Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 3) Can you imagine how you would gaze upon your newborn baby for the first time? This is the way the Father loves everyone. He's constantly looking at us and is constantly delighting in us. The Father always looks at us with the same delight, love, and rejoicing as a father looks at his newborn for the first time. This is how our Heavenly Father looks at us, delights in us, rejoices in us and contemplates us right now.  When we feel things that we feel far away, or we think we feel that there's such darkness or separation or walls, i ..read more

Series on "The Father" by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR (Part 2) Do you know how much your heavenly Father delights in you? The part of the heart of the Father is to care for his children in whatever shape or form that would take. It might feel a lot or even tiresome but because of the uncalculated love of the father, the time when he gets to take care of and be with his children in this special way can be the best part of the father's day. In his children's poverty, in this exchange, and despite the challenges, there are still many things about them that allow the father's heart to well up with del ..read more

Series on The Ascension Lenten Companion by Fr. Mark Toups (Part 7) This holy week, how do you intend to receive Jesus' total gift for you? The fast during Lent is not to show Jesus how tough we are, it's to show him how poor we are. It's to be in the space of utter poverty and to trust that receptivity, that He will come. And what we are celebrating in this holy Triduum, this Holy Week, is Christ, giving himself to us as the bridegroom and espousing himself to us, His bride. We are celebrating Jesus' love and total gift of self that is given to each of us in his passion. This episode is all a ..read more

Series on The Ascension Lenten Companion by Fr. Mark Toups (Part 5) Does it have to end in just being able to receive God's unconditional love? Like Lazarus, the guy beat up on the side of the road. We who have been loved in such messiness are also invited to go into the mess, and love. This is a sign that God is alive in us. We now have the dignity of His beloved sons and daughters, of not just being the recipients of His unconditional love, but now being able to love, not only from our own strength but in response to God being alive in us. In this episode, we'll talk about the story of the r ..read more

Series on The Ascension Lenten Companion by Fr. Mark Toups (Part 5) Does it have to end in just being able to receive God's unconditional love?  Like Lazarus, the guy beat up on the side of the road. We who have been loved in such messiness are also invited to go into the mess, and love. This is a sign that God is alive in us. We now have the dignity of His beloved sons and daughters, of not just being the recipients of His unconditional love, but now being able to love, not only from our own strength but in response to God being alive in us. In this episode, we'll talk about the story of ..read more

Series on The Ascension Lenten Companion by Fr. Mark Toups (Part 4) If you were the prodigal son would you receive the Father's unconditional love? The conversion that the Father wants us to have is to move on from a conditional, perfectionistic way of experiencing God to a place of just being unconditionally loved by Him. But we can sometimes hold onto shame for security, what is asked of us is to leave behind that shame—let the shame and self-contempt crumble. We don't need to "pay rent" to be loved by the heavenly Father. Our sonship/daughterhip is not to be paid but is freely given to us ..read more

Series on The Ascension Lenten Companion by Fr. Mark Toups (Part 2) How does a bridegroom love his bride? That is how Jesus loves each one of us. He meets us wherever we are in our life to be our beloved and for us to be His. The Lord meets us in the desert-our place of poverty where He betroths us to Him and He betroths Himself to us. In this way, Jesus as the bridegroom reveals to us a quality of love, the way that God loves. In this episode, our aim is for us to better understand what it means to have Jesus as the bridegroom and the desert as the place of betrothal.  The Poco a Poco po ..read more

Series on The Ascension Lenten Companion by Fr. Mark Toups (Part 1) What does Jesus desire for you and Him this Lent?  The temptation during Lent is to make the Lenten journey about us, we can do hard things during Lent that are fueled by our own desires and distractions but Lent isn't supposed to be about ourselves. Lent is also not simply about prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Those disciplines help us to focus on what we need to focus on. This season is about a person and that person is Jesus. In this episode, we'll talk about the reality of Lent and how we can orient ourselves to our ..read more

Series on "Mary and the Interior Life" by Fr. Jeremiah Shryock (Part 3) Do you remember Jesus and what he did?  The most consistent word Mary had spoken to Fr. Jeremiah, was "remember". When we don't know what to do or how to act, Mary tells us to remember her son, Jesus' actions, that was the case for Fr. Jeremiah and this is an invitation that extends to all of us. There is a richness and importance that Mary plays, for us not to have her be a part of our spiritual life.  We are invited to remember Jesus' constant presence, love, and grace in this episode. Let's allow Mary to teach ..read more

Series on "Mary and the Interior Life" by Fr. Jeremiah Shryock (Part 2) Is your prayer and your life two separate realities?  Mary gives us a ton of hope that the grace of God and the Holy Spirit meet us in reality.  The Marian posture at the core of it is about the reality of the fullness of God. Mary teaches us that The best place to live your spiritual life is in reality—in where you are right now in this moment. It's about living one reality in the presence of God. This episode is an invitation for us to have confidence in the daily bread and the grace given to us here and now. L ..read more