Tag: #LoveWins

It Let Us Make Our Lives Holy!

The Holy Family is an excellent model for the family we belong to, whatever family that is.

Merry Christmas Sunday! On this Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Our Gospel Portion is St. Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23, and we will meditate on

And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt,
Matthew 2:14

Life was dangerous for the Baby Jesus. He needed a family that could protect Him. King Herod wanted to eliminate love. He sought to kill the threat to his control, but Jesus was born to the Holy Family, and there are many aspects of this family that model for us what holy families are all about. I will name a few and give you the homework to think about more

The first is that Joseph listened to God. That means he was in a relationship with the Lord.

Second, Joseph took God seriously and did what Father God told him to do.

Lastly, Mary and Joseph were a team, and God was the center of their lives. Together, they heard the Father, were guided by the Spirit, and protected the Son! How awesome is that?

The faithfulness of the Holy Family made the salvation of the world possible through their faithfulness!

Each family, whatever it is, can make a difference in the world if we make our families holy.

Merry Christmas! May Christmas stay in our hearts beyond these 12 days and remain a powerful force in our lives throughout 2026!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/9205dec27

Hold On To The Lord!

The Lord will see you through all situations!

Advent is approaching, and in the Novus Ordo, next week is Christ the King. Today, we contemplate the reality of life in our readings. The Gospel Portion is St. Luke 21:5-19, and we will center ourselves on,

“For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.”
Luke 21:15

The world as we know it may come to an end so suddenly that we will not see it coming. There may be no warning, but our world may be turned upside down! But we are told not to be fearful, rather to trust in the Lord. The Lord sees us through all situations.

This is the time for us to give testimony of the power of the Lord working in our lives!

If we live faithfully, we may be judged by others who we expected to be kind and understanding to us, but we were wrong. Jesus tells us not to preoccupy ourselves with our wisdom; instead, stay with Jesus, and He will give us the words we need to communicate.

Remember, we are persecuted because we follow Him! Jesus knows how we will prosper through this time of persecution!

I give testimony to this! If we stay connected to the Vine, we cannot be destroyed!

As we come to the close of the Liturgical Year 2025 A. D., may we be encouraged to fear nothing and have total trust in the Lord!

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/150ff0743

Being Humble Always Matters!

Through humility, we can be raised!

Love and humility are intertwined. We cannot separate the two. We find this in the life of Jesus, who chose to join humanity even though He remained Divine.

Today our Gospel Portion is St. Luke 14:1-14, and we will meditate on,

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

St. Luke 14:11

Jesus is the example that all of His followers must follow. He provides the means to bring Heaven to earth, and He showed this in His 33 years of life with us.

St. John the Apostle told us that God is love (1 John 4-8), and we see that lived out in Jesus’ life. Now our challenge is to live love out in our lives. When we encounter every individual, we are to be that love. 

It is normal to love those who love you back; however, what is most difficult is to love those who openly hate you! This is so hard to do, but we are called to do this supernatural love.

Genuine humility is required to love like Jesus!

Remember, God allowed those who hated Him to execute Him, and He forgave them and the whole world! To receive that forgiveness, we must humble our pride and love those who aim to harm us.

When we become like Jesus, we allow Him to exalt us in the present moment!

Be humble like Jesus and be exalted by Him! Live in Heaven on Earth!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/6ndjm4-christophers-fund-for-charity/fb/o?utm_campaign=natman_sharesheet_dash&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&attribution_id=sl:8b055e34-0dad-426f-af5f-0273a5dfe1c7

 

 

 

Heart Work Matters!

A better world begins with us!

Today in some parts of the globe is known as Carnival Sunday. It is the last Sunday before the Season of Lent. We are in the last days before many of us will enter into a time of introspection, Heart Work! Our Gospel portion is, St. Luke 6: 39-45, and our selection for meditation is,

“The good person out of good treasure of his/ her heart produces good, and the evil person out of his/ her evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart their mouths speak.” Luke 6: 45

I know that I have  always heart work to do because judging others is so easy to do. But if we judge someone, how can we truly be loving to them?

Jesus calls us to look at ourselves first, then from self knowledge of  ourselves we can determine if we live out the life and message of Jesus, we can help others to do the same.

Jesus reminds us of the need to work on ourselves when He tells us,

“Can a blind person lead a blind person? Will they not both fall into a pit?” Luke 6:39

Our hearts must see and acknowledge what is going on in them, and compare them with the Heart of Jesus. The old yet important question still needs to be asked of ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” The answer to this question requires us know Jesus and have Him as the center of the totality of our lives!

As we close this last Sunday before Ash Wednesday, may we take Jesus seriously and make our world a better place through our lives!

Blessings!

Pax. The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/1ad6a4aa

Love Triumphs!

The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus means that Love will have the final victory!

First let us wish our Eastern Orthodox Sisters and Brothers a Happy Resurrection Sunday!

We read in St. John’s Gospel,

“This I command you, to love one another.”

John 15:17 RSV-CE

The Commandment of Love is central to Jesus and His true followers. This makes perfect sense because He is the personification of Divine Love. Jesus entered our world so that we can enter into God who is Love. The problem is living this Love is difficult because those who follow this Love will often experience the pushback, to a greater or lesser degree, what Jesus experienced as He promoted Divine Love in human relations.

Love anyway!

Do not give up Heaven because people choose to live in hell!

True followers of Jesus will experience their crosses. Be strong, embrace your cross, and live the peace that passes all understanding!

Pax, The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/1b9dd565

 

 

LOVE WINS!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

There is great power in Jesus, but we must understand today, Resurrection Sunday.

We read in St. John’s Gospel,

They (Peter and John) did not yet understand the Scripture that He had to rise from the dead.

John 20:9

The understanding of the Resurrection’s significance in our lives is essential in order to tap into the power of the Resurrection in our lives. Jesus did not rise and disappear! He stayed with His Disciples for 40 days! They had to be taught! The event of the Resurrection is the central point in in history! No one has ever been nailed to the cross with witnesses that could testify to seeing a person die and be buried and on the third day rise from the tomb!

After 40 days of instruction, in ten days immediately following Ascension Thursday, when Jesus ascended to the right hand of Father God, God sent the Holy Ghost to finish the instruction! Christianity is the product of this instruction!

And we are not finished yet!

Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, is not over! We have 50 days to be instructed by the Word, our spiritual reading and our meditation!

We need this time because if we can understand the Resurrection, we know that nothing can destroy us!

In the final analysis, LOVE WINS!

Pax, The Hermit of Peace

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2

 

The Shema Life

Living Divine Love!

The ancient Hebraic statement of faith is central to Jesus and the Holy Family of Nazareth and must be central to those who follow Jesus!

Jesus states in the Gospel of Matthew:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all of your mind.”
Matthew 22:37

And along with this statement of faith, which is and continues to be central to those who follow Him, Jesus tells us how this statement of faith is to be accomplished. This love must be lived in daily living:

“You shall love your neighbor as you yourself.”
Matthew 22:39

The Trinity of Love!

Jesus brings together the Way of Life of His People Judaism and confirms it for the whole world in His Life, Passion and Death on the Cross and Holy Resurrection! There are three movements of Divine Love which would bring Heaven on Earth, if we, as a people, put it into practice. This Trinity is, love of God, love of self, so that we can truly love our neighbor as God wants us to!

We cannot change anyone, but we can allow God to change us, and in doing so, we can inspire others to surrender to God, who can and will change them too!

Remember, if we know we are powerless, and we know that God is the Ultimate Power in the Universe, and we surrender ourselves to God, God has the power to change us!

Blessings! Pax.

The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2

The Wedding Garment

Make Love Your Garment!

The Wedding Feast is a Love Feast!

At times our Sacred Scriptures can be difficult to understand. For example, in the Gospel of St. Matthew 22:11-12,

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless…”

What is the “Wedding Garment “?

In this Parable of the Wedding Party we we know that Jesus is talking about being in line with God’s Kingdom. The original guests were invited and they had their own things to do, they did not join the party. Then the invite went to everyone, and they came, but one was not properly dressed. Being properly dressed for the party is essential. Not have the “Wedding Garment” is like being present at the affair and not really being there.

Perhaps being properly dressed refers to being clothed in love!

Clothed in Love makes sense because it is a love fest! God became one of us to bring us together in Divine Love!

We can be at the Wedding Feast and not really be there, because we choose not to be love.

This is a wonderful reminder and challenge! Being clothed in love means we are Kingdom People! This is our ongoing goal, working towards it, we will always belong at the “Wedding Party “!

Pax.

The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2

Honesty Matters!

Let Shalom Reign!

Our Lord is very practical about human relationships. He realized that we would hurt one another, yet he does not want us to stay in this hurting space but bring it out in the open. In openness of our feelings, with people who can be reasonable, we can find healing and move on to Kingdom Building!

Jesus says:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”
Matthew 18:15

Hiding hurts is not helpful, rather, they may lead to resentments. Holding on to hurts may lead to anger and outbursts that can destroy relationships. Jesus wants us to be together, to work with one another and for Shalom to reign.

Shalom, peace, can reign where honesty exists in relationships! We may do something wrong to our sister or brother and have no idea that our actions are hurtful. We can only truly know someone’s feelings if they share them with us.

Let us always be reasonable! Let us always be kind! Let us keep the peace!

And let us Stay in Prayer!

Pax.

The Hermit of Peace.

https://gofund.me/a1d90db2