Who doesn’t love babies?  So small, precious, innocent, and helpless, it is so easy to love them.  Babies cannot do anything for us or for themselves.  They don’t have to do anything to gain our love.  We don’t love them because of what they do or don’t do, we love them simply because of who they are and the fact that they exist.  When we hold a baby in our arms, we are filled with love and admiration and just want to stay close to them.  The Son of God too came to the earth as a newborn baby, when He could have come in any way that God desired.

Jesus coming to us as a newborn baby can teach us a lot.  Maybe one of the reasons He came to the world in this way is so that we would love Him the same way we love any other babies.  God wants us to learn to love Him for who He is and not what He can do for us.  Do we love God because of what he gives to us and does for us or do we love God simply because He is our Father and Creator?

When we feel like our lives are going well and according to our plans, it’s easy to love God.  We thank Him for all of the blessings in our lives and don’t question His goodness.  But maybe when we face obstacles and times of uncertainty, we start to doubt God and question if He really loves us.  Christmas is a season to help us to grow in our ability to love God for who He is and not what He can do.  Taking time to love and adore the infant Jesus can help us to love and adore Him in all seasons and in all circumstances.

Anytime we have the blessing of being around a newborn baby, we want to draw close to them and it’s easy to feel love and tenderness.  And God wants us to have those same experiences when we approach Him.  He wants us to be comfortable approaching Him and to draw closer to Him, to experience His love and tenderness towards us.  When we encounter God, we should be filled with love and adoration for Him, just as we are when we hold a newborn baby.
​
This Christmas season, as you continue to meditate on the birth of Christ, think about how His coming as an infant can impact your love for Him.  Continue to open your heart and remember that He wants to be close to you.  Trust in His deep love and care for you and find joy in the greatest gift the world has ever been given.

This time of the year is the busiest time for so many people.  From Christmas parties, baking, shopping, decorating, and everything else this season brings, people are constantly going places and partaking in endless activities.  In all these activities and events that we can fill our time with, there is a deep void within us if we don’t seek Jesus.  We can fill up on all that this season brings, but will still be left with empty spaces if we don’t make room for Him.  So many people feel empty and lost, especially at this time of the year.

So many people are searching; searching for truth, searching for love, searching for joy, searching for Jesus.  However, they may not realize what it is they are searching for.  In a time of the year when there is so much going on and so much to do, it is easy for people to believe that they are happy and satisfied.  People can fall into the temptation of believing that being busy means being fulfilled.  People often think that they will find real joy in receiving presents rather than being in His presence.  If all we’ve done in the weeks leading up to Christmas is busy ourselves with events to go to and tasks to complete, there will be a large void in our hearts and in our lives.

Our society may not know the value and sacredness of this time leading up to Christmas, but as Catholics we must take a different path.  We must take a path that is unfamiliar to the world around us.  The path is a bit quieter, slower, and filled with stillness.  It is this path alone that will lead us to experience Christmas and the birth of Christ with the hope, love, and joy that will fill our hearts to overflowing.
​
Don’t try to fill the empty spaces with the noise and hustle of the world around us.  Because the world around us has not properly prepared for Jesus’ birth.  They have been celebrating Christmas for weeks already and will be done and ready to move on by December 26th.  Use this last full week of Advent to really prepare and wait.  Then on Christmas, you will be able to recognize the gift that Jesus’ birth is and be filled by the love and joy that only He can provide.

Back in July, I participated in something called the PIT count.  PIT stands for “Point-in-Time” and it is a count of both sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night.  HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) requires that this count be done every January, but Wisconsin also does it in July in order to get a more accurate count, as more people are likely to seek some sort of shelter indoors in January in WI due to the extreme cold.  I was assigned to the downtown Green Bay area with a group of three others and was not quite prepared for the number of people my group and I would encounter that night.  From the hours of 11:00 PM- 4:00 AM, we drove around and walked to different areas to find as many people as we could.  We collected some data, provided water/snacks and some other basic items, and just talked to each person, meeting them where they were at and in the places they likely regularly spent their nights.  And in the process, I encountered Christ.

In Brown County, the downtown Green Bay area is one of the areas where the highest number of people experiencing homelessness can be found.  The first area on our route we went to that night was by St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.  As we pulled up, there were probably about 20 people gathered on the front steps of the church, some sitting down, some laying down already trying to sleep, and others standing at the bottom of the steps.  As my group members and I split up so that we could talk with each person, more people made their way to this area in front of the church, getting ready to settle there for the night.  At that moment, I was struck by the reality of homelessness.  I was stretched out of my comfort zone. 

As we went throughout the night and talked to the people we found, I realized that every single person has a different story.  Whether those we encountered were by churches, in parks, in vehicles, under bridges, near businesses, or elsewhere, I was reminded that regardless of how they ended up on the streets, they each have dignity and worth given to them by God that cannot be taken away, no matter what the world may think and say about them.  Maybe they developed addictions to drugs or alcohol, racked up debt, committed crimes and had nowhere to go when released from jail, were fleeing domestic violence situations, have a mental illness, made poor life choices, and the list goes on.  The thing we need to remember is that those who are experiencing homelessness are not defined by their choices or situations.  They are defined by a Father who created them, loves them, and knows their hearts, and they often just want to be seen.  

Even if we fail to understand these situations or choices of those on the streets, it doesn’t change their value or the fact that they are created in the image and likeness of God.  I was reminded that it’s not our place to criticize or condemn those experiencing homelessness, but rather, to love them as Jesus does and to serve them in whatever ways possible.  It’s easy to look the other way and pretend the homeless don’t exist, as we live our comfortable lives with everything we need and much more.  But Jesus commands us to serve those in need, because when we serve them, we serve Him.  

That night in July, as I looked into the eyes of the people we encountered on the streets, I knew in those moments, I was looking into the eyes of Christ.  That night, Jesus broke open my heart just a little bit more, so that I could learn to love more and see those who are homeless with a heart of compassion rather than judgment.  This has been a work in progress for me, as there is always room to grow. 

That night during the PIT count, I encountered many more people on the streets than I thought we would.  The number was overwhelming.  And in those encounters, I encountered Christ Himself, asking me, “Can you see Me in them?  Will you love them as I do?”  May we all ask Jesus to expand our hearts for people experiencing homelessness and reflect on how we can love them and serve them better.
​
Jesus, thank you for our lives that are often very comfortable and filled with much more than we need.  Help us to step away from that comfort at times to encounter “the least of our brothers and sisters.”  Remove our hardened hearts that are full of  judgments and criticisms.  Give us hearts filled with love and compassion for those who are homeless and give us eyes that see You in them.  May we never become blind to those in need.  Amen.

A few days ago, I was reading an article about the physical effects of gratitude.  Among some of the many benefits of the practice of gratitude are lower levels of stress, lower blood pressure, improved immune function, and an increase in sleep quality.  At first, it seemed kind of crazy to me that something as simple as being grateful can actually impact us physically.  But after thinking about it for a little bit, it made sense.  We were literally created to worship and praise God- that involves thanking Him for all of the blessings He has given us.

Gratitude helps us to see everything in our lives as a gift from God.  It also helps us to depend more fully on God because we realize that every good thing in our life is from Him, and without Him, we can do nothing.  Gratitude is not just saying “thank you” every once in a while.  It is a disposition that involves acknowledging all of the gifts and blessings in our lives and living lives that glorify and praise God.

Living with gratitude means that we will focus more on our blessings than on any problems or challenges we may be facing.  It also will help us to look differently at these problems.  We will be able to see the good that can come from them and how God may be calling us to draw closer to Him during these times.  Gratitude helps us shift our focus from anything we lack to the abundance of blessings that we have.

The moment we wake up, we must recognize that every breath we take is a gift from God.  His love for us holds us in existence and we need to live our lives with a deep sense of thankfulness for the gift of our lives and for all of the graces He bestows on us.
​
As people across the country gather to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, many will express what they are thankful for.  But many will have an attitude of thankfulness for just that one day, and then go back to living in ways in which they fail to recognize their blessings.  May the gratitude and thankfulness we show on Thanksgiving overflow into our everyday lives, helping us all to live with hearts full of gratitude always.

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.
​
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.
​
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?
​
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.
​
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.
​
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.
​
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?