Articles For Heart Mind Soul

Virtually every one of us cuts some corner, drives a little too fast, and runs through a light that's changing from yellow to red because we don't have the patience to wait for our next opportunity. We treat each other discourteously, press each other to go faster, and insult each other out loud or internally. We all too often react in anger, sometimes even to the point of “road rage”. We need to remember that those "obstacles" in the other cars around us are actually human beings, who are just as worthy of being treated with kindness and respect in their cars as they are in person. We need to remember that God is in all the details of everyday life. We know that God's laws apply everywhere and that there aren't virtue-free zones in our cars or anywhere else on earth. These are the "Ten Commandments" for drivers from the Vatican: 1. You shall not kill. 2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm. 3. Courtes...

Fathers imitate God the Father by loving their sons and daughters and showing them everything he does, as much as possible. "Fathers declare to their sons, O God, Your faithfulness" (Isaiah 38:19). Saint Joseph quietly spent His life loving his Foster-Son Jesus and showing Him everything he did. Jesus grew up to be the greatest “King of kings” (Revelations 19:16). “Lord, turn the hearts of fathers to their children.” (Malachi 3:24) A father shows his children Christ's love by loving them and loving their mother. " Fathers, do not anger your children" (Ephesians 6:4). It's tempting for a father to take the easy way out and yell at his children. Instead, fathers are called to invest their lives patiently bringing their children "up with the training and instruction befitting the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Fathers are not to nag children, since they might lose heart (Colossians 3:21). A child wants his father to show him the ropes. ...

The Incarnation is God becoming a human being and living among us and in us through which we have a personal and deeply profound relationship with God as a human being. The uniqueness and essence of this personal relationship is communion, intimacy, and love. "I Myself am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he shall live forever; the bread I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world" (John 6:51). "If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53). Through a personal relationship with Jesus in the Eucharistic Celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we relate to Jesus so personally, totally and completely that we live in Him and He lives in us. He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:54). "My flesh is real food and My blood real drink. The man who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood remains...

Our memory is like a computer, it stores everything that passes through our five senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting. It takes these impressions and enhances them by our imagination and the results can be tragic if we are not discerning. Our memory is worked upon by the world, the flesh and the devil. Jesus said, "It is from within that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, indecency, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean." (Mark 7:21-23) We must be very careful what we allow to enter this computer, for it cannot easily be erased. If our faith in God is weak, our hope wavering and our love for Him cold we become easy prey for the attacks of the world, the flesh and the devil. Jesus describes this plight when He asked us to judge a tree by its fruit. "A person's words flow out of what fills their heart. A good person draws good things from their storehouse of goodness; a bad person d...

Let us pray that God may grant all the graduates faith, courage and purpose in their days, and show them how to serve God in effective ways. With their education, knowledge and skill may they find their true and lasting fulfillment as they learn to do God’s will. And may they ever be aware in everything they do, that knowledge comes from learning, and wisdom only comes from God. On their "commencement" day, let this truly be a beginning of their new life. In the days of dismal, dreary darkness, may God be their Light, so that in turn they can radiate God’s truth and God’s message of love, hope, and joy. In the days of blandness and broken heartedness, and being down in the dumps with the blahs, may God be their Salt, so that in turn they can fend off the fraud and corruption, the staleness and stagnation, and the melancholy and mediocrity around them. In the days when they are flat on their back or fall flat on their face, may God be their Leaven, so that not only can they ri...

Lord God we pray that into our darkness Your Light will brightly shine forth. We ask that Your Light come into all the areas of darkness in our life. May Your Love fill all the empty, lonely places in our hearts, minds, and souls; fill all the emptiness in our past, present, and future. May we hear Your Voice leading us to where You want to lead us and may we faithfully follow Your lead. Help us to believe that You and You alone know best where we need to go and that You will lead us there and never abandon us. Where You lead, we must follow. Especially when You surprise and unsettle us, it is then that You are leading us. We are drawn to follow You, yet our fears hold us back. May You pulling us towards You be stronger than our pushing back and resisting You. We pray that certainty and conviction take hold of us, and that we clearly discern it is You. Thank You for allowing considerable shifts in our consciousness to occur. Thank You for remarkable revelations, for incredibly awesome ...

Thank God for the prophetic, visionary voice of the late, great Pope John Paul II and his writings about what it truly means to be a woman created by God with dignity and respect. These writings speak eloquently and profoundly of God’s Truth about the authentic, genuine, feminine role of women: The Role of the Family in the Modern World , On the Dignity and Vocation of Women, Letter to Families , Letter to Women , and On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life , all of which can be viewed at www.vatican.va . Let us pray that young women be exposed to God’s Truth about their true God-given femininity. Let us pray that they will grow up to be the women God created them to be from all eternity. Let us pray that God will raise up a prayerful and Spirit filled army of Godly women, who will proudly and publicly proclaim the beauty, truth and wisdom of womanhood to the next generation. Let us pray that the culture of life will defeat the culture of death in all its diabolical forms and man...

May: The Month of Mary May 13: Feast of Our Lady of Fatima By the word Ave, which is the name of Eve, Eva, Mary learned that God in his infinite power and majesty had preserved her from all sin and its resulting misery which the first woman had been subject to. The name Mary means “lady of light” which shows that God has filled her with wisdom and light, like a shining star, to light up heaven and earth. With the angel Gabriel’s announcement, the fullness of time had come. That sign of God's promise, a virgin with child, was now made known to us, and her name was Mary. Along with God's angel we exclaim, "Greetings", or "Rejoice". God invited Mary to rejoice in the coming of the Messiah. How could she help but rejoice, realizing that she was the woman promised in the book of Genesis to bring the Prince of Peace into the world? Each time we greet her with another Hail Mary, we join in her joy and her gratitude to God. The “Hail Mary” gives glory...