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Each time I recite the Creed I use the words of “One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church” and that means something. 

Jesus Dies ont eh Cross (Sara Hayward)

I have been struggling with feelings of resentment for some time.  Someone had hurt my feelings and upset me and as a result I had been really struggling not only to forgive that person but also to move on to the next phase of my relationship with them.

Part of what happened means that I will never have the same relationship with that person ever again, but that is not to say that the relationship should be bad or unpalatable.  There should be no stress or desire to see that other person suffer as a result of the situation that transpired and yet, for a very long period of time I struggled to control those sorts of inclinations in myself.

It was a difficult thing to control because emotions make everything so much harder to deal with.  There were times when I thought to myself that of only I were a robot I would be able to handle the problem with a sort of Grace that would mean that I could avoid any feelings of unrest.  And yet I am very human and no robot at all.  There is no part of me that can detach from my own feelings and emotions to allow me the space to consider the problem with perfect rationality so that I could make choices to behave and think in a more Christian manner.  And I have been thinking about that today.  You see, when I cannot behave with perfect rationality and impartiality, then God does it for me.  That is why God is the Just Judge.  He is the judge because He knows that I am unable to be a judge or a good judge because I am limited by my human experience and the various problems that I encounter along the way…

Saint Josemaria wrote in “The Way” at 7 that we should enlarge our hearts and allow it to become universal and “Catholic”.  Each time I recite the Creed I use the words of “One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church” and that means something.  You see, the very definition of Catholic is universal.  That is why Catholics are different from Christians.  It is not because we are somehow better than Christians, but because we are more than Christians.  You see, we are called to a greater thing than our own experience.  We are called to share in the Risen Christ brother to brother with each other.  And what does this mean?  It means that we celebrate the same Holy Mass on the same days.  It means that I can walk into any Catholic Church in the world and know what to expect and how the Liturgy will flow.  It means that we are guided by the Apostles – from the very first apostle Peter – in an unbroken chain to today’s Pope Leo XVIII.

And it means – most importantly – that I can let go of resentment, because it is not my place to judge – that belongs to m Beloved.  And how wonderful it is to give away that worry and enlarge my heart to love the whole entire Church!

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.