Tag: Tommy Shultz

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“So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.
It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.
It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.”

I love today’s first reading because it speaks about what happens to us at the second coming of Christ when we experience the resurrection of our bodies. Wait what? Will we have bodies even in heaven? I thought our body decayed and our spirit lived on?

The Catholic Church has always held the teaching of the resurrection of our bodies, in fact, it is mentioned in the creed. But this is not something simply made up by theologians; it is a deeply biblical truth. We see allusions to it here as well several other places in the Bible, the most important probably being the example of Jesus Himself.

After Jesus resurrected He still had His body, but with noticeable differences. He could walk through walls, He was often recognized as a ghost, so his physical appearance was somewhat different, and though there are many accounts of Him cooking and eating with His disciples, He didn’t need food to nourish His body.

This profound reality is known as spiritualization of the body, and it is one of the most exciting, I think, facts about heaven. We know that the human person is a body-soul composite. In heaven after the resurrection of the body, this unity will reach its perfection to the point that we will have the same differences that Christ did after his resurrection.

St. John Paul II talks about this in Theology of the Body. He says, “The truth about man’s destiny cannot be understood as a state of the soul alone, separated from the body, but must be understood as the definitively and perfectly integrated state of man brought about by a perfect union of the soul with the body” (see TOB 66:6).

So in other words, we will become superheroes. Saint John Paul II goes on to say, “Spiritualization means the powers of the spirit will permeate the energies of the body. Because of man’s very nature, perfection cannot resist in a reciprocal opposition of the spirit and the body, but only in a deep harmony between them, in safeguarding the primacy of the spirit” (see TOB 67:1,2).

We will be able to walk through walls, fly, go without eating, gain immortality, keep our perfect figure, never get wrinkles, and much more. But why become like superheroes, or as scripture says, like angels, if we are in heaven and nobody needs saving?

Think about salvation history for a second. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were perfectly happy with God and each other. But even Adam and Eve could not walk through walls or go without eating. They had perfect bodies, but they were not spiritualized. After the fall God sent his only Son to redeem the world and how did he do it? Through a body.

St. John Paul II says, “Through the fact that the Word of God became flesh, the body entered theology through the main door” (see TOB 23:4).

And the Catechism points out, “The flesh is the hinge of salvation. We believe in God who is the creator of the flesh; we believe in the word made flesh in order to redeem the flesh, we believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the fulfillment of both the creation and redemption of the flesh.” CCC 1015

So why will we be like superheroes when nobody needs saving? To always remind us of the incredible sacrifice of the cross and the truth of redemption. God loved us so much after we turned away from Him that instead of restoring us to our original perfect state, He restores us to something even beyond that. His love for us is that powerful, and that gives us true reason to rejoice and a real reason for hope.  Let’s take a moment to thank God today for the gift of his life, death, and resurrection, crucial parts of our very own salvation history story. 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 have always had a deep devotion to my confirmation saint, St. Joseph. We know very little about St. Joseph, but in today’s readings, we hear some of the only written accounts of this great saint. It has just been announced that Mary shall bear a son.

“When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.”

Many saints and scholars have commented on the fact that this verse does not necessarily mean that Joseph was going to divorce her because he believed she had been with another man. This is an understanding that some read into this text. But many have written about this idea that Joseph knew that Mary had conceived of the Holy Spirit and he did not feel worthy, after all, he was chosen to be the earthly father of Jesus, no small task.

To distance Mary from any shame and because he did not feel worthy, he decided to divorce her quietly. But God had different plans.

“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”

And here we have Joseph’s fiat, his yes to God. Though he must have felt unworthy, he was now betrothed to a sinless virgin who was carrying God in her womb; he trusted that God would provide him with strength.

A few days ago I reflected on humility. I think today’s readings keep that discussion going beautifully. I think we often think of humility as something that is weak, we are made small and so we act small. I know I struggle with that sometimes. But here we have Joseph being given the grace to help our Savior through His earliest days. What amazing strength and courage it must have taken Joseph to say yes, a yes that could only come through the grace of God.

So again we see this utter reliance on God, our unworthiness made perfect in God, and from that came pure strength. If we keep in mind that everything begins and ends with God, then we should not be afraid to boast in the Lord. Humility is not hiding the great things God is doing in our lives, but it’s bringing them to light so people can see that it is not just us and our strength, but it is God making us worthy and giving us grace.

Let us ask for the grace of continued humility and the strength to give our important yes to God. Amen!

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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 have always struggled with humility. I think it is because I am such a positive person and for a long time I saw humility as putting ourselves down; we are just measly worms who can do nothing right. I have come to realize through reflection, prayer, and the readings of the saints, that true humility is not about our unworthiness as much as it is about our utter dependence. A mathematician can expound on the smartest equations known to man, and he/she is worthy of doing so, but he/she is dependant on the theories that have come before.

In today’s first reading St. Paul’s words hit hard. “I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ. I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it.” Immediately my mind goes positive about my worth, “Hey, I am not just a child. I can handle the truth. I went to Franciscan for Theology so, I know my stuff.”

Then reality sets in and I realize that I have complete dependence on my Lord and God. Every movement, every breath, every second of study, is due to God keeping me in existence, holding me in His arms, keeping me in His heart. I am dependent on the God who gave me my worth. As human beings, we are made with the utmost dignity and deserve respect, but we also need to realize that in relation to God and the entire cosmos we are just a speck of paint in the beautiful painting that we know as humanity.

God does not need us, but He sure wants us. He has given us dignity, talents, a heart capable of true charity, and an immortal soul all of which need to be exercised as the gifts they are. Our worth is vast, our dependence total.

This point is hit home by Jesus in today’s Gospel as he performs miracles. We need signs as human beings don’t we? We like proof that God is who He says He is.

We should be able to look at how incredibly we have been created and learn of the goodness of God, but often we don’t. We should be able to admit our reliance on God, but often we want to prove our worth by neglecting the one who created it. Our worth and reliance should be apparent, but we need help to see.

Jesus performs these signs to help us, to love us, but they should also show us that He is in control. This is true humility, seeing our infinite worth, and our complete reliance. Let us pray for the gift of humility and thank God for creating us in His image and likeness. Amen!

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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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In today’s beautiful readings we see Jesus rebuking the Pharisees for following the letter of the law solely for the sake of the law instead of understanding the more profound point, relationship.

“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”

Now at first, this passage looks pretty condemning, but let’s look a little deeper. Jesus is rebuking the hypocritical attitude, but he is doing so because He knows our destiny is so much more significant.

We were not meant to just be human slaves obeying laws and precepts without any real purpose or goal. In the beingning with Adam and Eve, there was no need for such a focus on laws. They understood at a deep level that a human person has innate dignity and is made in the image and likeness of God. They understood and lived this relationship with God and each other perfectly.

And then the fall happened. We started to lose the capacity to look at others with love, mercy, kindness, and charity. We started to act against our very human nature and commit grievances against our own people. It is for this reason that laws were put in place, to protect the common good.

Laws are essential in a fallen world, but Christ in today’s Gospel is calling us to go beyond the law. Instead of doing actions just for that actions sake, digging deep and remembering where we come from and what we are meant for, eternal happines with God in heaven.

We are meant to look at Adam and Eve’s experience and learn from them and start to allow that experience to become ours. Not one enslaved by sin and evil where laws have to guide us, but freedom where we are guided by unconditional love.

This is what Jesus reminds us of today. That He has created us with a purpose that is beyond our understanding and a destiny that is literally out of this world. The only way we are going to get there is by finding the real person behind the commandents and by allowing His love to penetrate into our lives in such a real way that the commandments are no longer a burden but they just make sense because we know that every human person has dignity and worth.

Let us ask for the grace of God because we need it in order to begin to live by the original standards of charity that God gave us from the beginning. Amen.

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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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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!

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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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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.

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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 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!

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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 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.

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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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As I reflected on today’s readings I began to realize all the times I have had to tell myself to get behind me satan. I know even the way that sentence was phrased sounds strange, but hear me out. There have been many times in my own life where God has spoken to me and I have shut out the voice.

While driving past the homeless man and instead of just saying a silent prayer, wondering why he/she doesn’t have a job. There was one experience I had working a Steubenville Conference and being invited to pray in a charismatic way I never had and I was afraid. Another time I was with friends at a bar and a less than savory topic came up and I laughed awkwardly in the corner instead of standing up for my faith and what I believed was right.

We all struggle with this don’t we? In today’s Gospel Jesus made Peter the head of the Church, and then immediately Peter screwed up by telling Jesus not to do the most important thing in the history of the world. We are among friends here. My beautiful fiance speaks frequently about how she relates to Peter because he denied Christ three times and she hesitated to become Catholic three times.

The Holy Spirit is active in our world and God has a very specific purpose for you. Ok, now stop for a second. Read that again very slowly. Take a few minutes to pray through it. Let it sink in. Let the fact that God has a plan for you be more than just a cute phrase to print on a pencil and hand out to youth group.

God has a special plan for you! So how do we live this pan out? Well thankfully the answer is in the very same Gospel. Jesus rebuked Peter saying you do not think as God does but as human beings do. In order to realize God’s plan and live it we need to trust and pray. We need to trust that God really does see us and want to know us personally and we need to pray because without speaking to God how will His plan become clear in our hearts.

How are you going to pray and trust more today? Something I have been doing in my life is if I ever feel a prompting of the Holy Spirit I just immediately act on it. Instead of standing there wondering if it is God or not, I just trust and reach out to that cashier who seems to be having a hard day, that person at the gym who needs help lifting, the coworker who seems stressed. The worst that can happen is we encounter another person and help them in their walk closer to heaven. Pray and trust. Peace!

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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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He opened his eyes, a crescent of light flooding the landscape of his vision. Heat, heat like was never felt before and dryness like an overcooked clay pot. He looked around as he took his first breath. His legs shaking like a newborn deer as he made his way to the first figure he could see. “Excuse me sir,” he cried out. No answer. “Sir, do you have any water?” Still nothing. Frustrated by the lack of compassion, he looked around and realized he was somehow with the Israelites right after God had led them out of Egypt. Suddenly, a sharp pain in his stomach. He needed water and food but nobody seemed to be able to see him. The more he cried out the more desperate he became.

How unfair that he would be placed here. His life back home was not perfect, but this was worse than anything. Why would God lead him here without a plan, without support, barely clinging to life? Without food and water he would surely die soon. Those around him seemed to be in a similar predicament.

In the distance he heard one of them crying out, “Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!”

It was as if they were taking words from his mouth. Finally, a cloud opened and a booming voice provided an answer, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.”

It happened just as was foretold. Manna came down like the dewfall and he was able to eat his fill. Day after day he was fed by this miraculous bread, but it wasn’t enough. Eventually he became spiteful, he wanted so much more. If this God was so good why would He continue sending the same old bread? No seasoning, barely palatable. Darkness.

Light like that of a thousand suns. He now found himself comfortable on the side of a hill, his fingers grazing through the soft grass. As he gained composure he noticed thousands of people around him all waiting to be fed. He noticed again that his hunger was insatiable, but only five loaves and two fish for this entire crowd? Impossible to say the least. He doubted that which he could not understand. Then, there came a great commotion in the crowd. Bread was being distributed to all, somehow he would not go hungry. He ate and it fulfilled him for a time, but he eventually became fatigued again. A figure stood in the distance and said, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” He did not know the full meaning of this phrase, but he knew that this was the bread he was searching for. A bread that would truly satisfy. A bread that would change him from within and make him immortal. A bread that would leave nothing to want. In desperation for the very thing he cried out to God, “Please Lord, give me this bread of life.” Darkness.

Light and the ringing of bells as his eyelids opened almost like a door to a new world. Singing like that of angels rang through the building he found himself in. A rough hand suddenly grazed his shoulder motioning him up and forward. He knew not where he was being led, but it somehow felt familial. Suddenly, from the back of his mind a phrase leapt forward, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” He drew closer. As his eyes adjusted he realized he was in a church at what appeared to be a wedding ceremony. He had left the reserved seat and was now walking forward, but only a blurry figure stood where the bride and groom would exchange their vows. He continued forward as something overcame him. A feeling like that which he had just experienced moments before. It became too much and he fell to the ground as he proclaimed, “I believe!”

Normally darkness and confusion would set in at this point, but everything became lighter. Like a thousand bright candles had just been illumined all at once. His whole being began to float as he rested in this ecstasy. Oh pure bliss, oh joy unbounded! Immortality was finally his as fear and anxiety melted away. Faster and faster he flew into the heights of this unknown spectacle, his hair flowing freely in the breeze, symbolizing his own newfound freedom. Finally, HE WAS HOME! 

 

This is the story of a man who constantly doubted the goodness and power of God. A man who felt he would be better off at times on his own. A man who was searching for fulfillment in all the wrong places. A man who had to trust and believe in order to truly live. Who is this man? This man is me. This man is you. 

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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 there is far too much talk about sin and not enough about virtue.” -The Priest from the movie Calvary

How would you like to be compared to an old loin cloth rotting away in a desert under a rock? In today’s first reading we see God comparing the rot of an old loin cloth with the rot of the pridefulness of the people of Judah. Not a great comparison from anyone, much less God Himself.

I recently had an idea to start something called “out of context bible verses” where I would pick a strange verse from the bible and distribute it with no explanation of where or why it was said. Here we have one that would work; “Go buy yourself a linen loincloth;
wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water.”

All joking aside though, the wicked people in this passage refused to obey the words of God, they walked with stubbornness in their hearts, and they worshiped false gods. But before all of these sins were committed God says that he clung to His people but they did not listen.

Later in the Psalm we hear, “You have forgotten God who gave you birth.” Throughout these rich readings we see a theme of the people of God ceasing to search for God. They think they can do everything on their own and that rotten loin cloth pride takes over and they get in all sorts of trouble.

It would be easy to focus on the sins in these verses, but rather I want to focus on this idea of no longer seeking out God. A basic definition of virtue is to seek the good. I have been reading a lot about virtue lately and I have realized that it is easy to focus on how not to live instead of actually focusing on how we should be living. To hyper focus on avoiding sin and not focus so much on living in the truth.

This has been a huge step for me in my spiritual life. If we stop seeking the good, then we will stop living towards the standard of that same good. I would take this so far as to say that before any sin is committed, first virtue is rejected. If sin truly is a lack of something, then the thing lacking is goodness.

I think for me it is easier to focus on sin because it’s easier to just say that I should not do this or that thing. It is much harder to love the people that bug me, to go out of my way for the poor or marginalized, to sacrifice my time and money for the well-being of others.

Pope Francis in his new apostolic exhortation says, “Just as you cannot understand Christ apart from the kingdom he came to bring, so too your personal mission is inseparable from the building of that kingdom: “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Mt 6:33). Your identification with Christ and his will involves a commitment to build with him that kingdom of love, justice and universal peace. Christ himself wants to experience this with you, in all the efforts and sacrifices that it entails, but also in all the joy and enrichment it brings. You cannot grow in holiness without committing yourself, body and soul, to giving your best to this endeavor.”

This is a call to true virtue. A call to come outside of ourselves and instead of hyper focusing on sin, focusing instead on our mission to love, a mission that will bring us the true joy we seek.

Pope Francis goes on to say, “Do not be afraid of holiness. It will take away none of your energy, vitality or joy. On the contrary, you will become what the Father had in mind when he created you, and you will be faithful to your deepest self. To depend on God sets us free from every form of enslavement and leads us to recognize our great dignity. We see this in Saint Josephine Bakhita: Abducted and sold into slavery at the tender age of seven, she suffered much at the hands of cruel masters. But she came to understand the profound truth that God, and not man, is the true Master of every human being, of every human life. This experience became a source of great wisdom for this humble daughter of Africa”

Let us take a lesson today from Pope Francis, from Saint Josephine Bakhita, and of course from the Word of God. This week I am going to try to live my life constantly seeking the good instead of letting the fear of sin be my motivation. Let us all ask for this grace. Amen!

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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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“Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ He said to them in reply, ‘An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.'” Matthew 12:38-39

Have you ever finished a time of prayer and realized that all you did the entire time was ask God for things? And maybe even worse than that, you didn’t have the faith that it would really happen. I know I have struggled with this a lot in my prayer life. The Scribes and Pharisees struggled with this today in the Gospel.

Petition is an important form of prayer, but the Catechism outlines five total forms of prayer that we should be aware of to draw closer to Christ.

These forms are adoration, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. I am going to try this week to focus more on contemplative prayer which involves adoration. Just sitting before God and adoring Him because He is. Let’s ask for this grace together. Amen.

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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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