A Healing Force
Be Kind
Love From Your Heart
God is Love….Choose to Love
A turning point in my life came when love became my default choice for twenty-one straight days. I wondered what opportunities might open up. I wondered what connections might be repaired. I wondered what moments I might capture that I would have otherwise missed. I wondered who I might become.
For twenty-one straight days, I showed up to love—and as you might expect, it wasn’t always pretty.
Sometimes I showed up to love without a smile.
Sometimes I showed up to love feeling ugly, worthless, and inadequate.
Sometimes I showed up to love alone and scared.
Sometimes I showed up to love when I didn’t know what I was doing.
Sometimes I showed up to love when it was the last thing I wanted to do.
Sometimes I showed up to love even when I had a lot on my plate.
Sometimes I showed up to love when my patience was gone.
Sometimes I showed up to love when I had no love to give.
Despite the obstacles… despite the excuses I could’ve made… despite the pressures and distractions of the outside world… despite the mean voice of my inner critic, I continually showed up to love. Why?
Because I never left the same way I arrived.I always walked away a little lighter … a little more at peace… a little more hopeful… a little more grateful… a little more joyful. I found that love was always the right choice. I never once regretted choosing love over all else.
So I showed up to love again
And again
And again.
That repeated action changed me.
Instead of…The One Who is Always Too Busy
The One Who Overreacts All the Time
The One Who Rarely Slows Down
The One Missing All the Fun
I became known as The One Who Always Comes to a little girl whose opinion mattered more than the world.Making it a habitual practice to choose love changed my inner fiber, the wiring of my brain, and my entire life perspective regarding what was important. Thus, I’ve come to believe there is one single action that has the power to transform our lives: CHOOSING LOVE—choosing love as much as humanly possible.
Despite the progress I’ve made over the years, my journey to live my best life is far from over. I am a work in progress, consistently seeking to become a more loving, more present, and more grateful version of myself. Lately, I’ve been feeling like there is more joy, connection, passion, creativity, conversation, and healing waiting to be grasped. Given the negativity and divisiveness permeating our country right now, I can’t think of a better time to make a habit of choosing love. Therefore, I am committing to a Choose Love 21-Day Challenge. Perhaps you’d like to join me…
Why Choose Love?
There are so many reasons…
Tackle an extra hour of paperwork or love?
I choose love.
I will be more productive after taking a much-needed break.
Scream at the driver who just cut me off or love?
I choose love.It will be better for my blood pressure as well as the impressionable ears in the backseat.
Read a text message at the stoplight or love?
I choose love.It could save my life, my loved ones’ lives, and spare me from taking a life.
Hold a grudge or love?
I choose love.
Let resentment be someone else’s lifelong companion.
Say “I can’t play with you” or love?
I choose love.
Seeing her smile as she sets up the game fills me with a sense of peace I can’t find anywhere else.
Get in the last word or love?
I choose love.
Our words will be better heard when we both cool down.
Rant about the spilled milk carton or love?
I choose love.
Spills can be cleaned up; broken hearts are harder to mend.
Post a picture of the present moment on social media or love?
I choose love.
I will remember it more vividly if I capture this moment solely with my eyes.
Complain about the way she’s dressed or love?
I choose love.
By loving her “as is,” I will encourage her to shine her unique light and be herself.
Berate myself for messing up or love?
I choose love.
Accepting my humanness offers my loved ones the freedom to be human too.
Today I will choose love.
Tomorrow I will choose love.
And the day after that, I will choose love.
If I mistakenly choose distraction, perfection, or negativity over love, I will not wallow in regret. I will choose love next.
I will choose love until it becomes my first response … my gut instinct … my natural reaction. I will choose love until it becomes who I am.
My friends, consider the possibilities for a moment: What might result if love becomes your default choice for 21 straight days? What opportunities might open up? What connections might be repaired? What moments might you capture that otherwise might be missed? Who might you become?
Instead of…
The One Who’s Always Too Busy
The One Who Overreacts
The One Who Never Listens
The One Who Rarely Slows Down
The One Who’s Always Grouchy
The One Glued to the Phone
The One Missing All the Fun
The One Who’s Given Up
You might just become The One You Always Wanted to Be…
A Good Listener
A Thoughtful Noticer
A Generous Forgiver
A Take Your Timer
A Belly Laugher
A Risk Taker
An Adventure Seeker
A Silly Grinner
A Moment Grasper
An Enjoyer of Life
Why? Because good things start with love.Show up to love today.
Don’t worry about what you look like or what yesterday looked like.
Just show up to love.
Something tells me you’ll walk away a little better than when you arrived.
Then do it again.
Written by Angel Chernoff
Meditation of the Day – January 28th
“God cannot cease to love me. That is the most startling fact that our doctrine reveals. Sinner or saint He loves and cannot well help Himself. Magdalen in her sin, Magdalen in her sainthood, was loved by God. The difference between her position made some difference also in the effect of that love on her, but the love was the same, since it was the Holy Spirit who is the love of the Father and the Son. Whatever I do, I am loved. But then, if I sin, am I unworthy of love? Yes, but I am unworthy always. Nor can God love me for what I am, since, in that case, I would compel His love, force His will by something external to Himself. In fact, really if I came to consider, I would find that I was not loved by God because I was good, but that I was good because God loved me. My improvement does not cause God to love me, but is the effect of God’s having loved me.”— Fr. Bede Jarrett, p. 51
Above All Else….
Spread Love
Meditation of the Day – January 25th
“Since all our love for God is ultimately a response to His love for us, we can never love Him in the same way He loves us, namely, gratuitously. Since we are fundamentally dependent on God and in His debt for our creation and redemption, our love is always owed to Him, a duty, a response to His love. But we can love our neighbor in the same way that He loves us, gratuitously—not because of anything the neighbor has done for us or because of anything that we owe him, but simply because love has been freely given to us. We thereby greatly please the Father. God the Father tells Catherine [of Siena]: This is why I have put you among your neighbors: so that you can do for them what you cannot do for me—that is, love them without any concern for thanks and without looking for any profit for yourself. And whatever you do for them I will consider done for me.”
– Ralph Martin, p. 261
Sermon Notes – Love Totally
“Love Totally and Without Reservation”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
November 10-11, 2018
Scripture: Mark 12: 38-44
38) In the course of his teaching he said,p “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, 39) seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.40) They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.” 41) He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42) A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. 43) Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. 44) For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
Teachers tend to repeat the points of the lesson they want their students to remember. Our Lord teaches us again and again that we must love Him and His people. The Ten Commandments are basic instructions on how to love, while the Catechism contains more in-depth instructions. In neither can you love totally and without reservation until you give up the love of self.
So, what does that kind of love look like? In John 15:13, Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” In Matthew 18:21, Jesus tells Peter that he must forgive his brother “Not seven times; I say, seventy time seven times.” We can also find that kind of love on the crucifix. His Passion is a reminder of just how much He loves us. Christ said “Father forgive them, they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). Every Mass is a total expression and outpouring of His love. It shows us how much we are loved and how much we are to love others.
We don’t pay close enough attention to the lessons Christ teaches us. Often, we forget the lessons already learned about who and how we are to love. It’s as if we have Attention Deficit Disorder. As fallen people, we try to figure out how much we can get away with and do as little as possible and still get into heaven. However, I doubt that you would be very happy if your spouse said s/he loved you only partially.
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you give up your love of self? Will you love totally and without reservation?
Father’s After-Thoughts….
Veterans’ Day is Monday. George Orwell said: “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” On June 6, 1944, D-Day, our soldiers crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France to help liberate Western Europe from the German Nazis. A soldier once told me that the water was bloody when they made their way up to the beach. Another said that they had to step over dead bodies in the water to get to shore.
Some say that time heals all wounds; but that is not true…at least for many combat veterans. Their wounds are deep and, many times, are kept hidden for a lifetime. It becomes much more difficult, even impossible to cope with the pain when their wives are no longer there to help. Since the Civil War, 20 veterans commit suicide every day. Please pray for those who have served and who are still serving in combat zones that they find peace and solace. And, when you meet a veteran, be sure to thank them for their service.
Sermon Notes – An Act of Love
“Penance – An Act of Love“
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
November 26-27, 2020
Scripture: Mark 13: 33-37
Advent is called the Penitential Season. During the Penitential Season, the church is decorated in violet…not blue; blue is not a liturgical color. Violet symbolizes penance. It’s also why the vestments I wear during the Penitential Season are violet. During this season, we are supposed to do works of penance to prepare for the coming of our Savior. Saint Paul came to mind while I was meditating on what to say to you tonight. In his letters, Saint Paul reminds us that athletes deny themselves so many things in order to wear a passing crown of olive leafs. But, we can have a much greater prize in heaven if we deny ourselves for the sake of the eternal crown. Now, this crown is not a “what” but a “Who.” We don’t seek a “what” as in a halo; instead, we seek a “Who.” We seek Jesus, so that we can be in the presence of God. This is what we should strive for.
A lot of people think that penance is a bad word. “Oh, my goodness! I have to give up bacon!” I’ve done that, so I don’t want to hear you whine. So, what is penance? It’s an offering of love. “Oh, penance is a bad word.” No, penance is a good word. We choose or deny ourselves of something for a greater good. For example, sometimes fathers and mothers will deny themselves so that they can give their kids an extra treat. “I won’t buy lunch and save the money for something for the kids.” We may do more charity, we may pray more, or we may offer up our sufferings so that we can strip ourselves of things. We do this so that we may have a more perfect union in this life, and therefore in the life to come, to be with our good Lord. And, when the time of our death comes, He will see us and give Himself totally and unreservedly to us.
Sometimes, and act of penance is a small thing, but it may feel like a really BIG thing. Perhaps, we deny ourselves some bacon. I get a little teary at the thought. If I’m at a Spanish or Mexican restaurant and someone walks by with a plate of nachos, tears start running down my face. Come on! I can’t have nachos either. But, to offer that denial of self, to move away from selfishness and self-centeredness is a gift of love given so that I may love Him better. That’s what works of penance are. They are gifts of love. It’s the stripping ourselves of self-love so we may love God more.
Christ came to this world and He gives Himself totally in the Sacraments. We should strive to make ourselves more perfect for Him. We should strive each day, not just during Advent, but each day, to do even little things for Him. Mother Teresa said, “If you can’t do great things, do little things with great love.” We do works of love so that we can love Him better and without reservation. He gives Himself totally to us, a perfect example of love, so that we, by constant practice, can give ourselves more totally to Him and make our love a more perfect imitation of Him. And, by loving Him more, we can love each other better.
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you do works of love to prepare for the coming of our Savior?