Note to God

a man can enter into himself only with the heart, not with the mind. It is not in a man’s power to enter into his own interiority with the mind. Hence, if the heart is not alive, man remains a stranger to himself”.

Many people feel safer constructing their systems of thought in the more readily controllable domain of intelligence and will. The failure to make room for the heart, as distinct from our human powers and passions viewed in isolation from one another, has resulted in a stunting of the idea of a personal centre, in which love, in the end, is the one reality that can unify all the others.

Ephesians 6:1-9 Duties in domestic life   Slaves, be obedient to the men who are called your masters in this world, with deep respect and sincere loyalty, as you are obedient to Christ: not only when you are under their eye, as if you had only to please men, but because you are slaves of Christ and wholeheartedly do the will of God. Work hard and willingly, but do it for the sake of the Lord and not for the sake of men. You can be sure that everyone, whether a slave or a free man, will be properly rewarded by the Lord for whatever work he has done well. And those of you who are employers, treat your slaves in the same spirit; do without threats, remembering that they and you have the same Master in heaven and he is not impressed by one person more than by another.

This is beautifully described and faithfully practiced in the hesychastic tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Greek word “hesychia” means rest, and hesychastic prayer leads us to rest in God. It is described as a descending with the mind into the heart, in order to stand there in the presence of God. Therefore it is also called the prayer of the heart. The most commonly used words are those of the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner,” but sometimes shorter sentences are used, or just the name “Jesus.” Centering prayer, as introduced by Basil Pennington, and the Maranatha (Come, Lord Jesus) prayer, described by John Main, are variations of this form of prayer

It may seem complicated, but in reality it is very simple – a simplicity that does not mean it is easy: “Add a supernatural motive to your ordinary work and you will have sanctified it” (The Way, no. 359). This motive that sanctifies work is not a simple pious aspect independent of the work itself. Rather it is a question of why and for what one is working, as a conscious final goal that decisively influences both the carrying out of the work and its material and formal result. Hence “an essential part of the endeavor – the sanctification of ordinary work – that God has entrusted to us is to carry out as well as possible the work itself, also with human perfection, fulfilling very well all of one’s professional and social obligations” (Letter 24, no. 18). The supernatural motive at the root of the sanctification of work is love: “It is well to remember that the dignity of work is based on Love. ======== Why and for what are we working? If we do well, even if nobody sees.. We do it 1. O...

When Jesus says: “Make your home in me as I make mine in you,” he offers us an intimate place that we can truly call “home.” Home is that place or space where we do not have to be afraid but can let go of our defenses and be free, free from worries, free from tensions, free from pressures. Home is where we can laugh and cry, embrace and dance, sleep long and dream quietly, eat, read, play, watch the fire, listen to music, and be with a friend. Home is where we can rest and be healed. The word “home” gathers a wide range of feelings and emotions up into one image, the image of a house where it is good to be: the house of love

Every moment in which we overcome our selfishness, every effort to grow in this or that virtue that will allow us to serve better; every time we choose humility over our desire to assert ourselves against others, we are saying without words to God: I love you more.

Ask ask ask. Even your friend will get irritated and relent

DOSE Dopamine - pleasure. Healthy dopamine vs dopamine crash.  Oxytocin - love,  affection. Friendship Serotonin - thanksgiving, gratitude, peace. Spend time with nature  Endorphine- exercise

The challenge is that anyone who wants to live close to God in the midst of the world is exposed to the same messages as his peers. The current could end up pushing him, for example, to soften the message of Jesus or to reinterpret it in a more light version . In essence, it is the temptation of a benevolent Christianity, without a cross. And yet, there are the words of the Lord: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mk 8:34-35); “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a mere grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (Jn 12:24). A Christianity without a cross, in fact, “is worldly and becomes sterile” [3] . To live in Christ and, in turn, to transmit this life to others, the path passes through the cross. As in so many other aspects of our faith, here we also encounter a paradox: "To live,...

Help others to grow in empathy Have affectivity  Feeling bad isn't abnormal Provide feedback: when u said that, it made my day How do you feel? Instead of how are u doing?

meditating on the story of the prodigal son. It is a story about returning. I realize the importance of returning over and over again. My life drifts away from God. I have to return. My heart moves away from my first love. I have to return. My mind wanders to strange images. I have to return. Returning is a lifelong struggle. . . . I am moved by the fact that the father didn’t require any higher motivation. His love was so total and unconditional that he simply welcomed his son home.