Formation Matters

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6) We all have secret fears to face. We all experience fear, but not everyone is honest about this universal experience. Do you have fear about the future? Are you afraid of your past? How do you deal with fear?

It is the LORD who goes before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8) If God is walking before us or with us, why would we be afraid of anything? And yet, we often feel afraid.

"You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised." (Hebrews 10:36) May we all pray for endurance to do the will of God and receive what He has promised. Do you ever see the fruits of endurance in your own life? Does it make you feel closer to God?

Lk. 16,1-13 Today's Gospel invites us to be trustworthy. The best way to do this is to live out the Gospel. Few examples in history do this better than St. Francis of Assisi.

You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8) When God tells us to act justly and love mercy, this is not some moralizing discourse to make us behave. Rather, it is opening a door to the happiness and peace that comes from acting according to our purpose in life.

1 Timothy 2:4 God "wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. God wants our salvation more than we do. Our life on earth is our time to grow and build up our spiritual muscles so that we can be ready for the love that we are called to live forever in Heaven.

We have all felt shame and guilt. It makes us sick. We want to hide. But facing it is essential if we are going to be true to ourselves.

We learn to be patient to be more like God, who is patient with us.

The prayer of the Our Father helps us to proclaim God’s sovereignty over our lives.

Haters gonna hate. But when God is on our side, we don’t have to worry about the criticisms of those who are trying to bring us down.

The three parables of God’s love in Luke 15 give us an insight into how he rejoices to find us, values us, and welcomes us as beloved children.

Often we don’t even know what wisdom is, so how are we going to live it? God wants to give us wisdom, but we have to ask for it.

We can all feel lost and empty at times. But we can know that God is planning great things for us.

St. Paul exhorts us to be grateful always. What is the point of being grateful?

Do you ever wonder what God has planned for your life? The prophet Jeremiah helps us to see the hope that comes from knowing that God is watching over our future.

Opening the Bible allows you to change your thoughts, your feelings and your decisions; so that you are more in line with God’s Plan for your life.

Peter had a special relationship with Jesus. How did it all start? Jesus told Peter how to fish. Then he told him to quit fishing. Peter would spend the rest of his life serving Jesus, happy to do so.

We choose to follow Christ. He gives us the key: we are to do hard things if we are to follow him. He gives us in exchange incomparable joy.

God wants to give us so much grace. We can do this in the measure that we let go and let God. Seeing ourselves as stewards of the mysteries of God puts us with the right attitude to do great things for him.

God is looking out for you. Allow yourself to feel and experience his love.

We want to learn to be principle-based and not dependent on our feelings. We need formation for discipleship in order to carry out apostolate in the world.

XX Sunday of Ordinary Time. Jesus seems a little aggressive towards family in this Gospel, but really just wants us to realize what is truly important.

“The gospel definition of love goes something like this: a self-sacrificing, willed concern for and giving to another, even if attraction and feeling are diminished or absent, and even if little or nothing is received in return – and all with divine motivation” (Dubay, Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer, p. 71) “Heroic love for God and neighbor is, of course, closely allied to profound intimacy with the...

“The action of the celebration does not belong to the individual but to the Christ-church, to the totality of the faithful united in Christ. The liturgy does not say ‘I’ but ‘we,’ and any limitation on the breadth of this ‘we’ is always demonic.” (Francis, Desiderio desideravi, 19) “A celebration that does not evangelize is not authentic, just as a proclamation that does not lead to an encounter w...

Although the sacred liturgy is above all things the worship of the divine Majesty, it likewise contains much instruction for the faithful. For in the liturgy God speaks to His people and Christ is still proclaiming His gospel. And the people reply to God both by song and prayer. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 33)