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Join Me In Prayer And Fasting For Our Church

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Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

What first comes to mind when you read that quote from today’s readings? Fear, shame at the state of our world, hurt coming from those leading the Church? And what should our response be? We are in the midst of corruption and moral depravity and yet it is not nearly enough to just sift through news article after news article or this or that blog post, reading with little action or even thought. How do we stay awake? How do we prepare? Whether the end of the world is coming soon or not, we need to strengthen our relationship with the Lord.

We won’t do that by sitting in anger and fear. We won’t do that by speculating on whether or not this scandal does in fact go all the way up to the top. We won’t do that by giving up on the Church all together. I am reminded of when Jesus says in the Gospels that, “This kind can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.”

I don’t want to sit in anger anymore, I want to do something for my Church. I am committing to a 40 day fast which started on the feast of St. Augustine and ends on October 7th which is the Feast of Our Lady of Victory/the Rosary.

I ask that you join me in prayer and fasting for our Church. I am praying a rosary daily and giving up snacking between meals for these 40 days. What will you decide to do? Please join me in solidarity as we lift up our Church. We may not be responsible for any of this, but we are responsible for what happens next. God Bless!

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

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Take Courage, Have Hope

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In Today’s Readings we hear the story of St. John the Baptist. Whenever I hear this story, I can’t help but imagine the gruesomeness of his beheading. I am not one that can handle the sight of blood, surgery, or wounds. AKA I am not and never will be called to any medical profession. Although I struggle to stomach those sights, I’ve realized that it is important to not flinch away. As faithful Catholics, we are being put under a microscope right now. Like John the Baptist, we are being asked for our heads. It’s completely normal in a time of trial, injustice, and serious sin to flinch away- to seriously look the other way out of fear.

How often do we do this? When we hear something tragic and horrible on the news, do we just turn off the tv or change the station? When someone shares with you their hardships, struggles, and sin, do you encounter them or turn away because it’s “too much to handle”. I’ll be blunt with you all. The injustices that have come to light in Christ’s Church today make it seriously hard to not flinch away, to not want to know details, and to look away due to the gruesomeness. But that is not the Gospel message. That is not what Christ would do.

In my fear of all things messy and dirty, my mind wanders to the face of one of the most beautiful women. A face full of wrinkles and compassion. The face of Mother Teresa comes to mind. When I was on a mission trip in Romania we entered the gypsy slums. A place of complete garbage, shacks, and children playing with trash. I remember the serious smell and how hard it was for me to breathe it in. I remember seeing these people in their town of debris and being told how many of them have lice and some have serious diseases.

At one point we were surrounded by a group of young girls. There was one smaller sister who was there and being picked on. She had to be around 4 or 5. years old. We were told not to touch anyone for our own health. I remember seeing this little girl get hit by her siblings and she started to cry. I walked over to the girls and using my body language, tried to tell them to stop hurting her. I clearly did not speak a word of Romanian. The little girl stretched out her arms to embrace me. In a split second I had a moment of fear- a moment of flinching away. But also a moment of grace. Mother Teresa’s face came to my mind and the thought of how many sick, dying,  and contagious people she had helped fearlessly. I automatically embraced this young girl. She cried in my arms as I held her tight and picked her up. I found out from the translator that her name was Esperanza, which means “Hope”.

I’m sharing this story with you because there are two things that are very needed in the faithful of the Church today. We are in dire need of following the example of St. John the Baptist. Following in his complete obedience to the Gospel and to his intimate relationship with Christ.  He is an example of heroic courage in facing one’s martyrdom. We are in need of the virtue of true COURAGE. The second virtue we need to cultivate is the virtue of HOPE. Esperanza embodied that to me. Wiping away her tears, while making the deliberate choice to not mind the strong stench I breathed as I embraced her. Rocking her in my arms as she slowly stopped crying, I made the choice to not care if I caught lice. I made the decision to not care that the nauseating smell would be stuck to my clothing and hair the rest of the day. I saw her and I loved her. Embracing others in the lowest of lows is what we are called to, especially today. We are called to respond to the needs of our Church, to be with those who are hurting and those who have been seriously horrifically wronged.  We are called to listen to them, hear them, and actively love them.
If we do not know these people personally, if we do not know how to handle the gruesomeness or the truth- we are called to pray in hope for their healing, for God’s justice and mercy, and for the future hope of our faithful people.

It is in the darkest and dirtiest places that we see the merciful face of Christ.  It is here that He does not flinch away, He encounters. He embraces His people in the bloodiest, most gruesome wounds and places.

It is going to take true courage and true hope to stay faithful to our relationships, our encounters, and our love for Christ and His Bride, the Church.

Take hope. Let’s love and listen to our hurting brothers and sisters. Let us not be ignorant or absent, but present in the Church’s need. Let us intentionally choose to not flinch away. Let us make the choice to pray for our leaders who have horrifically let us down. Let us pray for those who are hurting and in need of Christ’s healing and peace. Let us choose to encounter our brothers and sisters with true courage and true hope.

Briana is a Catholic Doctrine teacher at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel school in Cleveland, OH. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH and is excited to use these skills to bring her students closer to Christ and His Church. “My soul has been refined and I can raise my head like a flower after a storm.” -St. Therese

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# Blessed

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Today is the feast day of St. Augustine of Hippo, one of my favorite saints. St. Augustine was a privileged man, with wealth and education given to him. He was also son of St. Monica (who went through all kinds of struggles with him), but that didn’t mean he believed that he was a Catholic from the start. Instead, St. Augustine ignored the Word of God as the truth and lived his life however he wanted. Finally, after years of his mother praying and hearing St. Ambrose preach, he understood that Christianity was the ultimate truth.

Still, even knowing the truth, he decided he could not become Catholic because of his past. He lived a life of debauchery, deception and loose morals. He thought that he would never be pure enough to be Catholic. He saw all of his failures as reasons he could never be a good Catholic.

I truly connect with St. Augustine because I, too, often struggle with not feeling like I deserved God’s love. For the last two or three years, I couldn’t even bring myself to go to confession because I felt that if I confessed, I would feel so ashamed and verbalize the reasons I didn’t deserve God’s love. As some of you recall, it wasn’t until this past June that I asked God’s mercy and forgiveness back into my life.

That’s when it hit me; We don’t actually deserve anything.

Now, I know it’s only been a couple weeks since I last reminded you to be thankful, but today I want to take a new perspective. Not deserving anything in life sounds terrible, but if I really think about it, it’s freeing. We deserve nothing, yet look at how much we have! Understanding we deserve nothing is accepting your blessings for all that they are; gifts from Our Father. It allows us to see everything as a gift from God and a testament to his love.

We aren’t born deserving of a loving family or a happy life, so why do we think we deserve it?

It is the world telling us to take our gifts for granted. Just as St. Augustine had a former life of chasing “worldly ambitions,” so do we. We believe that because we are not pure evil, we must deserve big houses and fancy cars. We have been told by our consumerist nation that we deserve everything we want, so we should take it at any cost. Yet, this is not what God wants of us.

If we let go of our worldly expectations, we allow ourselves to fully realized how blessed we truly are. If we focus on what we have and not how much we want bigger and better things, then maybe we can see all that we have been given.

Yet, as St. Augustine says, “The words here are concepts. You must go through the experiences.” Therefore, let us pray:

Lord, help us to see our countless blessings.

Help us not to waste our knowledge of your mercy
and, instead, to use it to glorify you.

I am humbled at your name,
for without you, God, I am nothing.

Amen.

 

My dad adds that last line to every one of his prayers as a humble reminder of our blessings. Try thoughtfully adding this to all of your prayers for the week.

Veronica Alvarado is a born and raised Texan currently living in Michigan. Since graduating from Texas A&M University, Veronica has published various articles in the Catholic Diocese of Austin’s official newspaper, the Catholic Spirit, and other local publications. She now works as the Content Specialist in Diocesan’s Web Department.

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Woe To You Hypocrites

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Yesterday I wrote about the importance of true love and relationship that we saw in the beautiful readings. Today we see a sort of switch in language, Jesus is not happy.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.”

These words are pretty potent, but I think they display such a profound truth. Jesus spoke yesterday about the importance of relationship, true love, self gift, and the reality of the Eucharist and today He opposes those who fake a relationship.

To say that you have a relationship with God, but you are only in it for yourselves or salvation or status seems to be a grave sin to Jesus. He does not like fakers. This should show us two things.

One, it shows us that clearly Jesus meant what He said about being true food and true drink. We just heard that passage and now here Jesus is saying how much He detests people who say one thing and live another. This should give us such great faith in the Eucharist as being truly the full presence of God.

Second, it shows us that even if we struggle, even if the faith is difficult, even if we have suffering and pain, even if sometimes we cant feel God, that it is better to struggle through with hope and faith than to just give up and give an appearance of relationship. He is with us and wants a relationship with us and all we have to do is be honest and try.

A spiritual director of mine once said that the two most important aspects of prayer are honesty and consistency. We have to be honest with God about what is going on in our lives and we have to be consistent in turning to Him and giving him everything. This is no different from any relationship that we have in our lives. Marriages would not be very healthy without honesty and consistency.

We have recently seen what can happen when relationship with Christ is faked, when status and power trump love and compassion, when those who should be showing Christ to the world show the exact opposite.

We have also seen the very good priests in this world who truly act in persona Christi. We should learn from their example and direction to counteract the lies and deceit of the hypocrites who Jesus condemns.

Let us pray for our priests and for ourselves that we may never fake relationship but instead day after day grow even deeper and closer to our God. Amen.

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

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Be Subordinate To One Another

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I was not originally scheduled to write a post for today, but I am glad it worked out the way it did. I went to Mass last night and heard the most amazing homily unpacking two of the readings from today and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.

Our pastor, Father Adams, began the homily by saying it is one of the more controversial readings from Ephesians and he asked the congregation what the first line from it was. We heard many voices saying, “Wives be subordinate to your husbands.” Father Adams then corrected the congregation and said that the first line is actually, “Be subordinate to each other.”

This showed a common misunderstanding of this reading where people think it is sexist or unfair. Then we hear the Gospel where Jesus talks about his flesh being real food and some of the disciples leave. They misunderstand the gift that Jesus wants to give them in the Eucharist.

Here we have two readings that are difficult to understand and perhaps are controversial, but they are both about relationship. Father Adams pointed out that both of these readings teach us how to truly love, by giving all of ourselves to our beloved.

This is essentially the gift we have in the Eucharist. I know I have been thinking about this a lot as I am getting married in less than two months. Sharing our wedding night together and then experiencing holy communion together as a married couple will truly show God’s plan for love and total self gift.

Sometimes the Catholic life is hard, sometimes it is not easy to understand, sometimes we have to take things on faith, but the Catholic life is always about a relationship with Jesus who gave a complete and total gift of Himself. He subordinated Himself so much that He comes to us in the form of bread, to give us all of Him.

This is a truth that is so profound, but yet easy to forget. I pray for the grace to let the Eucharist be the model for Nathalie and I in our marriage, and I pray that all of us take a second after Mass today to say thank you to Jesus for giving all of Himself to us so that we might have life to the full. God Bless and Happy Sunday!

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

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How I Look

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Thanks to the fallenness that is ours due to the Original Fall, our human nature wants to continually put our own selves first, consider our own desires first, make sure we are taken care of first (St. Augustine says sin makes us incurvatus in se: curled in on ourselves). Without grace, we are almost hopelessly selfward, but Jesus calls us to something more.

The Pharisees took this selfwardness a step “up” by masking their self-love in religious trappings: broad phylacteries, long tassels, honoraria, and places of honor, under a guise of uprightness and righteousness veiled with false humility. These men were all about themselves, using religion as a way to advance themselves and pat themselves on the back. Jesus himself called them a brood of vipers.

Jesus expresses this to the crowds not to teach them to judge others and shame them, but for their spiritual benefit. He wants them to learn to separate the office from the person who holds the office; those “on the chair of Moses,” in authority over the people of God, should be obeyed but not imitated. They tell people what God wants, but they miss the point themselves.

How can this be? How can people who study the word of God, spend much time in prayer, and follow God’s law with exactitude fail to grow in holiness? It happens all the time, and Jesus’ final words in today’s Gospel tell us the precise reason:  a lack of humility.

Are all these “right” things done for the wrong intention? Are these “good” things done to build a positive image of me, for myself or for others? There can be a lot of “self” in our apparent selflessness; if so, I am the recipient of my own “gift,” and it becomes no gift at all.

The key to getting it right is loving HUMILITY. If what we give we give for the benefit of the other, if we pour ourselves out with the intention of really helping others and glorifying God (and not ourselves), then we give truly. If we pray to worship God and not to make ourselves feel like we deserve what we want, then we pray truly.

We need to examine our conscience with some objectivity to know ourselves in the light of the Holy Spirit. We might be “ok” on the surface, but what about the next level?

Am I more concerned with how I look or how I live? Is my primary concern what I like or what I truly love? Am I eager to be recognized, to receive credit for what I do? Am I able to give of myself without any attention, and sometimes even without any gratitude?

It is natural to desire affirmation and acknowledgment; but God calls us to a SUPERnatural attitude that offers our whole self in service to the Gospel and gives HIM all the glory. And He will be true to His promise that “whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.

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To Be Without Guile

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Do you know what it is to be without guile? I’ll give you a minute to look it up if you don’t know. (Tick, tick, tick…) Ok. Times up.

Today is the feast day of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, first introduced to us as Nathanael by Philip, when Philip brought Bartholomew to meet Jesus.  Philip told Bartholomew that he had found the one of whom the prophets said would come. But then, Jesus told Bartholomew that he [Jesus] already knew Bartholomew because Jesus saw him under the fig tree and that Bartholomew was “…a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him”, Bartholomew was an instant believer. His open heart knew and responded. And it responded without guile.

Now, what does it mean to be without guile? It means to be free of deceit, cunning, hypocrisy or dishonesty in thought or deed. Psalm 32:2 says: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit (guile).”

Applying this to us, and it most certainly isn’t easy, means that we mean what we say and say what we mean, honestly and kindly. We should have no hidden agendas or ulterior motives in what we do or say. No trickery or manipulation. No using someone for personal gain.

Then, it goes beyond just our interactions with others. Being without guile also means that we are brutally honest with ourselves and about ourselves. Do we recognize the deceit or sin within us? Can we define it and be honest about its hold on our lives, prompting us to take action for change?  Today may be a good day to look at the people around us and to identify if anyone has a guileless spirit. Someone who is kind, honest and speaks the truth when needed is not our enemy, but rather our example. And make no mistake. Being without guile does not translate to naivete. Jesus was a man without guile, and he was anything but naïve.  A person without guile has an innocent spirit, is tender, not hardened, and truth matters.

I have to believe that every time we celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation we have a new opportunity to develop an innocent, guileless spirit — if we are honest. I would hope that no one leaves Reconciliation believing that the final prayer and the penance are the end of it. Rather, we should leave Reconciliation with a renewed conviction to removing all false intentions from our hearts. Reconciliation should be the sunlight on the dusty furniture. It highlights the sin that does not readily show in the dim light, and gives us the opportunity to “clean up.”  Psalm 24:3-5 tell us:

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
And has not sworn deceitfully.
 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

God Bless.

Jeanne Penoyar, an Accounts Manager here at Diocesan, is currently a Lector at St. Anthony of Padua parish in Grand Rapids, MI. While at St. Thomas the Apostle, Grand Rapids, Jeanne was a Lector, Cantor, Coordinator of Special Liturgies, Coordinator of lectors and, at one time, chair of the Liturgy Commission. In a past life, secretary/bookkeeper at the Basilica of St. Adalbert where she ran the RCIA program for the Steepletown parishes. And she loves to write! When relaxing, she likes reading and word puzzles. You can contact her at jpenoyar@diocesan.com.

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Invitation To The Wedding Feast

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As I prayed with today’s readings I kept going back to the kingdom of heaven being similar to a wedding feast for a king’s son, like in the gospel and the first reading when the Lord says “I prove my holiness through you.” Ezekiel goes on to speak about cleansing us from our impurities and giving us a new heart and spirit, taking away our stony heart and receiving a natural heart. We are made holy by this process and are given the Lord’s spirit so we can live by his statutes, careful to observe his decrees. We go through preparation to be his instruments (people) on earth.

I compare this to how we go through preparations for all the sacraments we receive in the church. Granted, as infants it’s our parents who go through the formation (the babes scrubbed clean and clothed in a white garment). Pause and think back on your own reception of sacraments: How did you have to prepare? Was family coming to the special liturgy or a party to celebrate after? What were you feeling about the upcoming event? Looking back, were you ready to receive the gift that God was giving you in the sacrament?

Fast forward to this past weekend; were you prepared to receive God’s gift in the Eucharist or were you like the guest at the wedding feast who was not in a wedding garment? Were you just going through the motions or were you really present at the feast being prepared at the altar in church?

I find myself thinking about the gospel reading and the man not dressed in a wedding garment. He showed up as he was asked to do, but had not prepared himself. He was reduced to silence either from shame or guilt when asked why he was there without a wedding garment. I cannot imagine the shock he would feel from hearing the king’s statement,

“Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Many are invited, but few are chosen.”  

How many times have I not taken the time to change into something a little dressier and just shown up at Mass? I’m not talking about the times I may have dressed for the task I have to do right after Mass (like going to work or a building site), because I’m hoping that my intent to be present for morning liturgy trumps taking the time to change right after Mass is over so as not to add any more time to my busy day. Was I really taking to heart the prayer said right before I received communion “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Isn’t it another way of asking the Lord to take the stony heart from my body and giving me a natural heart?

I am worthy of a natural heart because of my baptism. I want to be chosen to enter the kingdom of heaven and not found wanting, and then to be cast out into the darkness, wailing that I was not ready. It is my job to prepare myself for the feast.

Help me Lord, to hear your voice, to keep your statutes and a humble, contrite heart, so I will be welcome when I am called to your kingdom. Amen.

Beth Price is a Secular Franciscan (OFS) and spiritual director who has worked in several parish ministry roles during the last 20 years. She is a proud mother of 3 adult children. Beth currently works at Diocesan. You can contact her at bprice@diocesan.com.

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Laborers In The Vineyard

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This Gospel of the laborers in the vineyard is probably one of the hardest for us to understand. It goes against the grain of our modern mentality, with our fair wage laws and beliefs that those who work harder deserve a greater reward. The owner of the vineyard gives the same wage to everyone, to those who worked all day in the heat and to those who only worked an hour. Naturally, those who worked all day protested. They thought they should get more—likely what we too would think if we were in their shoes.

But the Gospel is not about employers and employees. It’s about God and his love. The Good News here is that God loves everyone and desires their salvation. God pursues us to the very end of life, giving the graces to turn and be converted. This doesn’t mean, however, that those who spend their lives far away from God are better off than those who have loved him their whole life. It’s always better to know and love God, for He is our true Good. The deeper our relationship with him, the better off we are.

With that in mind, we can also think about today’s feast: the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast is like a bookend to the Assumption, celebrated one week ago. With these two feasts, the Church reminds us that we can also have a powerful relationship with Mary, our Mother. Mary has a spiritual motherhood in the Church. Like her divine Son Jesus, Mary also is concerned about our salvation. She constantly prays and intercedes for each one of us, her spiritual children. Like the owner of the vineyard, she is generous in obtaining graces for all. Her queenship is one of love, exercised in hearts and expressed in service. Mary is at our service, in the sense that she is always doing good on earth. Her reign as queen is not one of ruling and legislating, but of service and love. And we too are called to participate in that reign: “If we persevere, we also shall reign with him” (2 Tim 2:12).

Following the example of Mary our Mother, we will be like the owner of the vineyard who treats everyone with generosity, even if they don’t seem to deserve it. Our standard of giving will not be based on the merits of others, but on the love of God reflected in every person.

Sr. Marianne Lorraine Trouve'

Sr. Marianne Lorraine Trouve’ has been a member of the Daughters of Saint Paul since 1976. She has an MA in theology from the University of Dayton and has served on the editorial staff of Pauline Books & Media for over 20 years. She is the author of several books, including Mary: Help in Hard Times, Angels: Help from on High, and Thomas Aquinas. When she’s not writing, editing, or working on logic puzzles, she can be found blogging at www.thomasfortoday.blogspot.com.

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I Have To Give Everything?

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“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you,
it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”

“And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.”

Jesus’ words are beautiful. Poetic. Appealing to the romantic in me:

“Deny everything and everyone for my sake.”

Nothing can compete with God’s love in order for us to have it entirely. But that’s like any relationship. If composing these reflections becomes more important than giving my fiancé my attention, then the relationship will suffer. So too is it with Christ; if we are preoccupied by anything more than His will, then the relationship will suffer.

This is a constant battle to fight. I wish it wasn’t. I wish that when we were baptized, any and all duplicity and concupiscence (the tendency to sin) were just decimated and Jesus would be like,

“Ok, you’re all set, dude. Now, just be cool for the rest of your time on earth and when you’re time’s up there, I got a sweet spot for you up here.”

But no.

Everyday, we have to choose Him over everything and everyone else. There can be landmark moments in our lives when we truly decided to put Christ before everything and everyone else, i.e. quitting a job, selling or giving away possessions. But everyday afterwards, we have to choose to not be ruled by them.

“You posses your possessions or they posses you.”

-Jon Foreman of Switchfoot in the song “If The House Burns Down Tonight”

We can be destitute and still have the handicap of a rich man: his preoccupation with wealth. Being preoccupied with wealth isn’t the only trap we can fall into. Power, honor and pleasure can also keep us preoccupied from pursuing God’s will. But none are as satisfying, as fulfilling, as lasting as denying ourselves and being obedient to God.

Fight the good fight.

Pursue God at the price of everything.

Live to the full.

During the week, Matthew Juliano is a mentor for individuals who have developmental and intellectual disabilities. On the weekends, he is a drummer for Full Armor Band. You can find more content by Matt and his band at www.fullarmorband.com.

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The Gift Of Grace

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Today’s Gospel stands out as one of my favorites. We hear the story of the man who wants to gain eternal life and he asks Jesus what he must do. It’s important to remember here that Jesus can see his heart when he asks this question. He can see that deep down this man wants to know the minimum rules he has to follow in order to get to heaven, but that his heart really isn’t concerned with growing in virtue.

I hate to admit this is me sometimes. Studying theology makes it easy for the faith to be all book knowledge and the virtue stuff kind of falls by the way side. One of my passions to study is morality and this can make that mindset even worse because morality is really the focus on what actions are correct or incorrect.

But as we all know, at the heart of morality is a person. A person who wants a real relationship with us, one of love and not just rules. Now I am not saying that rules aren’t important, but I am saying they cannot be the sole focus. As we read on we hear Jesus say to the man, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good.” It is clear that Jesus is telling the man not to focus as much on the laws he must follow and instead put his main focus on the one who will help him follow those same laws.

Rooted in the One who will give us the grace, we can start to live by the ten commandments and we can begin to grow in virtue. It all has to start with God. The man in the story thought he could do it all himself, without any real virtue or grace. So Jesus puts him to the ultimate test and asks him to give up everything and follow. Do I follow in my life? Do you? How often do we try to do it on our own and think that if we just mark the check box by our own power we will attain eternal life? The mark of a saint is humility. They humble themselves to know it is not about them and that they need grace.

I want to end with this great quote from Pope Francis’ new Apostolic Exhortation. It has been helping me so much in my faith life. 

“The Church has repeatedly taught that we are justified not by our own works or efforts, but by the grace of the Lord, who always takes the initiative. The Fathers of the Church, even before Saint Augustine, clearly expressed this fundamental belief. Saint John Chrysostom said that ‘God pours into us the very source of all his gifts even before we enter into battle.’ Saint Basil the Great remarked that the faithful glory in God alone, for ‘they realize that they lack true justice and are justified only through faith in Christ.'”

Let’s ask for the grace to not only enter the battle, but fight and live by the truth in all humility and grace. Amen.

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

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Friends Don’t Let Friends Go To Hell

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Accountability: Adjective

  1. (Of a person, organization, or institution) required or expected to justify actions or decisions; responsible.

  2. Explicable; understandable

Personally, I hate being called out. When those who are closest to me decide to tell me their thoughts or feelings on certain mistakes I’ve made, it’s uncomfortable. I am blessed to have many dear friends who know me well and who are close enough to be blunt with me.  It is helpful for me to be held accountable for things I’ve done or did not do.

At times, I have been the one calling others out as well. In those moments I have always tried to do so with gentleness and love.  Love is the main reason we call one another out! We are moved by love for the other person that we sometimes need to stop and say “Hey, that wasn’t a good idea” or “Do you really think this is the best decision for you?”

In high school I went to a youth group retreat and our group t-shirt read,

“Friends Don’t Let Friends Go To Hell”.

Yup, it said the word hell. And as a 16 year old I thought it was pretty cool to wear at a retreat. That quote became engraved into my heart throughout my life as I realized how honest it was. All the times I have been called out by my friends or family, and all the times I have called them out is due to love. To genuinely wanting Heaven for that person and wanting what is best for them.

I’ll be honest.  In today’s readings, I feel very called out by St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. St. Paul states to us that we should watch carefully how we live. He’s reminding us to not live in foolishness and ignorance.  He reminds us to not get drunk on wine and lies of debauchery, but to try to understand the will of the Lord. He reminds us to fill our hearts and our minds with the Spirit of God in a prayer of thanksgiving.

We are being held accountable to try. He tells us that we should be giving our absolute best to God.  We should always strive to understand God’s will for each of our lives, which cannot be done without prayer.  How often I need to be reminded, called out, and held accountable for something as simple as setting aside genuine time with Christ and putting in the real effort to try.

In the Gospel Reading, we hear the tender voice of Jesus. I swear every time Jesus calls me out in Scripture, it is done with such love and tenderness. He shares Good News with us, that He offers us the bread of life! He reminds us that we remain in Him and He remains in us when we receive the Eucharist. He shares that whoever receives this bread will live forever!

Looking at St. Paul’s words to us and Christ’s words in the Gospel, I feel a pull to the Eucharist. I feel called out to more time of prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

I don’t know where your heart is today. I don’t know how much effort you’ve put into trying in your relationship with Christ. I don’t know if you go to daily mass, have a weekly holy hour, or what your prayer life is like. I don’t know if you feel called out by these Scripture readings the way that I do. But I do know that each of us is called to give 100% effort in our choice to try today. That each of us should set more time aside for Christ today than we did yesterday. I hope we watch more carefully our words and our actions this day and remain in His Sacred Heart. Choosing to try today is making the choice of our daily conversion. Choosing Christ in this moment, in this day is a victory.

Let’s choose to give Him our hearts today.. Let’s choose Him and remain with Him today.

 

Briana is a Catholic Doctrine teacher at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel school in Cleveland, OH. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH and is excited to use these skills to bring her students closer to Christ and His Church. “My soul has been refined and I can raise my head like a flower after a storm.” -St. Therese