โ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ,โฃ
๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ,โฃ
๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด,โฃ
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด๐ตโฃ
๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โโฃ
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ.โฃ
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ.โฃ
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ, โ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โฃ
๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โโฃ
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ,โฃ
โ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต.โฃ
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ,โฃ
๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ.โโฃ
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As we have shut ourselves behind closed doors for the past few months, I imagine we have shared in the experience of the disciples following the death of Jesus.โฃ
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Much like the disciples, we have been forced to isolate ourselves and huddle with those closest to us, as we cling to the fear of the unknown. We put up barricades to prevent unwanted things from entering our hearts. We long for days past when joy was easily accessible and our hearts were full of excitement.โฃ
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But it is at this moment, when the disciples have cut off the outside and linger, scared, that Christ re-enters our lives. Not in some phantasmic, ghost-like, or symbolic way, but in a manner that reveals his true self. Itโs no surprise the first thing Jesus does (after wishing peace towards his friends) is reveal His wounds. These wounds are remainders of Jesusโ suffering and dying, yes, but are also indicators that God is sending Godself, not an image or representation, but Godself in totality.โฃ
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And how radical Christโs promise is compared to what a human can offer! Indeed, during these times, we need human connection, and FaceTimeโs, drive-thru graduations, and small texts of encouragement are absolutely necessary. But just like all human works, they are transient and imperfect. Only the God who promises not a mere representation of Godself, but an actual, physical gift of Being, can give us lasting comfort.โฃ
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More than anything, our world needs peace. Not transient, fleeting, imperfect human peace, but peace from the One who can grant us peace everlasting. Our reaction to this peace can only be something greater than happiness or appreciation – joy. Happiness and appreciation – both important parts of the human experience – can only be helpful insofar that they lead us to deeper emotions that affect us at our inner being. The natural product of appreciation is gratitude and the product of happiness is joy. Joy can be felt in the midst of tragedy, despair, and suffering. It survives even the most brutal of circumstances. The disciplesโ response of joy is proof of the everlasting and supreme nature of God – Godโs present, in even dire circumstances, brings out of us the best.โฃ
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The Holy Spirit has continued to guide our Church and world throughout the ages. It is passed on to you and I as we are charged with the Common Good in the wake of the tragedies of the pandemic, George Floyd, and the human suffering that persists in the world each day. We are invited each day to simply accept this Spirit.โฃ
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๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ค๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ, ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ธ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต, ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ.โฃ
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(via St. Augustine)โฃ
Catholicism Rekindled 