The extreme sacrifice she sealed with her life testifies that only those who have the courage to give of themselves totally to God and others are able to fulfill themselves.” Gianna’s situation is perhaps pretty unusual; even so, she has important lessons to teach us. So here are three things to learn from St. Gianna Molla.
Thérèse models a little way of realistic holiness for all of us. She desired to be great, not in her performances or actions, but in the quiet of her heart, learning to love as Christ Himself loved. So may she serve for us all as a great model of Christian virtues and a generous heart. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, pray for us!
On the inside of soaring cathedrals were walls and windows filled with Christian imagery. Scenes from creation, lives of the Saints, and stories of the Gospels danced around visitors as they explored these churches. Even if those Christians couldn’t read the written Word of God, they could still take in the stories around which their faith revolved.
On our Christian journey to do good and avoid evil, the crux of our mission is to walk with Christ. Christ has already won the victory over sin and Hell. Therefore, we aren’t responsible for winning this victory ourselves. Instead, we’re called to lean into Christ’s extant victory.
We as a Church know the importance of creating beautiful spaces in which to meet God. But, in this season, many of us are not able to worship in the spaces of our home parishes, and even praying privately in those spaces might look rather different. Making a space to pray at home then becomes all the more important.
Sometimes praying directly about our vocations can actually distract us from discovering them, or from allowing God to bring us to them in His time. If we’re always asking God to “please-please-please show us which vocation we’re supposed to choose,” then we risk the chance of missing the meaning of the experiences we’re having in the present that will inform our vocations in the future.
As we move through Holy Week in a way the Church never has before and might never again, I pray that our hope will rest in God alone. If we hope only in the goodness of situations or the favorable outcomes that might befall us, I think we’ll always be disappointed. But if we hope in God and His infinite goodness, we will never be let down.
When we hear the word “evangelization,” it can be tempting to jump immediately to the topic of conversion. We might assume that to evangelize someone means to convert them to Catholicism, perhaps even to “score” them for the Catholic Church. But, the process of evangelization is more complex than that.
The culture surrounding men’s health can be destructive, but sometimes more subtly so than the culture of women’s health. Many messages communicate that men aren’t “real men” unless their bodies are perfectly chiseled, especially from the waist up.
