Sometimes the more restless the heart is to reach out to others, the more it needs to remain in solitude in order to become still. Without stillness, our reaching out is compelled by neediness and a grasping insecurity instead of fullness and freedom of being. So dare to remain in solitude, my poor restless heart, […]
Author: animann
Where is your joy?
There is something irresistible and attractive about deep, genuine joy that radiates out from a soul that knows it is loved. Such a person could be in great suffering interiorly or physically and could even be struggling to make peace with the circumstances of his or her life, and yet there can be a steady […]
Are you too busy serving to feed your soul?
My confessor and spiritual director once shared with me that when we notice ourselves growing in irritability and losing our equanimity and peace at an increasing frequency, it is usually an indication that something is going “off” in our relationship with God. If and when we notice this happening, we need to intentionally take the […]
The pain of becoming a new creation
So for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is there to see. – 2 Cor 5:17 Are you ready to be remade? To be transformed into the image of Christ? Are you willing to pay the price for your own freedom? Because […]
Letting go of ego (in life and in ministry)
A decade ago when I left my doctoral studies to enter full-time ministry, it took a lot of letting go of ego for me. In fact, it would have been impossible for me to do without supernatural grace. My heart and mind were full of fear of what not completing my PhD studies ‘said about […]
40
I turned 40 today with joy. I am happy to grow older. I have always been happy to grow older. Oh there’s stuff I don’t like about getting older – like the aches and pains that seem to plague me more easily when I don’t exercise or get enough rest; or the fact that my […]
“Do you have children?”
As a married Catholic lay woman, it is perhaps surprising (not least to me) that my personal vocation and the mission I have with my husband does not include children of our own. The moment people I meet know I am married, it is almost always followed up with the question, “Do you have children?” […]
A bigger and wilder God
In the months before I left for university, my mother was advised by some well-meaning church friends not to let me study philosophy because – as they said – they have known of other young people who have “lost their faith” after studying philosophy. I am very grateful that my mum had enough faith in […]
Rich in doubt and love
Recently, a friend whom I haven’t spoken to in a while asked me how I was doing over Telegram chat. I summed up my answer to her in this phrase – “This season has been rich in doubt and consolations.” My friend expressed surprise that I would choose to describe doubt as “rich” and her […]
Bless the little ones
Is there anything more delightful and healing than the innocence of pure love? It has been two days and I am still deeply moved by the adorable encounter Miko had with a neighbour’s baby girl. What is it about that encounter that is such a peak moment for me? Why was that tableau somehow so […]