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Marie Granieri
1. Gift of Timeless Wisdom. The beauty of Elizabeth Goudge’s fictional story “Pilgrim’s Inn” lies in the wisdom she gradually unfolds as the Eliot family struggles with an all too uncertain future. Tomorrow’s happiness is promised to no one. Although they believe they have the answers, the ultimate path they search for to find joy is slowly revealed over time. It seems that the more they live the problem, the more they come to understand the hidden significance of their circumstance. For Nadine, George and David, a vital message must first be received to be understood. Thankfully, Goudge creates a central character to gently guide the others along their difficult path to find joy. The family does not realize the gift they have in their mother Lucilla Eliot. It is her wisdom that keeps them together in a darkened post war world. Knowing her children as…
According to Simon & Schuster, more than fifty million copies of Rick Warren’s best seller The Purpose Driven Life were sold last year. Warren’s guiding steps to pinpoint what drives happiness and how to live with purpose can certainly help to answer the question “why I am here?” However for the Christian, setting out to discern one’s purpose begins with understanding the “causes” attracting the soul toward “goodness” as a means to God. The journey does not start out with a question – but with an answer. That is, knowing that God is our Ultimate Destination. We then set out to pursue a life that is a reflection of his image – seeking only the good. God knows that we cannot do all that He desires in our own strength. He gives us an interior power “source” enabling our capacity to seek only goodness. St…
Christ often spoke about the relationship between heaven and earth. In the Lord’s Prayer, he asks that the will of his Father be done on earth as it is in heaven. The apostles are told that whatever they bind on earth, will be bound in heaven (Mt 18:17). Jesus mentions heaven seventy times in Matthew’s Gospel alone. Christ establishes this impenetrable bridge to make known the ultimate destination that awaits us all. We are bound for heaven in a way that remains hidden to the world. Our earthly direction is tracked by the universal GPS – affirming that we are indeed on the way to buy milk, pick up the kids from school or arriving just in time to board the red-eye flight out of JFK. Unfortunately – there is no GPS tracking our way into heaven. Darn. Knowing how close or far we are is left up…
The best marketers persuasively try to equate “good” with their product or service. Catchy slogans like “Life is Good” and “Finger Lickin Good” are perfect examples of how “goodness” is used as the foundation for a brand’s identity. Yet in spite of their creative use of association, plenty of potential customers still choose to shop elsewhere. Driving this is the reality that the way people choose to determine what is “good” varies from person to person. Everyone has a different perception of what “goodness” means. Conversely, the nature of all persons universally begins with the same inherent goodness at the start of life. As we are all created in the image of God, his perfecting goodness is woven within each person in the same way. The reflection of God’s goodness is especially evident in the innocence and purity of young children. No matter how many…
Mary’s motherhood is a divine source of heavenly splendor drawing God’s people to seek her intercessory grace without end. She lovingly takes her sons and daughters by the hand and leads them to her Son Jesus Christ – the only begotten Son of God. Becoming aware that she is chosen by God and blessed among women, Mary responds in total humility saying “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38). She is from the people, a pure woman also called to go the pilgrim way of faith. Already filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Mary says “yes” to the divine Word and became the eternal mother of Jesus in the Incarnation. Impeded by no sin, she devotes herself totally to the person and work of her Son, under Him and with Him, by the grace of almighty God, serving the mystery of our redemption from sin…
