Jackie St. Hilaire

Timeless.

Revisado: 12-23-18

In the beginning was the Word and the Word became flesh.
Saint Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis invite us to become transformed into the likeness of God.
How is this possible? Richard Rohr in his book "Eager to Love" gives us his perspective of the journey upward.

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A good reminder that you are who you think you are.

Revisado: 10-06-18

Written over 60 years ago , Doctor Joseph Murphy 's wisdom is eternal. You are never too old to grow in wisdom.

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Don't despair you can move beyond

Revisado: 09-16-18

The Buddhist teachings from Pema are meant for us to move beyond our false self. Not an easy task since we are very grounded.
I am a Christian and turning to Jesus Christ has given me strength to put my focus on his life and his message, which is looking to love one another as he loves us. Again, not an easy way because we tend to get fixated on our culture and Jesus came to free us from this bondage.

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The more I learn about Paul...

Revisado: 09-12-18

...the more I love Paul.

Richard Rohr gives us a new understanding of Paul's letters.
Paul's journey before and after encountering Jesus.

Paul's transformation from the false self to his true self.
A journey that never ends at death because love is stronger than death.

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All of us will one day be faced with our goodbyes.

Revisado: 05-20-18

For all caregivers, the medical community, the nursing home workers and especially Hospice .
For husband's, wives, children, grandchildren.
For significant others, close friends.
Now is the time to say the four things that matter.

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For the contemporary Christian

Revisado: 05-08-18

For the contemporary Christian who wants to follow Jesus and move onward.

If you are are a progressive Christian following the path of Jesus, this author will confirm your convictions.

But convictions are not as important as leading your life from your conscience and this conscience is formed throughout our lifetime.

I remember as a young girl that the Catholic Church declared you at the "age of reason" when you turned 7 years of age. To me that meant that I had to pay attention to my faults and my sins. One of the biggest impediments is guilt, when guilt lingers it blocks all avenues of human and God's love.

So instead of developing into the person that God intended me to become, I was developing according to the rules of the Catholic Church and not realizing that I was born in the image of God which is love.

After all I had to practice humility, a very big thing in Catholicism but never fully explained in the sense that all is grace. After all we can't think like the protestants can we? Justification by grace through faith.

This belief system was pretty much what I lived until in my early 30's I had a very spiritual experience that turned my life around. Turned it around in the right direction but 30 years of the Catholic Church's teachings on morality etc didn't change me overnight. I had to work at examining my life all over again and even to this day I have not completed this task, it is eternal.

Marcus Borg shares with us his 70 years of following the Lutheran Church, his parents convictions, his mentors etc. Coming full circle back to himself and his relationship with Jesus.

Marcus Borg delivers his message simply and with conviction. He has found his place in the order of things and gives the reader or in my case the listener a push to keep on going, to keep looking inward and not outward.

To finally come home to oneself and move forward with hope, conviction and above all else love.

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Listen with your heart.

Revisado: 05-08-18

The audio version of this book is very special because you actually get to hear Mother Teresa speaking as well as other missionary sisters that Malcolm Muggeridge interviews.

Muggeridge is in the process of doing a documentary for BBC on Mother Teresa. This was in 1969 but throughout the process he is very moved by the mission of Mother Teresa, so much so that a few years later he converted to Catholicism. But one cannot convert to a religion, one has to see through the eyes of another faith in God and the action that follows with one's faith. Only then can one choose to make a decision on commitment.

Mother Teresa is steadfast in her commitment in bringing God's love to all who need it and that is everyone one of us. Mother Teresa is a mouthpiece for God.

In listening to Mother Teresa's story through Malcolm one gets the distinctive impression that this love that Mother Teresa has, has no boundaries but like everyone of us on this path, she had her doubts. Towards the end of her life she experienced many years of the dark night of the soul.

One of the most poignant moment in her life was her second calling. Teresa was already a religious when she received her second calling, the call to the poor lonely outcasts of Calcutta.

Having already dedicated her life to Jesus, she was comfortable in her environment but looking past her well organized life and vocation she saw much that needed to be done to bring Jesus' love to the marginalized people of Calcutta.

After being discharged of her duties in her religious order, which took 2 years, she left her very loved companions and never looked back.

She had no big plans, found a place to live, found some children that needed her and her new life began. One of the first missionaries of the poor of Calcutta with thousands to follow.

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Only God can give forgiveness. Leo Tolstoy.

Revisado: 05-08-18

Tolstoy's character, the person who had been offended was asked forgiveness and the offended man raised it up to God. The confessor (the person who performed the bad deed) was able to accept forgiveness and was grateful and healed of his many sins.

Therefore both were healed at the same moment.

God asks us to forgive those who have trespassed against us. If we forgive first, than God will send us graces that will heal us and those we have offended.

"Remove the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye". Matthew 7:5.

Leo Tolstoy has it backwards.

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In the end all that matters is truth.

Revisado: 05-08-18

We all struggle with our humanity and our morality, Leo Tolstoy is no exception to the laws of nature and of God.

But to write about your deepest longings and experiences when you are "at the top of your game" takes much courage.

Tolstoy knew that his "Confession" would be published and like a more contemporary writer Thomas Merton, Tolstoy gives us the gift of himself, his deepest secrets, his deepest regrets, his deepest truth. Like Merton, Tolstoy from the deepest part of himself, knows that he has to let his truth be revealed or he will be forever living in the deep abyss, the deep abyss of nothingness. To go through the stages of hell, purgatory and ultimately heaven, one has to progress lithely and pray for grace to get through. This is a difficult journey and should be taken slowly but with faith that in the end, love will prevail.

Towards the end of his "Confession" Tolstoy reveals to us a dream that gave him meaning and knowledge about the depths that he had experienced.

Tolstoy wrote his interpretation of the dream and all dreams become a collective dream, meaning that they are for everyone. In reading the dream and putting yourself into the dream like it is your own dream, you can see that it is a journey, a journey that will go on eternally. There are no stops just crossroads.

More than 100 years later, Tolstoy "Confession" is looked upon as being very significant for those of us who are serious in finding our own truth

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Seek and you shall find

Revisado: 05-08-18

Seek and you shall find but don't expect the same results or the same crossroads as the author or anyone else for that matter.

If you want to refresh your memory about Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen and other spiritual seekers, this audible by James Martin will take you back and remind us once again that we are all on the spiritual path and we shouldn't compare our spirituality with another.

Everyone of us has to follow their own truth and James Martin does an excellent account of the truths given to us by Merton, Nouwen and himself as a Jesuit priest. Short bios on all three give it a simplification and quotations from the authors are done in good form, giving the reader a sense of the spiritual formation of each one of them.

The author shows us that the path is full of crossroads, one is left with the knowledge that this is a lifetime quest and for us not to get discouraged. The above authors have faced multiple crises and have overcome many fears and doubts, showing us that we mustn't give up on ourselves but we should continue our quest, which is eternal.

Don't get too self-assured after having gone through a hurdle because another one will follow but as each one is passed through one gains a little more momentum and strength to take on the next challenge.

And last but not least, don't compare your spiritual journey with another, it will lead you to discouragement and despair. Each one of us has their own truth and their ways are not necessarily your way. They might look somewhat identical and that is good because it gives you encouragement but you are seeking your truth not someone else's truth.

A friend posted this on Facebook today: "I took the road less traveled but I don't know where the hell I am." We have to laugh at ourselves or we will get too discouraged

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