Let all that you do be done in love. – 1 Corinthians 16, WEB