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.

The symbol of the heart is really prevalent in our society.  Whether it’s the various heart emojis on our phones that can be used when texting and in social media posts, the hearts found in greeting cards, or hearts that are incorporated into logos or billboards, we see heart images everywhere.  The symbol of the heart is used to express and represent love.  But there is one heart that stands out above all others, and that is the heart of Jesus.  In the Catholic Church, the month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  This month helps us to dive deeper into this beautiful devotion, which shows us what love is.

We’ve all seen the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, either in statue form, in a picture on the wall, or on prayer cards.  It is one of my favorite images of Jesus, because it reveals so well who Jesus is and helps us to reflect on how much He loves us.

We cannot know what love is or begin to understand what it looks like without knowing the heart of Jesus.  Until we have an encounter with His Sacred Heart, our own hearts are cold and hard.  When we feel our own hearts beating and acknowledge the blood pumping through our bodies, we must recognize that it is Christ’s love for us that is holding us in existence in every moment.

In the image of the Sacred Heart, we see that the heart is on fire.  Jesus’ love for us burns intensely and the flames never die out.   His heart is also surrounded by a crown of thorns and pierced with a lance.  We so often wound Him with our sins and reject Him and His love.  Yet, His heart is filled with mercy and He continues to offer His heart to us anyway.  Do we allow the fire of Christ’s love to penetrate our own hearts so that we can learn how to love?
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Jesus, thank you for loving us and giving us your heart.  Help us to love you in return.  Give us the grace to reject the false ideas of love that our culture shows us and point us towards your Sacred Heart, burning with love for us.  Draw us closer to your heart, so that we would never forget your desire for us.  Make our hearts like yours.  Set our hearts ablaze.  Amen.

A few weeks ago, I was driving home from a wedding.  It was late and dark outside but I figured I didn’t need to pull up the maps app on my phone because it was only 20 minutes from home and I had driven in that area plenty of times before.  I thought it would be easy enough to take a few side roads that would lead me to the highway.  But this is where I was wrong.  A few apparently wrong turns and I suddenly was in an area that was completely unfamiliar.  I underestimated my poor sense of direction.  I thought I knew the way and didn’t think I needed any directions or guidance from my GPS.  How often in our lives have we thought we knew the way and that we didn’t need direction from God?

Most people like to have a plan, and not just a plan for the day or for the week, but for their whole lives.  And while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it can sometimes lead to leaving God out.  How often do we think we know what is best or think that our wants and desires are better than God’s will for us?  We can ultimately drive the car and make our own decisions, but if we think we know the way and don’t ask God for direction, we will get lost.

Our willingness to turn to God all really comes down to trust.  Do we really trust God, fully and wholeheartedly?  If we do, we will stop relying on ourselves and ask Him for direction, placing our whole lives in His hands.  We will acknowledge that we have a poor sense of direction regarding what is best and allow God to guide our paths.
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It is easy to believe that we have it all figured out or that we know what we’re doing and where we’re going.  But the truth is, we all need guidance and we all need to be shown the way to go.  God will always lead us in the right direction, as long as we place our trust in Him and listen.  The next time you’re tempted to make a decision or go a certain way by relying on your own knowledge, turn to God, the greatest guide and source of direction we have.

In case you didn’t hear or see the news about it, the L.A. Dodgers are honoring a group of men who dress in drag and mock the Catholic faith with a “Community Hero” award.  The members of this anti-Catholic group dress in habits and call themselves the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.  The group’s motto is, “Go forth and sin some more, ” a distasteful twisting of Jesus’ command to “go and sin no more.”  Each of them takes on a vulgar religious name when they join the group and they also mock the various steps in the formation process that Catholic religious women go through (postulancy, novitiate, etc.) when joining an order.  They host lewd and sacrilegious events such as a Midnight Confessional Contest held at a bar, dressing up as Jesus carrying a cross and then performing a pole dance on the cross, a Free Choice Mary pro-abortion event, mock masses with wafers and tequila, and many more acts that are more obscene and sickening than you can imagine.  After the Dodgers received criticism and objections from Catholics, the Dodgers rescinded their invitation to the drag group.  However, a week later, the Dodgers caved to the pressure of LGBTQ groups and proponents, issued an apology, and reinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to be honored at the stadium.  This whole situation is just one example of how the Catholic faith is viewed by the world.  If it were any other group of people being mocked in this kind of way, there would be an immediate stop put to it and it would be widely condemned.  But Catholicism has become some sort of punching bag for our society and people just go along with it.  Our faith is under attack in big ways such as the above example and in smaller, more discreet ways every single day.  
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Jesus was clear that we would experience persecution as a result of following Him and being part of the Church, so we should not be surprised when it happens.  And thankfully, we live in a country where we do not have to fear for our physical safety when attending mass or praying in public.  While we likely will not face a situation where we have to die for our religious beliefs, the reality is that we still will be hated by the world because of His name (John 15:18-21).  This must not stop us from living out our faith.

Whether it’s in music, movies, TV shows, any sort of entertainment outlet, or just in the jokes of others, our faith is often the target for inappropriate comments, ridicule, or parodies.  Our culture is hostile to Catholics, and especially to those who are serious about living it out.  It can be easy to become discouraged or tempted to hide our faith, turning it into something private.  But our faith is meant to be shared with others.  We must persevere and strive to imitate Christ each day, while taking a stand against those who think our faith is a joke.

Many people just go with the flow or say that there are bigger issues to worry about.  But if our faith is important to us, we will not accept people mocking or defiling it.  We must continue to stand up for the truth and not be ashamed to let the world know not only who we are as Catholics, but more importantly, who Jesus is.

People are starving for the truth and for the love of Christ, even if they don’t realize it.  And it is in this longing and searching that they target what is sacred and valuable.  I don’t think so many people would attack and mock Catholicism if it wasn’t good, true, and beautiful.  In the midst of a culture that hates Catholicism, we must remain firm in our beliefs and stand up against the attacks against our faith.

Dear Jesus, you faced the ultimate persecution.  Thank you for showing us the way.  Help us to recognize the cost of discipleship and strengthen us so that we may persevere through the hardships in order to follow you.  Set us apart so that we would not conform to the ways of the world.  Give us courage so that we would not be afraid to be persecuted for your sake.  May we strive to imitate you and bring your love and compassion to all we encounter, especially to those who are hostile towards you.  Amen.

Yesterday my sister Abbey ran a marathon.  Watching the marathon was genuinely one of the most fun and enjoyable things ever.  We had the race participant tracking app so that we could track where Abbey was and so that we could get to as many spots as possible to see her and cheer her on.  Aside from cheering for Abbey, we cheered for and encouraged all the people we didn’t know who were also running the course.  The amount of times that they said “thank you for being out here” or expressed some other type of appreciation was countless.  They were so grateful for the encouragement and motivation.  Being able to support the runners and encourage them to keep going also encouraged and inspired myself as a spectator.  If you’ve ever watched a marathon or really any road race (10/10 would recommend it if you haven’t), you know the atmosphere is amazing.  People are along the course cheering for anyone and everyone who runs by and the runners themselves are encouraging each other as well.  It would be so much more difficult for the race participants to complete the long and strenuous event without each other and without the support of spectators.  This is a metaphor for our lives, as our faith journey as Christians is very much the same way.

The journey of following Christ is not always easy.  It is long, challenging, and difficult at times.  We need people to pray for us and with us.  We need people who are going to challenge us in our faith and help us rise up and be better.  We need people who will encourage us and cheer us on, especially when it gets hard.  We need people who will hold us accountable.  We need people who are running the race with us.

When I think of Christianity, the key element that comes to mind is community.  Without a community, living out our faith would be so much harder.  We really cannot do it on our own and we need a community that is built on Jesus and our faith.  We need other people to help us keep the fire alive.  We need people who will share their witness with us, inspire us, and help us stay focused on God when our culture is trying to drag us down.

There is so much power in a strong faith community.  Taking time to walk with others on the journey is vital for us to experience growth and a deeper relationship with Jesus.  Whether it’s a text message checking in with someone to see how things are going, a phone call or letter, or sitting down with someone to talk about faith, these seemingly small actions all make a huge difference.

Whether it’s a retreat group, a Bible study or book group, or just a group of friends, there are so many amazing Catholic communities we can be a part of.  We just have to seek them out.  Aside from people who are here and living among us, we also have a powerful community of saints up in heaven, cheering us on, praying for us, and helping us walk more closely with Jesus.
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We all have a race to run.  It is long and challenging at times.  And even if it seems like we are ever alone, we must remember that we all have at least one community who is there for us, praying for us, sharing their faith, and offering the support we need.  Life is a lot like a marathon, allow others to run it with you and cheer you on and to help you run closer to Jesus.

My sister Sarah lives in North Carolina.  Ever since she has lived out of the state, my mom and whoever else is at home at the time, calls her over FaceTime every weekend.  This past weekend, she was home for my sister Abbey’s graduation.  Since she was with us in person, we didn’t have to FaceTime her.  It’s great to have the technology to call her and talk to her with video, but nothing beats when she is home and we get to see her in person.  Seeing her in person is key to maintaining a relationship.  Similarly, there are many ways to practice our faith and various tools we have to do so, but nothing beats being able to sit in the presence of Jesus in eucharistic adoration and being able to receive Him at mass.  And it is the key to our relationship with Him.

Looking around at mass every week, the pews are empty.  Where is everyone?  One thing I hear from a lot of people is that they can just pray at home or wherever they are.  Other people say that they don’t get anything from mass.  We should pray wherever we are whenever we can.  And now more than ever, we have so many resources that can help us grow in our faith and strengthen our relationship with Jesus.  There are prayer and Bible apps, podcasts, Youtube videos, streaming abilities for getting on a video call with others to have a Bible or book study, and countless other tools.  These are all great options we have to grow in faith.  But how can anyone have a relationship with someone who they don’t ever see face-to-face?

The two best ways to come to know Jesus personally and not just know about Him are in eucharistic adoration and in the mass.  Jesus makes himself present so that we can encounter him, in-person.  It is in these places that we can be more attentive to Him and listen to how He is speaking to us.  When communicating with someone over the phone, we can be doing many other tasks and only giving the person part of our attention.  But when that person is with us in the flesh, we can more easily give our full attention.  It is the same with Jesus.  Praying on our own at home or using an app on our phones to listen to a homily or faith-based podcast only allows us to go to the surface level that can have more distractions.  But when we are in an environment that is conducive to encountering Christ, it is easier to give Him our full attention and to go deeper in our relationship with Him.
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We have been given a great gift in both the mass and in adoration.  Getting to be in the presence of Jesus should give us great joy.  How can we share that joy with others not in the pews so that they too might want to meet Jesus in-person?

Last Thursday night, as I went up and began doing the first reading at church, it suddenly became a struggle.  It felt like it was one hundred degrees and my head started pounding.  Some of the words on the page seemed to be moving.  It was like my brain was not responding fast enough to what my eyes were seeing and it became difficult to read the words.  The lines on the page also seemed to blur together.  Sometimes, life can be like this; blurry, especially if we try to look at life without Jesus and faith.

Sometimes, the world around us can seem blurry.  There is so much that goes on in our daily lives and our days are filled up so much that by the end of the day, or the end of the week, we often can’t perceive any clear moments of any real significance.  A lot of times, we live each day, just trying to make it through another work week and get to the weekend.  We can become so focused on moving forward that we don’t stop and reflect on the present moment.

We are called to invite Jesus into every part of our days.  Whether that means taking a quick break to walk outside and thank God for the sunshine, or to say a brief prayer asking Him to help you through whatever you are working on, these small moments help us to recognize the presence of God in wherever we are and whatever we may be doing.

There is so much going on in our world right now.  So many people look at life without the lens of faith and without the acknowledgement of Jesus.  But without Him, nothing makes sense and life is rather meaningless.  Without faith, it’s no wonder that people question their purpose and have nowhere to turn to when life gets hard and when suffering and tragedies present themselves.
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By taking the time regularly to slow down and thank God for another hour, minute, or breath, it allows us to recognize Him more easily in the moment.  Instead of our days and weeks blending together, and everything moving quickly and being blurred together, we can see the value of each day, even if nothing particularly eventful happens.  May we all take time to clearly see Jesus in the midst of our fast-paced and continually-moving days.