allforhisgreaterglory

Dear Lord, Savior King, Almighty God,

As we gaze upon your birth, before you we’re awed.

Through humility, you took on flesh, and came down to earth

And on this 25th of December, with love, we celebrate your birth.

During this season,

May we remember the reason,

For the cause of our celebration,

As the angels bow down in adoration

Of You, our beautiful, adorable king,

Conquering death for humanity like it ain’t no thing.

Grant us the grace to realize with our eyes,

That the Christmas spirit fully alive

Does not lie,

In crazed Christmas shopping,

Or holiday carols,

Or new Jordan copping,

That tell of the perils

Of a society plagued with greed and consumerism,

But through you,

In you,

And with you,

The old is broken, and new arisen.

Bless the gifts that we have received,

And by your grace, may we learn to believe

In the power of your presence and everlasting love,

Which can only be found in the skies above.

Bless our family, both living and dead,

Bless those without food, or a roof over their heads

By your guidance and grace, may we live in the light

As we say Merry Christmas to all

And to all a good night.

Anonymous asked: Just found my faith, I go to a women's college run by a religious group, how do I get stronger in my faith? i read the Bible, pray, go to mass on Sunday and do charity work. is there anything else I can do? Thank you :)

Frequent the sacraments! Go to Adoration as often as you can! read the Catechism! Learn about the lives of the saints!

This might sound harsh, but never be content with where you are in your spiritual journey (in other words, pray that you might avoid complacency). Know that the Lord continually asks us to become better followers each day through embracing our crosses and dedicating ourselves to a life of love for Him, for others, and for ourselves. By the looks of your ask so far, it seems like you’re doing a good job already. (: You’ll be in my prayers, anon!

- Joseph

I think that one of the worst feelings you could ever have as a teenager has to do with knowing you made your parents cry.

And it is with great awkwardness that I say that hopefully, some of you can relate to this. Otherwise, I must be sounding like a pretty terrible son already.

Nevertheless, at least I can say that some of the saints have been there and done that, especially when you consider St. Augustine, because for 17 years, he made his mother, St. Monica, cry.

She cried because she desperately wanted her son, who was living an immoral life, to know and love the one true God.

In the end, it was through St. Monica’s persistent tears and prayers to God, that her prayers were answered. St. Augustine converted from his old, sinful ways, and received the gift of counsel – which helped him to not only know the difference between right and wrong, but to have the inclination to choose the right – in order to avoid sin and seek salvation.

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Okay, so let’s be real.

St. Bartholomew isn’t exactly the most popular Apostle in town. He’s barely mentioned in the Gospels, and St. John insists on calling him Nathanael.. But we do know that he had the guts to diss Jesus’ neighborhood and still prove to be incapable of duplicity.. At least he’s got that much going for him.

Nevertheless, I always laugh when I think about saints like St. Bartholomew – saints who aren’t exactly well known, and yet my laugh is one of hope.

Because there is a saying that goes, “To the world, you are one person but to one person, you are the world.”

And this is exactly the hope that fills my heart when I hear the stories of St. Bartholomew, St. Dymphna, St. Chillen, St. Alphege the Bald, St. Kenny, St. Guy, St. Dora, or my personal favorite: St. Fabius Claudius Gordianus Fulgentius… Awesome confirmation saint names to take up, btw.

Because no matter how small, unimportant, insignificant the world might try to make us feel…

God will forever be the person in our lives who will see each and every one of us, regardless of our failures and shortcomings as His children, and say, “To me, child. You are the world. And I would rather die for You than risk spending an eternity of happiness without You.”

And let this be the knowledge we long to grasp in our lives… Knowledge that transcends the pages of our math, history and science books. Knowledge to perfect our faith in the presence of God who’s madly in love with me, with you, and the person right next to you. Knowledge to understand that we are here on this earth for a reason – and even if the world may never realize it, God does. And he hopes we do too.

Immerse me in Your love and mercy.

May I ever seek to serve You.

You are my life and my salvation.

In You, I place my trust.

Amen.