18 April 2011

Into your hands...

When we are no longer able to change a situation,

we are challenged to change ourselves.

16 April 2011

holy

As Christians, we are called to holiness and nothing less. You and I are not just called to be merely nice or kind or morally right. Each of us is called to be holy, whatever state in life or vocation we are ultimately called to live. Its not just that special person or saint, or someone who is able rise to the heights of mystical prayer, it is the authentic person living a daily ordinary life.

Authentic Christian holiness, however, is made of far sturdier stuff. Real Christian holiness is about entering into God’s life, giving over one’s life to God, becoming like God, loving as God loves in one’s daily life. And, of course, “becoming like God” and “loving as God loves,” as the example of Jesus shows us, means self-giving, self-offering and self-less service of others, modeled after the example of Jesus. Christian holiness, then, always stands under the Cross, as the great pattern of pouring out or lives in love and in service of others. In many ways, there is nothing more “this-worldly” than true holiness.

- Excerpt from Priestly Virtues: Reflections
on the Moral Virtues in the Life of the
Priest by Rev. Mark O’Keefe, OSB

08 April 2011

Who are you?

How will you know you've met a saint? You will be convinced that he is inferior to you. And you will not be comfortable with your conviction.

03 April 2011

Hi-ho, Hi-ho...

punched a hole

As scripture say, all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Rom 3:23) so that all of us are at some time in our lives potentially (and unfortunately all too actually) capable of real evil. Yet no matter how depraved people may become, they remain always images of Christ the true Image of God. That image-quality may be soiled, tarnished, obscured and disfigured, but is never wholly lost, never totally destroyed.

The more we commit sin the more we weave a web around ourselves, voluntarily blocking out his light. That is why in the incarnation God punched a hole in our self-woven cocoon and thrust in a hand to drag us out: that is why Christ descended into our hell of God-forsakeness - so that we could not go on pretending to ourselves - and in that way justifying our own ghastliness to ourselves and others.

Meeting Christ in His Mysteries
Gregory Collins, OSB

by their gentleness



The cross of the only begotten Son is God's 'disclosure-zone' in showing us how serious our situation is when such a drastic intervention in history was required: God's becoming in his turn the victim of human injustice.

But in the forgiveness he expressed in dying and in the universal scope of his death, Jesus revealed the all-embracing nature of God's love: Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing (Lk 23-34).

Most noteworthy of all is the fact that after his resurrection, unlike other victorious conquering kings, he did not settle scores nor display any anger against his friends who had betrayed him. On the contrary his recorded appearances are distinguished by their gentleness (Jn 21), even if he still had to rebuke some of them for their unbelief (Lk 24:25;38).

Meeting Christ in His Mysteries
Gregory Collins, OSB