Being Trustworthy in Very Small Matters / Ser Digno de Confianza en los Asuntos Pequeños

***This reflection was reposted from Diocesan Archives.***

“The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones.” — Jesus Christ

“Did you see what she was wearing?”
“Have you heard about their fight?”
“Has he seen a doctor about that thing on his foot?”

I find it interesting when people talk about others behind their back. It’s one thing if it’s showering compliments upon the absent person, but more often than not, it’s criticism and spreading information that we have no right to be spreading. I am ashamed to have taken part in such conversations from time to time. But, like most sin, it’s exciting to talk about people behind their back.

I’ve realized I immediately lose trust in people when they gossip. There’s something inside me that knows that it might be someone else they’re talking about this time but next time it could be me. What story or criticism do people crack open and start passing around when I’m at a dentist appointment?

Few people would boast about how others don’t trust them. We demand honesty from other people all the time, but it’s embarrassingly rare when we take a moment to look at ourselves and single out the smallest bits of dishonesty. We’ve been breaking trust since Adam and Eve and none of us are exempt from such a flaw.

It always starts with simple things, like not showing up to a friend’s house for dinner because you would rather watch Netflix or wasting company time scrolling through Facebook. It can be silly things like watching pirated versions of The Avengers, sneaking into a Dave Matthews Band concert (I have no idea who would want to do that) or buying a dress for a wedding only to return it after the wedding. (Cool trick, eh?)

Once we contemplate our trustworthiness it can be startling to realize we don’t even trust ourselves. Honesty is doing what we ought to do. Honesty protects us from being hypocrites. Honesty means we admit when we are wrong. We’re all broken and we’re constantly violating the rules we pretend to uphold.

Pagans and non-believers watch what we do. They listen to what we say. If we aren’t trustworthy and we cheat, steal, or gossip just like everyone else, we’ve missed our chance to evangelize and we make a mockery of our religion.

Doing the “very small matters” right makes a difference in the great matters. There are no sins that fly under God’s radar. It’s time to do some fall cleaning of our daily lives and root out those venial sins!


“El que es fiel en las cosas pequeñas, también es fiel en las grandes”. – Jesucristo

“¿Viste su ropa?”

“¿Has oído hablar de su pelea?”

“¿Ha visto a un médico por esa cosa en su pie?”

Me parece interesante cuando la gente habla de otras personas a sus espaldas. Una cosa es colmar de elogios a la persona ausente, pero la mayoría de las veces es una información crítica y difundida que no tenemos derecho a difundir. Me avergüenzo de haber participado en tales conversaciones de vez en cuando. Pero, como la mayoría de los pecados, es emocionante hablar de las personas a sus espaldas.

Me he dado cuenta de que inmediatamente pierdo la confianza en las personas cuando chismean. Hay algo en mí que sabe en este momento podría ser otra persona de la que están hablando, pero la próxima vez podría ser yo. ¿Qué historia o crítica inicia la gente y empieza a divulgar cuando estoy en una cita de dentista?

Pocas personas van a presumir de cuánta gente no confía en ellos. Exigimos honestidad de otras personas todo el tiempo, pero es vergonzosamente raro cuando nos tomamos un momento para mirarnos a nosotros mismos y eliminar los más pequeños fragmentos de deshonestidad. Venimos quebrantando la confianza desde Adán y Eva y ninguno de nosotros está exento de tal defecto.

Siempre comienza con cosas simples, como no ir a cenar a la casa de un amigo porque prefieres ver Netflix. Creo que la mayoría de nosotros hemos perdido tiempo en el trabajo viendo el Facebook. Pueden ser cosas tontas como ver versiones piratas de The Avengers, colarse en un concierto de Dave Matthews Band sin boleto o comprar un vestido para ir a una boda y devolverlo después del evento. (Buen truco, ¿eh?)

Una vez que contemplamos si somos fiables, puede ser sorprendente darnos cuenta de que ni siquiera confiamos en nosotros mismos. La honestidad es hacer lo que debemos hacer. Con la honestidad evitamos ser hipócritas. La honestidad significa que debemos admitir cuando estamos equivocados. Todos somos quebrantados y violamos constantemente las reglas que pretendemos respetar.

Paganos y no creyentes observan lo que hacemos. Ellos escuchan lo que decimos. Si no somos dignos de confianza y engañamos, robamos o chismeamos igual que todos los demás, hemos perdido la oportunidad de evangelizar. Nos hemos burlado de nuestra religión.

Hacer bien las “cosas pequeñas” marca la diferencia en los grandes asuntos. No hay pecado ninguno que Dios no ve. ¡Es hora de hacer una limpieza de otoño de nuestra vida diaria y desarraigar los pecados veniales!

Reflection reposted from Diocesan Archives. Author: Patrick Hanus

Feature Image Credit: Ben White, unsplash.com/photos/4Bs9kSDJsdc

All It Takes Is One Step / Solo Hay Que Tomar un Paso Adelante

*** This reflection was reposted from Diocesan Archives. ***

“Be quiet! Come out of him!”

I am distracted. I wake up with notifications on my phone. Thoughts about work immediately rush into my head as I pour my coffee. A load of emails greet me as soon as my computer is turned on.

Every single person can relate to getting distracted. We live in the distraction age. Before we know it, even Daily Mass can become an empty habit. The rosary loses its luster, and we start it only to end it. Our minds glide freely as we bounce from one distraction to the next.

The reading today is a wake up call. What spirits or addictions have taken a hold of you? Today is the day you can make a step towards sainthood. It doesn’t have to be dramatic! I invite you to take one step in the direction of discipline. Just start with one:

  • No texting in bed
  • Jump out of bed as soon as you alarm goes off
  • No Netflix during the weekdays
  • No alcohol during the week
  • Delete the Facebook App off your phone

Once you’ve cleared your mind and opened up your schedule a bit, the next step is to fill it with something meaningful. One of the most powerful things you can do (I promise you you will hate it at first) is spend 15 minutes in silence in the morning. Instead of hitting snooze, sit on the couch and give God the most deliberate 15 minutes you’ve ever given him. Let him change you. Let him talk to you.

Once you’ve done that for a week or two, add in another thing.

  • Read the Daily Readings (the Holy Word of God) first thing when you wake up
  • Attend Daily Mass once a week
  • Pray an evening Rosary with your family
  • Increase your morning silent time to 30 minutes
  • Attend Adoration once a week
  • Read “The Art of Loving God” by St. Francis de Sales

Every day should be one step closer to our Lord. If we aren’t moving closer, we’re moving farther away. There is no “status quo.” The unclean spirits are always working on us, urging us towards complacency, towards sleep. We must urge each other towards holiness! Find a friend who will keep you accountable or ask your spouse to keep you honest in your efforts of purification. If we aren’t struggling in some way, chances are we’re not growing. It’s through prayer and suffering that we become Saints. We’re all in this together!


“Cállate y sal de ese hombre.”

Estoy distraído. Me despierto con notificaciones en mi teléfono. Los pensamientos sobre el trabajo se precipitan inmediatamente en mi cabeza mientras sirvo mi café. Una gran cantidad de correos electrónicos me saludan tan pronto como enciendo mi computadora.

Cada persona puede relacionarse con distraerse. Vivimos en la época de la distracción. Antes de que nos demos cuenta, incluso la misa diaria puede convertirse en un hábito vacío. El rosario pierde su brillo, y lo empezamos solo para terminarlo. Nuestras mentes se deslizan libremente mientras saltamos de una distracción a otra.

La lectura de hoy es una llamada de atención. ¿Qué espíritus o adicciones se han apoderado de ti? Hoy es el día en que puedes dar un paso hacia la santidad. ¡No tiene que ser dramático! Los invito a dar un paso en la dirección de la disciplina. Comienza con uno solo:

  • No enviar mensajes de texto en la cama
  • Saltar de la cama tan pronto como suene la alarma
  • No ver Netflix durante los días de semana
  • No tomar alcohol durante la semana
  • Eliminar la aplicación de Facebook de tu teléfono

Una vez que haya despejado su mente y haya abierto un poco su horario, el siguiente paso es llenarlo con algo significativo. Una de las cosas más poderosas que puedes hacer (lo más seguro es que al inicio no te va a gustar) es pasar 15 minutos en silencio por la mañana. En lugar de quedarte más tiempo en la cama, siéntate en el sofá y dale a Dios los 15 minutos más deliberados que jamás le hayas dado. Deja que te cambie. Deja que te hable. 

Una vez que hayas hecho eso durante una semana o dos, agrega otra cosa.

  • Lee las Lecturas Diarias (la Santa Palabra de Dios) al despertar
  • Asistir a misa una vez entre semana
  • Reza un Rosario vespertino con tu familia
  • Aumente su tiempo de silencio en la mañana a 30 minutos
  • Asistir a la Adoración una vez por semana
  • Leer “El arte de amar a Dios” de San Francisco de Sales

Cada día debe ser un paso más para acercarnos a nuestro Señor. Si no nos acercamos, nos alejamos. No hay un “statu quo”. Los espíritus inmundos siempre están obrando sobre nosotros, incitándonos a la complacencia, al sueño. ¡Debemos impulsarnos unos a otros hacia la santidad! Encuentre un amigo que lo haga responsable o pídale a su cónyuge que lo mantenga honesto en sus esfuerzos de purificación. Si no estamos luchando de alguna manera, es probable que no estemos creciendo. Es a través de la oración y el sufrimiento que nos convertimos en santos. ¡Estamos todos juntos en esto!

This reflection was reposted from Diocesan Archives. Author: Patrick Hanus

Feature Image Credit: Gonzalo Gutierrez, cathopic.com/photo/9085-trust-me

A Catholic’s Guide to the End of the World

“But who will endure the day of His coming?”

Are you prepared for The End? It’s during a year like 2020 when talk of the end of the world ramps up. People are stocking canned peas. Ammo sales are up. People are buying enough toilet paper to feed a family of chronic toilet paper eaters. Panic sets in and people lie awake at night, wondering if they prepared adequately. It’s in movies and it’s been lived out with the arrival of a disease earlier this year.

We all know that the world is hurling towards an impending…well…end. Jesus himself told us this. When doesn’t matter. Everyone wants to talk about “when,” but it has little to no importance. The only ones who should be afraid of The End are those who only have assets in this world.

There’s only one way to prep for the end of the world and it involves the state of our souls. This is real. If you’re scared or have any worries, these are the only questions that matter.

What small vices are hard to let go of? How have you grown accustomed to sin? (It’s the small little sins that can be hardest to let go of.)

  • Gossiping
  • Gluttony
  • Watching movies/shows with evil content
  • Thinking we’re better than others who are struggling with sin
  • No daily prayer time because we’re “too busy”
  • Failing to learn about our faith
  • Blaming others for our own mistakes

How have we not given our will to God? Have you charged forward with your own plans for life, ignoring what God is trying to show you?

  • Chasing money instead of Christ
  • Pleasing others instead of Christ
  • Putting work before children and/or spouse

I’m sure there are many more, but I’ll let you figure them out.

If none of these questions surface some good confession material you may suffer from moral blindness. If the greatest saints saw themselves as lowly sinners, it shouldn’t be too hard to find something to repent of. (C.S. Lewis has some really interesting things to say about Pride, I encourage you to read “Mere Christianity.”)

Although it would be far more beneficial, National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers wouldn’t be as interesting if it was about people caring for the state of their souls.

Let’s all get to Confession and ask our Lord to help us to see the sins on our heart!

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Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He resides currently in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a Minor in Marketing.

Featured Image Credit: Garreth Brown, https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-plastic-container-on-brown-wooden-table-5721986/

Come To Me

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Today’s First Reading is very short—so short it could be easy to dismiss or overlook. This would be unfortunate because it has much to do with all of your problems going away. God is aware of everything. He’s God. While you and I know this, sometimes we don’t believe it. There are moments when God seems disconnected, like we’re a cake in the oven and he forgot to come back and check on us. There are moments or even years of our lives when we feel like we’re on an island and nothing is going right and there is no relief from our struggles.

Big or small, we all have burdens. It could be waking up one morning to find your car won’t start. For some people it’s learning that a loved one has cancer. Anything that steals our peace is a burden. I’m sure plenty of people were burdened by this 2020 election season. Because of original sin, burdens happen. It’s a part of being human.

Satan wants us to feel isolated and abandoned. He wants us to get swept away by our problems and consumed by despair and hopelessness. He wants us to blame God for our burdens.

But here’s the wonderful news: God allows our burdens as an opportunity to approach him. A burden is an invitation to Trust in Him. When God became man and experienced suffering, he took on the ultimate burden: the weight of our sins and the sins of all of humanity.

The Mercy of our God is not comprehendible. He loves us so much. God wants our burdens. When we stop fighting to do it ourselves, that’s when God takes over. This doesn’t mean our problems magically go away as soon as we enter a Church. It means that as we begin to deepen our relationship with Christ and truly approach him, the weight of our own crosses begins to seem insignificant. “Jesus, I trust in You.”

Trust in God’s love and mercy.
Realize each burden is an opportunity to deepen your Trust in Jesus.
Understand even the smallest struggle can be given to God.
Make a Morning Offering each day as a reminder to give God everything.
Pray for the Grace to submit to God’s Divine Will.

Contact the author

Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He resides currently in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a Minor in Marketing.

Featured Image Credit: diocesan.com

Help! My Eyes Are Leaking!

I cried for the first time in 16 years this past summer. I went 16 years without a good sob. I think the last time I cried I was 10 or 11. It was probably related to getting left out of a family gathering where there was “no place for children.” (I felt my socialite status as an eleven-year-old was not recognized by my superiors and that was simply unfair.)

Sure, a drop may have escaped from my eyes a couple times—but mostly I didn’t have the response I expected to. It wasn’t because I didn’t feel sad or because I wanted be a “Macho Man.” Nothing seemed quite sad enough to warrant crying. I think it came down to two things: I felt like I had to deserve to cry and I didn’t want to cry in front of other people.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus weeps at the sight of Jerusalem. It might seem insignificant, but there’s something here that is helpful when it comes to understanding human emotions.
Jesus is perfect. This doesn’t mean he’s a cold-hearted robot who never messes up a math problem, it means when there is an appropriate time to feel an emotion, he feels it in the perfect amount and then moves on. Our emotions are what make us human. We tend to treat human emotion as a defect and not as a feature of our humanity.

Crying is an emotion that is frowned upon in our culture. I don’t know what to do when someone is crying. I feel like an out-of-place Iron Giant, waiting for the leaking to subside. Do they want a hug or some space?

Emotions are a difficult thing. If we don’t let it out, it will haunt us. Emotion stays trapped inside our bodies and builds up until we’re ready to explode.

This past summer, my wife and I miscarried our first child. I remember feeling all sorts of things, but I really couldn’t explain what those feelings were. It reached a point where words didn’t do the job. A couple days after the miscarriage, a pit started growing in my stomach. I thought maybe I had a stomach bug. I hate throwing up.

My wife realized I needed to talk. She pulled me into our bedroom and asked what was going on. I started sharing the thoughts about our child and what I was experiencing. The floodgates opened and my sixteen years of emotional drought came to a close. I stopped resisting my emotions and let them wash over me. I wept and felt my grief at something—someone—I had lost.

After my cry I felt so much better. I was not longer trying to cram my emotional laundry into a suitcase.

I felt peace.

Feeling emotion is a good thing. There can be too much, or too little. Neither extreme is the way we were meant to be. We were meant to be human. Whenever in doubt, look to Jesus as your guide.

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Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He resides currently in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a Minor in Marketing.

Featured Image Credit: Ben Hershey, https://unsplash.com/photos/8-fHqPCNy4c

Being Trustworthy in Very Small Matters

“The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones.” — Jesus Christ

“Did you see what she was wearing?”
“Have you heard about their fight?”
“Has he seen a doctor about that thing on his foot?”

I find it interesting when people talk about other people behind their back. It’s one thing if it’s showering complements upon the absent person, but more often than not, it’s critical and spreading information that we have no right to be spreading. I am ashamed to have taken part in such conversations from time to time. But, like most sin, it’s exciting to talk about people behind their back.

I’ve realized I immediately lose trust in people when they gossip. There’s something in me that knows right now it might be someone else they’re talking about but next time it could be me. What story or criticism do people crack open and start passing around when I’m at a dentist appointment?

Few people would boast about how much people don’t trust them. We demand honesty from other people all the time, but it’s embarrassingly rare when we take a moment to look at ourselves and root out the smallest bits of dishonesty. We’ve been breaking trust since Adam and Eve and none of us are exempt from such a flaw.

It always starts with simple things, like not showing up to a friend’s house for dinner because you would rather watch Netflix. I think most of us have wasted company time scrolling through Facebook. It can be silly things like watching pirated versions of The Avengers, sneaking into a Dave Mathews Band concert (I have no idea who would want to do that) or buying a dress for a wedding only to return it after the wedding. (Cool trick, eh?)

Once we contemplate our trustworthiness it can be startling to realize we don’t even trust ourselves.

Honesty is doing what we ought to do. Honesty protects us from being hypocrites. Honesty means we need to admit we are wrong. We’re all broken and we’re constantly violating the rules we pretend to uphold.

Pagans and non-believers watch what we do. They listen to what we say. If we aren’t trustworthy and we cheat, steal, or gossip—just like everyone else—we’ve missed our chance to evangelize. We’ve made a mockery of our religion.

Doing the “very small matters” right makes a difference in the great matters. There are no sins that fly under God’s radar. It’s time to do some fall cleaning in our daily lives and root out those venial sins!

Contact the author

Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He resides currently in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a Minor in Marketing.

If You Set the World Ablaze, You’re Going to Tick People Off

“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.” – Jesus

Most people would not smack books out the hands of a cripple at the library. Most people won’t cuss out the girl at McDonalds because they got an apple pie instead of a pumpkin pie. Most people quietly tolerate Facebook posts they disagree with and scroll on, avoiding the social brawl about to happen in the comment section.

Most people want to be known as a “good person.”

Very few of us want to be seen as jerks.

It’s a part of our humanity to avoid conflict and want to be liked by people around us. This instinct helps keep societies stable. Unfortunately, it also makes us poor Christians.

What’s interesting is that Jesus came to the world to rock the boat. He turned everything on its head. So much so, he was crucified for it.

And here’s the crazy part: Jesus wasn’t “nice.”

Nice is a shallow adjective that is easily misinterpreted to be Christian. Christ loves all people, but it’s because of his love that he has to put his foot down. A “nice” person does nice things for their own ego and because they are concerned with how people perceive them.

Christ creates division.

Modern Catholics are very quick to go with the flow. There’s often an expectation of tolerance and niceness when we think about the modern day Catholic. This is not at all the case. We are supposed to love others but if others persist in evil we cannot condone such behavior.

Humans are given Free Will. Ideally, we use our Free Will to choose the good, but in order for it to be a truly Free Will we must be able to choose the evil. If evil is not an option, is our Will free?

If you have never felt left out or at odds with non-believers there’s a very good chance that you are not living out the Catholic faith that Jesus intended. Jesus himself told us that division would happen. Jesus himself lived the Gospel so loudly that he was killed for it. Have you come even close to being killed for your belief in the Gospel?

It doesn’t have to be a literal death; it is more often a social death. A death that involves being unfriended on Facebook or getting called a “prude.”

If friends believe abortion is acceptable, we should love them, but we must show our dissent. We might lose our friends because of it.

As Jesus did, we should be friends with the sinners, “prostitutes”, and “tax collectors” but we also must share the Gospel and urge them to “sin no more” (in the most loving way possible).

To tolerate sin is failing in our Christian Faith. Being Christian has nothing to do with being nice and everything to do with dying for your faith. We are not a faith of subtlety.

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Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He resides currently in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a Minor in Marketing.

Potential Forecast of a Fair Weathered Disciple

Today’s Gospel reading is one that I had to read a couple times in order to understand what was going on. Jesus sometimes throws these curved balls where it’s hard to understand exactly where he’s coming from.

The disciples are rejoicing because they’ve seen the power of Christ at work in casting out demons. He reminds them that we should rejoice not because of what we can see God doing or our own ability to share the Gospel, but because we are children of God and he desires us in heaven with him.

It reminds me of how we work so hard at our faith and we don’t always see results. It gets frustrating. How many times have we talked to someone about our faith and they shut us down or treat us like we are weak. Whether it’s praying for an end to abortion or for the conversion of a loved one, sometimes it seems like God doesn’t hear us.

It is easy to be a disciple when we see progress.

It’s easy to be a disciple when the culture is on our side and we have “Catholic Celebrities” encouraging us along the way. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with seeing progress or rejoicing when we have our prayers answered. However, Jesus himself reminds us that we shouldn’t rejoice at results but at the fact that “our names are written in heaven.”

In the first reading we hear of Job and how God blessed him with beautiful daughters. But we all know Job was also blessed with severe trials in order to prove his faithfulness. Trials that would leave most people cursing God. Can you imagine losing your children in a terrible accident? Losing all your animals and livelihood? The only thing left were three servants who were the sole survivors of the tragedies. I pray to God that I can still rejoice and praise him even when faced with hardship.

It’s much harder to wear your faith with pride when you realize being Catholic means that people might not invite you to the neighborhood barbecue. Or when we have to defend Mother Church amidst a period of horrible scandal.

Praising God is much harder when we don’t get the things we want. Catholicism might lose a bit of its appeal when things aren’t going great. But none of that matters. Christ is real and he’s in the Church. He’s present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass all around the world. God the Father calls to us every day in the simple things. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told lately that God talks to us in the silence.

Whether we’re in a period of consolation (where we see and feel God in our lives) or we’re feeling desolation (alone and abandoned) God is still with us. We are still called to be saints and there is a great plan for our lives that ends in our union with God in heaven.

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Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He resides currently in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a Minor in Marketing.

So What’s In It For Me?

“Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why should you be envious because I am generous?”

As a cradle Catholic, I’ve found myself getting envious of people who are non-Catholic. Watching non-Catholics get to do whatever they want starts to wear on you if you’re not careful. The devil deceives us to think we are somehow disenfranchised by living a moral life.

At parties we’re the only one out of our friends who feels guilty for drinking too much. We don’t get to use birth control like other couples who “have it together” and get to do “whatever they want.” We must stay chaste while dating (and while married). We’re required to go to Mass on Sunday so we have to take off work or miss the pre-game tailgate. We don’t get one of those juicy burgers that the company bought everyone because it’s a Friday in Lent.

Everything in life has to be fair. As small children, we want our turn on the swing. As adults, we don’t want people cutting in line outside of the Apple Store.

Being a Catholic isn’t a punishment. We are the ones who are free. The rest of the world is a slave to their passions. They don’t get to live the life they want. So many people struggle with addiction, broken families, and habitual sin. Many of them don’t know there is a God who created and loves them. Can you imagine struggling without the Sacraments? We are the ones who are free. The rules of the Catholic Church are a gift, they are a universal Truth and it is when we follow that order that we show God we love him.

It’s a tendency of human nature to begin thinking we are held captive to God’s rules so we check the boxes grudgingly. It might be something small, but before we know it we start to think we’re hot stuff. It’s easy to get into an elitist mindset. We begin to think we are God’s chosen people: Look at all these holy things I do.

From there, our next step in our flawed human logic seems to be: so what’s in it for me? So God, I’ve been good. Now what special thing do I get?

Putting in more “hard time” of following the laws of Christ doesnt mean we’re the only ones who get to heaven. If we go to Church more than our friends that doesn’t make us holier. We should hope and pray that God’s Mercy showers down upon them and they too are granted heaven in spite of their ignorance and sin.

Love doesn’t expect anything in return. It gives freely. Do we only love God because of what we hope to get out of him or is it because we’re in love with the Creator of the Universe? Do we attend Mass to avoid Hell or because we want to be with Him forever?

We often apply human attributes to God. We turn God into someone like ourselves. Someone who gets jealous or prideful. We are stingy. God is not. It’s a good thing God is as merciful as he is, because we all need it. Especially if we don’t have the Truth of the Gospel.

Having the Truth of the Gospel is a gift and it’s our responsibility to share that gift with others whenever we can. We have no business keeping it to ourselves.

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Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He resides currently in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a Minor in Marketing.

All It Takes Is One Step

“Be quiet! Come out of him!”

I am distracted. I wake up with notifications on my phone. Thoughts about work immediately rush into my head as I pour my coffee. A load of emails greet me as soon as my computer is turned on.

Every single person can relate to getting distracted—we live in the distraction age. Before we know it, even Daily Mass can become an empty habit. The rosary loses it’s luster, and we start it only to end it. Our minds glide freely as we bounce from one distraction to the next.

If Jesus came tomorrow I would be horrified. “I’m not ready! I thought I had more time!” It reminds me of my homeschooling days when my mom and dad would come back from their date early, only to find that the house was nowhere close to being cleaned. My siblings and I would panic, throwing all we could into a closet while trying to brainstorm excuses.

The reading today is a wake up call. What spirits or addictions have taken a hold of you? Today is the day you can make a step towards sainthood. It doesn’t have to be dramatic! Take one step in the direction of discipline. Just start with one:

  • No texting in bed
  • Jump out of bed as soon as you alarm goes off
  • No Netflix during the weekdays
  • No alcohol during the week
  • Delete the Facebook App off your phone

Once you’ve cleared your mind and opened up your schedule a bit, the next step is to fill it with something meaningful. One of the most powerful things you can do (I promise you you will hate it at first) is spend 15 minutes in silence in the morning. Instead of hitting snooze, sit on the couch and give God the most deliberate 15 minutes you’ve ever given him. Let him change you. Let him talk to you.

Once you’ve done that for a week or two, add in another thing.

  • Read the Daily Readings (the Holy Word of God) first thing when you wake up
  • Attend Daily Mass once a week
  • Pray an evening Rosary with your family
  • Increase your silent time to 30 minutes
  • Attend Adoration once a week
  • Read “The Art of Loving God” by St. Francis de Sales

Every day should be one step closer to our Lord. If we aren’t moving closer, we’re moving farther away. There is no “status quo.” The unclean spirits are always working on us, it’s always urging us towards complacency—towards sleep.

We must urge each other towards holiness! Find a friend who will keep you accountable or ask your spouse to keep you honest in your efforts of purification.

If you first thought is that you can do it on your own, that’s okay. We call that pride. That’s a tricky one.

Here’s a template for you:

“Hey _________, I read a mediocre article that encouraged me to give up ___________. I want you to keep me accountable, because I want to take my faith to the next level. Is there anything I can help YOU with?”

If we aren’t struggling in some way, chances are we’re not growing. I’m sorry to say it, but it’s through suffering that we become Saints. Saint’s don’t let themselves be ruled by comfort and pleasure.

I’m praying for you! We’re in the good fight together.

Contact the author

Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He currently resides in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a minor in Marketing.