The summer before my sophomore year of college, I started experiencing a health issue.  Without going into too much detail, I will just say that it involved a lot of blood and a bit of discomfort.  After just a few doctor visits and different tests taken and not yet having a diagnosis, I continued googling symptoms on my own.  I looked at sources such as WebMD, and naturally, thought the worst.  That same summer, a Christian song, “Thy Will” by Hillary Scott was popular, as it had been released earlier in the year.  When it came on the radio in my car time after time, I would just cry.  I remember thinking, “what if I’m dying at 19?”  Of course, it was an extreme and dramatic overreaction.  But the beautiful lyrics of that song became a real and raw prayer, as I prayed to accept God’s will.  It was really the first time that I truly surrendered myself to God.

Many of us have believed, at one time or another, that we were in control of our lives.  We get to make our own decisions, decide what we want to do and when we want to do it.  And with this mindset often comes fear, worry, and hopelessness.  We put our trust and faith in ourselves, rather than on God, then face disappointment when things don’t go our way.  But everything changes when we place our trust and faith in God, who loves us and wants only good for us.  Everything changes when we surrender ourselves to Him.  As one line in the song says, “sometimes I gotta stop, remember that you’re God and I am not.”  We need to always remember who is in control.

Surrender is not a one time thing.  It is a continual, lifelong process that takes a lot of work.  It is a choice that we need to make, over and over again.  To surrender means to put everything into the hands of Jesus and just trust.

When we surrender ourselves and our whole lives to Jesus, it means that we do not have to worry about what may come our way, because we know that He is leading the way and will not abandon us.  We will not always be able to understand what He is doing, but we can trust that He is good.
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A great prayer for each of us to pray daily, from the surrender novena, is Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything.”  May we all embrace this powerful line and pray daily to accept God’s will.

During the homily at mass last Wednesday, the priest said something along the lines of “it is through the cross that we can move forward.”  This profound statement reminded me of a time that God revealed this truth to me.  Right at the beginning of my dad’s funeral mass, as my siblings and I stood alongside the casket, the funeral home director handed me a wooden cross to place on top of the casket.  At that moment, I knew that the cross was ultimately the reason we were there.  Because it is what led to the resurrection and the promise of eternal life.  As mass moved forward, it was a reminder that Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross is what allows us to get through each moment, but especially the ones that are the most difficult and challenging.  It is only because of the cross, that our lives and any suffering that comes with it, make sense.

Jesus invites each one of us to pick up our crosses and follow Him.  But how often do we let our fears, weaknesses, and pride stop us?  Maybe we are tempted to stay right where we are, or to try to run in the opposite direction.  We often try to look for a way out or to avoid anything that makes us uncomfortable.  But this will not lead us closer to Christ and move us forward.  The only way we can get through those discomforts and challenges is by focusing on Jesus and uniting our sufferings to His suffering on the cross.

The challenges and discomforts we may encounter on a regular basis, even the smallest occurrences that we may see as inconveniences, can be offered up to God.  He can bring good out of every moment and provide an abundance of grace.

As disciples of Christ, we are promised to experience rejection, pain, discomfort.  But, we are also promised that we will not walk through these experiences alone.  Any rejection, pain, discomfort, and suffering we face, Christ faces with us, because he experienced all of those things while on the cross.
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When we wake up each day, unsure of what the day and week ahead will bring, we can be assured that Jesus will carry us through it.  When we are uncomfortable or facing a challenge, may we remember that every one of these moments is an opportunity to deepen our faith and grow closer to Jesus.  Truly, it is only by the cross that we can move forward.

In the past two weeks, there has been a lot of celebrating in my family.  My sister Abbey had a beautiful wedding mass and a great afternoon and evening to celebrate her marriage.  Then, my sister Sarah had her baby shower, where we celebrated the gift of new life, with her baby expected to arrive in December.  Having the extra family time to celebrate these major  life events for two whole weeks was a time of great excitement.  But now, life will get back to a more normal schedule.  Nothing too major or significant will take place in the coming weeks.  Life will be much more ordinary.  The last two weeks have reminded me of the mountaintop experiences we can have in our faith.  Sometimes, we have experiences where we are on a spiritual high from an intense encounter with God.  Maybe it’s from a retreat, conference, pilgrimage, or some other event.  But, we can’t stay in those moments forever.  We must return to our normal schedules, where life is often pretty ordinary.

How do we hold onto our faith when we are not up on those “mountaintops?”  How do we keep our relationship with Jesus our number one priority when people around us at work or school, have a lukewarm faith or no faith at all?  After a significant spiritual experience, it’s easy to fall back into old habits soon after and to be lacking in the spiritual intensity we may have experienced.

We often leave those experiences feeling closer to God than ever before, just waiting for the next time we can have another similar experience.  While these experiences help us grow in our faith, they can not be our only way of growing.  This is when it is important to create new prayer habits or strengthen former practices and stay plugged into a community who will help keep you accountable.

There is a difference in feeling close to God and being close to God.  Even if, in our ordinary and regular routines, we don’t feel close to God, it does not mean that we are not close to Him.  It is for the best that those spiritual highs don’t last forever, because our commitment to God can be strengthened in these times.  Are we committed to following God only if and when we feel close to Him or are we really committed to following God whether we feel His presence or not?
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If we continue to follow God at all points of life, it will be an overall slow, gradual walk.  Sometimes the walk will be really exciting and filled with big climbs and great views from the top.  Other times, it will be flat and maybe sort of dull.  But in this slow, gradual walk, our commitment and love for Him will deepen.  May we all allow the exciting spiritual experiences to keep us on the path towards God whenever we go back to normal life.

There’s an old country song by singer Johnny Lee called “Lookin’ for Love”.  While the song details the singer’s experience of looking for authentic love in his life, there is a line in the song that I think we could all relate to on a more general level.  The line in the chorus, “I was looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for love in too many faces” speaks a truth that we have probably all experienced at one time or another.

How many times have we looked to the world and those around us for love and approval?  We all want to be well-liked, to fit in, to be like everyone else.  We want to be accepted by society’s standards and for people to approve of what we believe and the way we live.  These desires and attitudes are all normal parts of being human.  But if we are looking for love from the world and our culture’s standards, we are looking in the wrong places.

Above all, we should be looking to Jesus.  His approval is the only approval we need.  If we seek to gain approval from anywhere else, it will ultimately fail us.  And if we keep searching the world waiting and hoping for everyone we meet to love us, we will be waiting a long time.  But if we stop and look at Jesus, whether on the cross, in the eucharist, or in scripture, we will find the love we are made for, a love that never fails, disappoints, or abandons us.
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Ask Jesus to reveal His love to you.  And then listen.  There is not a single moment that passes by in which we are not loved.  We just so often don’t notice or take time out of our days to recognize it, so then we just go searching for that love in all the wrong places.  When you are tempted to seek the world’s approval, look to Jesus.  When you look to Him, you are in the right place.

If you spent any time outside this past weekend, you’ve probably noticed that more and more leaves have already begun to change, revealing beautiful new colors that we all look forward to seeing every fall.  The way that the leaves on trees change is the chlorophyll breaks down, making the green fade and allowing the reds, yellows, and oranges to show through.  While it appears that the leaves are green most of the year, those other colors have actually been there all along, hidden and masked underneath the green, waiting to be revealed.  The leaves can serve as a metaphor for us as Christians.  The fruits of a life lived for Christ are waiting to be revealed.  If we allow ourselves and our lives to be transformed by Jesus, we will change.  

Each and every one of us is created in the image and likeness of God.  From the moment of our existence, we were created to know, love, and serve Him.  This means that we all have good qualities and fruits present within us that need to be cultivated.  But these Christ-like qualities and traits are often covered up and hidden by our sinfulness.

What if we all allowed our lives to be changed by Jesus, to become more like Him every day?  We would love others better, experience more peace, and be more forgiving, humble, patient, and obedient.  Many times, we fail to live out many of these qualities.  These qualities and traits can often stay covered up by the opposite ones, the selfishness, the pride, the envy, and everything else that is not of God.

So how do we uncover those Christ-like qualities and actions that we were all created with?  We must acknowledge that we cannot become like Jesus on our own and that any good in us is because of Him alone.  We must go to mass, receive the eucharist, go to confession, and spend time in prayer.  Through our efforts and habits in our faith journey, we will see change and become who we were created to be.
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The process of the leaves changing every fall, reveals the bright and beautiful colors that the leaves were created with.  What if we allowed ourselves to be like these leaves, allowing change to take place in ourselves, so that the goodness and beauty we were created with would shine through, ultimately revealing Jesus for others to see.

Working a job that is in an office and where most of the work is done at a desk, it is pretty much impossible to reach 10,000 steps during the day just from being at work.  Even with the walks to the breakroom to fill up my water bottle, trips to the restroom, and walking to the printer, it just is not enough to get in the desired number of steps.  The only way to hit 10,000 steps a day during the work week is to choose to do some sort of physical activity, such as going on a walk during lunch and after work.  Whatever it is, it has to be intentional.  Getting enough exercise throughout the day is not just going to happen accidentally, especially when you spend the bulk of the day in the office.  It has to be something that is put into the schedule and planned sometime between waking up and going to sleep.  It is the same way when it comes to a relationship with Jesus.  It’s not just going to happen accidentally, especially when our days are filled with so many other commitments.  Unless we are intentional and plan to spend time with Jesus in prayer, we are never going to grow closer to Him.

There are so many directions we are pulled in throughout the day.  We go to work, attend meetings for different groups we are involved in, spend time with family and friends, work on other tasks that need to get done, and spend time checking social media or watching TV.  Where does Jesus fit into it all?  Is He just an afterthought?  Is He someone we just call on when we need something or when it’s convenient?

Spending time with Jesus must be a priority in our days.  Whether it is through reading scripture, journaling, reading spiritual material, going to eucharistic adoration, or mass, we must make time for Him in our schedules.  Developing a relationship with Jesus and coming to know who He is takes time, effort, dedication, and commitment.  And so often, we lack these traits and we choose other activities and other people first and above Him.
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Start with just five minutes.  Then five minutes will turn into 15, and then into 30 minutes, and so on.  Prayer is key to our days.  When we allow Jesus to walk with us throughout the day by entering into an intentional time of prayer, we will be able to better recognize Him throughout the day.  The only way we are going to reach the desired depth of faith and relationship with Christ is by putting in effort and choosing to spend time with Him.  What are you going to do to choose Jesus today?

I don’t know what the statistics are on this, but I know that the number of Catholics who have kids or grandkids who have stopped practicing the faith or who have left the church is very high.  And if not kids or grandkids, maybe another family member.  I have heard many people talk about the pain, sadness, or discouragement it causes them.  I do not personally know what it feels like.  But Saint Monica does.  Last week, the church celebrated the feast days of both Saint Monica and her son Saint Augustine.  The story of St. Monica and her son is similar to that of so many parents today and she can serve as an example and inspiration.  The stories of these two saints remind us that we all must search until we find the Truth and we must help others do the same.

There are so many voices and distractions outside of the church that try to call us away from Christ.  And these voices and distractions can be enough to lead people astray, even when they’ve grown up in a strong and faithful Catholic family that teaches well and lives out and practices the faith in everyday life.  And as people wander away from the Church, they are looking for meaning, purpose, and desires that they believe will be filled outside of the truth, beauty, and goodness that is found in Catholicism.  

We all spend time searching.  Some people spend years and years searching.  And if some of those people are your loved ones, keep praying, keep loving, and hand them over to God.  That is what St. Monica did.  She persevered and trusted in God, even when it was hard.  Through St. Monica’s persistence, patience, trust, and faithfulness, God led St. Augustine to have a conversion experience that transformed his life.

So many people who have left the Church are restless because they have turned to the world to find satisfaction, fulfillment, and purpose.  They do not recognize that we have been made for God alone.  

A popular and favorite quote of many, St. Augustine wrote in Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”  We will never be truly satisfied apart from God.  And we must keep praying and loving the people around us who maybe have not had an encounter with Christ or who have not been convicted of the truth of the Church.  We must keep praying and loving the people around us whose hearts are still restless.
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God, we thank you for your love and faithfulness.  Help us to never lose hope and trust that you are always with us, and with the sons and daughters who have walked away from You.  Help us to love as you love, with a patient and merciful heart.  Free us from worry and discouragement.  Please draw those who are far from the Church close to You and lead them to rest in Your heart.  Amen.

Sometimes when I’m driving to work, or to any other place I regularly drive to, I end up at my destination only to realize that I’ve arrived but don’t really remember much of the drive.  When you take the same route to go to work every single day, week after week, it’s easy to zone out.  The roads, landscapes, and landmarks are all familiar.  The drive has become a routine and, oftentimes, nothing stands out.  Our daily commutes are not the only situation we can find ourselves spacing out during.  The Mass is another experience we are all very familiar with.

Do you ever get to the end of mass and find that you really don’t remember much of the last hour?  Maybe you don’t have the slightest idea on what any of the readings were about or don’t recall a single part of the homily.  I know I would be lying if I said I’ve never experienced this when attending mass.  For most of us, we’ve been attending mass our whole lives, which means that it is something we are very familiar with.  We probably sometimes disengage, spend time in distracted thought, and mindlessly recite the memorized responses and prayers.  It is so easy to allow the mass to become a routine rather than a prayer and the greatest form of worship we can partake in.

What if we showed up at every mass we attended with new eyes and a renewed faith?  This past Sunday at mass, there was a girl receiving her First Communion.  I noticed the excitement in her eyes and the smile on her face as she walked back to the pew after receiving the Eucharist for the first time.  She was finally able to join her family and everyone else in the pews in partaking in the most sacred and precious gift we have been given, which we so often take for granted.  What if we all attended mass as if it were our first time experiencing it?
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We all get distracted and sometimes allow ourselves to watch the mass instead of pray the mass.  We’ve all mindlessly stood up, sat down, and kneeled at the appropriate times without thinking about what is happening in front of us.  If we ask God to open our eyes and ears to what we are seeing and hearing, and expand our hearts and minds so that our faith would be increased, He will help us.  My prayer is that we would all allow mass to be the greatest single experience of our week, and not just a familiar routine. 

I’ve worked at a weekend dining and banquet hall for the last 12 years.  I’ve worked for a lot of weddings and have heard countless speeches given.  But I can probably count on one hand the number of good speeches given.  Whether it’s a bridesmaid, groomsman, or another guest at the wedding, a majority of the speeches I hear tend to be all about the person giving them.  People often tell way too many old personal stories about countless experiences they’ve had with the bride or groom, inside jokes, and other sometimes seemingly irrelevant stories.  Some stories and jokes are fine, but when it starts to feel like the speech-giver is the star of the show, that’s when it gets uncomfortable.  This is indicative of the culture we live in and how we often live our lives.  How often do we put ourselves first and act like our lives are about us?

Our lives are not about us.  The moment we realize this is when everything changes.  Our culture can so easily pressure us into focusing on our own dreams, goals, and plans that we can easily put our identity and purpose into living for ourselves and what we want to accomplish.  But God did not create us for ourselves- He created us to love and serve Him.  This is our reason for living and should be our focus each day.

People often follow Jesus only when it is convenient or when no one is watching.  It’s easy enough to go to mass on Sundays and pray because everyone else there is doing the same thing.  But how often do people walk out the doors of the church and leave their faith there until the next weekend, denying Jesus by their actions and lifestyle and living for themselves? 

No one wants to be seen as different.  In a culture that wants everyone to be the same and think the same way, no one wants to stand out.  It’s so much easier to just go with the flow, to live for ourselves like the world around us pushes us to do.  But we are called to walk in the opposite direction and to live in a way that is counter-cultural.  We must strive to point others to Jesus rather than to ourselves.

It’s so much more convenient to do what we want and to live however we want, and to make our lives about us.  While it is easier and what the world around us tells us to do, we will never be fulfilled or satisfied because what we do will never be enough and we will always be left wanting more.  When we give our lives to Jesus and stop living for ourselves, it is then that we will be truly transformed. 
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Jesus, thank you for never abandoning us, even when we deny you or choose ourselves.  Help us to surrender our lives to you and to live for you alone.  Give us the desire to love and serve you.  May we strive to do your will and give up our own self-serving plans and desires.  Amen.

Last month, I bought my mom an outdoor porch furniture set for mother’s day and her birthday, not only because I thought it would be a nice touch to the front porch, (but also partly because I wanted to be able to utilize the set too!).  I have found the front porch to be a great place to be.  Whether it is to start the day, end the day, or somewhere in-between, it is a place to sit with God.

A front porch is one of the most seemingly ordinary spaces.  Sitting on a front porch when you live in a small village in the midwest can sound quite average.  There are no mountains, no bodies of water, and no other especially scenic views.  But God is there.  We don’t have to be on a retreat, at a conference, or having a mountaintop experience in order to encounter God.
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While it is important to have those experiences that boost our faith and give us a sort of spiritual high, we cannot live in those moments forever.  More often, we will be living our daily lives, going through our ordinary routines.  And it is just as important for us to find God in these moments too.

Whether we realize it or not, I think we all crave simplicity.  We tend to make so many aspects of our lives complicated, including our faith.  When we look at the lives of the saints, we can see that so many of them modeled this spirit and lifestyle.

God speaks to us in so many ways, even in the most ordinary moments of our days.  Seeing a beautiful and breathtaking sunrise or sunset, listening to the sounds of the birds in the morning, sitting with scripture or a good book are all ways that we can experience God while sitting on the front porch.
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We don’t have to go far or do great things in order to recognize God.  He is waiting for us to encounter Him in the most ordinary places and spaces.  This week, find some time to sit on the front porch with God.  He will be there, sitting with you.