Sunday was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. At the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity here in New Ulm, Fr. Matthew Wiering gave a moving homily which inspired my thoughts for today’s posts. Thank you, Fr. Wiering! The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “God’s very being is love. By sending his only Son …
In the thinking of St. Therese, what does it take to be a saint? Therese grew up in a culture influenced by Jansenism. Jansenism was a heresy from the seventeenth century that over-emphasized the role of grace in man’s salvation. It had a long-lasting effect on the Church in France. In the late nineteenth century, …
I remember reading long ago in The Spiritual Combat by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli, that we deceive ourselves if we think we would be holier if only our exterior circumstances were different. That made a great impression on me. Temperamentally, some people feel they are in control of everything. Others feel like they are …
You can’t read the Carmelite saints for long without encountering the idea of detachment. We find it in the writings of John of the Cross, of Teresa of Avila, and even of St. Therese. Detachment for Catholics is not the same as mere penance. Detachment, like the entire spiritual life, begins and ends with …
What’s the Little Way got to do with detachment? Read More »
Lately I’ve been blogging a lot about St. Therese, mostly because I’m writing a book about her. Each day I am immersed in her Little Way. But I haven’t forgotten the other Carmelite saints. Last year I wrote a post about Teresa of Avila’s bookmark. Yes, she wrote encouragement for herself that she kept in …
‘Tis the season for reviewing the old year. How did you advance towards God this year? Do you remember those blog posts that really struck you at the time, or have you forgotten them? Here are some reminders of how you can grow closer to Christ, taken from my blog posts over the past …