Tag Archives: love

The Meaning of Love

05 Sunday Jul 2020

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Florentine Cross

Love is a very misunderstood word. We love our parents, pizza, and puppies. Have you ever looked up the meaning of love in a dictionary? According to Merriam-Webster, love is defined as:

(1) strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties

(2) attraction based on sexual desire

(3) affection based on admiration, benevolence or common interests

(4) the sexual embrace, copulation

These are just a few of the definitions listed. Is this all there is to love? Is love something more than affection, desire, admiration, or the sexual act?

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Servanthood

28 Sunday Jun 2020

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Foot Washing

And they came to Caper′na-um; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” Mark 9:33-35

Husbands, you are called to be the servant-leaders of your homes. The man is the head of the home but just as Christ came not to be served but to serve, the husband is called to serve his family, sacrificing his own needs and desires for the good of his family.

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Love One Another

17 Sunday May 2020

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Love One Another_Jn 15 12

This past week, the Gospel readings for Mass were taken from the 14th and 15th chapters of John. These chapters are part of Jesus’ farewell discourse (13:31-16:33) to His disciples during the Last Supper. In addition to words of consolation, Jesus gives instructions for the time when He will be physically absent from them. First and foremost, Jesus commands the disciples – and us – to love one another!

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” (Jn 15:9-12 emphasis added)

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Thank God for Mothers!

10 Sunday May 2020

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Mother's Day 2020

Today is Mother’s Day. We encourage all husbands to pray Psalm 103 in thanksgiving to God for His unmerited blessings, especially for your wife and the mother of your children. If you do not have children, husbands still pray this for your wife, honoring her as a great gift from God.

It is very simple, just insert your wife’s name in the designated places below and pray this to your wife. Thank God for His wonderful blessings!

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An Ocean of Mercy

19 Sunday Apr 2020

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Divine Mercy mosaic

You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.[1]

We are living in unprecedented times. We are faced with a global pandemic the likes of which the world has not experienced in a century. Stay-in-place orders are common in most areas of the United States. Schools and businesses are closed. Parents are struggling with schooling children while working from home themselves. Tensions are rising and patience is wearing thin. Despair and hopelessness are at all-time highs. And with churches unable to celebrate Mass, the domestic church has become the norm for families.

In the midst of all this, today the Church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday. St. Maria Faustina Kowalska was a Polish nun who experienced apparitions of Jesus. She recorded these apparitions and messages from Jesus in a detailed diary. Her diary records 14 occasions when Jesus requested that a Feast of Mercy (Divine Mercy Sunday) be observed. Here is one of those messages…

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Until Death Do Us Part

16 Sunday Feb 2020

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Bible with rings

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7

On Valentine’s Day, we participated in the funeral Mass for a very dear friend. He died suddenly leaving his beautiful wife of 27 years and six amazing children.

We have known this couple for more than 15 years. During that time, we shared in their joys and sorrows. We celebrated their children’s baptisms, first Communions, confirmations and graduations. We worked side-by-side with them serving the poor and praying for an end to abortion. Their faithful love for each was a great witness to us.

Love never ends…1 Corinthians 13:8

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Our Heart’s Desire for Everlasting Love

26 Sunday Jan 2020

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Christ on the Cross_Eugène Delacroix_c1835

Christ on the Cross, Eugène Delacroix, c. 1835

Take a look at these excerpts from once popular song lyrics:

When I’m Sixty-four
When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a Valentine
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine…
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty-four[1]

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
I’d like to know that your love
Is a love I can be sure of
So tell me now and I won’t ask again
Will you still love me tomorrow[2]

Hungry Heart
Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Don’t make no difference what nobody says
Ain’t nobody like to be alone…
Everybody’s got a hungry heart[3]

Each of these secular songs echoes a truth inscribed in every human heart. We are made for everlasting love! St. John Paul II explains why:

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Putting Christ at the Center of Your Marriage

11 Saturday Jan 2020

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Invite me to the marriage_God

Jesus also was invited to the marriage… John 2:2

Honestly answer the following questions:

Is Christ part of your life but on the fringes of your daily life?

Is Christ just one of many things in your life?

Or is Christ the center of your life?

Making Christ part of your life is not enough. He must occupy the very center of your life and marriage with all other things revolving around Him. In marriage, we are two imperfect and wounded people. At times, we will let each other down. No person can fulfill the deepest longings of our heart for love. Only God can do that. To believe otherwise is to set yourself up for disappointment. Only Jesus can help you find genuine fulfillment in your life and in your marriage.

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The Epiphany of the Lord

05 Sunday Jan 2020

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Adoration-of-the-Magi_01

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” Isaiah 2:2-3

Today the Church celebrates the Epiphany of the Lord. The word “epiphany” comes from the Greek epiphainen, which means “to shine upon,” “to manifest,” or “to make known.” The feast of the Epiphany celebrates how God made Himself known to the world through the mission and divinity of Christ at the Visitation of the Magi (Mt 2:1-12). There are two other epiphanies in Scripture: The Baptism of Jesus (Mk 1:9-11) and the Wedding Feast at Cana (Jn 2:1-11).

And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:9-11

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The Feast of the Holy Family

29 Sunday Dec 2019

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Murillo_Holy Family

The Holy Family, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1650

Each year, on the first Sunday after Christmas, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We are invited to ponder and imitate the love of the Holy Family in our homes and families. Mary and Joseph are models of holy, faithful, obedient, and fruitful love in the rearing of the Christ Child.

St. John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World), articulated God’s plan for the family as an “intimate community of life and love.”[1] The Holy Trinity is a divine community of life and love, the intimate community of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Family – Jesus, Mary and Joseph – is an earthly model of this intimate community of life and love, lived in respect, obedience and humility to God the Father and to each other.

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