Pure Gift is...

Jesus invites us to unite all we are to him, to go to him with everything. When we are able to give him everything, our talent, our heart, and especially the junk we carry, he is able to radically change us. This is pure gift.

— from Hiking the Camino

Strengthening Marriages and Families...

The National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers or NACFLM in the United States, sponsored their annual conference with a two-day Hispanic/Spanish Tract this year. It was an awesome experience for all participants.

THANK YOU!!! Gracias!!!

We were able to experience the richness and wealth in our unique cultural backgrounds and diversity...while at the same time, affirming and strengthening our common bond in ministering to marriages and families. Whatever our culture/language of birth and childhood formation...we are all still united in ONE family in Christ.

Offer It Up

God invites us to offer him everything—everything! There are many opportunities in our day for grace, but so often we miss them by whining and complaining.

— from Hiking the Camino

What is divine providence?

What is divine providence?
Sometimes I think of divine providence as my GPS (God's Providential Steering)...

God has loved me into existence, and this love governs every moment and action of my life. This constant, all-encompassing care is Divine Providence.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (noted as CCC) refers to divine providence as the dispositions by which God guides us, his creatures, with wisdom and love to our ultimate end - our perfection (see CCC 302 and 321). It says that "the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for ALL, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history" (CCC 303).

God knows all my worries, my troubles, my nagging concerns big and small, my challenges, my struggles, my phobias...Nothing is beyond the reach of his loving, tender and infallible protectorship. What an awesome thought...and what great consolation this is to me...especially when I am at my weakest...God is strong! As long as I surrender all of myself to divine providence, and labor only to follow God 's will; then all will be well.

Am I following my GPS today?

Positive Self-Worth

The more we focus on what God's plan for us might be, the less we need to concern ourselves with other people's reactions. Our self-worth is not dependent on other people's opinions of us. No one else has the power to make us better or worse than we are.

— from Fools, Liars, Cheaters, and Other Bible Heroes

Radiate Truth

"The renewal of the Church is also achieved through the witness offered by the lives of believers: by their very existence in the world, Christians are called to radiate the word of truth that the Lord Jesus left us." — from Catholic and Confident

Being in the present moment…

When we communicate with each other from this “real” experience of presence, we are able to expand our identity to one that is more spiritually unified with the world around us. We can be in a sense; freer to be who we really are at any given moment.

Frustrations readily disappear from our present moment when we focus on just being in each other’s presence – as a gift, from God. It is when we begin to alter our impressions with the “what ifs” or the “could’ve” or “should’ve” or “hidden agendas” racing through our minds, that we no longer are surrendered to the gift of the present moment.

So, how do we remain tuned-in to this present moment, at all times?

When we turn our focus away from controlling the outcome, we tend to be more relaxed, open and feel more loving – even when things don’t go our way. Presence brings us into a state of harmony and unity with the rest of life. When we are simply (and authentically) present, we tend to become less concerned in our self-image or who we think we are.