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… little things with GREAT LOVE.

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At the age of 24, Saint Therese lay on her deathbed holding a crucifix.

Five of her final words were: “My God, I love you!”

That simple gesture of clinging to a crucifix, telling Jesus she loved him, is key to understanding her spirituality.

Therese believed that no action was extraordinary in itself; what mattered was the love behind it. 

Thus, the simple gesture of telling Jesus she loved him with all her heart was more pleasing to God than a someone writing a check to charity out of obligation.

It’s not what we do, but why we do it that matters.

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Mother Teresa later adopted this same spirituality.

She spent her life clothing and feeding the poor; caring for the sick and the dying; and washing the wounds of beggars.

Ordinary actions done with extraordinary love, because she saw Christ behind every person she met.

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We’re invited to embrace that same spirituality of doing ordinary gestures with extraordinary love.

Engage someone in conversation. Take an extra minute to listen. Pray for those you encounter. Be the first to smile. Forgive those who wrong you.

Ordinary actions that, when done with great love, become important in the eyes of God.

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Image credits: (1) Catholic News Agency (2) Papal Artifacts, WordPress

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The Limited Gift of Time: Learning from Saint Jerome.

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St Jerome Caravaggio Oil Painting Inspired | Couture Dressmaker for Anagrassia

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Saint Jerome, whose feast day we celebrate today, was a restless soul.

He lived in the fourth century, a fascinating era for Christians. Christianity had finally been legalized by the Roman Empire, yet heresies were abundant. Who Jesus was, what he said, what he did, and why his life, death, and resurrection mattered was still being hotly debated.

Jerome jumped head first into that fire.

He spent the majority of his life on the go, traveling throughout the Christian world, interacting with some of the greatest minds the Church has ever known, while translating some of the earliest Christian writings from Greek into Latin.

He even served as secretary to the pope!

But Jerome’s greatest contribution to Christianity was translating the entire bible from Greek into Latin, using some of the earliest manuscripts we have. Jerome’s translations have served as the foundation for translating the bible into nearly every other language on earth.

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If you look for a painting of him, you’ll often see Jerome depicted at his desk, with a quill in one hand, a bible manuscript in the other, and a skull on his desk.

That skull was a reminder of his limited time here on earth. 

By all accounts, Jerome used it well. 

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May we do the same, embracing today for what it is: a gift best spent in the service of others.

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Physics - Keeping Time on Entropy's Dime

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Image credits: (1) Harvard Business Review (2) Saint Jerome, Caravaggio (3) Physics, American Physical Society

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What do God’s angels do?

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Revelation 12: 7-12:

War broke out in heaven;
Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.
The dragon and its angels fought back,
but they did not prevail
and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,
who is called the Devil and Satan,
who deceived the whole world,
was thrown down to earth,
and its angels were thrown down with it.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
who accuses them before our God day and night.
They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today we celebrate the feast of three of God’s most powerful angels: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.

Each of them plays a unique role in Scripture, and each offer us a point of reflection today.

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Let’s begin with the most powerful, the Archangel Michael, who will slay Satan at the end of time. As we heard in our first reading, “Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail.”

Michael reminds us that each of us is engaged in a spiritual battle for our soul; often the devil lays his snares at our feet in the form of temptation, seeking to ensnare us. 

It may come in the form of addiction, anger, or a person who tests our patience. What are some of those traps for me?

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The angel Gabriel is the one who declared to Mary, “Behold, you will conceive the Son of God in your womb.” He also announced to Zechariah that his wife, Sarah, would give birth to John the Baptist.

Gabriel reminds us to be receptive to God’s word … and to share it with others.

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Finally, there’s the angel Raphael, who disguises himself as a man in the Old Testament. He protects Tobias on his journey and heals Tobias’ father from blindness.

Raphael reminds us to be agents of healing for others.

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May the ministries of these angels – whom we shall meet some day – inspire us to be God’s agents in the world today.

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Image credits: (1) Catholic Digest, WordPress (2) Angel, Wikipedia (3) National Catholic Register