Tag: Tommy Shultz

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Today’s Gospel is quite long but so rich. At first, it can seem like Jesus is in a bad mood during these readings and is just calling people out left and right, condemning them. While these readings are very clear that Christ is making the Ten Commandments even harder than what people were used to, he isn’t doing this to spite or condemn them, he is telling them of his power.

Moses allowed divorce in the times of the Old Testament. Why was this allowed? Because people did not yet have the power of Christ. They did not have the grace that flows from the power of the cross. They lost their grace with original sin and had not received power from Jesus.

However, the people in the Gospel are different, and Jesus wants to make that known. The difference is himself and his power. You have heard not to commit adultery, but I say do not even lust. It can be easy to look at that as a condemnation, but I prefer to look at it as a call. It shows how far we are actually able to go if we believe in and accept grace from Christ.

In our original state in the garden, we had the grace of God and walked with him; after the fall, we lost it, all that remains is to gain it back. Thankfully this grace is a free gift, and we now live with the reality of Christ dying for our sins. All that is left for us to do is to be open and to ask for grace. This is what makes it possible for us to live in the way Jesus commands in the Gospel today. It gives us real power. This should give us great hope. Let’s take stock in that hope this week. God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Marketing for Ablaze ministries as well as Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative. In these roles he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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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A sacrament is a visible sign of invisible grace, of the grace of God. When we receive the Eucharist in the Mass, we are physically receiving God’s love and have that love not only in our hearts, but we consume it. Then immediately we hear, “The Mass has ended, go in peace.” You would think that something so important would necessitate a lot of time to process and pray. So why does the Church immediately dismiss us?

Check out the Gospel from today. It’s all about the light that we can be to the world and not hiding that light but bringing it to all. The reality is that the most divine we will be on this earth is right after we receive our Lord. Why does the Church immediately send us out? Because it’s at this moment that we can evangelize better than ever. We have literally become little Christs to go out and be with others and share grace and love.

Thankfully, because we have received Jesus, it does not need to be all on us. We don’t have to worry about our faults or weaknesses. We don’t need to know the Catechism back to back or memorize all the right scripture verses. We need only to receive Jesus and share with others our experience of Him. Today, people put more stock into personal experience than they do in deductive reasoning. This would seem to be negative in sharing Christ with people, but I have found the opposite.

When sharing the love of Christ with others, if we share our own personal experience of Christ, nobody can argue with that. It’s our own experience. They can’t tell us we are wrong. At most, they can just say they don’t agree. But in a world where subjective experience has become king, it can be powerful to share our subjective experience of the Lord.

This means that we have to have an experience. This means that our religion must be more than rules and regulations and just something we do. I agree with G.K. Chesterton, who said, “Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.” Let us all receive Christ, experience Christ, and bring Christ to all those we meet. God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Marketing for Ablaze ministries as well as Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative. In these roles he is comitted to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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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Today’s readings hit hard when it comes to our world today. I do Evangelization for a collaborative of parishes, and something I have noticed time and again through our courses and events is that a lot of people do not think deeply about religion.

There seems to be this idea in the world today that as long as Jesus is mentioned and you live a good life, then all religions are exactly the same. I want to challenge this position a little using the second reading from today. Here, Paul is clear that we are not supposed to be divided. For 1,500 years of church history, we had more unity than division. I think it is safe to say that we now have much more division than unity. With thousands of different denominations to choose from, the question should be, what is the Church that Jesus founded, and should it be one?

To me, religion is much more than finding a place that fits my spirituality, I am looking for the Church of Christ that he wanted to be united. I have to imagine that Luther had good intentions and would not have done what he did if he could have seen where we are at today. I don’t think his intention was to fragment the Church into thousands of different churches. I think his intention was to reform the One Church. But here we are today.

The reason I want to bring more and more people into the Catholic Church is that I believe that in spite of all her faults, this is the Church Jesus founded, and the gates of hell shall not prevail. If we believe in one united Church founded by Christ, then we should want to bring everyone into it. If we believe that all denominations are equal and it doesn’t really matter what you believe, then we will not want to bring anyone to the Church.

This is the question for today. Do we believe in the Church founded by Christ, and do we want unity as Paul so desperately wanted in today’s readings? The answer to this question will either inspire action or allow for complacency. Which is it for you? May God bless you today and always!

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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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Sometimes faith can be hard. We all know it, we have felt it, we have experienced times of desolation and consolation in our faith. The beauty about faith is that God is the one behind it. Sometimes we put faith on our own shoulders as if we just study enough or go to Mass every Sunday we will earn faith, but the reality is, similar to Grace, that faith is a free gift from the Lord that he wants to grant us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is the type of faith that John the Baptist had in the Gospel. I love how he says he did not know Jesus, but he prepared the way for him. Imagine that! In our world today we can experience Jesus in the Eucharist, we have the written word about his life, we have two thousand years of Church and historical history to fall back on and yet, faith is still difficult. John the Baptist had none of this and his faith was strong.

I think this is because we all too often put too much stock in ourselves. Thoughts like, “I have faith through my own power or knowledge or I gained MY faith of my own accord.” It doesn’t need to be that complicated or coated in pressure. Faith is a free gift. Let’s not be afraid to ask for it.

I think sometimes we have made the Holy Spirit into something that only comes around in sacraments and we have made God the Father into the angry God of the old Testament. Most of us relate better to Jesus. But the reality is that Jesus was revealed to John the Baptist by the Father and confirmed to him through the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the first and third persons of the Trinity who taught him faith. So if you struggle in your Christian walk, if you struggle in your life with Christ, if you struggle with faith, don’t forget to ask God the Father to reveal Christ to you and for the Holy Spirit to confirm that relationship in your heart. Be blessed!

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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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Today marks the last day of the Christmas season, where we celebrated the birth of Christ, and the Baptism of the Lord, where we celebrate new life in Christ. 

There is so much beauty in new birth and then, of course, new birth in Christ, but quite often, I think we can forget the power of baptism. I know for me, being baptized as a child, it was hard to know the power because I don’t remember the actual moment. 

This is why I recommend two things. First, is to look up your baptismal day. This is a special moment where you entered into the body of Christ and became an adopted son of God the Father. The parish you were baptized in will have a record of this, give them a call and find out when you were made new. Celebrate this every year, similar to a birthday. Do something special or be with Jesus in adoration. 

Second, don’t treat your baptism as a one and done moment. The Franciscans always preach constant conversion, where every moment is a moment for more grace. When was the last time you asked the Holy Spirit into your life? Baptism in the Spirit is not some magical ceremony between you and God; it is simply asking for the grace of your baptism to be increased through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

I have noticed in my own life that when I am more aware of baptismal grace working, and I am consistently asking for it, I am much closer to God and am able to see his plan in my life more clearly. More information on the Holy Spirit and Baptism in the Spirit can be found at https://thewildgooseisloose.com/series-segments.

This series was life-changing for me because it is an easy way to start opening up more and more to the Holy Spirit and His power in our life. May God bless you abundantly during this new season of Ordinary Time!

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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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“You know the time;
it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.”
-Romans 13:11

Here we are at the beginning of Advent once again. I love the beauty in the liturgical calendar how we are either preparing our hearts or celebrating what God has done for us, but I think because it happens every year we tend to forget the point of Adevnt. 

Sure, it is to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ in the flesh but it is also to wake up to the reality of salvation. I love that the scripture today talks about awaking from sleep. I immediately think back to the garden and that first sleep that Adam was put into before Eve was created. 

The original word for this sleep is topror, and it is not the same as taking a nap or sleeping through the night. This sleep means almost to be called out of existence. When Adam fell asleep it is as if he was called out of existence and woke up with the new reality of the human person as both man and woman, a brand new creation.

How does this relate to the reading? Well, here we are being reminded to awake from our sleep. After the fall we were put into another sleep if you will. We lost the inheritance that was given to us from the beginning. We almost ceased to exist as we were created and began existing as fallen humanity.

We should be reminded of this reality during this pentitential season, but more than that we should be reminded that Christ came to wake us from our sleep and remind us of how we were created. He came as man to remind us what the ultimate human looks like and how we are meant to be. After all, our destiny is to participate intimately in the divinity of God himself. 

So this advent season let’s wake up. Let’s all try to take some time to prepare our hearts for the wake up call that comes at Christmas. We wake up that morning and are instantly reminded of our desitny, almost as if we are called back into our original existence. That is something to celebrate, but first we must prepare. From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless!

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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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I think sometimes we lose the depth of scripture because we have 2,000 years of theological insight and historical data to help us interpret what is being said. The beautiful then becomes commonplace, just another story we have heard over and over again. But put yourself in the place of the early Christians for just a second, or better yet, put yourself in place of the good thief on the cross.

Here, everyone is screaming for a sign. “If you are truly the Son of God, save yourself.” These taunts seem very similar to those of Satan in the desert, don’t they? Perhaps not a coincidence. The accusers get louder, and Jesus does nothing. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords lets it all happen. Now, of course, we know from 2,000 years of theological insight and because of the historical fact of the resurrection, that Jesus had a plan, but the good thief did not.

Let that sink in. Here is a man on death row who has heard some ramblings about Jesus but does not have a relationship with him. Here he is in his last moments, and what he sees with his eyes is that Jesus does not have real power, but what he knows in his heart is much different. Despite what it may look like or appear to be, God was working in this man’s heart. He was allowing his heart to open enough to have expectant faith that what Jesus said in his public ministry for three years was all true. This leads to one of the most profound expectations of faith we hear in scripture, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Notice, this wasn’t a question; It wasn’t a plea for forgiveness; It was a cry of belief, of pure faith. It was this faith that saved him. The evidence was stacked against him, but he cried out with an expectation that God was who he said he was. The Church knows this reality when it comes to the Eucharist. The Eucharist is hard to believe in because it still looks like bread and wine. Even the Church has the famous line written by Aquinas, “Faith will tell us Christ is present when our human senses fail.”

Could you imagine what would happen if every Catholic approached communion with this expectant faith? “God, everything around me is trying to say that you don’t exist, and you don’t care, but with your grace, I can open my heart and cry out AMEN!” The word amen actually means I believe. How often do we approach the Eucharist and either doubt God’s power or just let it become commonplace like those 2,000-year-old Gospel stories? Let’s all take a cue from the good thief and cry amen with expectant faith, that God is who he says he is, and he is truly present to us in the Eucharist. Give it a try. From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless!

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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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Today’s readings are pretty tough to swallow, being not only about hell but also about the end time and not knowing the precise moment. It is easy to look at these readings and be confused as to why we would not be told when Jesus will come for the second time. It seems that a loving God would tell us the exact date so we can get our things in order and prepare, but this gives us a window into one of the more profound truths about God.

Theologians over the years have talked about God being outside of time as we know it today. As Catholics, we call this the eternal now. That everything is present to God at all times. The past, the present, and the future are all known to him in every single moment because it is God who holds all of those moments in being.

This is hard for us to understand as human beings because it is so different from our experience of alarms, schedules, and age. But it’s beautiful because it shows us that our time here on earth, our literal seconds ticking by, is just a drop in the ocean compared to eternity with God. Life might not be perfect, it might be incredibly difficult and filled with suffering, it might have its ups and downs, but we were not meant for this, we were meant for eternal bliss with God forever.

If God sees everything, past, present, and future, then on the cross as he was suffering for us, he was also suffering with us. He saw every suffering we would ever experience and experienced it with us to help us through it. He was already giving us the grace we needed to endure. Why do you think he sweat blood? That’s a lot of pressure, the suffering of all people for all time being offered on the cross.

It may sometimes seem like God doesn’t have a plan or doesn’t care. There is a lot of suffering in the world. But God sees the whole picture. He sees that there is something beyond this world that we are made for. He sees that this world is not the end. He wants us to experience love not only for these ticking seconds on earth but for infinity and beyond. From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless!

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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.