Simple Holiness
Skill-building in marriage
Some people might think a good marriage is made in heaven. Those who understand how a good, lasting, encouraging marriage works know it is built on the skills couples develop as they work to manage the ups and downs of their relationship. Skill-building is a task that all individuals must engage in if they hope to improve and master whatever endeavor they undertake.
Love and marriage in this day and age
Marriage is the union that defines our family relationships. The quality of marriage is built on the commitment each person makes to this union that has been created by the fondness, the camaraderie and the common vision the couple shares. As St. John Paul II states, “Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family — a domestic church.”
A renewed commitment to our faith
This new year offers us an opportunity for a renewed commitment to our faith. It can begin with a greater commitment to having faith in God, a God we can trust and rely on completely, in all situations, regardless of whether we fully believe he can help us.
A renewed dedication to Advent
We are thoroughly into the season of Advent and we may not have taken out the Advent candles, the blue cloths or the Advent calendar. Instead, we might have gotten so caught up in our list of to-dos and already feel so overwhelmed by the needs of this brief time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, that we have not acknowledged this short-lived season of preparation for the coming of Christ in our hearts.
The good of gratitude
November is the month of gratitude, the month in which we celebrate Thanksgiving and the beginning of the busy holiday season. All the year round, however, some people keep a gratitude journal, in which they focus on the positive aspects of their day, noting these events rather than focusing on what did not go well.
Developing a clear, well-articulated value system
August’s article addressed the need to have a well-formed value system to help us develop a sense of right and wrong, so we may become people guided by our conscience, which, in turn, will contribute to the development of good character. The Catechism of the Catholic Church cited St. Augustine, “Return to your conscience, question it … Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness” (1779). In addition, the Catechism contends, “In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows is just and right” (1778).
Real Presence
When I read the articles in the Aug. 22 Catholic Spirit regarding the concept of Real Presence, I was struck by how excited I was. I know that may sound strange to readers, but adult Catholics have been asked the most profound and mysterious question of our faith: Do we believe Jesus the Christ, our Risen Savior, is really present in the Eucharist? And perhaps not shockingly, 69% of adult Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence. Actually, this is not surprising.
Conscience and character
The concepts of conscience and character are not only little understood in our current culture, but when we hear these words, they often elicit a pause from us. If we have a sense we have not attained the ideal behavior or expectation of a Catholic Christian, we may be more inclined to shame ourselves than to develop a desire of becoming a more devout person. However, shame is a human aspect that alerts us we have acted against our value system. But many people in our current culture lack a solid understanding of what that is. Therefore, a well-developed conscience evolves from a clear, well-articulated value system.
Acting courageously in the face of fear
As we celebrate our nation’s independence from the British monarchy — won nearly 250 years ago and marked each Fourth of July — we notice flags flying boldly, proclaiming the liberty and freedom by which our self-governance is best known.
Summer Twentieth
Summer is finally here and we must remember to enjoy it! Last summer, our then-4-year-old granddaughter and her cousins planned a day of fun at our house, which they named “Summer Twentieth.” When we told the girls my husband and I would not be home on the day of their planned event, they assured us they didn’t need us to be present for them to enjoy the day.
Righteousness amid the busyness
I oftentimes have said that the month of May has become busier than the month of December, with sports practices and banquets, dance recitals, AP tests and the beginning of graduation parties. There are so many events and schedules to accommodate that a family could find itself easily double-booking on any given day or evening without realizing it, and then have to miss something that is truly important to them.
Hope, even in the shadow of the cross
We are called in this Lenten season to grow in our faith and to be in the shadow of the cross, overcome neither by its threat of death nor the fear it intends to evoke. As people who stand firmly in the face of such intimidation, we know death is vanquished by the power of Jesus’ sacrifice. Easter Sunday must be preceded by the horrors of Good Friday, and as my mother-in-law always said, “There can be no Easter Sunday without Good Friday.” In her wisdom, she meant there will be difficult, and perhaps discouraging, times for all of us as we move through the phases of our lives.
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