Inspirational thoughts

Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

     “It is a lesson we all need – to let alone the things that do not concern us.  He has other ways for others to follow Him; all do not go by the same path. It is for each of us to learn the path by which He requires us to follow Him, and to follow Him in that path.”  St. Katharine Drexel

     How much time and energy do we waste analyzing or speculating about our neighbor’s or friend’s conduct?  Most of the time, we do not have sufficient information to make a mature and balanced judgement and even if we did, our focus should be on following the path that God wants us to walk.

TKC!

A special thanks to Daniel Mellin who contributed to my recent LifeZette article. http://www.lifezette.com/momzette/millennials-need-more-examples-strong-marriage/

God bless,

Fr. Michael Sliney, LC

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

     “Faced with today’s problems and disappointments, many people will try to escape from their responsibility. Escape in selfishness, escape in sexual pleasure, escape in drugs, escape in violence, escape in indifference and cynical attitudes. I propose to you the option of love, which is the opposite of escape.” (Blessed Pope John Paul II)

     The solution is not to walk away.   The storms will pass and the winds will subside…stick it out with love!  Christ is there to accompany you and he is the one asking for a greater love.  Look into his eyes and console his heart with your generosity!

God bless,

Fr. Michael Sliney, LC

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

“Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.”

― Malcolm Muggeridge

    My biggest concern as a priest is to not “miss something”, not to read God’s Providence correctly or even worse, to get in his way.  Keep your eyes open!!

God bless,

Fr. Michael Sliney, LC

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

     “For surely the confidence of a notorious sinner honors God most of all, for he is so convinced of God’s infinite mercy that all his sins seem no more than an atom in its presence.”  (St. Claude

de la Colombiere)

    Wright Patterson Air Force Base.   Having served in the Army Air Corps in WWII, my dad was so excited to accompany me on this week-end trip with the Cub Scouts.  As our school bus passed the sign above, our Scout Master pointed to a fallen B-52 bomber off to the right and said, “Gentlemen, if any of you tries to check out that plane, there will be severe consequences.  Don’t even think about it.”  My friends and I smiled at each other, and within 6 hours we were climbing through the greasy cock-pit and checking out the controls and empty bomb shells…cool stuff!  Our Scout Master wondered why it had taken so long for us to collect “firewood” and within a few minutes he had us marching single file line, hands in the air, back to camp.  I marched past my dad, and although I sensed a little disappointment, I also sensed a lot of love and understanding.  My sin seemed “no more than an atom in his presence.”

Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

     “Do not, my child, approach Jesus Christ with the hope of bending his will to yours: what I desire is that you yield yourself to him and that he receive you, so that he, your Savior, may do with you and in you whatever he pleases.”  St. Cajetan

       The Holy Spirit is like a master sculptor.  At times he strikes hard and with aggression, other times, it is more refined and slower, but the goal is to bring out the image of Christ buried within.  The key is to be true to who you are.  If you are married, be faithful to your spouse, focus on your kids and don’t dream about other options.  If you have a career, be ethical, fair and hard working.   He will always push you to be, like Christ, selfless and magnanimous.  Don’t look for easy and immoral escape routes from your duties and obligations…let the master sculptor strike when and where he prefers: he knows what is best for us!!

Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

     “And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.'”  (Jn 2: 2,3)

    Personally, I am not capable of saying “no” to my mom.   When she asks me for anything from the heart, and looks me in the eyes, I simply cannot say “no”.   I do not have a wife or kids, but I do have a mom, and she is the only one who has unique access to my heart.  Christ, too, is a priest.  The Blessed Mother will always be his mom and she will always have special access to  his heart.  To Jesus through Mary!

God bless,

Fr. Michael Sliney, LC

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

     “Do not be afraid of Christ!  He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything.  When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return.  Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ- and you will find true life.”  (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI)

    Christ cannot be outdone in generosity.   During the World Youth Day in Germany, our group of 40 High School and college kids helped promote Confessions well into the night.  These kids kept the Confession lines full all night and as a result, they were exhausted the next day.   As we joined the nearly 1 million pilgrims leaving after the Mass, we soon realized that we would be waiting for a really long time.  The buses were all stuck in large back up and the police were struggling with crowd control.  I saw a narrow dirt road in the distance and signaled to our kids to go there and within seconds an empty bus came through the brush and opened the doors for our group, and the bus was actually going where we needed to go…a small miracle and a clear sign that God noticed our efforts from the night before.

God bless,

Fr. Michael Sliney, LC

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

     “General Robert E. Lee was on his way to Richmond, and was seated in the extreme end of a railroad car, every seat of which was occupied.  At one end of the stations, an aged old woman of humble appearance entered the car, carrying a large basket.  She walked the length of the aisle and not a man offered her a seat.  When she was opposite General Lee’s seat, he arose promptly and said, ‘Madam, take this seat.’  Instantly a score of men were on their feet, and a chorus of voices said, ‘General, have my seat.’  ‘No, gentlemen,’ he replied, ‘if there was no seat for this old lady, there is no seat for me.’   It was not long before the car was almost empty.  It was too warm to be comfortable.”  (From Bill Bennett’s, “The Book of Man”).

God bless,

Fr. Michael Sliney, LC

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

     “O Christian, be aware of your nobility- it is God’s own nature that you share; do not then, by an ignoble life, fall back into your former baseness.”  (Pope St. Leo the Great)

     Several years ago, a Georgetown University football player, who went through our LTP program, told me, “Fr. Michael, whenever I go into the chapel, I imagine myself as a knight before my King.  This helps keep me focused on who I am and where I am going.”   We are all knights serving Christ the King, and wherever we go people should notice that we are authentic Christians, truly “living it” and reflecting the nobility and dignity of Christ, our King! “Be aware of your nobility- it is God’s own nature that you share!”

God bless,

Fr. Michael Sliney, LC

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