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Being Rude is Easy
Why You’ll Never Be Strong Enough
If you’ve ever planned to become so holy that you don’t need God’s help anymore, then this video is for you.
Self-reliance is a virtue lauded by modern society in the west. But not only does Jesus warn against it, self-reliance… just… doesn’t even work.
Today, Fr. Mike proposes an alternative that will change your life. Spoiler: it involves relying on someone else…
https://www.youtube.com/@AscensionPresents
Your Weakness = Your Superpower
If you’ve ever planned to become so holy that you don’t need God’s help anymore, then this video is for you.
Self-reliance is a virtue lauded by modern society in the west. But not only does Jesus warn against it, self-reliance… just… doesn’t even work.
Today, Fr. Mike proposes an alternative that will change your life. Spoiler: it involves relying on someone else.
Daily Reflection – Confidently Offer Him Your Weakness
Daily Reflection – Let Your Weakness and Defeats Lead You
Daily Reflection – Jesus is the Bread of Life
Minute Meditation – Leaning on God
I lean on God but from time to time I feel that I am leaning on air. That happens when I start putting God out there somewhere too far removed from me. When I remember that God dwells in me and in all my brothers and sisters in Christ, then that leaning becomes substantial again and God takes flesh in those around me whom I can see and hear. We are the body of Christ, and he has no other visible body here and now. God is Spirit who has become enfleshed in Jesus and Jesus takes on flesh and bone in us through the same Holy Spirit. When we lean on one another, we are building up the body of Christ. We are strengthening our own weakness by acknowledging that we are only a part of the whole body and that we need all the other members if we are going to function correctly and appreciate our own worth.
— from the book Song of the Sparrow: New Poems and Meditations by Murray Bodo, OFM
//Franciscan Media//
Minute Meditation – Love is Stronger Than Death
“Love has triumphed over hatred, life has conquered death, light has dispelled the darkness! Christians, by the grace of Christ, dead and risen, are the seeds of another humanity, in which we seek to live in service to one another, not to be arrogant, but rather respectful and ready to help. This is not weakness, but true strength!… May there echo in your hearts, in your families and communities, the announcement of the Resurrection, along with the warm light of the presence of the Living Jesus: a presence which brightens, comforts, forgives, gladdens. Jesus conquered evil at the root: he is the Door of Salvation, open wide so that each person may find mercy.”—Pope Francis
One of the ironies of the liturgical year is that we often find it easier to enter into the rigorous practices of Lent than to celebrate the joy of Easter and the Risen Lord. We know with our minds this great mystery of our faith. But we don’t always experience that joy in our hearts. It goes so far beyond our human experience that we have nothing to compare to it. At the heart of the story on Easter Sunday is the empty tomb. The stories of the appearances will come later, unfolding the mystery of the resurrection. But the first message to the apostles is that the tomb is empty. Somewhere in the darkness of the Easter Vigil and the pale dawn of Easter Sunday, each of us must confront the empty tomb and discover for ourselves the Risen Christ. Pope Francis reminds us that our joy in the Risen Christ calls us to a quiet love and service, wrapped in the awareness that our life in Christ needs no trumpets or pomp and earthly glory. We have a peace in our hearts that is stronger than death itself. All our hope lies in that promise.
— from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis,
by Diane M. Houdek
//Franciscan Media//
Meditation of the Day – When You Suffer
“[Saint] Paul understood that the suffering he was going through somehow allowed him to share in Christ’s suffering for the world…In his own life, there was a time when he asked the Lord three times to remove a particular suffering from him (see 2 Corinthians 12:8). The response he received from the Lord was not “Oh, my oversight. That’s right, I took care of all that suffering. You don’t have to do anything.” No, God’s response was, “[Paul], my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)…It is completely opposite of the way the world thinks…What looked like the worst thing that ever happened on earth—Christ hanging on a cross, bleeding to death—became the source of salvation for the entire world. The point of weakness became the point of strength; it was transformed into the power over death and Hell. We have to get it through our heads that the kingdom of God is an upside-down kingdom according to the world’s perspective. Weakness confounds the wise. The poor and obscure confound the rich and famous…Whatever you are going through right now, remember that God has a plan for you. He wants to be united to you so closely that it resembles a spousal relationship…your suffering is not inconsequential; it is extremely valuable in the economy of God.”
—Jeff Cavins, When You Suffer
//The Catholic Company//
Meditation of the Day – Pride Precedes Grievous Sin
“It almost always happens that interior sentiments of pride precede the commission of grievous sins. Peter was not aware of his own weakness. He preferred himself before others; he trusted in himself as though he were incapable of sinning, boasting that no temptation would separate him from Jesus. He would not even believe the assurance of his Divine Master, that he would deny him thrice. Deceived by this vain confidence in his own strength, he neglects to pray, and to have recourse to God; and God, in His justice, permits him to fall, in punishment of his pride. There is nothing more dangerous than to confide in our own strength, and trust to feelings of fervor. We are full of malice, and capable of committing the most enormous crimes, unless God supports us.”
— Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, p. 85-6