Corpus Christi Blog

Now, more than ever before, the world is filled with a lot of noise. When making decisions, we are bombarded with information, opinions, and advice from various conflicting sources. It can be difficult to distinguish Jesus’ voice in the midst of all of clamor. Sometimes, even our own internal voice, colored by our desires and emotions, can drown out the voice we need to hear most.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a 12^th-century monk who founded the Cistercian order because of his dissatisfaction with the growing opulence within the Benedictine order at the time. In 1830, he was declared one of the 37 Doctors of the Church by Pope Pius VIII, due to the extensive contributions to theological and spiritual thought he left behind in his writings. Today, we’ll look at one of these contributions — The Four Degrees of Love.

We have spent the last two weeks discussing specific ways we can participate in Jesus Christ’s priestly and prophetic offices. This week, we will conclude our three-part series by examining our role in the kingship of Christ. First, we’ll explore what the Church teaches about what it means for us to be kings. Then we’ll discuss how to put that advice into practice in our everyday lives, based on the guidance provided by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR, in his book, Habits for Holiness: Small Steps for Making Big Spiritual Progress.