Blessed are the pure of heart

Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they will see God... (Mt. 5:8)
Who are the clean of heart?
How can we be pure of heart?
Are we willing to empty our heart of everything earthly and temporary...
for the sake of an unimaginable reality-to-come?

Are we satisfied with passing pleasures
(to which most times we can become addicted to?)
or are we totally convinced that in the purity
of God's image and likeness we can obtain and rejoice in the hope of the vision of God Himself?
Wow! what a day this would be...
if we only give ourselves over to the One (the I AM)
who has always been...and always will be...

Who can see through a dirty window pane?
We cannot see God with a heart dirtied by selfish worries and concerns...

As we ask God to help us begin to focus on Him and His goodness...
our spirit will take shape before our little (inner) eyes...
God will take hold of the heart and purify it by His presence within...
With God nothing is impossible. This is what we are all called to be...

The Family Beatitudes

Blessed is the family
that has made
Christ the center
of their home-life.

Blessed is the family where the children know
that they can trust and rely on their parents.


Blessed is the family
where the husband and wife
openly show love and affection
toward each other.

Blessed is the family that worships God
both privately and publicly.

Blessed is the family that has a sense of humor
and playfulness in good and not-so-good times.

Blessed is the family where members learn
the meaning of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Blessed is the family that knows
how to make the stranger feel welcome.

Blessed is the family where parents take the time
to teach their children to pray, think, read and reflect.

Blessed are the merciful...

(a reflection on Mt 5:7)

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
God has created each and every person all over the world: in His image.
Because we know this to be true, then how can we keep from entering into an accepting relationship with each and every person around the world
since we are one family in God (our Creator)?

We may not come to personally know every person around the world,
in this life. But when we connect with each person that God sends to us
in our daily living, and feel their joy, their sadness,
their pain, their forgiveness.
Then we learn to be joined in sorrow to the suffering of others...
We can only learn to be merciful when we cling to God's mercy for us
in our constant weakness.

Remember this: What we are to others, God will be to us.

Prayer: God of goodness and mercy, enlarge my heart
as You fill it with your merciful love.
Let the miracle of Your mercy shine through me
for Your honor and glory. Amen.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness...

...for they will have their fill (a reflection on Mt 5:6)
Those who hunger and thirst for holiness are aware of their own lowliness.
They know how much they need Christ in their lives
to draw abundantly from this fountain of divine grace.
On the other hand, those who enjoy too much of the present things
and think of themselves as comfortably pious
will not grow in holiness.

It is better and necessary to be always in want of more of God
for God is love.
This love is forever drawing us closer and closer
to the depths of the living God.
When we thirst for holiness it is not because we wish to feel more holy
(this is vanity of vanities - per the great saints)...
We wish to grow in holiness because we want Christ
to be able to fulfill God's designs fully, in us.
Our hunger and thirst will then be satisfied
when we let God be God in our lives.
After all, Christ Himself said to us: "I am the bread of life;
he who comes to me shall not hunger
and he who believes in me shall not thirst." (John 6:35)

Sorrow is Worth the Price

In times of sorrow, I can be thankful for the fact that I have loved and been loved, thankful, in fact, for the ability to grieve because grief witnesses to love.

— from St. Anthony Messenger magazine

Endless Love

God is love.

The depth of His love
never ends...
The gift of love
never dies...
Know for certain
that death
does not end our relationships
with all those we love.
We will go on loving each other
beyond time and telling.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land

(a reflection on Mt 5:5 and Philippians 2:5-7)

Who are the meek? How do we become meek?
The meek are those who yield before outbursts of wickedness and overcome evil with good just as Christ shows us. Though a meek and humble person is humiliated; their peace of heart is not disturbed, because they do not live by the world - their life depends solely on God and God's Divine Providence.

Are we meek and humble of heart, then?
Do we wish to be like Christ?
"For though Christ Jesus was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men..." Can we follow in the likeness of our model, Christ? Do we dare?
When the world we live in says to the contrary?
Though the meek may be deprived or disenfranshised
by selfish men of this world;
because they know God is always with them through... Christ, they can enjoy and even 'possess' the earth which belongs to Christ. And, this is the only land that is worth inheriting for all eternity.
We are called to follow Christ in the depths of our being. The choice to follow Christ is ours to make...But we need to ask for the graces needed to accept this calling.