I just finished reading the Ralph Martin book, Fulfillment of All Desire. It is an amazing work and I will be rereading it many times.
As I sit here the on Christmas Eve, I can't stop thinking about the section on selfishness. It describes how our own selfishness masks sin, how it effects our perception, how it effects our relationships, how it keeps us from God.
There is a quote from G.K. Chesterton that I never really understood until now. His response to the question "What is wrong with the world?" is "I AM". I now see this with such clarity (Not him being the problem with the world...I am the problem).
Even though I try desperately to be a good Catholic, I still spend (waste) time thinking of how others have wronged me...how I wish I didn't have to deal with this person or that person...how I am the victim in many situations.
Instead of realizing how selfish I am to try to put my feelings onto other people, I should be thinking of how this is my chance to help those people (i.e. humility, charity, evangelizing, etc.). How simple...how incredibly hard...how necessary!
Please God, forgive me for not recognizing the opportunities you have given me to get closer to you!
24 December 2007
21 October 2007
Business trip or something else
A few weeks ago I was flying to Costa Rica to visit the manufacturing facility of the company I work for. Getting to Costa Rica from the Detroit area is an all-day long event. My travel plan was a 2.5 hour flight to Miami, 2 hour lay-over, followed by an almost 3 hour flight to Costa Rica.
I sat in the Detroit airport reading The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin (Not that I know him, he does belong to the same parish as my wife and I). This was a subtle form of evangelization. The book is rather large and anyone looking will notice it (and the fact that it is not the normal reading material you see in airports). NOTE: Another thing I do when I travel is to pray a Hail Mary when the plane is taking off and landing - followed by the sign of the cross.
The book is incredible and I was really getting into it when I noticed that the seat next to me was now occupied. To my surprise the person sitting next to me was none other than Sister Ann Shields from Renewal Ministries (heard on Ave Maria Radio - Food for the Journey).
After introducing myself, I rambled on about only being a Catholic for 4 years and how I listened to her in the morning, and who knows what else. She had this look in her eyes that had tremendous depth. It was not only touching but was also something that I yearned to achieve. The look of total faith in God!
During our brief talk she told me how she was travelling to Brazil (about 12 hours in the air followed by 250 miles on the ground - I am such a wimp!). She was going to speak at a mission down there to help re-invigorate the folks, then give a seminar.
Then I said something extremely trite. I can't remember exactly what it was but it ended with "You are doing God's work". She looked me right in the eye and said "You too are doing God's work"!
After fumbling to find the right words I stepped away. She agreed to watch my bags, and when I returned her seating was called, I thanked her, and she boarded the plane. On my briefcase she left the following prayer:
OH, HOLY SPIRIT, BELOVED OF MY SOUL...I ADORE YOU. ENLIGHTEN ME, GUIDE ME, STRENGHTEN ME, CONSOLE ME. TELL ME WHAT I SHOULD DO...GIVE ME YOUR ORDERS. I PROMISE TO SUBMIT MYSELF TO ALL THAT YOU DESIRE OF ME AND TO ACCEPT ALL THAT YOU PERMIT TO HAPPEN TO ME LET ME ONLY KNOW YOUR WILL.
(Cardinal Mercier).
Praise be to God!
I sat in the Detroit airport reading The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin (Not that I know him, he does belong to the same parish as my wife and I). This was a subtle form of evangelization. The book is rather large and anyone looking will notice it (and the fact that it is not the normal reading material you see in airports). NOTE: Another thing I do when I travel is to pray a Hail Mary when the plane is taking off and landing - followed by the sign of the cross.
The book is incredible and I was really getting into it when I noticed that the seat next to me was now occupied. To my surprise the person sitting next to me was none other than Sister Ann Shields from Renewal Ministries (heard on Ave Maria Radio - Food for the Journey).
After introducing myself, I rambled on about only being a Catholic for 4 years and how I listened to her in the morning, and who knows what else. She had this look in her eyes that had tremendous depth. It was not only touching but was also something that I yearned to achieve. The look of total faith in God!
During our brief talk she told me how she was travelling to Brazil (about 12 hours in the air followed by 250 miles on the ground - I am such a wimp!). She was going to speak at a mission down there to help re-invigorate the folks, then give a seminar.
Then I said something extremely trite. I can't remember exactly what it was but it ended with "You are doing God's work". She looked me right in the eye and said "You too are doing God's work"!
After fumbling to find the right words I stepped away. She agreed to watch my bags, and when I returned her seating was called, I thanked her, and she boarded the plane. On my briefcase she left the following prayer:
OH, HOLY SPIRIT, BELOVED OF MY SOUL...I ADORE YOU. ENLIGHTEN ME, GUIDE ME, STRENGHTEN ME, CONSOLE ME. TELL ME WHAT I SHOULD DO...GIVE ME YOUR ORDERS. I PROMISE TO SUBMIT MYSELF TO ALL THAT YOU DESIRE OF ME AND TO ACCEPT ALL THAT YOU PERMIT TO HAPPEN TO ME LET ME ONLY KNOW YOUR WILL.
(Cardinal Mercier).
Praise be to God!
06 October 2007
Married...Finally
Today, October 6 2007, my beautiful wife Gladys and I exchanged vows and are now our marriage is officially recognized by the Catholic Church. Pictures to follow.
Honey, I love you more than ever!
Honey, I love you more than ever!
30 September 2007
God's Love is communal
This past weekend I was asked to speak at our Life in the Spirit seminar. The subject of the talk was God's Love.
I rambled on mostly, but one item that struck a cord was God's Love being communal. We all know what God's Love can do to us personally, but what about the fact that what we do has an affect on others.
What I do, or don't do, affects others. What others do has an affect on me. Kind of like connecting the dots...for everyone.
I rambled on mostly, but one item that struck a cord was God's Love being communal. We all know what God's Love can do to us personally, but what about the fact that what we do has an affect on others.
What I do, or don't do, affects others. What others do has an affect on me. Kind of like connecting the dots...for everyone.
Convert?
I am an Introvert when I meet people but I have with an Overt passion for Christ. I try to Controvert those that try to Divert me from Christ. I Avert my eyes/ears/thoughts from the Covert insidiousness of sin, and I try to Invert any darkness into the light of Christ. I am truly a Convert
29 August 2007
God's Love
How do you explain it. He is with us when we are happy, and he is with us when we are in the darkest part of our lives. I had a friend tell me once that to truly feel God's love, we need to go to those really dark areas...the parts of our lives that we are afraid to be...again!
This is what I love about confession. We face God and admit our sins, mortal and venial. This is truly supernatural. We spend most of our lives in denial, afraid to admit that we are sinners. But in the confessional booth we face God, and admit our sins...then the most amazing thing happens...we get to here the words of God (for those of you that are not Catholic yet, the response from the priest is actually God speaking directly to us). To quote Rachel Ray "How Great is That"!
When I think of God's love, I think of how God brought my wife and I together and kept us together through all these years. Actually, the amazing part is that my wife is stayed with me through all these years. When I was growing up, there was probably one family in school that had parents that were divorced.
Today, it seems that divorce is the norm...and my wife are in our 25th year of marriage. I am truly blessed! I get to wake up every morning and my wife is right next to me...she is still there! WOW!!
How do you explain it. He is with us when we are happy, and he is with us when we are in the darkest part of our lives. I had a friend tell me once that to truly feel God's love, we need to go to those really dark areas...the parts of our lives that we are afraid to be...again!
This is what I love about confession. We face God and admit our sins, mortal and venial. This is truly supernatural. We spend most of our lives in denial, afraid to admit that we are sinners. But in the confessional booth we face God, and admit our sins...then the most amazing thing happens...we get to here the words of God (for those of you that are not Catholic yet, the response from the priest is actually God speaking directly to us). To quote Rachel Ray "How Great is That"!
When I think of God's love, I think of how God brought my wife and I together and kept us together through all these years. Actually, the amazing part is that my wife is stayed with me through all these years. When I was growing up, there was probably one family in school that had parents that were divorced.
Today, it seems that divorce is the norm...and my wife are in our 25th year of marriage. I am truly blessed! I get to wake up every morning and my wife is right next to me...she is still there! WOW!!
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