Why Catholic Prayer Depends on an Accurate Vision of Heaven

The goal of all Catholic spirituality is to get to Heaven. But if we have a messed up view of Heaven, how are we supposed to know how to get there? An inaccurate view of Heaven can seriously interfere with your prayer life because to misunderstand Heaven is to misunderstand your relationship with God. You…

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Growing in the Theological Virtues – Trust Before Faith?

Just because the Hebrew people had grown in trust enough to know God more intimately through Moses, the lessons in growing in trust were far from over. In fact, one of the most noted parts of the Exodus story is how fickle the Hebrew people were. They whined in the desert after being rescued from…

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Growing in the Theological Virtues with Moses – Faith

Just as God uses the theological virtues to lead us through spiritual growth in a way that harmonizes with human nature, he also led humankind through salvation history in the same way. We saw how God taught Abram to trust him, instilling salvation history in the virtue of hope. It may surprise you to realize…

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Growing in the Theological Virtues: Intimacy with God

The main goal of spiritual growth is to grow in our relationship with God. That’s exactly what the theological virtues help us to do. The first step of any human relationship is to build trust. As trust strengthens, our relationship grows in the security necessary to open ourselves in intimacy. Intimacy means to truly know…

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Growing in the Theological Virtues: Hope and the Bus Stop

The fruits of spiritual growth from the theological virtues, including the virtue of hope, are lived in this life. But the true object of our hope lies at the other end of death. Saint Paul tells us, “In the end, three things remain: faith, hope and love.” Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that of the theological…

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