![]() Do the things that utterly delight the people you love, and bask in the warmth of the delightful moment. Why? Because she giggled uproariously every time. I spent about ten minutes this morning blowing poofs of air in my one-year-old’s face, making her eyelids flutter and her whispy bangs fluff out in all directions. While the warmth and glow of feeling love is certainly a desirable experience, sometimes feeling follows action and the place to start when seeking the fruit of love is simply by engaging in acts of genuine care. And this means that I don’t necessarily have to be feeling love to act in a loving way. Lately I’ve been trying to carve out a greater spaciousness for love within me by reminding myself that love isn’t just a feeling it is action as well. But the greatest of these is love.”) While nothing in me doubts the importance of love, the reality is that there are many circumstances in which it is hard to love, and many other instances in which it is hard for me to be open to the love of others. Paul said it himself: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. Love seems to be the “trump card” of virtues, the highest good that outweighs the others (St. With that, here are a few ways that I’m seeing and searching for the fruits of the spirit in my everyday life these days. This sort of reflection is at the heart of the spiritual life, I believe, and it’s this sort of reflection that fertilizes the soil from which the fruit - through God’s loving kindness - will grow. Even still, I think it’s worth considering the ways in which they are springing forth in my life and to look for the areas in which I could use a little more fruit. I understand these fruits to largely be products of grace - they aren’t something we earn God, in their graciousness, gives them to us. Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These are the virtues that will grow in us - like fruit grows on trees - when our lives are rooted in Christ and watered by faith. Contrasted with “the acts of the flesh,” St. ![]() One list that has been on my mind lately is the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Just as my personal life contains no shortage of lists, my faith life is rich with collections of actions, mindsets and virtues that shape the day-to-day of the faithful. The beatitudes suggest attitudes, or frames of mind and deed, that lead to a holy and blessed life. The ten commandments provide a list of behaviors that constitute godly living, thus guiding my moral formation. ![]() The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are a list of deeds that I’m called to do to nourish the bodies and souls of my neighbors - both local and global. It will likely come as no surprise to you that one of my favorite elements of my Catholic faith, then, is the abundance of lists that it offers (though they may not be designated as such). What can I say? I find lists orienting, comforting and happiness-inducing. This weekly list is guided by my monthly vision list, which, you guessed it, grows from the goals that I created for the entire year.Īside from documentation of my tasks and goals, I keep no short of twenty lists in the Notes app of my phone, including “Books to Read,” “Places to Go,” “Inspiration for Gifts to Give,” and “Article Ideas to Pitch.” I keep a baby journal for each of my daughters in which I list favorites memories from different stages of their lives a celebrations journal where I document what and how I cooked, gifted, decorated, and generally made festive each of the holidays and special occasions that my family honors and a guestbook in which I jot down memories of the time spent with anyone who spends time in our home. ![]() I make a daily task list each morning, which stems from the weekly to-list that I pulled together the Sunday before (one of my favorite weekly rituals). ![]()
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