Aquinas and More…

Dear friends,

Many of you know that we are an affiliate of Aquinas and More. This means that they provide the book store in the far right column of the blog (scroll down a bit and you will see it). The way this works is that every book or item you purchase from them through the link on this blog results in a percentage of the sale coming to us for the work of this apostolate. Right now monthly sales amounts to enough income to purchase and review a few books for you every month or so. This is not a lot but every little bit helps. The more you purchase, the more it helps. Stay with me for two more points of interest:

1. Aquinas and More is the ONLY Catholic store that I am aware of that provides a “Good Faith Guarantee.” What this means is that they will never offer materials or supplies that are contrary to the teachings of the Church.
2. Second, they are having a 40% off inventory reduction sale!

Just click on this link and shop to your magisterially faithful heart’s content.

Yours in Christ,

Dan

Recommended Resources for Spiritual Growth

Dear Catholic Spiritual Direction Friends,

To find an easy to review list of all of our recommended reading for the spiritual life, click here. You will find this and other lists of posts by topic in the upper right hand portion of each page. Please remember that if you purchase resources from this site you help us continue our mission. The books sold through this site provide us with credit to purchase and review new books to share with you so please purchase through us! As we provide new resource recommendations we will keep this page updated and let you know there are new posts.

Blessings to you as you Seek Him, Find Him, and Follow Him,

Dan

Calling All Spiritual Directors

Dear Spiritual Directors,

As a part of an informal research effort for a book on spiritual direction, I would be grateful to expand the group of directors that I can tap into for questions from time to time. I am particularly interested in perspectives that might better prepare directees to effectively engage in the process of spiritual direction. If you are interested in assisting in this way, please send me an email to RCSpiritualDirection@gmail.com with your name and contact information. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Seek Him – Find Him – Follow Him

Dan

Spiritual Resolutions for the New Year?

Well, its that time of year again. New Year’s resolutions abound.

Looking back at last year, did you grow in your faith and holiness? If someone close to you were asked this question about you, would their answer be a resolute “yes!”

If not, do you have a purposeful plan to grow closer to Christ this year? Are you fully prepared to meet God face to face? Do you plan to be?

Not too long ago I attended my brother Shannon’s funeral – he was 35 years old when he died. Before that, I attended my sister Linda’s funeral – she was 32. In between these, my niece Callie was 2 years old when she was ripped from this world. No one saw any of these devastating and sudden losses coming. All three were healthy only hours before. Each of their bodies failed, almost instantly, in different and unexpected ways. Each of them lived as if they had long lives ahead of them. Each of them were wrong. One moment they were healthy, spending time with family, playing, eating, sleeping… and then they were suddenly standing before God.

What did they see? What will you see? When will you find yourself standing before God? In the next ten minutes? The next hour? Tomorrow? Next week? Are you ready?

If not, what will it take for you to get ready? Is there really anything more important than being ready? Is there really anything more important than where you will spend eternity once this very brief life has passed? Have you considered that even if you live to be a hundred, in contrast with eternity, one hundred years is like a grain of sand on the sea shore.

Each minute you chose the trajectory of your soul. Each minute you decide what God will ratify if you end up standing before him in the next. What is your chosen trajectory? What if you think it is heaven when it really is not? If you are committed to your Catholic faith, can you clearly articulate the criteria upon which you will be judged according to the teachings of Christ and his Church? Could you show someone where your views are justified in the Catechism or scripture? Are you really as ready as you can be, or do you just hope that you are?

My hope and prayer is that this moment, in this new year, you are as ready as you can be. If you are not, my prayer is that you will move spiritual growth to the top of your New Year’s resolution list, get a clear plan in place, and quickly begin aggressively pursuing your relationship with Christ and his Church.

That said, I wish you a very happy New Year! If your last moment comes this year – my prayer is that you will find yourself embraced by Christ and hearing the words, “well done – enter into the joy of your master…”

Seek Him – Find Him – Follow Him

Dan

PS 1: If you think purgatory is a good backup plan, you might want to read this post.

PS 2: If you do have spiritual resolutions, share them with the rest of us! We might benefit from your insights.

The source of our joy…and a prayer request

More than 200 hundred of you responded to our holiday poll regarding joy and sorrow. What is troubling me this morning is that 13 of our readers are feeling only sorrow. So, I thought that maybe you might have a word of encouragement for them. What is the source of your joy in this season? Have you suffered but still found the love of Christ in the midst of your pain? How have you overcome the busy-ness, the materialism, and the remembrance of those who are not here to celebrate with you? Tell us the story of your encounter with Christ and the joy you have found in him this beautiful Advent season.

Only one more request – pray for the 13 and the thousands more that are struggling in darkness and need our prayers to find the light switch. If you are praying for them, let them know that too.

Seek Him – Find Him – Follow Him

Dan