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What a glorious day! Have you heard? Jesus has risen! Tell everyone you know that your Lord and Savior has conquered death! May the peace of Christ fill your heart today. May Christ's peace fill our homes, our schools, our communities, our country, and our world! Go ahead, get wrapped up in God's love! Today is Easter and we are all so blessed to have our lives filled with the love of Christ! Yes, God is amazing and we are truly blessed to be His children!
Happy Easter!
Susan & Theresa
Today thoughts of 3 keep circling my mind.
Peter denied Jesus 3 times.
Jesus fell three times while carrying His cross,
and three nails were pounded into Him
to keep Him on the cross.
Three men, on three crosses were crucified that day.
And for three long hours Jesus suffered on the cross.
Mystics say Jesus died at the age of 33.
Jesus laid in His tomb for three days.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Draw me closer to all three of you today.
-Susan
Today is Holy Thursday and I hope to see all of you gathered around the Eucharistic table. Today we celebrate the new and everlasting covenant. I am amazed every time I think about this holy night. God, our Father, wants to be intimately united with each of us, so that will be intimately united with Him. Is there anything more beautiful than the Holy Eucharist? Has anyone ever said, "I love you with all my heart" better than this?
We are going to celebrate at Supper tonight. Our Father has so much to share with us. He needs to personally talk with each of us. There is so much we don't understand. Please don't ignore this dinner invitation, Dad really wants you to be there. It's more important than you could ever imagine.
-Susan
Don't think of this as just another "Holy Week". True we have been on this journey before, but this year we should try to venture a little further into this mystery of God's all embracing love. Don't just skim the surface, fill your lungs with the breath of God and dive into the deep waters. Let each wave of prayer this week awaken your deep longing to be united with Jesus. Don't be afraid to just jump right in, salvation awaits you.
-Susan
As we begin Holy Week tomorrow, I would like to suggest that we get wrapped up in God's boundless love. Bring home the palms this Sunday and place them somewhere prominent in your house, so that your heart may shout Hosanna! today and every day. Immerse yourself in the gospels and the beautiful liturgical celebrations this week. Put aside the normal routines this week, and make this truly a holy week of prayer and reflection. When the world asks you, "You are one of this man's disciples?" Let your words and actions speak loudly, "Yes! Jesus is my Lord and Savior!" Be courageous, be true, do not deny you know and love Him.
-Susan
I was shopping the other day when I noticed something interesting. There was a display rack of gift cards to purchase with matching envelopes, but what caught my eye was the gift card that had "Faith" written across it. This got me thinking...... What if you could just hand a friend or a family member this card when they were going through a difficult time? What would you even say? "Hey I know things are really hard right know, but hang in there, I think you could use a little more faith."
Faith is a gift--it is a gift from God. It can't be purchased at the corner store or the corner church. It is a gift planted in our hearts which definitely needs to be unwrapped, layer by beautiful layer. Faith is transforming, but it's not magical. Faith requires trust and dependence on God in order to grow. At different times in our life, it can be strengthened, nourished, and tested---and sometimes this can surprisingly occur all at the same time. I think to me, faith is an active deep, mysterious yearning inside me that craves to understand and love God and the life He has given me. I want my faith to grow, and yet I wonder if I am the one who stands in the way of this growth. I sometimes try to rely on my own intellect and ability to reason and love, instead of trusting and relying on God. Faith often requires us to just let go of what we think is possible, and allow God to reveal to us what He sees as possible.
I definitely want to have more faith, that is why I pray over an over one of the most simplest and powerful of prayers:
Jesus, I trust in you. Jesus, I trust in you. Jesus, I trust in you.
-Susan
As I looked around my yard this weekend I could see signs of new life coming from the garden. Seeing these new budding plants made me smile, but as I got closer, I noticed some left over leaves from Fall were laying heavily on the new plants. I decided to grab my rake and gently pull the leaves out of the garden, so these new plants would a chance to bathe in the sun and grow stronger. This got me thinking.....
Have you taken a close look at your heart since Lent has begun? Have you seen any signs of new life growing within? Lent has been calling us to change--to grow closer to Christ--to bathe in His Light. Are there any new areas of growth in your faith life? Now would be a good time to take a close look and notice if there are any old bad habits still hanging around and blocking this new growth from growing in the Son's Light. Sometimes it's difficult to stop these bad habits from blowing back into your life and preventing further progress. Gently remove these obstacles so as not to damage the new growth. Let the roots of your faith grow deeper in prayer and generosity. In these last days of Lent it would be a good idea to enrich our hearts with humility, patience, and a desire for holiness. I wonder if when God was walking around this weekend He noticed our new signs of life, and it made Him smile?
-Susan
