Sliney Central

Fr. Michael Sliney, LC

Inspirational thoughts

Satan’s snares

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

“Like a good chess player, Satan is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your castle only by losing your bishop.”  CS Lewis

    Sophisms, justifications, excuses, giving yourself a pass…often lead to trouble.  Big sins don’t just happen out of nowhere.   You make small concessions here and there, losing a few pawns and before you know it, you have a major “issue.”  Daily prayer, frequent Mass and Confession give you the wisdom to make the right moves and read the devil’s traps.  Don’t play this game without Christ, you will eventually lose!

God’s plan

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

“The Supernatual is not remote and abstruse: it is a matter of daily and hourly experience: as intimate as breathing.  Denial of it depends on a certain abscent-mindedness. But this abscent-mindedness is in no way surprising.” CS Lewis

    God truly cares and he acts continuously in our lives, but we need to be attentive to read the signs.  One day, I was going for an early morning jog and I had a lot on my mind.   Suddenly, as I turned a corner, I passed a jogger with only one arm.   He had a big smile on his face and gave me the thumbs up…a simple gesture but it helped me put my small problems in perspective.  So many signs and moments of God’s mercy…thank you, Lord for being so involved in our daily lives!!

Unfurl the sails

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Dear Friends in Christ,

“Unfurl the sails, and let God steer us where He will.” – St. Bede

    My older brother, Jim, invited me once on his catamaran sailboat when I was in 8th grade.  I was a little intimidated and afraid, but he assured me that he had everything under control and that it would be amazing…and after a few minutes of cruising along, we caught a big gust of wind, and we were airborne like this picture above.   This is my life as a priest,…I unfurl the sails each morning, knowing Christ is at the helm, and the adventure begins!

Worry about yourself

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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.

Don’t run away!

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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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God’s messages

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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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Mercy

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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.”