13 Saturday May 2017
30 Sunday Apr 2017
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God…does not ration his gift of the Spirit. John 3:34
“No thanks, Lord. I have enough fruits of your Spirit. I’m good. I don’t need any special graces.” Does this sound like you? Do you know that the gifts of the Spirit will help you live out the Sacrament of Matrimony faithfully, fruitfully and forever?
Marriage is hard work. The family is to be the center of the New Evangelization with the mission of witnessing Christ’s life and love to the world. We have to become desperate for the sake of others. We have to become hungry for the souls of our families, our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends. Are you desperate? Are you hungry? Do you want more of the Spirit?
God wants to give you more of His Spirit. However, God only gives us more of His Spirit if we have a burning desire for Him. God feeds us according to our hunger. God has prepared a huge, sumptuous banquet for us and He is the main course. There is always more for those who hunger for God.
Are you hungry for more of God’s Spirit? Are you desperate to receive the Lord? Be a hungry beggar before God: “God, I need more of your Spirit. I need more of your grace. I need more of your mercy. I need more of your love. I have so little of you, Lord. Give me more.”
Be a person hungry to make Jesus known and loved. Be hungry for God so that He will fill you to overflowing with His Spirit. Then go and preach the Good News of the Gospel to those in most need of God’s love and mercy.
Peace be with you.
This is the 100th post to the Calling Couples to Christ blog. Please pray for us and our ministry of building holy and happy marriages as we pray for you.
22 Saturday Apr 2017
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“Beauty will save the world,” said Russian novelist and philosopher Fyodor Dostoyevsky in his 1868 novel The Idiot.
Indeed, God, the one who is all beautiful has saved the world! He is jaw-droppingly beautiful. He is so beautiful that we cannot bear to see Him face-to-face. In the Old Testament, anyone who looked upon the face of God would die. We can get a glimpse of His beauty and grandeur through His resplendent creation. Apostles Peter, James and John were given a glimpse of this beauty during the transfiguration of Jesus, “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light” (Mt 17:2). Nothing is more beautiful than what Jesus did on the cross for the salvation of our souls.
16 Sunday Apr 2017
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The-Resurrection of Christ, Paolo Veronese, c.1570
Now on the first day of the week Mary Mag′dalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. John 20:1-9
John’s Gospel account of the morning of Christ’s resurrection tells of Peter and John “running” to see the tomb. ”For as yet, they did not know” that Jesus would rise from the dead. Their emotions had gone from disbelief, to anguish, despair and utter discouragement. Jesus had died. Everything they had experienced with Jesus over the last three years had ended.
14 Friday Apr 2017
And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise.”
And James and John, the sons of Zeb′edee, came forward to him, and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:32-45
Can you drink from the same cup as Jesus? Are you ready to serve, not be served? Can you share in Christ’s death on the cross as a ransom for many? Jesus called the 12 disciples to service and salvation through suffering. Jesus is calling you in the same way, to be a servant to your spouse and family, laying down your life for the good of their souls.
06 Thursday Apr 2017
Confessing to a priest is a way of putting my life into the hands and heart of someone else, someone who in that moment acts in the name of Jesus… Pope Francis – 16 Jan 2016
For five weeks we have been reflecting on the passion and death of Jesus Christ. He suffered immensely for the forgiveness of our sins. He did it out of pure love for you and me. It is our prayer that this journey has helped you come to an understanding of the enormous price Christ paid for the forgiveness of your sins.
During this next week leading to Holy Week, which Pope Francis has called a “week of Mercy,” we suggest preparing for confession by examining the sins of your entire life. If you are like us, there are pages and pages of sins. The goal of this is NOT to have you feel bad about yourself. Rather it is to understand the great mercy of God. In spite of our great sinfulness, He loves us and wants us to dwell with Him for all eternity.
30 Thursday Mar 2017
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The Crucifixion, Jacopo Bellini, c.1430
For the final reflection in the series on Christ’s passion and death, we will use the movie The Passion of the Christ to help us understand the incredible sacrifice Christ made for our salvation.
And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. Luke 23:33
Last week, we reflected on Christ’s journey to Golgotha carrying the instrument of His death, the cross. Simon of Cyrene was enlisted to help Jesus carry the heavy cross. In the movie, we see Simon carrying the cross with the brutally beaten and exhausted Jesus hanging over Simon’s shoulder, appearing to add an extra burden for him to carry. But as Jesus falls to the ground at the peak of Golgotha, we see Simon crushed by the weight of the heavy, wooden cross. In spite of outward appearances, Jesus was in fact carrying the weight of the cross and the burden of the sins of the world.
25 Saturday Mar 2017
Titian, Carrying of the Cross, c. 1565
This is the fourth in our series reflecting on the Gospel accounts of Christ’s passion and death on a cross using the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary as our guide. We have looked at Christ’s agony in the garden of Gethsemane where he took on the sins of the world, His brutal scourging at the hands of the Roman guards and the crowning of thorns. Today we will look at the torturous journey to Golgotha as Christ carried His own cross to be used in His crucifixion.
19 Sunday Mar 2017
Crowning with Thorns, Gerard van Honthorst, c. 1622
And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the praetorium); and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him. Mark 15:16-17
During Lent, we are reflecting on Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. So far, we have reflected on the Agony in the Garden and The Scourging. This week we will look at the third Sorrowful Mystery of the Holy Rosary, the Crowning with Thorns.
12 Sunday Mar 2017
Flagellation of Christ, Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1617
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and requite him with comfort…Peace, peace, to the far and to the near, says the Lord; and I will heal him. Isaiah 57:18-19
During Lent, we are reflecting on Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. Last week, we reflected on the Agony in the Garden. This week we will look at the scourging of Christ at the pillar.
Calling Couples to Christ 