You know those mornings when you wake up in the middle of the night surrounded by your girlfriends, wondering how long you’ve all been pouring your hearts out, tasting the ice cream on your morning-breath’d tongue, laying your face into its soft repose, and thanking God for last night?

I just realized I never have.

Oh Francesco, how I wish I could be your Chiara!

The romance I am searching for is one in which I can unleash my unbridled Catholicism, my love for Christ Jesus. 

- A romance where there is no cage over my heart and mind. Where I am free to breathe and sing and dance and speak and write and believe and live for my Lord!

Oh Brides of Christ, pray for us. 

We are love
We search with endless desire for the vessel
the Potter has made to shelter us
A vessel that will hold us,
treasure us,
whose guardian angel will gather
whatever overflows the vessel
and offer it -
Yes!

We search for the man who will treasure us
as he offers himself
and the bride whom he treasures
and all the love pouring out -

We search for the man
who will offer it all
to his Lord. 

Heavenly Father,

Help us treasure the gift of marriage that

Help us support men and women

Help us uphold the institution of marriage

Help us acknowledge that our future

Please pray daily for the vocation of marriage.

The Catholic Underground guys recently got me plugged into their Mogulus-powered Catholic Underground online “TV” station. I highly suggest tuning in.

Also, the Catholic World News reports from the UN: The non-binding resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty was passed in a recorded vote with 99 countries for, 52 against and 33 abstentions.

Maltese Seminarian Robert Galea is coming out with a new album that’s sure to be superb music. Pre-orders will start soon.

Today during prayer, I popped Rob’s current album, Closer, into my CD player after I felt a tug from something outside myself to do so. Sitting on my bed listening to that music, my soul truly encountered God and His freeing love. It was an experience that brought me to tears. Rob is an immense blessing to our Church as a musician and, God-willing, a future priest. Pray for him and his efforts.

Listen to him speak to Youth 4 Jesus on the fear of God here (right-click and Save Target As).

He looked at her plainly, “I just don’t want to disappoint you.”

Her eyes turned from his face to the buildings around them. She wondered how many people were inside them, and how many of them would understand what she wanted. “Let’s talk about God.”

“Okay.”

Her voice grew stronger: “Do you love Him?”

“Yes.”

“How would you describe it – your love relationship with Him?” Her eyes came back to his face.

His eyes closed, and his lungs filled themselves with the humid air. “He is love. He’s trustworthy, faithful, always there for me. Sometimes it’s like tough love – when I feel like I’m being punished or going through a trial.

His eyes opened. “I guess it’s like the relationship I have with my parents; he’s like a father to me. No matter what I do, he’s always willing to take me back.”

She nodded understandingly. “Mhmm… That’s good.” A smile touched the corner of her cheek.

She suddenly stopped, glanced at the grass beneath her sneakers, and plopped down on the somewhat green grass.

He looked down at her, puzzled, and slowly sat beside her. “What’s up?”

She turned her bright face, and he noticed that her eyes told the story of the world. “It seems to me,” she said, “that you don’t want to talk about the most important person in my life.”

His eyebrows wrinkled. “What?”

“You seem to want me to fall in love with you,” she said, gently smiling, “but I can’t fall in love with you if you’re not in love with love.”

His confused expression remained.

“What I mean is, simply put, I want to talk about God.”

His eyebrows pulled at the rest of his face. “Oh.”

“As long as we have known each other, you’ve never let me be the real me. Because you never want to talk about God’s love.”

I would just like to mention that I feel beautiful today.

“BELLA had another amazing performance at the box office this weekend, giving us the momentum we need for a large expansion,” said executive producer Sean Wolfington. “Thanks to strong word-of-mouth support, BELLA will expand to nearly 50 new cities in the coming weeks. We couldn’t be happier or more thankful for the tremendous support audiences have shown BELLA thus far.”

* BELLA grossed over $1 million this weekend, maintaining its spot as the only film on less than 300 screens to rank in the top 20.* BELLA’s per screen average of $5,381 “continued to surprise” according to IndieWire.com, finishing third behind new releases “American Gangster” and “Bee Movie”, both with estimated budgets in excess of $100 million.* BELLA continued to show resilience on Sunday, indicating abnormally strong word-of-mouth momentum from the previous two days. While every other film’s ticket sales declined by a minimum of 30% from Saturday to Sunday, BELLA dipped a mere 1.8%.

As a result of BELLA’s performance this weekend, Roadside Attractions will expand BELLA’s release to nearly 50 additional cities in the next two weeks. Specific theaters in each city can be found online at www.bellatheaters.com.
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How am I loving other people?

When people look at me, what do they see?

In order for Jesus to be my Savior, He must first be my Lord. Is Jesus the Lord of my life? Do I allow Him to control everything in my life? Do I do everything for Him?

What is my number one priority in life? Does the way I use my time reflect that priority? If not, how will I change that?

How much do I listen to God? How much time do I spend quiet and still in God’s presence?

Am I so in love with God that I yearn for Him more than I do for air?