by The Face of Grace Project | May 22, 2021 | Presence
We entered the pandemic a world of consumerism, materialism, with all things disposable. Every means was available to have what we wanted, when we wanted, and no cost too high. The old norm of saving for a raining day became ‘buy now and pay for it later’. Yet we may possess something, but it isn’t ours until we pay the price for it.
Jesus paid the price for us so that God could possess us by us possessing more of Him within us. As He transforms us into Himself, we become vessels of Peace.
We think of peace as an adjective. Peace is a noun. It is a person, God. By our Baptism, we are daughters and sons of Peace. Mary, Mother of Peace, teach us to be receptive of Him so that, through us, Peace may reside in this world once again.
by The Face of Grace Project | May 19, 2021 | Presence
In an 1885 biography of Servant of God Mary Ward, Sr. Chambers writes of how she was filled with Grace. In the early 1600’s, women were not to be in public without a man’s escort, nor were they to speak unless spoken to. But Mary Ward could walk into a room of men in great dispute, and the entire room would still and calm in her presence. She was a vessel of Grace.
Can you imagine how life would change carrying that Grace into your family’s dinner table? Your workplace?
by The Face of Grace Project | May 15, 2021 | Presence
“Jesus himself is what we call “heaven”; heaven is not a place but a person, the person of him in whom God and man are forever and inseparably one. And we go to heaven and enter into heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. In this sense, “ascension into heaven” can be something that takes place in our everyday lives…” (Pope Benedict XVI)
by The Face of Grace Project | May 8, 2021 | Presence
The Fight in a Mother “Now we are going up to Jerusalem; and there the Son of Man will be given up into the hands of the chief priests and scribes, who will condemn him to death. And these will give him up into the hands of the Gentiles, to be mocked and scourged and...
by The Face of Grace Project | Apr 28, 2021 | Presence
Some days I pray endlessly for God to give me a break and take away the parts of myself I most despise. However, that is a futile prayer. His intent isn’t to take me apart like a Mr. Potato head doll and toss away the parts that don’t belong. Rather, His desire is to perfect this nature He has intentionally created in me.
by The Face of Grace Project | Apr 24, 2021 | Presence
Our 2nd reading from the 1st Letter of St. John is confusing. What does it mean to see God as He is? And why does that matter in my day today? It matters because it is our path to happiness; the path God wants us to bring others to as well.
by The Face of Grace Project | Apr 11, 2021 | Presence
A priest once said “When Jesus looks at you, He does not see your sin. He sees through your sin to the images of God still remaining.”
St. Claude de Colombiere wrote “Men may deprive me of property and honour; sickness may take away my strength and other means of serving You; I may even lose Your grace by sin; but never, never will I lose my hope in You.” That is Divine Mercy.
by The Face of Grace Project | Apr 7, 2021 | Presence
It is Easter, Halleluiah! Easter isn’t just a day; it is an entire season for us to rejoice with Him in our resurrection in Christ! Yes, He rejoices in us, in our smallness, our vulnerability, our fidelity through thick and thin. We pushed through Lent with steadfastness. Now is the season to think about how to keep that up, maintain Jesus in our heart despite the confusing world around us. He wants to help with that.
by The Face of Grace Project | Apr 2, 2021 | Presence
Lent now comes to a close, and we prepare to embrace the Truth of our salvation, our redemption, as foretold to us in the Old Testament scriptures and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. How distant those ‘tales’ may seem to our current life, and yet some things never change…
by The Face of Grace Project | Mar 24, 2021 | Presence
When I was a little girl, like all little girls I had my favorite doll. Small, hard rubber with blonde hair and red dress. One day I decided she needed a bath in the sink and scrubbed her clean. I thought she looked beautiful, but my mom was soooooooo mad because her short hair was ruined and her skin turned a darkish color. Honestly, she was a mangled mess that only I could love.
Sometimes I think that is how my heart is to God. He gives it to us perfect and innocent, full of love and capacity to grow even more in love. But then we give it to the world instead of Him, and it comes back to us a mangled mess. Like the doll, there isn’t anything humanly possible to reverse that and make it innocent again. All we can do is give to God the remnants.
