Today is a good day to reflect on spiritual truths in the midst of personal and external difficulties that may be bothering our minds. Reading through the online religious site aleteia.org, I found this message from Archbishop Charles Chaput, which he delivered some days ago at the Napa Institute conference in Napa, California.
He talked about joy and its power to change our world. He said there really is no use whining about the times, because we are all part of the times. This was an idea from Saint Augustine, as a matter of fact. The archbishop also called on Christians to see the world’s problems as they are and not to allow these to “crush the joy that is our birthright”.
I find this advice especially comforting because it sends a hopeful message during a time of challenges.
It is not very easy to do, and the archbishop admitted that himself, but he also said that as Christians, it is our mission to allow God to act in our society through our own actions.
We have the sacred task of engaging and converting the world, he said. One powerful tool that could help us is prayer. “If we don’t pray, then we can’t know and love God.” Another tool is the Bible, what he called an “antidote to the noise of life.” He also encouraged everyone to read and pray over Pope Francis’s 2013 apostolic
exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium and to read Cardinal Robert Sarah’s book The Power of Silence.
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Aside from joy, one other thing that is badly needed for these times of discord is forgiveness. Saint Paul writes to the Ephesians, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger; and do not make room for the devil” (Ephesians 4:25-27).
One of the suggestions on how to practice mercy in the Jubilee Year prompts Christians to forgive: “Create a short end-of-day ritual to ask for [and extend] forgiveness with those you live with.” It is always a good idea not to go to bed mad!
You can, for example, hold your partner’s hands before you go to sleep and say sorry for something that you may have done. Or gather your children before bedtime to tell them to settle quarrels. You could even call or text someone you had an argument with during the day, just to ask if things are okay between you.
Anger and resentment weigh heavily on our hearts, and the habit of releasing them at the end of the day cleanses your spirit and gives good effects to the body itself. It is good to remember that when we make peace, the devil is defeated.
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There is a free online course on the Old Testament that is being offered by Yale University. Yale’s religion Prof. Christine Hayes is teaching “An Introduction to the Old Testament”. The course takes the students through the Hebrew Bible over the course of 24 lectures and promises to examine the Old Testament “as an expression of the religious life and thought of ancient Israel, and a foundational document of Western civilization.” Those who are interested may look it up on YouTube (search Christine Hayes).
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We remember the late-President Maria Corazon C. Aquino who died on the 1st of August in 2009. She was the 11th President of the Philippines, and the first woman president of the country and of Asia. We remember her legacy from the People Power Revolution of 1986, which restored democracy to our beloved country.