Free To Love

God's Love is not a one night stand. So don't settle for less

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 17:24:52 -0500

"A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. The fruit of silence is prayer,..."

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:51:13 -0500

“A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.” She also said, “give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness.””

- Blessed Mother Teresa (via mercypoured)

signum-crucis: There is perhaps no word in the English language...

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:47:51 -0500

signum-crucis:

There is perhaps no word in the English language that is more often used and more often misunderstood than the word that rang out from the Pulpit of the Cross on that day: The simple word, love. Love as the world understands it means to have, to own, to possess: To have that object, to own that thing, to possess that person, for the particular pleasure which it will give. That is not love; that is selfishness; that is sin. Love is not the desire to have, to own, to possess. Love is the desire to be had, to be owned, to be possessed. Love is the giving of oneself for the sake of another. Love as the world understands it, is symbolised by a circle, which is always circumscribed by self. Love as our Lord understands it, is symbolised by the Cross with its arms outstretched even unto infinity to embrace all humanity within its grasp. As long as we have a body, then love can never mean anything else but sacrifice. That is why we speak of “arrows” and “darts” of love — something that wounds.

But if love, in its highest reaches, means sacrifice, then these words of Our Blessed Lord from the Cross are the climax of Love’s ways with unloving men. Love did not keep the secret of Its goodness — that was creation. Love became one with the one loved — and that was the Incarnation. But if Love had merely stopped with God becoming man, we might say that God did not do everything He could do to show His love; we might say that He was like the heathen gods that sat indifferent to the woes and ills and heartaches of the world and hence never drew from the heart of man a beat of love. If Divine Love stopped after merely appearing amongst us, man might say that God could never understand the sufferings and the loneliness of a human heart; that a God could not love as men do, namely, to the point of sacrifice. If, therefore, Love was to give of its fullness, it must express Itself even to the point of sacrificing Itself for the salvation and redemption of mankind. If, therefore, He who suffered on Calvary, He who was now preaching from the Pulpit of the Cross, were not God but a mere creature or a mere man, then there must be creatures in this world better and nobler than God. Shall man who toils for his fellowman, suffers for him, and if needs be dies for him, be capable of doing that which God cannot do? Should this noblest form of love, which is sacrifice, be possible to sinful man, and yet impossible to a perfectly good God? Shall we say that the martyr sprinkling the sands of the Colosseum with his blood, the soldier dying for his country, the missionary spending himself and being spent for the good of heathens — aye, and more, shall we say that those women, martyrs by pain, who in little hovels and lowly cottages have sacrificed all the joys of life for the sake of simple duties and little charities, unnoticed and unknown by all save God — shall we say that all those, who from the beginning of the world have shown forth the beauty of sacrifice, have no Divine prototype in heaven? That they have been capable of displaying a nobler form of love than He who made them? That they have shown greater love than Love Itself? Shall we say this? Or shall we say with John and Paul, that if man can be so good, God must be infinitely better; that if man can love so much, God can love infinitely more? Shall we not say this, and find in the Cross of Calvary the perfect expression of love by an All-Perfect Being, of whom perfect condescension and sacrifice were required by naught in heaven or earth save by His own perfect and inconceivable love which He now preaches from the Pulpit of the Cross? If we do say this, that He is very God of very God, and love is now reaching its climax in the redemption of mankind, then no longer can men say, “Why does God send men into the world to be miserable when He is happy?” — for the God-man is miserable now. No longer can men say, “God makes me suffer pain while He goes through none” — for the God-man is now enduring pain to the utmost. No longer can men say that God has a heart that cannot understand, for now His own Sacred Heart understands what it is to be abandoned by God and man as He suffers — suspended between the kingdoms of both, between heaven and earth, rejected by one and abandoned by the other. Now it is true to say of Love Itself that It is really dying for us, for greater love than this no man hath that a man lay down his life for his friend.

—Venerable Abp. Fulton J. Sheen, The Divine Romance: The Pulpit of the Cross

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Sun, 14 Oct 2012 09:41:42 -0400

terrysdiary: The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE.

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 14:52:45 -0400

terrysdiary:

The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE.

CFCYouthMetro: Almighty 2012 Testimony by: Joseph Lim

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:30:17 -0400

CFCYouthMetro: Almighty 2012 Testimony by: Joseph Lim :

cfcyouthmetro:

Hello readers and fellow servants of God! My name is Joseph Lim and I am the proud chapter head of the Mississauga West Chapter in the West sector. I was blessed with the experience of attending this year’s True North: Almighty Conference in Winnipeg on July 27-30 2012.
I am so thankful…

CFCYouthMetro: We Are The Titans by: Sandra Hallig

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:30:04 -0400

CFCYouthMetro: We Are The Titans by: Sandra Hallig:

cfcyouthmetro:

After a tiring 30+ bus ride from T.O, bus breakdowns & countless rest stops, Metro finally reached University of Manitoba for Almighty National Conference 2012! It was a weekend filled with CFC-Youth from all over Canada praising & worshipping our True North. I can’t even begin to explain how…

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Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:29:53 -0400

CFCYouthMetro: Love to serve, Serve to Love By: Raena Buluran

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:29:29 -0400

CFCYouthMetro: Love to serve, Serve to Love By: Raena Buluran:

cfcyouthmetro:

Luke 1:46

One week ago, over five hundred youths from east to west coast gathered for the True North National Conference in Winnipeg. Coming from the Metro Region, I can testify that the journey to conference was not a smooth sailing. From changes in departure times, a broken bus and a…

Mama Mary has graced my family with her presence for the week. if you'd like come pray with us :) let me know

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:51:30 -0400

Life sucks when you don't pray.

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 00:24:00 -0400

For the past few weeks, I’ve been struggling with my prayer time, I’ve been struggling to talk to God. I don’t know why, it just happened. But within this past week; I’ve lost my my way, my days didn’t go smoothy as “planned”, I became distant from my family, friends. My family and I fought a lot more, I fell into temptations, I started to question myself, question love…. life wasn’t as pretty as it once was…
Today it hit me. When my mother said, “kayi you no longer have compassion for others around you, what happened?” I didn’t noticed the hurt that I’ve caused my family, friends, and myself. I didn’t noticed how self seeking I have been, how unloving I have been. I didn’t notice anything till my mother confronted me after a fight.. Life really wasn’t the same, during these moment.
My struggle these past weeks has been a blessing. I’ve come the beautiful realization that I need to lift up my life to the Lord and let him guide it. Im not saying that the Lord will abandon you, if you stop praying to him… no im not saying that at all. What I’m say is.. that we (I) need let the Lord guide me, I need to trust in Him. It is through prayer and discernment that the Lord will guide me. It is through prayer that I will be able to have a relationship with Him. It is through prayer that I will know love.
I’ve come to understand what prayer is really about. It is not just a bunch of words anymore, but it is my lifeline that gives life to my everlasting relationship with the Lord.

standing firm

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:57:00 -0400

So Today is going to be a real test of my faith, of how strong I am. To stand for what I believe in. Rather than my normal days where my creativity is just being tested and pushed

Everyone thinks that artist are so different. That we don’t conform to society, that we are the “other”, but in reality we conform to our own little community. Going to an art school, I’ve noticed that many of the students have the same beliefs and ethics. That religion is never mentioned (besides in our art history classes). That faith is never is mentioned.
Its odd, because most of us, believe in faith. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to create what we create. If an artist cannot believe in their work, than others won’t. As artist we go beyond what science can explain and we express what human’s hold deep within their hearts.

Today, I will present my prolife PSA in class. I will stand firm next to it, I will stand firm for life.

signum-crucis: Each man, in his suffering, can also become a...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:49:58 -0400

signum-crucis:

Each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ.
—Pope John Paul II

March 12: A rush of joy, another day to Love.

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:24:00 -0400

As I walk into the Church this morning I couldn’t help but feel so much joy within my heart. I stood before my God, in awe by his gilded robe, his beautiful and gentle face; I could feel the softness of His skin against my hand as if he was truly holding me. A rush of joy, love and other emotions that I cannot explain filled the deep corners my heart, I trembled as I stood in presence. His everlasting love was so apparent that I was so overwhelmed by it, I fell to my knees and I rejoiced! For the Lord as given me another day to love. Thank You

6 Types of Love

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:37:38 -0400

Eros
a passionate physical and emotional love based on aesthetic enjoyment; stereotype of romantic love

Ludus
a love that is played as a game or sport; conquest; may have multiple partners at once

Storge
an affectionate love that slowly develops from friendship, based on similarity

Pragma
love that is driven by the head, not the heart

Mania
obsessive love; experience great emotional highs and lows; very possessive and often jealous lovers

Agape
selfless altruistic love; spiritual.

bankston: Coronation of Pope Benedict XV in 1914.

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:58:11 -0500

bankston:

Coronation of Pope Benedict XV in 1914.

ecclesiaesuaesancte: Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Apse

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:57:44 -0500

ecclesiaesuaesancte:

Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Apse

"Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give the glory for the sake of Your love and Your truth"

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:08:48 -0500

“Not to us, Lord, not to us,
but to Your name give the glory
for the sake of Your love and Your truth”

Creating

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:54:00 -0500

Lord, flow through me. Allow me to create what is yours.
Let my hands be lead by you
Let my creativity be guided by you
Let my eye see your glory
Flow through me
Let me create what is yours

Free to be loved

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:34:21 -0500