every lie is alien to the truth - December 31, 2010

Allow yourself to seek purity in yourself, in others. Allow yourself time for reflection on God, on the blessings and gifts you have received from God, on how to better serve God. Allow yourself time for remembrance of all those who have loved you, both those who are alive and those who are dead. Allow yourself time for reverence before God.

A life with proper reflection on God, with proper remembrance of all love received, with proper reverence for God will avoid making bold resolutions. Purity of heart and soul asks for consistency and propriety; it is a lifelong quest to be experienced gradually, with grace, hope, and love which leads to God.

All thoughts should lead to God.

Let prayer fill our imagination with glorious images of God's love, with glorious images of each one of us loving God, with glorious images of each one of us loving our neighbor.

And here is a moment of delicate welcome, the lingering embrace of remembrance and forgiveness which recalls last year's hope, last year's love, last year's humility, last year's charity.

May tenderheartedness and warmheartedness guide each Christian's heart, guide each Christian's daily decisions, guide each Christian closer to God.

Do not love the world or the things of the world - December 30, 2010

Have the courage to allow yourself to be tenderhearted. Remember that the Christian life is a story of continual conversion from sin to forgiveness. Each day we sin. Each day we ask for forgiveness. Each day someone asks for someone to pray for them. Each day someone promises to pray for someone else. The Christian life offers hope. Hope is very important. Hope can be very contagious. There is something beautiful and delicate about Christian hope. Allow hope to strengthen your faith, to inspire your love, to lead you from darkness. Allow hope to guide you toward God. Sometimes humility, charity, and obedience play hide and seek within hope as a way to motivate each one us gently, lovingly to do the right things.

Hope asks us to remember Jesus Christ, to remember his ministry, to shape and live our lives with the humility, charity, compassion, mercy, and love that he taught.

The journey of hope begins with a question within our souls, sometimes it is a single word, a single idea but it can lead to something bigger and better with prayer, reflection, meditation. Hope is patient. Hope does not complain. Hope accepts and embraces and welcomes all signs of goodness, kindness, and holiness without question, without doubt.

Hope is goodness. Hope is pureness. It is beneficial for become closer to God, conducive to serving God, useful in loving God.

the true light is already shining - December 29, 2010

Have the courage to allow yourself to be warmhearted. Remember that the Christian life is a journey from darkness to light. Remember that the Christian life asks that each individual loves their neighbor as they love themselves. The Christian life requests that God be loved and served. Each day work to develop a good character. Have the courage to lead a life of genuine humility, avoid the temptation of pride. Look for examples of those living morally-sound lives. Seek purity and righteousness. Seek honor and virtue. Live virtuous. Reflect upon goodness, kindness, holiness. Live to give thanks, praise, and love to God each day, always.

Serving God is always beneficial.

Humility provides many opportunities to become closer to God and to help our neighbors. Christian Humility is an interruption of the self-absorption and selfishness encouraged by the secular culture.

The secular world encourages each individual to distract, to deceive, to demean their neighbors. Many conversations lead nowhere; many filled with the brightest of tones, the lightest of sounds will lead to darkness. Let the listener beware. Seek and conductive only conversations and discussions filled with goodness, hope, purity. Do not clog your imagination with impurity, meanness, jealousy.

Have the courage to say only those things which will be pleasing for God to hear.

Accept that this might be difficult at first, accept this as a goal for a lifetime as a loving, loyal servant of God.

We have fellowship with him - December 28, 2010

Have the courage to allow yourself to be humble. First read the Bible. Reflect upon the lives and the decisions of each individual mentioned in the different books and chapters. Each person mentioned is important; each person provides a clue about acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Not all people in the Bible are humble. Not all people in the Bible are Good. The Bible provides valuable lessons about how to serve and how to love God. Humility is very important.

Remember to always share and present reverence and respect for God. Have the courage to seek the charity in others as a way of finding it within. Remember to praise those who need to be praised, to love all without condition, and to use each moment of your life to praise God, to love God, to serve God.

Allow your faith to move you closer to God naturally. Allow your faith to help you become God's loyal servant.

Strive for humility, avoid pride. Learn from the Bible. Love humanity with the entirety of your being. Have the courage to allow this love to direct you toward the heavenly kingdom.

Each movement taken forward in the name of God, for the glory of God, is important when done lovingly, when done with charity, humility, and obedience to God.

he saw and believed - December 27, 2010

Waking up can be a little difficult this time of year for many unknown reasons. This is also a time for remembrance and reverence for all holy people who have believed, lived, and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This season asks each Christian to take a minute and count each blessing, each gift from God and to give thanks. The lessons within each reading point toward the universality of God's love. The message within each Mass presents the breadth of God's love for all of humanity. People on the right road will experience a little longing for Christ after hearing each Gospel reading. People on the right road will work to model their whole lives with a universal love, compassion, and sense of social justice. Each moment in their lives will bring more understanding, more wisdom. With effort each word of the Gospel can be understood. For the greatest gift of the season is developing the courage to be good, kind, and holy in the presence of both man and God.

Waking up can be a little difficult this time of year because everyone has something to complain about. This is not the time for heated discussions about God, the Eucharist, Jesus Christ, the Ten Commandments. This is a time for Love. This is a time for humility. This is a time to listen, not to be drawn into a paradox of excited opinion. This is a time for goodness, kindness, holiness. Each action of Christian, hopefully, will be pleasing to God. Rhetoric and grand speeches will not get a man or woman into heaven. Rhetoric and grand speeches will not make a man or woman holy. Rhetoric and grand speeches will fill the ears of the listeners with hollow sounds and unasked questions. There is always a need for penance, a need for Reconciliation with God. For some this time of year is a moment of extreme vanity when the spotlight shines on them, the parties they attend, the gifts they give, the gifts they receive. Although it might be difficult, please remember that this is a time to love and serve God. The true message of Christmas reminds each Christian of the necessity of patience and encourages each Christian to keep their gaze heavenward, to allow each step to lead them to the heavenly kingdom.

holy and beloved - December 26, 2010

It was a time to be warmhearted, to be time of tenderhearted; a time to believe in hope, in God. There were thick white candles with delicate orange flames reaching toward the ceiling, dancing toward heaven.

How easy it is to forget the behind the scene preparation for each Mass, to forget the ritual which precedes the rich, spiritual Rituals of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Here reverence and respect have an uneasy alliance. There is much scurrying, much hurrying. Patens and cruets have to filled and placed in the proper places. The chalice has to be covered and placed in its proper place. The ribbons in the books must be on the correct pages. There are voices saying hello, voices saying good-bye. There is much activity. There are questions about Mass, questions about brunch or the football game. It is a spiritual time. It is a very human time. It is a time for reflection. It is a time to search for chalice veil or a cushion for a chair or to ask someone to pray for you. Always people are walking this way, walking that way. Here is a moment of quick, joyous welcome. Here is a moment to accept a quick handshake, humble smile.

There is a little anxiety as volunteers arrive and ask for instruction.

There is a pureness in the moments leading up to a Mass, a moment of incorruptible high ideals and righteous as these minutes are freely, lovingly given in service to God.

There is laughing, water sipping, hand-washing, book skimming, slouching, standing, wobbling, joking, listening, praying. Here is a community.

Here is an opportunity to follow Jesus Christ, to escape the darkness and dangers of the secular world. Here is a time to be earnest, humble, and loving. Here is a time to seek illumination from God. Here we discuss contemporary hope and the encyclicals of the Pope. We ask about the Cardinal's ring which glancing at the processional song which we will sing.

There is a moment of silence, a moment of prayer, a moment when time does appear to stop, and Jesus Christ does gently appear on each face, each loving, believing face.

ABUNDANT JOY AND GREAT REJOICING - December 25, 2010

training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age Titus 2:12

It was a time of warmheartedness, a time of tenderheartedness surrounded by hope. There were thick white candles with delicate orange flames reaching toward the ceiling, dancing toward heaven.

How easy it is to forget the journey, to allow the moment, this minute to dominate the mind, the imagination. Life does not stop. Each minute flows into the next. Minutes flow into hours; hours flow into days. The journey continues whether we are prepared or not, whether we are able to upgrade or not. There is always motion, always a need for patience.

And here is a moment of delicate welcome, the lingering embrace of remembrance and forgiveness which recalls yesterday's hope, yesterday's love.

This is a moment of familiar songs, familiar sayings. For this instance the thick white candles offer reassurance, offer hope, offer continuity and faith. Here in this instance each individual is fine and dandy, each individual cannot complain. Here is a moment when good is allowed to triumph!

This is a moment of red and white and green leaves. This is a moment of soft lighting. This is a time to remember to be moral, to remember the Church's moral code. How romantic and perfect this night appears with the white lights on the evergreen trees. What a great moment to reflect upon personal morals. Each Christian is asked to live a morally-sound life of goodness, kindness, holiness; of charity, humility, and service to God. Each day provides opportunities for moralistic evaluations and decisions. Each day provides opportunities for honor, good character. Remember that each candle has one purpose: to provide light. High ideals are great companions to have as we walk on the right road, following the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

Sharing love and hope freely, gently is always a boon. Each day we are given an opportunity to exalt the goodness, the mercy, the presence of God in our lives. We constantly make choices. We must remember to do what is productive for God, what is beneficial to God. As Christians, God must always be an active part of our individual decision making process.

The candles stand guard, patiently sacrifice their wax to provide light. Allow each Mass to be a pilgrimage, an expedition to holiness, to love universal and unconditional.