Be True

Grief and Healing - Download the eBook

Don’t judge without having heard both sides. Even persons who think themselves virtuous very easily forget this elementary rule of prudence. – St. Josemaria Escriva

Many times, it’s so easy to spread a rumor, and so difficult to keep our mouths shut so as not to contribute to the ruin of our neighbor’s reputation.

There is something tempting about being the “first to know” or being the one who “knows something” which other people don’t know yet.

There is also the hidden malice of wanting to see the downfall of another so we can lift up ourselves, of being more virtuous and not ending up like the one talked about.

It’s so tempting. Many times, we don’t even recognize we’re doing it! We claim innocence as we say we only heard the news from so and so, or that we can’t believe it ourselves. But the very fact that we have allowed our lips to utter the evil should convince us that we have made ourselves channels of destruction rather than good, of falsehood rather than truth.

How do we keep our hearts pure if we can’t even sanctify our words?

You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. – Exodus 23, WEBBE

CCC 2479 Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one’s neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity.

When Sorrow Becomes a Friend

“You may forget with whom you laughed, but you will never forget with whom you wept.” – Kahlil Gibran

We may find many who will gladly laugh with us, but where can we find those who can share our tears? For laughter is a quick medicine that attracts, but weeping is a burden that none may wish to carry with you. Thus it is said, that when you laugh, the world laughs with you, but when you weep, you weep alone.

Yet even weeping is a treasure, because it is in sorrow that we discover what true love is. Sorrow reveals to us the strength of our friendships. It takes away the masks that have deceived us into believing we are with someone, but in truth, we are really alone.

Let this be our consolation. That such tears take away from us only those who are not real. But they gather with us those who are faithful and true.

We weep in our pain, but we rejoice in the love we have found.

You have turned my mourning into dancing for me.
You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness…
-Psalm 30, WEBBE

Rich In God

Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? – James 2, WEB

In His Eyes

Does it not feel unfair at times,
How some people seem to get
All the attention and love and care
While others work so hard
Just to be accepted
Only to be rejected
Time and time again?

The world applauds
Those who are beautiful and strong
Those who are happy
Those who already seem to have it all.
While for those who are weak
For those who seem poor in all things,
Those who thirst for love the most,
No alms are given,
No eyes are even interested to see.

Yes, the world is unfair,
And our prejudices are many.
Maybe that is why God chose to be born
Among those whose only wealth
Is hope.

God chose the humble
and the poor and the weak,
Those who are lost
and cast away,
Those who do not belong anywhere else.

Is it not enough then
That the unfairness of the world
Should be responded to
By the generosity of His love?

The world may never care,
It may not even know that you’re there,
But you are never left out in God’s eyes,
And never ever cast away
From His heart.

“And when he says to his people: ‘I haven’t chosen you because you are the strongest, the biggest, the most powerful. I have chosen you because you are the smallest of them all. You could add: the most miserable. This is whom I have chosen’. This is love”. – Pope Francis

Grace For Today

Seen from the outside, all these trials are frightening. We wondered if we could ever confront anything similar. But each step is accompanied by a necessary grace. – Chiara Corbella Petrillo, A Witness to Joy

May God bless you. May God lead you every step of the way, giving you strength for each moment, providing you with courage for each trial.

For this is all that we really need. Not to look so far away but to be right where we are, clinging to His hand and trusting in His heart.

He is there with you now. He gives you everything you need for this very moment as He carries you upon His arms.

I Love You Now

I see you,
I feel you now,
Here beside me,
Here where I also stand.

Let not the past
Trouble you
Let no heartache
Take you away
From my arms.

Is it not enough
That I hold your hand
Is it not enough
That I have come?

Think not of
your worries
For each day
that has not yet come.

No future can spoil
This moment
None of your tomorrows
Can steal this hour
That’s yours and mine.

Cast away your burdens
Let still each anxious thought,
For I am here with you
I give you all of me
And I love you Now.

Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid. – John 14, GNT

Glimpses of Love

The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping on the mountains,
skipping on the hills.
My beloved is like a roe or a young deer.
Behold, he stands behind our wall!
He looks in at the windows.
He glances through the lattice.
-Song of Solomon 2:8-9, WEBBE

Sometimes all that we have are moments – glimpses of heaven, sweet scents of love. They are foretastes of eternity. And though they last but for a moment, the strength they give us lasts, and the warmth they leave us lingers.

All I Have Are Glimpses

All I have are glimpses,
a glance,
a touch,
a memory of your voice.

Glimpses that
take my breath away,
that draw me from
the monotony of each day.

Glimpses that
give me life,
that give me a new heart
and a new soul.

For when those glimpses come,
I feel a lifetime has also gone by,
a lifetime with you,
well spent in a moment of love.

And I let each memory
sink as deeply as it could,
so I may remember
and never forget.

How each glimpse of you
has changed me,
has found me,
has saved me.

And all I could ever do now,
is wait for you,
content with glimpses of your love,
until you come and make me live again.

The sight of God’s face ends all spiritual pain; it fulfills all joys; it completes every kindness. – Julian of Norwich, All Shall Be Well