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Mater Dolorosa. Our Lady of Sorrows.

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Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).

Note the exclusiveness of His claim. Occasionally someone will say, You Christians are so narrow. Why do you insist that Jesus is the only way you can come to God? Other religions are more tolerant. That is true; On that point Jesus Himself was narrow, and we dare not go beyond what He said. But Jesus said, "I am the way." This signifies that Jesus is the only way to connect with God the Father.

He said, "I am the truth." Jesus used the definite article "the" to emphasize

that He is “the only truth." And is the source of all truth.

Finally, "I am the life." Jesus offers eternal life, and this life is found only through Him.

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This reveals God’s heart to restore what is broken and lifeless. Just as He breathed life into the dry bones of Israel, He can breathe new life into weary hearts, lost hope, and broken situations.

Today’s Reminder: No situation is too far gone for God’s breath to revive. Invite Him to restore what feels empty or lifeless in your life today.

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Verse of the Day - Proverbs 9:10

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painted my drawer

and here's Gabriel as an Amorphous Blob of Color, for @whyoneartheven

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Friendly reminder that you are allowed to pray for your enemies and you SHOULD pray for your enemies!! It will change your heart like you wouldn't believe. Highly recommend

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Diz o Senhor: 'Eu honro os que me honram.' — 1 Samuel 2:30

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St. Francis of Assisi Frank Cadogan Cowper

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O mundo não precisa ouvir que somos Cristãos. Precisa ver Cristo em nós.

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An Orthodox Christian monk with two dolphins

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Today's Prayer 🙏

Dear God, help us release our anxieties to You, knowing You care for us deeply. Replace our worries with Your peace and fill our hearts with trust in your constant care. In Jesus name, Amen.

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Why do american atheists get so mad when it's pointed out that they are culturally christian?

Here's what I've seen among the ones who do this:

1: They think "culturally Christian" is an inherently negative accusation, and incorrectly imagine it as something that's supposed to work like original sin - essentially, a bad thing you're tainted with.

(This is of course incorrect; "culturally Christian" is a neutral descriptor, simply used to point out that things are Christian in origin and therefore not religiously neutral. For example, the Gregorian calendar is culturally Christian. This doesn't make it inherently worse than any other calendar, it just means that it's a calendar created by Christians that centers Jesus - even if you change the BC and AD to BCE and CE.)

2: They think being called "culturally Christian" is the same as being told they're still believers in Jesus Christ deep down inside.

(This is also incorrect because being culturally Christian or participating in cultural Christianity doesn't have anything to do with your beliefs. If you participate in Christmas or Easter as a nonbeliever, you are participating in Christian culture. If you try and claim your holiday celebrations are religiously neutral - well, you're just straight-up wrong. If you try and claim they're religiously neutral in order to pressure, say, Jews into joining your celebrations, you are pushing religion on them even if you consider yourself non-religious.)

3: They are emotionally motivated to feel as distant from Christianity as possible. They've become atheists fairly recently, and have a lot of unhealed trauma.

(Taking your trauma out on people and trying to police what they say and do to make you feel more comfortable is not a healthy coping strategy. You need to focus on healing yourself, not try and police how religious minorities bring attention to and talk about Christian hegemony.)

4: They haven't learned how to think about and analyze things in nuanced ways yet.

(Not uncommon among younger people in general, and also to be expected from people who've left a Christian group that actively hindered critical thinking. Fortunately it's a skill that can be worked on.)

So yeah, that's what I've seen so far. It's a dash of ignorance plus a dash of emotional reaction.

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GOD IS WITH YOU