my Articulate Heart

We often think that the way to be saved is by applying the salvation that Christ wrought for us on the cross on to our lives through an act of faith.  Christ should not be seen merely as the supplier of salvation but as 'salvation itself'. We are saved not by applying or believing some magical formula but by uniting ourselves; body, mind and soul to the person of Christ, in an act of unconditional gift of self. And as Christ rose into freedom and glory so will we also, from insanity to sanity, depravity to sanctity, sin to glory.  Stare not into your own wretchedness and be discouraged. Fix your gaze upon Christ and be united to Him at all times, especially when we wallow in sin. St. Athanasius of Alexandria said "What has not been assumed has not been redeemed". Let Christ assume every bit of our unworthiness so we can partake in the redemption He ushers us into.  ------------------ Photo by  OPPO  on  Unsplash

Wisdom is to know God. It is to understand what is pleasing to Him. It to be gained not for the sake of its utility to govern our lives or other's. It is to be desired so that we ourselves will come to rest in communion with God. As Jesus said “This is eternal life: that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3).  ------------------ Wisdom is Eternal life.  ------------------ This knowledge oh God is too good to my soul. May I relish it like pure honey...

Divine intimacy grows when the deep longing for the lover, naturally leads to unconditional submission of the beloved to the lover. This longing within is initiated and sustained by eros and is perfected by agape. It is a response to the self-giving, spiritual leadership of the lover who never ceases to seek me out from the depths of my helplessness. If Jesus is the bridegroom who comes seeking me and beckoning me to become one with his divine nature just as in pure nuptial union, can I deal with Him as Eve did with Adam in the state of original innocence (before the fall) and still be fair? Is it akin to how the loving wife deals with her loving husband who is the most powerful man in the world? When there is sincere and authentic love, the power, authority of the lover isn't something to be afraid of. Only the guilty needs to fear.  Two things are necessary for divine intimacy: I should believe what God thinks of me (as precious, invaluable, honorable and beautiful and worthy of

In my long and tardy pursuit towards holiness and true freedom, I realised that what kept me from making progress was the lack of asceticism. I'm like a freed domesticated bird perched on its own cage, caught between two worlds, refusing to fly off into true freedom. In order to grow in one thing we will need to cut ties with a few other things that work against the goal. It takes effort and patience to name and nail these attachments. We also need to give up our attachment to false convictions that we hold so dear.  Jesus tells us that “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. Mat 6:24.  Asceticism is training and strengthening our will to choose what is good over what it is long accustomed to - namely the cult of selfish pleasure, attachment to comfort, sloth and lethargy, fear of the unknown, the list is long. Asceticism is a way of teaching us that there is a higher being to aspire for

Marriage is an institution God established for man and woman to love as God loves. But marriages do face several challenges not because the institution itself is flawed but because the stake holders fail to measure up to it. When a partner turns abusive, family life becomes a real challenge. How as a catholic, we should survive an abusive marriage especially when there is a risk of harm to ourself and children. First of all we must get our parish priest involved and take his guidance. Remember a parish priest is the spiritual father given to us by divine provision. It is operative that we take immediate steps to mitigate the situation and prevent further physical or mental harm to those affected. We must seek expert help to settle down and heal the hurts. Take time to understand how precious we are and our children despite the situation. Be convinced that this is happening to your marriage not because you are bad, or sinful. Know that our God suffers with us. Isaiah 53:5 says "he

Eucharist and Cross never cease to be a cause for division. Mention of his imminent death and giving his flesh to eat are the events that lead to the withdrawal of disciples. And it continues to be so. While our Muslim brothers are stumbled by the Cross, our Protestants brothers are stumbled by the Eucharist. Reluctance to suffer and the element of mystery remains the stumbling block even to the modern day.  Lord we surrender our intellect to your revelations and will to your commands.

Looking at the bodies of our spouses, if all men can do is to despair, know well that our position is unreasonable and irrationally mean. We are obstinately attached to our pleasure domain and we feel we have a monopolistic entitlement to selfish pleasure. Our position shatters them. We are questioning their very existence. What could be more difficult than feeling 'I'm not enough' especially when it comes from the one to whom they have committed their entire life to. Love involves an unconditional acceptance of the other as other. As husbands we should be able to gracefully look at our spouse's loosely hanging bellies riddled with stretch marks, hard and rough palms and cracked foot and spent out breasts and admire them, and sincerely say to her honey they are so beautiful! and that they have only become better. Say to her that those stretches and scratches are proof of the sacrifice you have made for me and our children. They are like the wounds on the resurrected bod