My happiness is seeing you happy. There is nothing that my heart longs for, more than the sentinel longs for the morning light, than to see you smile. This is the fundamental truth that flows in the veins of everything that is good and Christian. It is a truth that God himself has revealed and lived in
This is the fundamental truth that flows in the veins of everything that is good and Christian. It is a truth that God himself has revealed and lived in the first person.
So many human realities have been underrated, if not outright attacked, when this truth is ignored or denied. How many young men and women these days, for example, look at marriage and family life as something miserable, almost a sort of second level living in which fun, adventure, and happiness are dimmed to a dull glow for the rest of their lives. True happiness, they say, comes in the form of success, traveling, fleeting moments of adrenaline. Waking up next to the same person day after day, cleaning, working, and serving, that is not a life worth living.
Yet, as I grow, more and more of my friends are getting married and it is impressive to see the changes. The sense of adventure and happiness isn’t dimmed, it is rather interiorized, consolidated, and lived on a deeper level. The heartbeat on a roller coaster may be higher than that of a father soothing his baby to sleep, but I can tell you that he has experienced a happiness that he wouldn’t trade for the whole world. It isn’t poetry, it isn’t rhetoric.
It is anthropology. Man’s heart was made not only for self-sustainment but also for self-donation. In giving we receive, in giving we live, in loving we experience love in a way that leaves us smiling for eternity.
- Why I Joined The Choir
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly “To sing is to pray twice.” — Saint Augustine of Hippo As a child, I sought ways to draw closer to God beyond verbal prayer. I often tagged along with my parents who were active in our choir. I would sit near my mother, asking for extra song sheets… Read more: Why I Joined The Choir - Gospel Reflection: The Liturgy Of The Mass Is The Best Evidence Of God’s Patience
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:“The kingdom of heaven may be likenedto a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy cameand sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as… Read more: Gospel Reflection: The Liturgy Of The Mass Is The Best Evidence Of God’s Patience - Move Over, Instagram: Meet The 19th-Century Monk Who Had Real Influence
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Recently I was asked by our regional Catholic Board of Education to present a talk to Religious Education teachers on the life of Abbot Franz Pfanner, the founder of the Monastery of Mariannhill near Durban on the eastern coast of South Africa. Although I knew a fair bit about… Read more: Move Over, Instagram: Meet The 19th-Century Monk Who Had Real Influence - The Benedictine Charm In A Digital Age
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly As we approach the feast day of Saint Benedict on July 11, I am reminded of another chapter in my life where I spent one night in Nursia. I had the immense blessing of praying in the Abbey at the center of the city, built over the birthplace of… Read more: The Benedictine Charm In A Digital Age - Everything I Heard At A Chastity Talk When I Was 15
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly When I was 15, I experienced my first “chastity” talk one night at youth group. A local organization called the Theology of the Body Evangelization Team came to our parish and gave a series of talks about the subject. It was the first time in my life I had… Read more: Everything I Heard At A Chastity Talk When I Was 15
