Posts Tagged ‘mercy’
Unconditional Love is a Contradiction of Terms
A Story Over the last few months, we have had several conversations with a woman who is struggling with a difficult situation. Her best friend is having an affair and is planning a new life without telling her existing boyfriend with whom she has lived for almost seven years. Not only is this woman distressed…
Read MoreA Field Hospital For The Soul
We’ve written a lot about forgiveness, about the need to forgive others not just because Jesus’ commands us to do so but because it liberates us to receive love. As we approach 30 years of marriage, like most long-married couples we understand the relevance of forgiving the other all too well. But what about receiving…
Read MoreSt Valentine and Revolutionary Marriage
It’s St Valentine’s day next week. This year, it coincides with Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent and a traditional day for penance and fasting. Oh dear! What to do?! Some think this is a pity; normally we focus on romance and joy for the lover’s feast and it’s hard to do that on…
Read MoreCelebrating Saint Valentine
Bulletin Advertisment A Message for Married Couples on St Valentine’s Day God does not call us to mediocrity. God calls us to be a radical witness; to bring alive within our marriage the passionate love and extravagant mercy he has for every human person. God calls us to live this reality within our own marriage…
Read MoreWhen Mercy is Hard to Do
Our last column (Bringing Mercy to Marriage) generated some interesting comments from readers on our blog so we thought we’d expand on the topic – what it is, what it isn’t and how to be merciful when your spouse is seriously flawed. All of us are prone to selfishness. The task of Christian maturity requires…
Read MoreBringing Mercy to your Marriage
It’s Divine Mercy Sunday this week, one of our favourite feasts. Inspired by the writings of St Faustina, a Polish visionary of the 20th century, this feast honours God’s infinite capacity for forgiveness. We’ve had more than a few spats in our marriage. There. We’ve said it. People often expect us to be somehow impervious…
Read MoreWhy is forgiveness so hard?
In this Year of Mercy, there’s lots of talk about forgiving: God’s expansive forgiveness and our own obligation to forgive others. We get it. It’s important. Incredibly so. But why is it so darn hard to do? From our earliest experiences as children, we’ve been told how important it is to forgive. We also taught…
Read MoreMercy Gospel Reflection: Apr 3
Gospel Reflections for Married Couples 3 April – 2nd Sunday of Easter In this week’s Gospel, we hear those famous words spoken each week at Mass during the sign of peace, “Peace be with you.” Can you speak these words authentically to your spouse today? Is there anything in your marriage that needs work in order to restore peace…
Read MoreMercy
Central to the experience of God’s mercy is the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which, with the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, is a specific sacrament for healing and mercy. Sam Guzeman and Linda Lochtefeld offer their powerful experiences of God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Connie Rossini suggests some other ways we can celebrate…
Read MoreMercy Gospel Reflection: Dec 13
Gospel Reflections for Married Couples 13 December | 3rd Sunday of Advent Saint John the Baptist in this week’s Gospel tells us that in preparing for Christ “if anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.” In order…
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