Enlighten Hearts Ministries

  🕯️ Be Watchful! 1st Sunday of Advent (Cycle A) With God revealing Himself in the Lord Jesus, Christians believe that there is a future for humanity. Life is not absurdity, nor is death “a transition from being into nothingness,” as some contemporary voices allege. Life has meaning because Christ has come. In the confusion of daily life, the Lord Jesus saves us from apparent absurdity, from dangerous inertia, and from the numbness that modern distractions can bring. The only prerequisite is that we remain watchful and open to Him and His message found in the Scriptures. “It is by his gift that already we rejoice at the mystery of his Nativity, so that he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in his praise.” — Preface II of Advent 🌄 The Messianic Time (Isaiah 2:1–5) Inspired by God, the prophet Isaiah sees a bright future in the Messianic era — the time when God will appear in His Messiah, His anointed viceregent on earth. The setting is Zion, the holy mounta...

What is Advent? The word Advent means “Coming.” It marks the four-week period preceding the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. For Christians, Advent is a season of preparation — not only for the celebration of His birth, but for an ever more intimate encounter with Him in our lives. When we come to visit a friend, our presence deepens the relationship. In the same way, Christ’s coming at Christmas is not about His absence beforehand, but about His desire to be ever more personally present to His people. Advent is an invitation to open ourselves more fully to Him, to share our human condition with the One who comes in loving care. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20, NABRE) As friends and lovers grow closer by opening their hearts to one another, so too are we called to open ourselves to Christ. Our preparation for His coming should consist in this grea...

  Standing Against the “New Arianism” Beloved in Christ, The Successor of Peter has spoken with urgency beware of the “ new Arianism .” This warning is not a relic of the past but a living summons to fidelity. In every generation, the Enemy seeks to diminish Christ—once by denying His divinity outright, now by reducing Him to a mere moral teacher, a symbol of kindness, or one prophet among many. Yet the Church, guided by the Spirit, proclaims with unwavering clarity: “For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily” ( Colossians 2:9 , NABRE ). The Nicene Creed , forged in struggle and defended by saints, declares Christ “ true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father .” This is not poetic ornament—it is the very spine of our faith. To confess less is to confess falsely. St. Athanasius , the great defender of Nicaea, spoke firmly: “Those who maintain that the Son of God is a creature, or that He is not true God, are outside t...

God Is in Control One night I came home from a long day at the call center . On this particular evening, I was a little on edge—even my four-legged furry children noticed it. Since my wife was still at work, I took advantage of the quiet to enjoy one of my favorite cigars out on our backyard porch. It had rained all day, but just as my shift ended the skies began to clear. The night sky twinkled with stars, and the moon was full and bright. It was a picture-perfect close to an otherwise stressful day. As I sat on the patio chair, lazily watching the Greyhound and the Yorkie-Shu running around the backyard, the smoke from the cigar twisted and turned its silvery tail into the star-filled night sky. A soothing and reassuring verse came to mind from the prophet Amos : “The Lord made the stars, the Pleiades and Orion . He turns darkness into daylight and day into night. He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the earth.” – Amos 5:8 (GNT) How insignificant we ...

            A couple of weeks ago our family’s greyhound had a hotspot on her right rump. We did not notice it at first, but only when we came back from our small vacation did our pet sitter point it out. Our greyhound, having thin skin, split open the hotspot by constantly licking it. We took her to our veterinarian, and he gave us some topical antiseptic medication to numb the area.      With gentle encouragement we tried our best to prevent her from licking the wound, thinking that the numbness from the topical antiseptic would stop her. Needless to say, even with the topical antiseptic she — being stubborn — still licked that area and opened the wound further. As a last resort we took her back to the doctor. She got stitches and a collar to wear for about 14 days, which she did not like at all.

       Recently, I listened to someone who had embraced atheism , echoing the sarcasm and contempt of popular videos that mock faith. What struck me most was not the arguments themselves, but the anger — a bitterness directed at God Himself. “Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, He has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do… they are hateful to God.”   — Romans 1:28–30 (GNT)      The Church’s liturgy constantly reminds us that Christ endured mockery, rejection, and hatred without responding in kind. In Holy Week , we hear the Passion narratives where Jesus is spat upon, scourged, and crucified — yet He prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” ( Luke 23:34 ).      Our response to hostility must echo the liturgy: we stand with Christ in His Passion, offering mercy even when confronted with contempt. The liturgy forms us to be p...

What a perfect picture Christ paints after He just finished chastising the hypocrites. And with great emotion says the following about Jerusalem and ultimately to the whole world; “. . .  How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. ”  – Mt 23 37(GNT) As I was waiting to get my car’s wheels balanced today at the local garage, I happen to pick up an old car magazine that was laying on the seat next to me.  I flipped through the magazine and happened to stumble upon an ad that was strangely out of place.  It said, in essence, that if you have heard of Christianity you might not be interested in religion.  And that Jesus was not interested in religion either, and He was in on relationships and teaching us how to love one another.  Also that you may not like what the church is teaching, but their church offers “authentic relationship”; and this particular church was learning to love God and eac...

The God-Given Leadership of Our Lord           Every community needs good leadership. We see this in our parishes, in our towns, and even in our nations. Leaders are tested, their words are examined, and their past actions are reviewed. Only when they prove themselves honest and capable do we trust them with authority.      But leadership in God’s kingdom is different. It is not chosen by votes or elections. It is given directly by God. And in Jesus Christ , we have the perfect leader. He is not only trustworthy — He is divine. As Scripture says: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” ( Colossians 1:15, ESV ). Jesus now reigns, “seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1, ESV), sharing in God’s power and guiding all who seek to live in His kingdom.      The Bible often describes Jesus as a King. This language comes from the culture of the time, where kings ruled with authority a...

The anniversary of the day that G-d created the world is regarded as the Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah . Traditionally to announce that G-d was the one who created the world and is still the One looking over it and ruling it, the celebration begins with a prescribed blowing of the shofar (a ram’s horn ). Once the shofar if blown, it begins a 10-day period of deep self-examination and repentance leading to Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur as it is said in Scripture: “On the first day of the seventh month observe a special day of rest, and come together for worship when the trumpets sound.” – Leviticus 23  23-24 (GNT) A call to true repentance was strongly urged by the prophet Joel not to just go through the mere motions of repentance, but to truly turn away from the sin and sincerely obey G-d. ‘”But even now,” says the Lord, “repent sincerely and return to [M]e with fasting and weeping and mourning.  let you broken heart show your sorrow, and tearing your clothes is not enoug...

When it is said in Scripture the expression “heaven and earth” it means exactly what is means; all that exists in creation in its entirety.  This same phrase indicated the profound bond that it is in the heart of creation that ties both heaven and earth and at the same time distinguishes the one from the other:  The world of men, “the earth” while God’s own firmament (place – “our Father in heaven).  “Heaven” refers to the blessed and the dwelling of spiritual creatures that surround God – the angles. As it is said: “Heaven belongs to the LORD alone, but He gave the earth to us humans.” – Ps. 115 16 (GNT) And: “Each day announces it to the following day; each night repeats it to the next.” – Ps. 19 2 (GNT) Finally: “ In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in Heaven .” – Mt. 5 16 (GNT) Those who die in the grace and friendship of God and are purified by Christ live forever.  They are ete...

Every Christian in any state or walk in life are called to complete fullness of Christian life and to attain perfection in their good works towards mankind; all are called to holiness as it is said, " Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect ."[1] Perfection, the faithful should use amount of faith that was given to them by the Cross of Christ, in that by doing the will of the Father in all things, they can devote themselves fully to the Glory of G-d, and to serve their neighbor.  In this manner the holiness of the Church – the People of G-d – will be able to grow in fruitful abundance as it is seen clearly in the history of the Church and through the lives of so many faithful that have gone before. The progress to a more intimate relationship and union with Christ will undoubtedly will hone spirituality of the Christian traveler.  This mystical union is brought on from the daily walk that we have with Him through prayer, the careful study and meditation on and of H...