Theme: "The Catholic Church Has the Answer"

Sister Maria Philomena, M.I.C.M. — Mother Knows Best: Peacemaking As the Answer to Today’s Strife

Capturing her audience’s attention with the guest appearance of Caia, the Sisters’ seven-month-old border collie puppy, Sister Maria Philomena, M.I.C.M., director of the Saint Augustine Institute of Wisdom, uses the canine’s repertoire of tricks to draw an analogy of how God works with us in our spiritual lives. The element of trust is critical. Just as Sister must build a rapport with Caia so that she will cooperate in the training process, so we must keep our hearts open and attentive to God’s benevolence. This openness will enable us to submit patiently to His supernatural “training”: the promptings given us by grace to discipline our unruly natures and grow in virtue. “The ideal that we are striving for,” Sister says, “is a perfectly self-ordered man in right relation to God and fellow men.” Beginning with the Seventh Beatitude, Sister shows the relationship of Blessed are the peacemakers to the Gift of Wisdom and the virtue charity. But the fundamental disposition we all need, if we wish to be at peace ourselves and be able to effect it in those around us, is simply, “a willingness to let God act.”

File Size: 400 MB