From Fr. Zacharias (Remember Thy First Love): "In Paradise, God so revealed himself to man that the mere sight of his Creator inspired him to imitate God's virtues and His way of being. But because Adam fell, God, wanting to restore him, made the heart of man His target: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' And because God wants us to make Him our target, we must

Here is another quote from Fr. Zacharias' book, "RememberThy First Love.." "Our entire struggle in this life is aimed at discovering our 'deep heart' , because that is the place where God manifests Himself. Above all, we aim to uproot the passion of pride, because this is the passion that buries the heart, leaving us feeling as if we no longer had a heart. 'Pride stops us from loving', says St. Silouan. Indeed true love proceeds from humility, for the humble man has room

(Another quote from Fr. Zacharias' book, "Remember Thy First Love") : "Elder Sophrony sometimes likened the spiritual life to a sphere: whatever point of it we touch puts us into contact with the whole. Just as a connection to the main supply will release a full flow of electric power, so correct practice of the virtues (the points on the surface of the sphere) brings us into contact with the fullness of God's life-giving grace. Similarly, a single particle of His Holy Body

Just in case you might think I put too much emphasis on the primacy of love for any Catholic wanting to be "a good Catholic", here is a little piece from Fr. Zacharias quoting the Epistle of James (from "Remember Thy First Love") : Some "might claim that it is enough to believe that God exists.... but the Apostle James says that this sort of attitude can be found even among the demons : 'Thou believest that that there is one God; thou doest well; the Devils also believe, a

In Matt. 5 , we see that flavorless salt and hidden light won't flavor or reveal much. A Catholic living by Jesus "trail rules" does not just keep repeating that he agrees with the rules. LIVING as Jesus teaches is what builds his solid spiritual house that everyone around can taste and see. Salt and light. A tree hanging with fruit ( fruit of the Holy Spirit ! ) is the best witness to the Gospel, while words alone may just get filed away in the brain as interesting i

Hiking in Arizona takes planning - before doing. Trail maps, maybe a guide, supplies, water, good hiking boots, and more. In the spiritual life we need the same preparation. Jesus said he not only knows the "trail" home to the Father's house but IS the way home. Catholics are pretty good at planning the walk with Jesus, but not always as deliberate in the actual doing. Intellectual assent to the Beatitudes, for example, is not the same as living one's daily life around