Tag: marriage

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Saint Philip Neri, Priest

St. Philip Neri by Brie Schulze

St. Philip certainly had a rare gift.  He was filled with the love of God to such a great extent that he became irresistible to all those whom he met.  He had a great desire to love people for who they are because he experienced the love of God in an extraordinary way.  He gives us the consoling example that our religion is not first about a form or practice of piety but rather about a heart that burns to love and meet people as they are, and burns to love God as He is.  Sometimes we hear ourselves saying, “if only this person was <blank>” or “if God is so good why doesn’t He <blank>.”  We extinguish the fire of love in our hearts by requiring God and others to conform to the way we would prefer them to be.  The secret to Philip Neri’s heart was how it would burn through all expectations and requirements He could have put on others and on God. read more

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Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Sketch by Brie Schulze

Today we celebrate venerable Bede, one of our most prolific ancient commentators of Sacred Scripture.  His reflections have inspired Christians for centuries.

Christ certainly does not leave any ambiguous points about divorce.  The tradition of the Catholic church also does not give any indication that divorce is an acceptable solution to a sour marriage.  Marriage has been weakened in modern times because of the general lack of spiritual formation – people don’t have a very deep sense of the meaning of human existence.  Many people have found themselves caught in a situation where the decisions they have made in a state of immaturity or imprudence have set their lives on a course they would like to somehow alter for the sake of the possibility of happiness.  In general, we have lost faith in the fact that happiness is not for this life but for eternal life.  The idea that marriage is what is supposed to finally make us happy feeds the illusion and expectation that there is some way of life here on earth that we should not gladly trade for eternal life.  There are many goods that a marriage between virtuous people affords, and great experiences of mercy and forgiveness between Christian spouses – the human experience of marriage is only for this earth however, there is no marriage in heaven. read more