Thank God for the Resurrection...
Someone asked me today how it was that Jesus could truly give Himself in the Eucharist since He had already died 2,000 years ago. When I asked them what Liturgical season we are celebrating right now, they didn't put 2 and 2 together, that we are celebrating the Resurrection. We are celebrating the rising of Jesus, body and soul, from the dead. He beat death so that we would never die and could live with him, if we so choose, for all eternity. Jesus is alive and well and still working miracles everyday, the biggest of all being the Eucharist, an immense miracle that happens at every Mass all over the world every day. Most people miss it. Sad. So often people flock to the sight of a visionary or an apparition, leaving behind the most important person of all, Jesus. There's nothing wrong with visiting such places like Lourdes or Betania so long as we remember that God allows those visible miracles to happen in order to increase our faith in him, not to make gods out of anyone else.
One thing I have found in the season of Easter is enormous amount of healing grace. The Holy Spirit is always looking to be lord and giver of life within our souls. I find that in the season of Easter, the Holy Spirit is especially working to heal us in the depths of our souls, in order that we might not just exist or survive, but that we would have life to the full. We were meant to live the fullness of life, not the remnants. The dignity that God has created us in demands a noble and significant life.
Perhaps one of the reasons why so many people do not come to this life is because, as I found with myself, it is an interior journey. We can read all the spiritual books we want and practice various methods of prayer but until we are ready to look within our heart and be honest with outselves and God, who dwells within, then these things won't truly take root within us.
It sounds easy, looking inside our hearts to see what dwells there, but if that were true, we'd probably have a lot more saints living in the world today. It's tough work. It is difficult to go back through our lives and look at the pains of our childhood and youth. Many of us have had horrible things happen to us or perhaps have made some very bad decisions in our lives. It is hard to go back to those moments of pain and sorrow and bring them to God for healing. So often we hide these memories and experiences, even from ourselves. We put on a mask for other people and pretend that we are happy. We can't understand why we keep making the same mistakes over and over again or how it seems that we keep picking the same kind of friends that may not be the best influence on us.
Sometimes we think that what happened to us as children or in our teen years or twenties makes us a bad person, we think that God could never truly, truly love us. But I am here to tell you that that isn't true. Only when you let the light of the Holy Spirit into your heart and are willing to share everything with Him, the good and bad, will you really move to a new level of closeness with God. It seems like a paradox, the more darkness you give God, all of that stuff which is stored in your heart that brings you anger and shame and fear and pain, the more you give that to God, the more He fills your life with the truth, that you are loved at all times and that you are very precious to Him.
I have seen this in my own life.
Find someone you can trust to talk to about these memories and sorrows. So many people walk around their whole lives with pain and sorrow from their childhood and youth, which builds upon sorrows later on in life. We weren't created to live in pain and shame. We were created to live in light and truth.
This Easter Season is a time for new life and growth. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to know yourself. Ask Him to help you know yourself as He knows you. It's not an easy journey at first, peering within to the depths of your heart, but it is a journey that brings peace, confidence, and love.
When you know the real Truth, He really does set you free.
One thing I have found in the season of Easter is enormous amount of healing grace. The Holy Spirit is always looking to be lord and giver of life within our souls. I find that in the season of Easter, the Holy Spirit is especially working to heal us in the depths of our souls, in order that we might not just exist or survive, but that we would have life to the full. We were meant to live the fullness of life, not the remnants. The dignity that God has created us in demands a noble and significant life.
Perhaps one of the reasons why so many people do not come to this life is because, as I found with myself, it is an interior journey. We can read all the spiritual books we want and practice various methods of prayer but until we are ready to look within our heart and be honest with outselves and God, who dwells within, then these things won't truly take root within us.
It sounds easy, looking inside our hearts to see what dwells there, but if that were true, we'd probably have a lot more saints living in the world today. It's tough work. It is difficult to go back through our lives and look at the pains of our childhood and youth. Many of us have had horrible things happen to us or perhaps have made some very bad decisions in our lives. It is hard to go back to those moments of pain and sorrow and bring them to God for healing. So often we hide these memories and experiences, even from ourselves. We put on a mask for other people and pretend that we are happy. We can't understand why we keep making the same mistakes over and over again or how it seems that we keep picking the same kind of friends that may not be the best influence on us.
Sometimes we think that what happened to us as children or in our teen years or twenties makes us a bad person, we think that God could never truly, truly love us. But I am here to tell you that that isn't true. Only when you let the light of the Holy Spirit into your heart and are willing to share everything with Him, the good and bad, will you really move to a new level of closeness with God. It seems like a paradox, the more darkness you give God, all of that stuff which is stored in your heart that brings you anger and shame and fear and pain, the more you give that to God, the more He fills your life with the truth, that you are loved at all times and that you are very precious to Him.
I have seen this in my own life.
Find someone you can trust to talk to about these memories and sorrows. So many people walk around their whole lives with pain and sorrow from their childhood and youth, which builds upon sorrows later on in life. We weren't created to live in pain and shame. We were created to live in light and truth.
This Easter Season is a time for new life and growth. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to know yourself. Ask Him to help you know yourself as He knows you. It's not an easy journey at first, peering within to the depths of your heart, but it is a journey that brings peace, confidence, and love.
When you know the real Truth, He really does set you free.
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