Jeff Cavins

I'm Not Being Fed by Jeff Cavins
The number one Catholic eating disorder: I'm not being fed.
hungry: You will find some place to eat.
You will find a place to be fed.
The Eucharist that brought me back to church.
I wasn't spiritually being fed.
Who ultimately has the responsibility to feed you? JC
Psalm 23
many options in the wilderness
Jn 10:11 I am the Good Shepherd. The Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Paraclete: the HS
He established the Authority.
1 Tim 3:15 The Church that is the pillar and support of the truth.
MT 16:13
Mt 16, Jn 14, 31
discipline, guidance
Jn 23
If you love Me, feed my sheep, tend my sheep.
asked 3x to Peter
He has doubts.
This is My Body.
Where do the sheep eat?
Jn 6: the most powerful chapter in the NT where to eat
we feed ourselves, it's fun
Fellowship is just like dessert.
Jn 6: the feeding of the 5k
Mk 6: same story
a model of Mass
Jn 6:33
He felt compassion for them bec they were like sheep w/o a shepherd.
We need a shepherd.
Mass: the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist
the Word and the Body of God
the Mass is the great exchange
we give Him our words & He gives us our words.
My flesh is true food.
I left the Church bec I wasn't being fed.
covenant: eat the sacrifice
God will provide the Lamb.
Catholic Church: a cycle of readings, 3 years' cycle all NT
Rev 3:20

Mark Hart

Re-made by Mark Hart
The path from your head to your heart
You are designed for Heaven, eternity.
disillusioned: There's something more to life.
impersona Cristi
The only thing that's keeping you from being a saint is YOU.
God: I tattooed your name at the palms of My Hand.
His crib was a feed box. Not afraid to get dirty.
The sin against the Holy Spirit: The only sin that God won't forgive you for.
You are the sum of the Father's Love.
4k promises He made for you
When you pray to Me, I will listen.
He's a God, not a genie. It doesn't work.
He's your Lover.
There are people way better at you at sin.
Love is all about living.
annoyed people: not fulfilling their purpose
The only thing that doesn't go away is God, His love.
Don't stand on the boat when JC says walk on water.
You are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, to live life to the fullest.
Don't be a reactionary Catholic.
The whole symbol of our faith is discomfort.
He's not afraid of the dirt, mess.

Matthew Kelly

Becoming the Best Version of Yourself by Matthew Kelly
Bible: find the secrets to all of life's succcess
the message of Xmas: God wants to give us more, I got bigger plan
We'll only be happy when we're doing the will of God, what God creates us to do, what God tells us to do.
not a mystery, not out of reach, not unavailable to us
despair: a lie
We can know the will of God. We just don't ask the question, too scared to ask.
God wants you to become the best version of yourself: God's dream for you
Stop being second-rate versions of ourselves.
fundamental principle of life, Xtianity, spirituality: become the best version of yourself
Friendship is a good place to start.
What makes the best friendship? help you become the best version of yourself, hang on to them
causing or encouraging you to become a lesser version of yourself
purpose of marriage: can only be understood in relation to the fundamental principle, 2 people getting together encouraging, helping, challenging each other to become a best version of themselves, raising and educating children
To be holy means to become a best version of yourself.
e.g. St. Francis, Mother Teresa
Marriage is a God's vehicle to help people become holy, designed to help people become the best version of themselves.
Why do we work?
Work to become the best version of self: work hard to develop character, virtue
articulate the fundamental principle
There's genius in Catholicism.
Advent: We need to prepare for anything that's important.
We prepare for anything, everything we consider important in life.
Beware that your hearts don't become drowsy from the anxieties of daily life.
Repent means to turn back to God.
Any journey towards something means a journey away from something.
We reject the simple.
Our modern culture worships complexity.
We don't need complexity.
Our souls need simplicity.
If you really love God, show it. Prove it.
God is an internal mystery.
Love of God is total mystery.
proof is love of neighbor
ark of the covenant represented the presence of God
David dancing for joy in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant.
John the Baptist danced for joy in Elizabeth's womb.
Switch the focus off ourselves and on to others.
the paradox
We find joy by serving, not by being served.
Don't just tell me. Show me.
His dream for you is you become the best version of yourself. He doesn't want to control you.
common yearning of man: to be happy bec God gave it to us, uses it as an eternal homing devise
strong desire for happiness
bring us back to Him
4 aspects of the human person (rhythm of life):
1. physical: exercise, diet
2. emotional: focus on relationships, priority
3. intellectual: read a good book, change, grow
vision of self and world expand, vibrant
4. spiritual: silence a few minutes a day, reconnected with self and God, sense of peace & purpose, abundant life
We know what makes us happy. We just don't do them.
We're too busy trying to be happy.
Relationships thrive under carefree timelessness.
Take time to pray, reflect.
4 New Year's Resolution
1. Exercise once a week every week for the entire year.
your experience of life is only limited by the energy you have.
2. Have serious carefree timelessness once a month with significant other. Make it happen.
Have rich relationship lives.
the reason young people fall in love too easily and why adults fall out of love too easily
starve: wither and die
3. 10mins a day every day, 10 books
Books change our lives.
What we read today walks and talks with us tom.
We become the stories we listen to.
Read good books. Collect good books.
How do you judge a good book, movie?
Am I a better person?
music: inspire
matthewkelly.org
4. Get yourself a journal, bring to Mass.
Mass: the central experience of Catholicism
Billions of Catholics
center of our lives
The problem with the Mass is not out there.
The most powerful movement of the 20th, 21st century is the abdication of responsibility.
God, show me one way in this Mass I can become a better person.
Our lives change when our habits change.
Human behavior is so predictable.
We start everything very neatly.
Human behavior is phenomenally predictable.
God doesn't have any favorites.
Heroes had better habits.
It's all about choices.
misery
How often do you feel like working out? praying? reading?
Judge an activity not on how you feel but when you're done.
You gotta make a choice. You gotta access the options.
choose happiness or misery
Start choosing the best version of yourself.
God won't force you to do what you don't wanna do

Suffering = Sacrifice

God's ultimate message today: "The Angel said, 'Let everything you do be a sacrifice but, above all, accept all the sufferings God sends you as a sacrifice.'" - Lucy of Fatima (Kaya pala kinaya kong lakarin mula Matutum Street malapit sa Ace Water Spa Banawe hanggang sa Sto. Domingo Church sa ilalim ng araw. Buti di na-slain. :D)

Sulit din pala ang dalawang oras na tambay sa adoration. Isang realisasyon: Umiiyak din pala ang mga lalaki sa loob ng adoration. Kala ko kaming mga babae lang...

*Simply inspired to pray for the conversion of souls (including my own) to my favorite saint 

Fr. Robert Barron

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/seven-deadly-sins-seven-lively-virtues
The most important truth of spiritual life: God does not need you
you have been loved into existence
love: to the good of the other
God can't be self-interest.
what God wants us to be: that we might be fully alive
be a conduit of God's love, divine generosity
the more you give, the more you get
saintly way of being
we forget who we are
we become afraid
Fear is the root of all sins
1 John: the opposite of love is fear
I need to justify myself
wrapping self up in desperate needs: power, money
you become a threat in my well-being
allow God's love to surge through us
St. Augustine: Sin is being caved in on oneself
deadly sins: negative attitudes, distorted
keeps us from being alive
self-imposed imprisonment

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/what-every-couple-should-know-about-marriage-and-prayer

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/three-to-get-married
there is nothing beautiful in this world than 2 young people in love
spiritual and psychological differences:
man generally marries to have a woman.
woman generally marries to have a child.
man looks at the pleasure in marriage
man gives reason to love a woman (I love you because you're beautiful...).
a woman never gives reason, she gives herself: surrender
man is quicker to love bec he can love & ask things, experience with a woman
a woman is slower to love, she will not love unless she can give herself totally & completely wait longer to give self totally, discover all of inspirations, great act of self oblation
a man is afraid of dying before he has lived.
a woman is generally afraid of dying before she has begotten life.
reconcile difficulties/tensions
tensions expected in every married life:
tensions are not bec of a defect
tensions are part of fallen human nature
1. between wanting and not wanting love
courtship is a kind of masked ball, marriage takes off the mask
torn between longing and satiety
when longing disappears
love too much, there is discontent
love too little, there is emptiness
you are made for the great sacred heart of love: God's love (infinite)
finite companion the substitute to the infinite
see in the light of God
longing for love: yearning for God
finiteness of earthly love
St. Augustine: Our hearts were made for You, Lord.
in every marriage, a man promises a woman something that only God can give
a woman promises a man what only God can give
pull between the too lil and too much
too lil bec we want God
too much bec only God can satisfy, the human cannot
2. tension between wanting to be one with another person, feeling of so alone
self is lost in another
the flesh alone cannot unite, only the soul can
the flesh is the means to unity (not an obstacle) bec it is bound up by soul
love loses its soul...

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/the-true-meaning-of-christmas

Love and Suffering

God's big message and greatest insight after listening to the Marriage and the Eucharist CD by Christopher West days ago...
"Love involves suffering."
To love means to suffer, so if I were to suffer over & over again in this life, I wanna suffer with you (OTL) by my side.

Loving and Living

"To be a saint means when God's will and my will become one.
God's will for me is to go to Heaven.
It's not God's will for us to go to purgatory." - Fr. Larry Richards

Isn't it nice to hear voices of angels singing and praising God once we kick the bucket instead of prolonging our suffering by undergoing purification in purgatory? Make a decision to be a living saint today (or at least prepare to be one someday). Love like Jesus! Love unto folly! Suffering on the Cross, enduring insults and pains, and sacrificing One's life is probably the craziest kind of love there is. Love like crazy! Love as if there's no tomorrow! And you know by then that you have lived life to the full. :D

Matthew Arnold

Found a good supplement for my School of Formation...

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/which-came-first-the-bible-or-the-church
lay Catholic speaker, author,certified Christian counselor, 6 homeschooled children
www.matthewarnold.org
The Holy Bible: the most popular book of all time, the most widely distributed book in history
Pray the rosary with the Psalms.
common expressions come from the Bible: a Judas, a Jezebel, the salt of the earth
Biblia: book
Bible: a whole library of sacred book, during a course of more than 1k years
Bible: contains the inspired Word of God
All Scripture is inspired by God, profitable for reproach, teaching
2 Tim 3:15-17
CCC: God is the Author of Sacred Scripture, moved human authors (inspired, w/o error, saving truth).
Jesus: the substantial Word of God
Bible: single volume (Divine Author)
The primary Author is God.
Divided into 3 sections: Hebrew (OT), NT
OT: desire for the Redeemer, old agreement or covenant, God preparing people for the coming of the Messiah
NT: passion and death of JC, covenant
Is 42: 1, 6
46 books of OT: history, wisdom
1st 5 books: Pentateuch/Torah: Law
Pentateuch: Laws of God
Genesis: explains the beginning of many important realities (sin, salvation, etc.)
Gen 1:27
Gen 12: 2, 3

Lectio Divina by Mark Hart

Reading the Bible:
Have a plan.
Start with the Gospel of Mark: the shortest, easiest to read (writing to Christians in Rome).
The Gospel of John is the deepest.
Mark 1: the preaching of John the Baptist, baptism of Jesus, the temptation of Jesus
spend one day in one sub-section
less is more
when it comes to Scripture, you retain it in your brain and in your heart, or else God complex
start with a prayer before reading the Bible
God is not impressed with our language.
The Holy Spirit inspired.
inspiration: breathe in
respiration: breathe out
Invite the Author to the table.
Come Holy Spirit, 3 to 4 times.
There's an ancient art of reading the Scriptures: Lectio Divina.
Mark 1:9
step 1: reading: WWWWWH
pause for footnotes for explanations
step 2: meditacio: meditation, ruminating