Aflame for Christ

Aflame 124 - Giving It All to Jesus Through Mary

Love wants to give - as Pope St. John Paul II said, "Love is self-gift." But all we can offer God is so, so small. Luckily when it is united to Jesus' phenomenal self-offering on the Cross and united to Our Lady's love, our tiny gift becomes multiplied and purified, fit for the King!

Aflame 123 - Choose to Love

Love must be free for it to be authentic. Then how can God command us to love Him? He does so because loving Him is our happiness! We do not always "feel" loving towards God - so how do we love Him if we don't feel it? It's simple - we choose to love Him. If we go all-in and choose Him above all else, we will eventually feel His presence, all in His good time.

Aflame 122 - Remember Your Dignity

As children of the King, we have a royal dignity that makes us like God. Sin, then, is beneath our dignity - eating from a dumpster while eternal glory awaits. The saints realized this - they knew who they were, and Whose they were - and lived out of this dignity!

Aflame 121 - Bearing A New Name

Jesus mysteriously promises, in the Book of Revelation, that those who win the victory "will receive a new name". Our dear St. Jude has a name that could have associated him with the most infamous person in human history - Judas Iscariot. But through his faith in Christ, St. Jude did not allow such an association to keep him down. He was able to live out a new name: Apostle, Martyr, Saint. Jesus Christ can also take your names, the ones we carry with shame, and transform them by His grace!

Aflame 120 - Human Life, Part 3 - The Spiritual Life

The dignity of human life is not merely physical - as a body/soul unity, we must care for both parts. In fact, the body is meant to be given away in love - in this, we find the fulfillment of the human person. How are we supposed to care for both body AND soul, and which one should have primacy?

Aflame 119 - Human Life Part 2 - Care for the Most Vulnerable

The mark of a truly civilized society is how it cares for the most vulnerable. Our society does not excel in this, in large part because we have lost the understanding of human beings made in the Image and Likeness of God. In this election year, when so many human dignity issues are at stake, let us consider our obligation to care for the most vulnerable among us - as we seek to build a truly Christian society.

Aflame 118 - Human Life, Part 1

As we begin Respect Life Month, we will begin a three-week series about the gift of human life. Today we begin with the insights of Pope St. John Paul II about human dignity, equality, and the sacredness of human life - and how it is applicable to our world today.

Aflame 117 - Innocence Regained

This world thinks very poorly of innocence, and often mocks the idea that we shouldn't taste every evil that presents itself. But Christ makes it clear in the Gospels that innocence is a prerequisite for Heaven. What is innocence, how does it differ from naivete, and how do we cultivate it in our lives and in the lives of our kids and grandkids? Innocence - the great gift of choosing the good!