by The Face of Grace Project | Jan 17, 2021 | Life, Work and the World
With all good intentions we seek the path to sanctity, doing whatever we can fit into the day: fasting, rosaries, novenas, good deeds to others. But the path to sanctity isn’t in the ‘doing’. It is in surrendering to God. It is out of surrender that ‘doing’ comes. In the not-too-distant past, people could recognize a Catholic not by the clothes or crucifixes worn but by how they think, shown by how they speak and act. A Catholic mind is formed by God and so holds no duplicity.
Can people recognize you as Catholic not by label (pro-life, pro-marriage) but rather simply by your way of being?
by The Face of Grace Project | Jan 10, 2021 | Life, Work and the World
We are presently in a Church, and a country, in turmoil where many opinions are spewed but very little Truth spoken. In Advent, we awaited Truth to be born in our hearts. In every age God has left a remnant of people to carry on the Faith (ROM 11:5-6). This remnant are the righteous not the self-righteous; the surrendered not the self-empowered. They are seekers of Truth aware that it comes in uncomfortable ‘packages’ like a baby being born in a cave and a 33-year old man in his prime suffering unimaginable humiliation, torture and death. Advent was our time to say ‘yes’ to trusting in Him so that He can become incarnate in us. Now is our time to grow in this.
by The Face of Grace Project | Dec 24, 2020 | Life, Work and the World
Churches are open in most states of our country, yet seats remain empty in the pews. It isn’t God’s voice telling people they do not need the mass. God isn’t saying “I am having my priest celebrate the sacrifice at the altar for everyone else, but do not want you to attend”. In nine months, only a handful of priests across the entire country have contracted Covid-19. No Covid cases have been traced back to attending a Catholic mass. The Catholic sanctuary is the safest public place we can be. The only way to dispel the demons who place thoughts of discord and lies into our minds is to break the mental barrier and attend the mass.
by The Face of Grace Project | Dec 15, 2020 | Life, Work and the World
The pandemic isolation eats away at the heart. Fortunately, as Christians, we have the gift of Faith and the very real people of the scriptures who model for us living in any circumstances. The Advent story is our story and the ‘characters’ are our people speaking to us through God’s Word. Unfortunately, in our times of fear and isolation, dangerous risks masked as ‘good’ tempt us from this especially by the media. Aroused in our passions of anger or fear, this often creates a false sense of security and inclusion with others. Some urge us to rage with them. Others to escape into visionaries and claims of supernatural protection. Either becomes a type of refuge.
Having the right opinion doesn’t get us into Heaven; having the right disposition does. Are we ready to ‘take the risk’ of following Jesus 100% and let go of these attachments?
by The Face of Grace Project | Dec 2, 2020 | Life, Work and the World
The rapid rise in Internet genealogy websites shows we are people seeking a past; a foundation in which to be grounded. Evil forces in our society are attempting to destroy our American and our Catholic heritage. Two generations of American Catholics have been raised without pride in, patriotism for or loyalty to either. With no past to guide the future, we are left to a very one-dimensional present existence.
This Advent embrace who you are. Live differently.
by The Face of Grace Project | Nov 1, 2020 | Life, Work and the World
“If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hated.” (Venerable Fulton J. Sheen)
Consider this: if all the time Christians have spent arguing over politics were instead used to convert people to Jesus, where might our country be today? Regardless of the results Tuesday November 3, it is never too late to start.
by The Face of Grace Project | Oct 25, 2020 | Life, Work and the World
Our upcoming elections have caused the greatest turmoil in our country in decades. We have become a society for whom interpersonal relations center in taking part in riots (or cheering from the sidelines). No longer valuing our beauty and identity as human persons caused by the legalization of abortion, people have become disposable. Relationships are disposable. The void is filled with ideologies to numb the hidden pain. We have transitioned from an ideal of self-preservation to one of self-gratification.
Within that context we have the upcoming elections. These have caused great angst for many people, grasping for answers, seeking to control in an out-of-control world. Change will happen, but first it must happen within us.
by The Face of Grace Project | Oct 15, 2020 | Life, Work and the World
For other nations, the year 2020 may be remembered by the pandemic. For America, it will be remembered as one of the greatest wars we have fought for our soul and sovereignty. The many battlefields are both in front of our very eyes as well as within our very hearts, seen with the eyes of the soul. It is a war fought in the fields of perception, memory, imagination, pride, words.
by The Face of Grace Project | Sep 13, 2020 | Life, Work and the World
Within the American church, we seem to be caught up in a game of spiritual whack-a-mole. In the arcade game, the player bludgeons each mole with a sledgehammer as he pops up his head from the ground. The more moles hit, the more moles surface and at an increasing rate of speed.
In the spiritual life, what doesn’t happen is as important to notice as that which does take place. Silence is its own type of ‘whack’ and perhaps a more deadly one. Let us follow the example of St. John Paul II in a transformation of conscience. As he told the Polish people: look around you. You are not alone.
by The Face of Grace Project | Sep 13, 2020 | Life, Work and the World
Grandparents day is September 13. This year, too many of our loved ones are in lockdown within their retirement communities. Many times, President Trump has voiced his sincere concern for the depression people have suffered under lockdown, particularly by our elders. Unfortunately, the dignity and needs of the elderly is being ignored by the media and their wisdom is only captured when it promotes the goals of social engineering.
Meanwhile, the lived experience of the American people is a multi-generational dynamic. Older family members begin the process of aging, dementia and Alzheimer’s while their spouses and adult children grasp to make sense of this changing inter-relational dynamic.
A look into aging, aided by the wisdom of the saints.
