Written On Our Hearts

“Who has measured with his palm the waters, marked off the heavens with a span, held in his fingers the dust of the earth, weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord or instructed Him as a counselor? Whom did He consult to gain knowledge? Who taught Him the path of judgment or showed Him the way of understanding?” Isaiah 40:12-14 Recently, God has called me into a period of transition in my life to focus on expanding the mission of Patchwork Heart Ministry. Each new day is unpredictable, vastly different than the previous and can be filled with skyrocketing highs or rock-bottom lows. The reward of success is constantly and relentlessly paired with the added stress and responsibility of starting and operating a non-profit. In one of those rock-bottom stressful moments, earlier this month I was trying to hold it all together and began complaining to God, as I began reading Him my shopping list and asking Him for His interventi...

Working as a Youth Minister and in Catholic Media, the Stations of the Cross has shaped my ministry. What began ten years ago as a youth ministry activity in need of a revitalization, has become a pillar and guidepost of my personal spirituality and public ministry. Thus the Stations of the Cross has been one of the favorite ways Patchwork Heart Ministry reaches out and touches hearts; presenting them in a dramatic stage production of Living Stations of the Cross, authoring two print editions of the Contemplative Stations of the Cross (2016 & 2018) and also an audio version featuring an overview of the theology, history and spirituality of the devotion by Fr. Bill Zimmer. It almost goes without saying that the Stations of the Cross are a keystone of our ministry. Why? There are a few reasons. First, the passion, death and resurrection is what gives credibility to the claims of Christianity. If Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, didn’t sacrifice Himself for your sins, my sins an...

One of my favorite contemporary Christian worship songs to meditate upon is Worlds Apart  by Jars of Clay. It speaks to our unconquerable struggle with sin and despite our best human efforts to live a life of grace we still come up miserably short. The message of this song is particularly pertinent to reflect upon during Lent, helping us remember that without a savior we will be left “ broken and on [our] knees .” We find ourselves overwhelmed by our sin often and it “ takes all [we are] to believe in a mercy that covers [us] .” By admitting that “ what [we] need (or sins that Satan has deceived us into believing that we need to remain happy) and what [we] believe are worlds apart ” enables the Savior to fill the chasm in our hearts with His mercy, forgiveness and love. As St. Catherine of Siena would point out in her Dialogue, Jesus is the bridge, by which our soul must walk across to access heaven, there is no other way; no alternative path. Furthermore, she states, that thi...