Feast of Saint Dominic de Guzman

Good morning. To do for someone out of love paints an entirely different picture than to do for them out of obligation. Often we find ourselves doing things begrudgingly, complaining all the while. To do things reluctantly takes away from the moment, and in not doing for the other freely and lovingly we miss a moment we can never regain. Our spouses can sometimes pick up on our negative feelings and attitudes and so even in doing something we detract from it and spoil it by our attitude. In the moment we can choose to do lovingly or begrudgingly. As our Saint for today, Saint Dominic, notes we need to take charge of our emotions. He said: "A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil." In today’s Gospel Jesus offers us a lesson regarding doing out of love and not out of a sense of obligation. The difference between doing out of obligation versus out of love is that doing something out of love is freeing, and our doing returns to us with joy. An example is that of going to Mass on Sunday, if we attend out of obligation we sit there in the pew begrudgingly and we are not inclined to get much out of being there. Whereas, if we are going to Mass because we want to be there we are more likely to benefit from it and leave with a sense of joy and satisfaction. So too with our marriage, if we do for each other out of a desire to make each other happy, we’ll receive happiness in return. So, be happy. Make a great day!

Today we recall the good life, gifts, and works of Saint Dominic de Guzman.