"...as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality." – 2 Corinthians 8:14

One of the tenants of living a grateful and generous lifestyle is giving without expecting anything in return. It is important that we not only grow, nurture and share our gifts; but that we also teach our children and encourage others to do the same. This is the communal aspect of our Catholic faith. We are the "Body of Christ". We are called to be dependent on each other and not live in isolation.

In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells about Thomas, a man who had been blind from early childhood.

When he was 50, Thomas underwent surgery and was given the gift of sight. But as he and Dr. Sacks found out, having the physical capacity for sight is not the same as seeing.

The author of The Cloud of Unknowing prays, “That which I am and the way that I am, with all my gifts of nature and grace, you have given to me, O Lord, and you are all this. I offer it all to you, principally to praise you and to help my fellow Christians and myself.” Knowing that God sustains us in being is the key to faith. All that we need to do is to love God as God is and the rest will begin to fall into place. God made us in His image and desires that we have life. God also desires that we be healed of all of our wounds, especially those caused by sin, and know his loving touch. Being weighed down by negativity, imperfections, the cares of the world, and weakness is not something that God desires.

Dear Friend,

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen enumerated some of God's blessings:

*An acceptance that can never be questioned. (Ephesians 1:6).

*An inheritance that can never be lost (I Peter 1:3-5).

*A deliverance that can never be excelled (2 Corinthians l:10).

"He asked them, 'Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" – Mark 4:40

Do you really trust God? Is God your first choice or last resort? Is your faith something you just do on Sunday or do you live the Gospel message every day of the week? Many of us know about God. How many of us have a personal relationship with Him? Start now, open your heart to receive our Lord. Talk and listen throughout the day, in all circumstances.

As we look at our lives and world events, do we ever find ourselves wondering if God is sleeping? After all, maybe God’s patient, unconditional love has run its course and He is finally fed up with humanity’s reluctance to accept the truth about who we are. God really can’t be that patient! All throughout human history, many have prayed to God for intervention or for particular needs. Because their prayers were not answered in the way they wanted or anticipated, they felt that God may have abandoned them. Were they right? It seems that we are continuing, at a rapid rate, down a path of destruction. Do you not care, God, that we may be perishing? When the boats of our lives are rocking and the seas tumultuous, we want to know that we have God’s attention. Even more so, we want God’s intervention.

A favorite motto of St. Teresa of Calcutta was, “do small things with great love.” This is how it works in the kingdom of God. God can do tremendous things with the smallest gesture, especially when it is done in love. We can clearly see that our world is suffering greatly. People are struggling to find peace, navigate through conflicts, earn a sustainable living, find security and enough food to eat, and work through political tensions and conflicts. In the light of the magnitude of the difficulties that exist around us and even within us, we can find ourselves floundering to discover practical, effective solutions. How can something so large be helped by someone as small and seemingly insignificant as me? While whole systems and structures may be out of the league of our personal influence, are we really that helpless in the midst of all of the turmoil, sadness, and suffering?

"For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil" – 2 Corinthians 5:10

We are all accountable for all of the gifts God has given us — our time, our talent and our treasure; everything we have and everything we are. Each of us is accountable not only for our own life but for the lives of others as well. One day God will ask each of us what did we do with the gifts we were given. How will you respond?

who cannot be bought;
whose word is their bond;
who put character above wealth;
who possess opinions and a will;
who are larger than their vocations;
who do not hesitate to take chances;
who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;
who will be as honest in small things as in great things;
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"Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them and they all drank from it." – Mark 14:23

Jesus, the perfect steward, gave thanks, just before He gave Himself up for us, completely for our salvation. He offers us the same chance to drink from His cup. In the bread and wine, we meet Christ personally. If we follow Him, drinking from His cup means our own self-sacrifice, using all of our gifts for the benefit of others and to do His work on earth.

Hope shines brightest when the hour is darkest.
Hope motivates when discouragement comes.
Hope energizes when the body is tired.
Hope sweetens while bitterness bites.
Hope sings when all melodies are gone.
Hope believes when evidence is eliminated.

In the midst of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), Saint Pope Paul VI spoke firmly about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

One belief of the Catholic Church that is often confusing for many is the teaching that Jesus is truly present under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist.

The theological name for this is “transubstantiation,” which the Catechism explains: “By the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood” (CCC 1376).

From satisfying work to sudden unemployment. From a happy marriage to a hurtful divorce. From caring for the kids to caring for an aging parent. These are just a few of the countless ways that life hurls us into the chaos of change, where our certainties are shaken and our faith may even begin to falter. But what if we saw the chaos-the "mess"-of our lives not as something to fear or eschew, but as something to embrace?