Relationships are key to our survival.  As a communal creature, we need relationships of all types.   Our most important relationship is our spiritual relationship with Christ.   Yet, like children, we find ourselves many times on the taking end of our relationship with Christ.  Our love while present, many times fails to meet the standards of a healthy relationship.  We possess a “me, me, me first” type attitude, putting Christ second.

Love is patient.  This is a key ingredient we hear many times about love.  It does not seek to force itself upon the beloved, but patiently waits.  It also continues to give while waiting.   This is the love Christ has in his relationship with us.  It is the type of love he showers upon us every passing minute of our lives.

What type of relationship do we have with Christ?  In all reality, we probably have an imperfect one because our human nature is broken.  Yet again, Christ’s love is patient.   I think many of us have a Petrine relationship with Christ.   In a past blog, the idea of a Petrine relationship was explored.

The idea of a Petrine relationship was described as in the following: “We have a fire for Christ.  We love him and say we will do anything–and probably mean it at the time of saying it!  But it is so difficult to carry through.  Our broken human nature, our fears and the temptations of the world sometimes push us away and we lose focus–much like Peter did when he stood before our Lord on the water.   However, unlike others who despaired, like Judas, Peter never gave up.  Even after denial, he wept bitterly and became a better man and Christian.   How many times do we see this same pattern in our own life?   While many of us would like to see ourselves like John, steadfast and devout, most of us are more like Peter.  We have a strong love for the Lord but sometimes fail.”

This adequately sums up many Christians lives, especially during our younger years as our broken human nature strives for Christian excellence, but always seems to fall short in fulfilling our end of the relationship with Christ.  We will talk with great confidence like Peter, declaring our steadfast fidelity, but as Peter did, seem to fail when tested.  Did not Peter declare he would never fail Christ, but in the end, ultimately deny him three times?   Did not Peter strike the temple guard with the sword, only to minutes later flee the garden?

Peter is the ultimate example of our broken human nature.   Wishing to please our Lord but falling many times.  Peter is first and only to jump into the sea to welcome Christ, but after doing so, quickly loses focus and begins to sink without the Lord.   We can see why Christ loved him so much.   He is clearly in his younger years a child that expresses so much love but like a child does not understand what a true relationship entails.

After our Lord’s resurrection, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him.  In the old Greek, Jesus is asking for “agape”, an all giving love, but Peter each time offers “philia” or deep friendship.  Jesus finally after three times accepts what Peter can give at that moment.  This is what I meant when I said Christ’s love is patient.  He takes what we can give at a certain moment, knowing that as the sword is tested by the fire and one day our love will become stronger.

We need to strengthen our love.   Our relationship with Christ cannot continue to be an infantile Petrine relationship, but must mature into an adult Petrine relationship.  Peter grew.  So must us.  He transformed from a simple fisherman with a childlike love for Christ into a fearless apostle.  An apostle who did not only express love for Christ with his words, but expressed his love in a giving relationship with his actions.   Actions that would eventually lead to his own crucifixion.

Like Peter, we need to take the next step where we give Christ a more meaningful relationship that does not express itself only in words but also actions.   Whether by overcoming a sinful habit, or spiritually growing closer in union through sacrifice or denial, we must eventually transform our faith from a simple fisherman to that of an apostle.

In the meantime, love is patient.  Christ takes what we can give, but he wants so much more!  And he deserves it!

Please find time to review our Christian Counseling Program and see if it matches your academic and professional needs.

Mark Moran, MA

Roman Catholic Church risks becoming the very NGO Pope Francis has condemned, writes Steve Skojec, founding publisher of OnePeterFive.com, a journal about Catholic theology, tradition and culture.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.usatoday.com

Great article.  The Pope obviously believes in the spiritual message of Christ, but many of his emphasis lies in the social.  This is not contrary to Christian doctrine, but something if divorced from spiritual doctrine becomes useless.  I do not feel the Pope is pushing a social agenda void of spiritual life of Christ and morality that Christ teaches, but he definitely needs to emphasize it more.  Regardless if he believes it, when one emphasizes only social issues then the other message can be loss and this is critical for him not to forget.

Issues surrounding morality and the stopping of abortion should be more central or at least proportionately represented by the pontiff in his speeches

Please review our Christian Counseling Program

#christaincounselingprogram

When it comes to getting married, how important is the support of my parents? Should I wait for them to “come around” before tying the knot?

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.crosswalk.com

When we become mature adults, honoring thy parents becomes less blind obedience but more respect and honor.  Helping them, caring for them and respecting them even when we disagree.  As adults with our own relationships, we must weigh on ourselves and the word of God

This is not to say parents do not have valid and good advice, but ultimately they must trust they have raised their children right.  U

This article looks at respecting parents but also dealing with one’s own personal life decisions

Please review our Christian Counseling Program

#christiancounselingprogram

Christian Counseling Program: The Glory of the Body Should not be Under-emphasized

In Christian circles, theology obviously stresses the importance of the soul and its everlasting attributes that are beyond mere matter.  Sin, vice and temptation that attacks our senses should be avoided at all costs.  This world or this flesh is not worth the cost of everlasting paradise.   The story of Faustus reinforces this ideal that worldly gains are not worth the sacrifice of one’s soul.

This has created a distortion on the value of the “Body” and its importance.  Does not Scripture refer to it as a “temple of the Holy Spirit’?   Unlike Neo-Platonic and Eastern philosophies that reduce the body to a mere shell, Christianity has echoed the importance of the Body in its teachings, most notably in the General Resurrection where the body will rejoin the soul.

So why the distortion, why do some value the soul above the body, if both in reality are important  and equal elements of our human nature?  The answer is not so much about the innate value that both equally possess in our dual nature of both spirit and matter, but due to humanity’s current state.

The current temporality of existence has imposed upon humanity a decree of death via sin.  The body will fade, the soul will struggle with its passions, and man will die.  Through Christ, we have been given new life, but not from the scar of Original Sin.  We still must die, but only to be later resurrected.  In this temporal reality, the value of the soul is greater than the body due to the situation, not inherent value

The sacrifice of the body for the soul is a beautiful companionship through life.  As the body becomes older, more tired and weaker, the soul matures, learns and becomes closer to God.  The soul, as the body ironically ages and withers, should become more radiant and beautiful as it ages and strips itself of self-love and replaces it with love of God.  St Teresa of Avila looks at the evolution of the soul as it moves through the interior mansions of spiritual life.  As the soul progresses through life, it can choose to become closer to God or reject God.

It is my hope that within the temporal journey of earth, our souls learn the many lessons to be learned and become closer and worthy of paradise, but what of the faithful steed and friend of the soul, our body?  The body that carried the soul through this temporal maze of sin and that is now fragile, old and weakened by the promised curse of death?  It has carried the soul to the finish line, initially sustaining temporal existence and providing sanctuary for the soul to grow in beauty and love of God, but as all matter, will eventually succumb to the sands of time.  Is this good friend and critical part of our human nature to be left to the side of the curb as the soul elevates to a new and wonderful eschatological state with God?

As a partner in good and bad with the soul, our body’s hands shared in all actions that glorified God.  Our lips praised His name, our eyes sought Him, our ears accepted the good news and our feet carried us to worship Him!  As promised, the General Resurrection will glorify the body as an equal partner in our human nature.

So let us not disregard this holy temple and its sacrifice–let us not be caught up with false ideologies that degrade it to a mere shell, but instead let us make good use of our body!  Let us respect it and care for it physically and treat it like a temple of God! Let us think of it as a good ship sailing through the turbulent waters of temporal reality taking our soul to the safe shores of Heaven—later to share in that same glory itself.

If you are interested in learning more about our Christian Counseling Program than please review the link.  If you are a qualified professional or have adequate academic background, you could become a certified Christian Counselor.

Thank you for reviewing and let us know if you have any questions

Mark Moran, MA, SC-C