TIHMILY

I am reflecting today upon God's goodness. I was at a Theology on Tap presentation one time by a married couple, Bill and Gayla Martens. Bill and Gayla are school teachers from Aberdeen, SD and are very committed Catholics. They have 4 children and live very busy lives. During the talk, they mentioned that this busy-ness caused them to not always be able to voice their feelings and tell each other that they loved one another. This led them to develop TIHMILY- an acronym meaning This Is How Much I Love You. They would write a post-it note saying TIHMILY and put it some place where the other would see it. And if the reaction is anything like I would suspect it to be, they smile, get a warm feeling and life goes on.

This is the same feeling I get when I look at the crucifix. Jesus is there, arms outstretched and is appearing to say "THIS IS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU!" No, I don't advocate removing the INRI from your crucifix and replace it with TIHMILY. What I do recomend, is maybe putting a sticky note next to your crucifix with TIHMILY on it.

The INRI that is on the top of most crucifixes means IESUS NAZOREAORUM REX IUDAOREAUM, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Take those initials for a minute, INRI... think of TIHMILY and now, replace INRI with I Never Regretted It. This gives us a whole new perspective to this love story. Christ didn't regret it and through scriptures and saints has left the message that if it were needed again, he would do it again. Thank Heaven that it was a once, for many, act. God loved us that much. Wow.... great isn't it?

I'm wanting to take my life for Christ today and looking at him and saying TIHMILY. I want to make the right choices. I know there are times I don't and that I will fail, but If I keep picking myself back up, going to confession and trying harder, Christ's INRI and my TIHMILY could create a complete change in me, and hopefully others!

May God's Will be done- AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM! (To the Greater Glory of God!)