I recently read an article in which there appeared a picture of a church sign that read: \u201cKind Atheists are Closer to Jesus than Mean Christians.\u201d It challenged me in many ways.<\/p>\n
What about you?\u00a0 What do you think of this statement?\u00a0 What feelings and thoughts rise within you?
\nFor me, it first made me dig deep in what I think of atheists and explore my sentiments and prejudices. It humbled me because I found certain elements within me that were judgmental and unkind. It led me to ask myself: \u201cWho am I to make such conclusions? What business is it of mine to pass judgment on a person\u2019s beliefs?\u201d Isn\u2019t it my Christian responsibility to simply love and accept the person? Or do I believe that my Christian faith grants me the authority to scrutinize and compare?\u201d<\/p>\n
I rather believe that I am called to deepen my relationship with God and allow the fruits of that relationship to shine in the way I live and treat others. After all is said and done, kindness is life producing and meanness is just egocentric darkness. Where would we be without the challenges that make us look within and face our own truth? We would be poorer for it, I believe.<\/p>\n
Yet, the ego always seems to get in the way of our journey to our own truth and creates deep defensiveness and resentment that ultimately keeps us from reaching the self-truth that needs to be encountered. It\u2019s never easy. Sometimes it is very difficult to go there. It requires so much humility and abandoned openness. Left to ourselves, the journey takes longer and we fall prey to the emotional tiredness that it can produce. That\u2019s why we need a power greater than ourselves to accompany us, to guide us, to strengthen us and to make us wise enough to recognize the truth and go forward with the job that such recognition will demand of us. Whatever that may be.
\nLent carries with itself the challenge of facing our own truth so that we can ultimately live our life in Christ more authentically and in a more integrated way.<\/p>\n
Lent lends itself to dispelling everything that can keep us separated from everything wonderful and beautiful that God\u2019s image within us gives us for the taking.
\nThe journey begins with kindness toward God; the type of kindness that opens the doors of our beliefs to trusting God the best we can.
\nGod will always lead us to what sets us free, for such is His kindness toward us.
\nAs we prepare to enter Holy Week, let us pick up our crosses on the way to resurrection.
\nYou are in my prayers and in my heart.
\nFriar Julio<\/p>\n
Recientemente le\u00ed un art\u00edculo con la imagen de un letrero de una iglesia que dec\u00eda: \u201cLos ateos bondadosos est\u00e1n m\u00e1s cerca de Jes\u00fas que los cristianos mezquinos\u201d. Me desafi\u00f3 de muchas maneras.<\/p>\n
\u00bfY t\u00fa? \u00bfQu\u00e9 opinas de esta afirmaci\u00f3n? \u00bfQu\u00e9 sentimientos y pensamientos surgen en ti?
\nEn mi caso, primero me hizo reflexionar profundamente sobre lo que pienso de los ateos y explorar mis sentimientos y prejuicios. Me hizo humilde porque encontr\u00e9 ciertos elementos en m\u00ed que me juzgaban y me hac\u00edan sentir cruel. Me llev\u00f3 a preguntarme: \u201c\u00bfQui\u00e9n soy yo para sacar esas conclusiones? \u00bfQu\u00e9 me importa juzgar las creencias de alguien?\u201d. \u00bfNo es mi responsabilidad cristiana simplemente amar y aceptar a la persona? \u00bfO creo que mi fe cristiana me da la autoridad para analizar y comparar?\u201d<\/p>\n
Creo m\u00e1s bien que estoy llamado a profundizar mi relaci\u00f3n con Dios y a permitir que los frutos de esa relaci\u00f3n se reflejen en mi forma de vivir y tratar a los dem\u00e1s. Al fin y al cabo, la bondad produce vida y la mezquindad es solo oscuridad egoc\u00e9ntrica. . \u00bfD\u00f3nde estar\u00edamos sin los desaf\u00edos que nos hacen mirar hacia dentro y enfrentar nuestra propia verdad? Creo que ser\u00edamos m\u00e1s pobres.<\/p>\n
Sin embargo, el ego siempre parece obstaculizar nuestro camino hacia nuestra propia verdad y crea una profunda actitud defensiva y resentimiento que, al final, nos impide alcanzar la autoverdad que necesitamos encontrar. Nunca es f\u00e1cil. A veces es muy dif\u00edcil llegar all\u00ed. Requiere mucha humildad y una apertura desinteresada. Si nos dejamos llevar por nosotros mismos, el viaje se alarga y caemos v\u00edctimas del cansancio emocional que puede producir. Por eso necesitamos un poder superior a nosotros mismos que nos acompa\u00f1e, nos gu\u00ede, nos fortalezca y nos d\u00e9 la sabidur\u00eda suficiente para reconocer la verdad y seguir adelante con la tarea que dicho reconocimiento nos exigir\u00e1. Sea cual sea.
\nLa Cuaresma conlleva el desaf\u00edo de afrontar nuestra propia verdad para que, finalmente, podamos vivir nuestra vida en Cristo con mayor autenticidad e integraci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n
La Cuaresma nos permite disipar todo aquello que nos separa de todo lo maravilloso y hermoso que la imagen de Dios en nosotros nos ofrece.
\nEl camino comienza con la bondad hacia Dios; la bondad que abre las puertas de nuestras creencias para confiar en \u00c9l lo mejor posible.
\nDios siempre nos guiar\u00e1 hacia lo que nos libera, pues tal es su bondad hacia nosotros.
\nAl prepararnos para la Semana Santa, tomemos nuestras cruces en el camino hacia la resurrecci\u00f3n.
\nLos tengo en mis oraciones y en mi coraz\u00f3n.
\nFray Julio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Good Challenges Are Sometimes Hard to Swallow I recently read an article in which there appeared a picture of a church sign that read: \u201cKind Atheists are Closer to Jesus than Mean…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-heart"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9033"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9035,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9033\/revisions\/9035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stjuliasilercity.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}