We each have a different capacity for love. Some of us are a thimble, some a cup, others a bucket.
Whatever capacity we have to love, we're called to love God with all of it. We will do that imperfectly in this life, but when we get to heaven, we'll love God with all of ourselves.
We can grow in our capacity for love in this life. By prayer, sacrifice, and acts of love for this life, our thimble can expand into a cup or a bucket or maybe even a whole bathtub!
Your CHARITY #VirtueChallenge - do something today to grow in capacity to love God. Deny yourself of some small earthly pleasure, to open your heart up to God more.
Make a sacrifice, say a prayer, meditate on God's love for you. Pray that God fills you with love for him.
Is there ever a moment when my children are not attached to me? They have such a strong connection to their Mama.
They are constantly hugging me, hanging on me, climbing all over me, wanting to be carried by me.
Their love for me runs deep. I swear they see me as a part of them. An extension of who they are. Twined up in their identity.
Do I love God like this? Do I see him as an integral part of who I am? Do I yearn to be with him, connected to him, touching him, held by him?
Love God with all your soul.
Your CHARITY #VirtueChallenge
- spend a few minutes meditating on your relationship to God as his beloved child. As him to pick you up, carry you, hug you, hold your hand. Let your love for him run deep down into your soul. Let him be twined up with your identity.
Mark your calendars!
This Friday, March 22, we will hold our monthly game of Catholic Trivia! We want you to join us over on @tojesussincerely IG stories for a virtual game of Catholic Trivia.
Why should you play? This is a great opportunity to
- deepen your faith,
- have fun while you learn,
- and a chance to win cool prizes from Catholic artisans!
This month's trivia sponsors are @reconciledtoyou and @telosart.
Allison @reconciledtoyou is a Catholic writer and speaker extraordinaire. She has a gift for bringing God's daily presence to light. Allison is donating a set of Stay Connected Journals for Catholic Women, Volumes 1 - 3. These journals are amazing for personal or small group use.
Jessica @telosart is a genius in bringing modern beauty to vintage Catholic jewelry. Her pieces are stunning and her style is unique. She is donating a vintage Marian medal with new blue resin on a 16” silver chain. Retail value is $24.
Are you as excited as I am? Spread the word and study up on your Catholic trivia! Hint: This month's trivia theme is the liturgical calendar.
Questions will be posted first thing Friday morning. Be there!
#CatholicTrivia
#4thFridayTrivia
#MyMassTakeaway - In which God tells Peter to shut it.
In today's Gospel, Jesus took his three favorite disciples – Peter, James, and John – up a mountain to pray. They fell asleep. They seem to do that a lot when something important is about to happen.
And when they woke up, there’s Jesus transfigured before their very eyes! So of course, Peter goes ahead and says something stupid. “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Luke 9:23.
The very next words in the Gospel, finishing up that verse, tell us: “But he did not know what he was saying.” Luke 9:23.
Peter, is clueless. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. How often do we do just like that? We speak up before we fully understand the situation. We’re quick to offer advice and solutions – stupid advice. stupid solutions. We don’t know what we’re saying.
So God the Father steps in and tells Peter to shut it. “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” Luke 9:35.
Stop talking, man, and just listen.
This is the solution I need – the solution I think we all need sometimes (if I can be so bold as to say so). If we’re disengaged from whatever’s going on… we’re sleeping, or daydreaming, or just don’t care enough to take the time to understand what somebody else is going through, then maybe we need to just shut it for a minute.
Maybe we need to lend more of a listening ear, and hold off on jumping in with the magic solution. If we don’t stop long enough to listen, chances are we don’t know what we’re talking about. We’re just going to end up saying something stupid and uncalled for.
We need to listen more to our friend who’s going through a hard time with her kids.
We need to listen more to our neighbor who has money troubles once again.
We need to listen more to our spouse who had another difficult day at work.
We need to listen more to God. We might not always understand what he’s showing us in our lives. We might want to tell him the magic solution to our own problems. But God’s got this under control.
Wake up from your slumber, and pay attention to what’s going on around you. For a moment, keep your lips closed.
And just listen.
