My Friends,
A very Merry Christmas and Happy 2023 to you all! My prayer is that you seek Him, find Him, become Him, and proclaim Him in a world that needs Him more than ever. To know Him, love Him, and serve Him is the purpose and joy of our lives! As inner healing and growth in holiness happens, we experience for ourselves the generous and merciful Father who rushes out to meet us and promises us everything He has. Let’s give a resounding “yes” to Him in this new year, through the intersession of Mother Mary whose fiat wrought so great a Savior. During this Christmas season and year of Eucharistic Renewal, consider this reflection from Peter Kreeft in Food for the Soul, What did Jesus leave the world that it did not have before? We still have death, and sin, and suffering, and wars, and diseases, and wickedness. How did Jesus change the world? What did Jesus give us that we didn’t have before? The answer is as simple as a lightning bolt. We have God. God in person, God incarnate, God in the flesh. We have the eternal son of God who was made man and who suffered and died and rose for our salvation and who is still here, all of him, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, hiding behind the appearances of bread and wine in the that little tabernacle and made present on the altar by this own miraculous power, using words that come from the lips of a priest who is a sinner just like you. And you are invited to receive him not just into your soul but also into your body…O come let us adore him. That’s what Christmas is about” (2022, p.46). If you are looking for personal or group resources for the new year, these are a few that have come to my attention and that I recommend: Fr. Mike Schmitz’s Catechism in a Year podcast; Supernatural Saints: A School of Ministry from the Saints by Patrick Reis and Fr. Matthias Thelen; Jesus I Trust in You: A 30-Day Personal Retreat with the Litany of Trust by Sr. Faustina Maria Pia, S.V.; short but excellent videos on the spiritual life by Matthew Leonard at Science of Sainthood; and more practical growth (podcasts, human formation groups, counseling) with Souls and Hearts. As well, if you have never been on a retreat or it has been a while, please consider looking into this and prioritizing time away with just the LORD. Remember, He is found in silence, prayer, asceticism, preference for the poor and vulnerable (often within our family/community), and fulfilling the Lord’s will in daily life. Discern well, my friends, and rejoice in the LORD always. A Mass is being offered for all my directees, retreatants, and supervisees this Christmas season. May Christ Be Born Anew, Rachel Gehring Comments are closed.
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