Hello dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray this bulletin article finds you well! Please know of my continued prayers for you, and all the intentions you hold in your heart. May God our Father reveal to all of us more and more in the coming days, weeks and years His amazing gaze of love that is upon each of us. When we are aware of the Father’s loving gaze, which is an authentic way of expressing how God the Father truly cares for His children, we are on the path of freedom. His love for us is the perfect love that casts out fear! Our Father, with His Son, poured His phenomenal love into us through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) at our baptisms so we could know His gaze of love upon us. The Holy Spirit has been well described as the love between the Father and the Son, and while He is indeed the third person of the Blessed Trinity, I find it helpful to think of Him as the Divine Love between the Father and the Son and the one who LOVES to manifest to us, put us in touch with, the amazing love of God the Father, Jesus the Son & He who is Holy Spirit. Recently, God reminded me of some words a wise old priest once told me. Remembering these words has helped me to do a bit better at remaining in the awareness of God’s gaze of love, and therefore, the awareness of living in His Divine Love. I hope they help you too!
In the summer of 2009 I met a Jesuit priest in his 80’s named Fr. Armando Nigro at Creighton University. Listening to him was incredible. It was clear that he was an old friend of Jesus who really knew the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Well one day, I managed to catch him for a little conversation. I was looking for some prayer tips…hoping I could find my way into living in the presence of God like this man did. He told me three things that day: 1-Thank God for loving you into being. 2-Beg for the grace of constant gratitude. 3-In the morning, call out “Abba Father, good morning!” All three of these prayer tips are amazing. Lately, I’ve been drawn into the joyful love of God thinking and praying over God loving me into being…and you too! All the people around us, goodness, God loved them into being! It has also been said that gratitude is a highway into the heart of God. I’ve been taking moments lately just to be grateful to God…and my oh my does that serve as a rapid attitude adjuster! Finally, calling out Abba Father in the morning is plain ol delightful. Our Father delights in His children and beginning the day by entering into the delight of Our Father’s love for us with childlike faith allows us to be filled with a real awareness of His magnificent loving presence. Wouldn’t it be nice to remember throughout the day that your life is a gift of pure love, to be grateful and whose you are? I think these prayer tips can help us do just that….thanks Fr. Nigro!