Catholic Faith Space
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I spent the weekend helping paint our living room. As we worked on this project, I was thinking about how much work and preparation there was before we could start painting. We moved all the furniture to the middle of the room, took picture frames and all decorations off the walls, washed the walls, taped the trim and taped around the window/doors,and covered the furniture with sheets. Anyone who comes into the house will only see the freshly painted walls. They will not see all of the extra work, preparation, and effort that went into the project. But all of these things were necessary for a good end result.. It is like this in our spiritual lives. There is a lot of work we must do in order to grow in our relationship with Jesus and to deepen our faith. We must put in the effort on a daily basis. And most of the time, no one will see what we are doing. But we must do it anyway.
What are we doing to develop a deeper prayer life, cultivate the fruits of the Holy Spirit, strengthen our relationship with Jesus, and learn more about our faith? It’s easy to show up to volunteer at some parish event where others see how generous we can be with our time. It’s easy to drop kids off at faith formation every Wednesday night so they can learn about their faith once a week. It’s easy to show up to mass each week and check it off the to-do list until the following weekend. If people see you at mass, they see that you’re a “good” Catholic, right? But we can’t do the bare minimum and expect to become holy. We need to put in the behind-the-scenes work and continually nourish our spiritual lives. If we don’t, the end result will not be good. How committed are we to knowing and loving God and to becoming who He created us to be (saints!!!)? God has given us everything we need to become the best versions of ourselves. But we need to put in the work- even the work that no one else sees. There is so much we can do to grow in our relationship with Christ and to strengthen our faith. Try a new way to pray or add in extra prayer time. Spend time reading spiritual books about the saints and other topics. Open up your Bible. Reflect on the daily Mass readings. Crack open the Catechism and learn what the Church teaches on certain topics. Listen to a Catholic podcast. Go to Eucharistic adoration. The options are endless. As with the painted living room, even though people did not see the preparation and work that was done beforehand, they will be able to look at the walls and know that extra effort was put in to get the end product. Similarly, when people see us, our goal should be for them to see Christ in us- and to see individuals with a strong faith and deep love for Him. While they will not see the extra work we are doing in our personal lives, they will hopefully know, just by the way we live, that we are, in fact, putting in the effort.
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Over the weekend, I heard a song called, “Just Want You” by Sarah Reeves. In the chorus, the artist sings, “I don’t want it if You’re not in it, I Just want You. No, I don’t want it if You’re not in it, I just want You, God.” It is a beautiful song that allowed me to reflect on the fact that we were created by God because of His love for us and our lives are all about how we respond to that love. Everything else is secondary. What do we really want? Are our desires and wants of God or of the world?
Sometimes, as I reflect at the end of a day, I find that there were more moments than not that I wanted things that were not of God. I realize that, in many moments, I wanted the approval of others, worldly success, to put my needs in front of others, or many other things that pull me away from God. How often do we find ourselves wanting all that the world tells us we should want? It is probably easy for a lot of us to tell ourselves that we want God- that we want to love Him and serve Him alone. But then, we do or say something that shows we want something else more than God. Or maybe, it is the things we choose not to say or do, for fear of what other people will think or how they will respond. Maybe we worry that others might be offended so we decide to withhold our beliefs. We all want to be seen and loved. Naturally, we want others to like us and to accept us. This desire is written in the human heart. But so often, we look to other people for this desire to be met. We can spend so much time seeking approval from others. However, we must stop trying to fit in, go with the flow, and be like everyone else. God sees us and loves us. And His love is greater and deeper than the love and approval of every single person in the world combined! God doesn’t need us. But He wants us. And He loves us. How are we responding? Once we realize this basic truth, we cannot just sit back and do nothing. Our days should be focused on how we can better know, love and serve Him. May we each develop a deep desire for God that is the foundation in all we do and the way we live. I bought an alarm clock a few days ago. A basic alarm clock that many of us probably had to use back before we had iPhones. I bought this alarm clock in hopes that it will help me to stop being so dependent on my phone as an alarm. The dependency I have had on my phone has caused me to develop poor habits such as scrolling through social media right before going to sleep and opening up social media before doing anything else upon waking up. Our last thoughts before going to sleep and our first thoughts upon waking up should be directed to God. Using my phone as an alarm had become a barrier to my relationship with God. When we notice anything that is distracting us and preventing us from growing closer to God, we must make a change. We must ask ourselves, “What do I really value? Who or what has the number one spot in my life?”
When we stop and ask ourselves these kinds of questions, we may become uncomfortable as we look deep within ourselves and face reality. There are so many other areas of our lives that may easily make their way to the forefront of our lives. But what it really comes down to is our priorities. We all fall short of what God is asking of us. And we will as long as we are on this Earth. But if we truly have the desire to put the Lord first in our lives and strive to do so in the choices we make and the way we live, God sees that. When we wake up each morning and even as we move throughout our days, we should ask God, with a sincere heart, to give us the grace to choose Him over and above all. He will help us if we ask and as long as we are committed to growing, changing, and being challenged, no matter how difficult it may be. Each day, we have countless opportunities to choose God, whether we realize it or not. When we decide to speak kind words to a co-worker rather than harsh words of criticism or gossip, we are choosing God. When someone cuts us off in traffic and we stay calm and say nothing, rather than get angry and honk our horns, we are choosing God. When we turn off that inappropriate TV show and open up a good spiritual book, we are choosing God. When we let someone go in front of us in a line or give up a selfish desire, we are choosing God. We either choose God or choose something other than God in how we live our lives. And if our relationship with God is the number one priority in our lives, we will do everything we can to remove all that is hindering us from growing closer to Him. Lord, thank you for loving us unconditionally, even when we fail. Help us to choose you always. Give us the desire to love you more than anyone or anything else in our lives. We give you our hearts. Remove all that is distracting us from knowing you more deeply. Amen. Last week, I was reading through The Compass, the newspaper of the Green Bay Diocese. I came across the Letters to the Editor section. The two letters that were there were from Catholics who appeared to be mad about some Church teachings, specifically on abortion and gender. They shared their disappointment and disapproval of the Catholic Church sharing and promoting church teaching- that God created male and female, and that abortion takes an innocent human life. These are two teachings that are straightforward and clear and there is no room for compromise or disagreement on these issues. Reading these letters caused me to think about what it means to be Catholic and to follow Christ and about how many people try to make it about their own personal feelings. If we are looking for warm, fuzzy feelings and to always be comfortable, we might as well look somewhere else.
It’s not about us. This is demonstrated, first and foremost, in the Mass. The Mass is where we worship God and offer ourselves to Him. And even though it’s not about us, God pours His love out upon us and gives us more than we could ever receive anywhere else. Jesus gives Himself completely to us in the Eucharist and we can receive countless graces from the Mass. And one of the many, many reasons the Mass is so beautiful is because it is one of the few experiences in our self-obsessed culture that turns the focus away from us and points to God- it gives Him all the glory. It’s not a time for us to be entertained. If we are truly living our faith and as long as we are living in the world, we will likely find ourselves feeling a bit uncomfortable on a regular basis. As Catholics, we will not blend in when we stand for Christ and the Church's teachings and for all that the world is against. When we are around co-workers, friends, or family members who are all in agreement on certain topics and have beliefs that are contrary to what we believe, we will not experience warm or fuzzy feelings. In these moments, when we have to go against the majority and stand up for truth, we will be uncomfortable. When we stand up for the importance of Mass and the truth about the Eucharist, for the dignity of the human person, for marriage, for holiness, for purity, for sacrificial living, for strong values and morals, and more, we are standing for God. We don’t stand for all that is good, true, and beautiful because of or for ourselves. We do it for God alone, and that often means sacrificing comfort and “good feelings.” Our faith will not make us comfortable, but we can find comfort in our faith. We can find comfort knowing that this life is about someone so much bigger than ourselves. We can find comfort in knowing that we serve a God who is so good, forgiving, and merciful. We can find comfort in the fact that we are fully known and deeply loved by Him. May you learn to find comfort in being uncomfortable; because if you are uncomfortable it probably means that you are standing for God and His truth. And that’s what it’s all about. “Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” This line struck me when reading Tuesday’s (8/2) Gospel. I remember this gospel passage where Jesus walks on water coming to life for me back in elementary school, at the summer vacation bible school that took place each summer at one of the local Catholic churches. Since then, it has remained one of my favorite passages in scripture. When we read a particular passage over and over, something different can strike us each time or we can gain a new perspective on the words we are reading. How often do we doubt that Jesus is right there with us? Do we fully trust that he will always catch us?
In the passage, Jesus commands Peter to come to Him on the water. And He does the same to each and every one of us. Through the joys, sorrows, good times, and hardships, he calls us to come to Him. He asks that we come to Him with everything and trust Him with it all. But in our weakness, our trust may waver at times. And when this happens, doubts may sneak in and fear may overtake our faith. In these times, we must trust that Jesus will stretch out his hand and catch us. We cannot put our trust in things of this word because we will always be let down and we will sink. None of us are promised a life without suffering and challenges. In fact, we will all go through waves and stormy waters. There is no way around the storms. Our only option is to go through them. Sometimes, Jesus will calm the storms and make them go away. Other times, he will not. However, every single time, he will stretch out his hand and help us walk through them and He will be there, whenever we call out to Him. Jesus deeply longs for us to trust him without any limitations. We can see this when he asks, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” More than anything, He wants us to fully believe that He will never leave us and never let us drown. As Christians, we are not immune from moments of fear and other weaknesses. However, the key is to focus on our faith and keep our eyes on Jesus. When we become distracted, we must call out to Him to save us, because nothing else in this world will. The depth of our faith and trust in Jesus is what allows us to step out of the boat, out of our comfort zones, and through the waves, wind, and storms, walking closer to Him. Jesus is stretching out His hand, always ready to catch you. Do you trust Him? |
AuthorStriving to share hope, joy, God's love, and all of the good stuff, one blog post at a time. Categories |
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