Saint Therese of Lisieux. She lived till the age of 24. She lived most of her life in a convent in the suburbs of France. She is considered one of the most ambitious saints the church has ever seen because Saint Therese desired to be a saint from the depths of her heart. And we are called to have that holy ambition as well. In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus says, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Strive to be like the heavenly Father. Strive to be holy; strive to be a saint. To be ambitious, you have to sacrifice something, and you have to risk something.
Our culture is so fearful that we don’t want to take risks. To have holy ambition, we have to risk everything. I pray for all of you that you can have that holy ambition within your hearts to strive to be a saint. Right now, just in this moment ’til the end of your life. Full set. Be a saint.
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Embracing Shame
Defensiveness, denial, rationalization, avoidance. What do these things have in common? It’s what we do when we avoid shame. None of us like to experience shame. None of us like to experience suffering. And we love to avoid. We love to deny. We love to distract ourselves because shame does not feel good. Here is the gospel, though, where Saint Peter does the same thing. He tells Jesus…
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Get To Know Jesus
Book recommendation for all of you, “The Great Divorce” by C.S. Lewis. If you still need to read it, do it now. This incredible book talks about heaven and talks about knowing the Lord. There’s a scene where a bus takes many people to heaven. When they reach heaven, the people who did know Jesus become fully alive. The people who don’t know Jesus are very…
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Glory To God
So, the first reading for this Sunday is from the Prophet Baruch, and yes, that is an excellent name for your new puppy. So, the Prophet Baruch gives us incredible things to pray about this advent, specifically glory. The Prophet Baruch uses glory six times in the reading. The dictionary doesn’t do the word glory justice as Catholics. That as Catholics, what is glory? Glory is extraordinary beauty. It is holy beauty…
