Communion of Love

As Catholic Christians we believe in the Trinity, that is that there are Three Divine Persons in One God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of the same substance, and each is not a part of a whole. There are one but distinct. Drawing from St. Augustine, they are a community of love where the Father is the lover, the Son is the beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the love that exist within that community.  The Trinity exists as a relationship. Our God is a relational God, and God wants a relationship with us. The Father calls out to us and sent us His Son, Jesus who came to give us life and to bring us to the Father, who sent the Holy Spirit to be with us always, reminding us of how much we are loved. The Trinity is a mystery, which means we may never really fully understand it, but we don’t need to. We only need to believe. Our faith and belief is our response to the call of the Father. This call of the Father is an invitation to be in relationship with Him and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  He calls out to you today, how will you respond?   

Keeping the Faith

We are all on a journey, and we must encourage and support one another. There will be times when we may doubt and question and sometimes, we may even give up and walk the other way. Sometimes guilt and shame will lead us to despair and desperation. Sometimes we may feel that God has abandoned us. Then let us remember the time when Jesus was in the garden praying to His Father asking for the cup to pass him by or when He asked why His God had forsaken Him. Jesus knows our sufferings, pains, worries, and anger because He was fully man like you and me. But He also knows of the joy, peace, hope, and love that none of those things can take away.  The joy and peace that comes from God will enable us to endure those sufferings and times of desperation in our lives. The eternal will always triumph over the temporal.

We must stick together and remember that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Even when the world tells us there is an easier way, a truer truth, or a better life, we must remember the words of Christ. The world will try to distort the truth and encourage us to settle for worldly things, but we must remember that we were made for greatness and this greatness lies in Christ. Let us keep the faith.  

Lord Jesus I know you are the way, and the truth and the life. Please ask the Father to grant me the grace to not only know this but to live believing it. When I am lost, bring me back to your way.  When I am doubting, remind me of your truth. And when I am questioning my existence, show me your wounds so that I may know that you have already conquered death and hopelessness.

Removing Stumbling Blocks

In one of his letters, St. Boniface writes, “In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.” At the time of St. Boniface, the missionaries in Germany had a difficult time evangelizing because the pagans were worshipping an oak tree. When St. Boniface arrived, he saw that the tree was in the way, so he cut it down. He got rid of the obstacle that prevented the people from getting closer to God and knowing the Truth.

We are told in the Psalms that those who love the law of God will have no stumbling blocks but will rather have great peace. But some may say, well that’s not true. Some devout Christians have difficult lives. True but difficulties are not necessarily stumbling blocks. If we come to see our difficulties as crosses and means of deepening our faith and growing closer to God, then there are no stumbling blocks but only a faith knowing that God is with us even in the midst of storms.

What are the obstacles in our lives that keep us from receiving that great peace?  May we offer them up and ask the Lord to give us the grace to see them as means to draw closer to Him, and like St. Boniface, let’s ask the Lord to give us the strength to chop down the trees that block the light of truth from shining through.