Be a people of the Word

By Caroline

Light of the World by William Holman
Hunt (Wikimedia Commons).

I’m on a short three-week break in between classes so I’ve had some time to catch up on news and things around the cultural landscape… Sometimes, I wonder why I bother. What an assault on the senses, what a challenge for anyone in this modern day to continue on the path of living in the world, but not being of it. It’s difficult seeking a life where one is,

like sheep among the wolves…as cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.

—Matthew 10:16

Quite an exercise in discernment and yet, if I don’t do it, my class of 6th graders tell me about it nonetheless and then some; at least this way I’m prepared.

When they do tell me, they expect me to react as the world does, in anger and bitterness. They expect me to give in to the inevitability that, whatever I may teach them about God’s ways, it just isn’t going to cut it in the world where they’re growing up .

And the children are really in survival mode. The stories I hear about what goes on daily in school, it’s heartbreaking. But, bless their hearts they carry on and they have the energy to because they’re young.

 Who can overcome the world?

—1 John 5:5

 Continue reading at Caroline's blog Bell of the Wanderer.

Finding the light at Epiphany

By Robert Batch

Adoration of the Magi by Bloemaert (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

On this day of the Epiphany we recognize the divinity, and the majesty of the Lord and Savior born unto us.  We all well know the story of the three kings-man, who come from the east to adore this new born king that  will forgive sins, and bring new life to all.  They followed a light of a shining star, through hundreds of miles of desert, not to mention – the conditions were not the best.

In the faith today, particularly in the Church there are two lights that we must seek out daily in our lives.  One would be the central light that is typically located above the Tabernacle.  This being a great reminder that Our Lord is truly present in the tabernacle.   It is a reminder that Christ is the way, and will guide us closer to our King who comes to us in the Eucharist, just like the wise man uses the star to guide them to the new born king.

Another light, that is often a tougher light to find, and in most parishes, there is a light above the confessional. The Lord desires mercy upon us.  He desires us to have life to the fullest.  (Jn 10:10)  The encounter one has in the confessional is one that is truly personal, and truly fulfilling.


Robert blogs at  Love is Calling.

Are you living a shadow life?

by Melanie Jean Juneau

St. More Cave, France (Photo by Luke Bales, Wikimedia).

The worst possible fate for me would be to die and discover that I had lived an existence similar

to the allegory described in Plato’s Cave. Plato describes man’s condition as similar to living chained in a cave, looking at shadows on the wall cast from a candle; believing that was what life was all about.

When one person manages to break free and stumbles out into daylight, he realizes that what he thought was real was merely shadows of real objects. After he makes his way back into the cave to explain his revelation, no one believes him because they have no reference point;they simply cannot grasp this alternate reality.

This allegory is a great explanation for the difficulty that Christians have as they try to explain their life in the Spirit. The spiritual life ultimately cannot be taught, it is caught.The light of God must be experienced, passed on like a living flame.

As for me, I need God to continually break chains and lead me out into His SonShine.

I need to live in reality.

I refuse to play games, wear masks and costumes to fit into a false persona which I have crafted in my mind. To live in truth means discovering my true self at my core, in the ground of my being.

The longest journey is from our heads to our hearts. It is a silent journey within.

As Catherine De Heuck Doherty said, "Close the wings of your intellect and open the wings of your heart."

Read more of Melanie's musings at her blog   joy of nine9