Aflame for Christ

One of the greatest truths in the spiritual life is that the road to glory always leads through the Cross. But why is that? Can't it be any other way? Yet, in the Christian view, suffering isn't a tragedy but an act of love and detachment that God may be our all-in-all. So don't run from it, but embrace it...and keep your eyes fixed on the glory that awaits.

Cicero said that it was better to be, rather than to appear. Jesus says something similar in the Gospel - it is far more important to truly be a Christian rather than to appear to be one based on the ashes on our forehead. This Lent, make the resolution to take the steps necessary to actually become a follower of Jesus Christ through repentance of sins, Confession and Mass, and making Jesus the center of your life.

Today we conclude our three-week series on Christ's Rules for Happiness - the Beatitudes, as we look at the blessedness of being pure of heart, peacemakers, and persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

As we continue our discussion of Jesus' eight signposts of happiness (aka the Beatitudes), we ponder what it means to be meek, merciful, and to hunger and thirst for holiness!

Jesus gives us eight rules of happiness - the Beatitudes. These are not things that merely "happen" to us, but virtues that we can seek to cultivate. Hear how the first two Beatitudes can be lived out - that we may find a fulfilling life!

God became incarnate and left us an incarnate Church - His love comes through visible, tangible means in the Sacraments. This is one of the greatest antidotes to the digital world in which we all live - the fact that God uses "real-world" stuff to communicate His invisible grace in the Sacraments!

To love is to lay down your life for another. But you can't give what you don't have - so one must possess oneself in order to give oneself away. So many men are slaves to many things, though: lust, pride, pleasures, money. We need self-control, developed through self-denial, to break free from these types of slavery so that we experience the true freedom of Christ, which will allow us to give of ourselves to Him!

It's far easier to stay comfortable on your couch than to embark upon an arduous search for Truth. But the Magi did just that, realizing that their Zoroastrian faith, incomplete in itself, hinted to a richer and deeper fulfillment in Jesus Christ. So, too, we must be willing to search for how best to know and worship God - in the fullness of Truth in the Catholic Faith.

All parents want their kids to be safe and secure. But are we as concerned with our children's spiritual safety as we are about their spiritual safety? There is an Evil One who wants to corrupt the innocence and holiness of our children - how can we as parents and grandparents be the vanguard of protecting their precious souls, purchased by the Blood of the Lamb?

A monstrance is a golden vessel with a clear center meant to make God visible to the world. So it is with Christ - He is a window into the divine. But every Christian is called to become like a monstrance - a vessel with Christ at the center, revealing Him to the world.

Joseph is the quiet, little-known member of the Holy Family. Yet his virtues shine brightly as a witness to all Christians: virtues such as mercy, reverential awe, embracing his vocation, and prompt obedience. Hear how his example is worth meditating on for every Christian!

Every man is created in the image and likeness of God, Who is strength. As such, he is called to use his strength for laying down his life. Our world is full of men who are aggressive or passive, but strength is something different - it is an ability to protect, lead, defend, and provide for those under us - especially in the spiritual realm against the Evil One and sin.

The Christian Life lives between two feasts - the Feast of the Eucharist, commemorating the great work of our Redemption, and the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, when God returns victorious to destroy sin and death forever. Advent straddles both feasts - helping us celebrate what God has already done and looking forward to what God will do when He comes again in majesty!

An ancient and beloved prayed to Our Lady is the "Salve Regina" ("Hail, Holy Queen"). We pray it at the end of the Rosary and sing it at the end of the Liturgy of the Hours. But where does it come from? Who wrote it, and how is it borne out of tragedy - and still a prayer of hope and glory? Tune in to find out more about this powerful prayer!

We live in enemy-occupied territory - the Evil One has oppressed and enslaved us since the beginning of time. But a rescue mission is afoot - a Man has come in disguise, behind enemy lines, to rescue us by dying in our stead. Advent celebrates the beginning of this great sabotage, where our Enemy is defeated by his own tactics (by death), leading to our great liberation!

St. Jude lived a unique, unrepeatable life with both blessings and challenges: an Apostle, a missionary, a martyr. Your life, too, is unique and unrepeatable. As much as we may look at others with envy, we ought to embrace our own unique path to holiness and find God's Hand in both the blessings and the challenges - for we have an unrepeatable role to play in the Kingdom!