Reflection 273: No Earthly Ties, Only Love of God

The pinnacle of our relationship with God includes being stripped of every other earthly tie so that nothing holds us back from running toward God with great passion and purpose.  We must be freed of every attachment in this life so that our one attachment is God and His holy…

Reflection 272: The External Manifestation of the Heart

No one can see your heart except you and God.  God is aware of every detail of your interior life to a perfect degree; you see the details of your interior life to an imperfect degree.  Nonetheless, it is important to become increasingly aware of the reality of your inner life.  See…

Reflection 271: Looking Past the Obstacles in Life

One very common tendency and temptation most people struggle with is to become fixated upon sufferings, humiliations and the false opinions of others.  When we experience one or more of these burdens, we can be tempted to make them the central focus of our life.  For example…

Reflection 270: The Details of the Will of God

Are you willing to accept the Will of God in your life?  If so, you must be open to all the details.  God’s Will is not some grandiose generalization.  Choosing His Will is not simply a matter of saying that you choose to follow Him with broad strokes.  Rather, choosing His Will…

Reflection 269: A Twofold Gaze at Mercy and Misery

If you could pick two things to gaze at, what would they be?  Ideally, the two greatest things to gaze at are the Mercy of God and your own misery.  Most likely, it immediately makes sense that the Mercy of God would be one of the most important things to gaze…

Reflection 268: Pondering Death

Perhaps thinking about your death is frightening.  It may not be something that you actually consider very often.  But it is a grace to be able to look at one’s death directly and with full confidence.  And this is only possible to do with full confidence if your life is in order…

Reflection 267: Justice or Mercy?

It is proper to speak of both the Justice of God as well as His Mercy.  They are not opposed to each other.  His Justice will be dealt to those who refuse to repent just as it was dealt to the angels who refused to serve God.  But, for now, is it more proper to say that God is Merciful.  In fact…

Reflection 265: The Danger and Blessing of Passions

God created us with passions.  These can be either great blessings in our Christian walk or they can become great snares.  It all depends on what controls each passion.  Passions of anger, for example, can either be used for good or ill.  When anger takes over and the source of this anger…

Reflection 264: A Retreat With Jesus

Have you ever made a retreat?  Some are privileged to take time away from the busyness of life so as to spend an extended time listening to our Lord and being in His merciful presence.  Others find it hard to find even a day to enter such a retreat.  Regardless…