MSI Press Blog

“My grace is enough for you, For in weakness power reaches perfection.” --St. Paul   I’m in the business of compassionate healing. As a psychologist, my patients come to me in emotional and mental pain. They feel broken and want to be whole. They want relief from their suffering--their depression, anxiety, tempers, compulsions, and disturbing obsessions. Coming to me, they ask me to witness their suffering and bring them relief. Two questions often haunt them: “Why is this happening to me? How can I fix it?” In their desperation, they look for answers from me, whom they consider “the expert.” Contrary to their expectations, I direct those questions back to themselves and assure them, “You have the answers, but don’t know it yet.” I invite them to pay close attention to their own experience, to listen to the subtle voices speaking within, and to engage in open and honest dialogue with themselves. For many, that is a new experience. These voices have been drowned out by the...

  The late spiritual director, Carmella Dautoff, once described joy as “effervescent grace.” It’s a phrase that lingers, because it captures something essential about the way true joy behaves. Joy, in her understanding, is not a mood we manufacture or a smile we paste on. It is grace rising — unbidden, unforced, and unmistakably alive. Effervescence is what happens when something within begins to lift, bubble, and shimmer. Grace does that. When it touches the human heart, it doesn’t stay flat or quiet. It moves. It brightens. It spills over the edges of our lives in ways we don’t always notice but others often do. This kind of joy is not naïve. It doesn’t pretend that sorrow isn’t real or that life is easy. Effervescent grace is what happens when love proves deeper than pain, when hope refuses to die, when God’s presence becomes so steady that it begins to rise through us like light through water. People feel this kind of joy. They breathe easier around it. They soften. They remem...

  At the heart of every faith that calls Abraham its ancestor—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—there beats the same pulse: love . Not sentimentality, not romance, but the fierce, ethical, world‑shaping love that binds creation to its Creator and people to one another. 🌿 Judaism: Love as Covenant In the Hebrew Scriptures, love is not abstract. It is covenantal—an agreement lived out in justice and mercy. “ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart… ” (Deuteronomy 6:5) is paired with “ You shall love your neighbor as yourself ” (Leviticus 19:18). To love God is to love what God loves: people, life, and the world’s repair ( tikkun olam ). ✝️ Christianity: Love as Incarnation In Christianity, love becomes flesh. “ God is love ” (1 John 4:8) is not metaphor but identity. The Incarnation is divine love entering history, showing that compassion is not optional—it is the measure of faith. Jesus’ commandment—“ Love one another as I have loved you ”—turns theology into relationsh...