Entries by Nan Balfour

Learning from Jesus How to Love

ARTICLE – When Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew (5:44), to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us, he knows that on our own that is impossible for us to accomplish. We can only learn how to love our fellow man through receiving Jesus into our hearts, our minds, and our souls, and allowing…

Choose Jesus and Build a Better Society

ARTICLE – Societies built on unlimited choices or no choice for their members are doomed because humans are created by God to be both ordered and free. Is there a way for humans to build a healthy and sustainable society? Yes, and that way is in allowing individuals within a society to freely…

The Wonder of Mary’s Yes

ARTICLE – Did Mary ask herself at the Annunciation, “What will be required of me? How will my life change? Can I do this? What if I fail?” Her prompt response indicates no, and I believe this is because she at some time before her Annunciation made a choice to believe that what God promised through Scripture would come to be. Her yes to be the Mother of God was simply…

The Love You Had at First

ARTICLE – Are you finding it really difficult in this day and time to live the joy-filled zeal of being a Christian? This was becoming a problem for the early Church as well. In the vision our Lord gave to John that we have come to know as the Book of Revelation, Jesus addressed…

Beyond the Metaverse: How to Discover the True You

ARTICLE – I am sure there are many good applications for the Metaverse, and I am not here to judge its morality. Like anything, it can be used for our good or for our bad. Instead, I ask you to ponder with me an interesting connection between the metaverse and a very Catholic word…

What Did Jesus Actually Accomplish?

ARTICLE – After Jesus died, his mother and just a handful of others took his body from the cross, wrapped it in a burial shroud, and placed it in a tomb. It is in this part of the contemplation that I realized the spirit of the Son of God was free of the body of Jesus in which he had incarnated. Questions came to mind…

The Christian Witness: How to Defeat Evil

ARTICLE – Much more painful and difficult than turning the cheek to be slapped again is to forgive one who hurts you, takes from you, or asks too much of you. How can we possibly be expected to do this? In this week’s Pilgrim Log, Nan Balfour brings to light that Jesus goes further than teaching how to mitigate evil; he trains his disciples how to defeat it.

Everyday Prophecy

ARTICLE – Christians are given a special gift of prophecy through Baptism, allowing them to act on Holy Spirit promptings to help build up the Church, one soul to another. In this week’s Pilgrim Log, Nan Balfour shares two experiences that challenged her to respond to her baptismal anointing to help build up the Church.

Keeping Faith Like St. Peter

ARTICLE – Have you stumbled during this Lenten season? In this week’s Pilgrim Log, Nan Balfour shares an example of when St. Peter stumbled and encourages us to find faith and hope in his words.