The next best thing after having an encounter with Jesus is seeing other people encounter Jesus.  Last week, I was blessed to experience both while on a Catholic Leadership Retreat in Wyoming.  At the end of the day, that’s what we want; for people to encounter Jesus in a profound and life-changing way.  We want to see people’s hearts set on fire with love for Jesus and for that fire to continue burning after the experience ends.

Too often, people have an amazing, life-changing experience and over time, they forget and allow their faith to fade or to disappear completely.  Unfortunately, the devil is very much real and always working hard to pull us away from Jesus.  When we experience Jesus in a powerful and profound way, we need to let that experience stay with us when we return to normal life.

In his homily at our mass on Thursday evening, Fr. Matt spoke about “remembering your peak.”  He told us about the importance of remembering this profound mountaintop spiritual experience when we go back home to the valley.  It’s easy to be on fire when you’re living in community with a group of others who’ve experienced the same thing, but going back to the real world is much more challenging and where the growth in our faith needs to continue to happen.

It was a huge blessing to be on this trip again and one of the best parts was seeing people encounter Jesus and get excited about their faith.  On Thursday of the retreat, while spending some time in quiet, individual prayer, I opened up scripture to find a passage to pray with and reflect on.  I ended up reading Matthew 13:18-23, which is The Explanation of the Parable of the Sower.  Reflecting on the four different responses people may have to God and His word was quite relevant to the moment, as I thought about the ways in which the retreatants might respond moving forward from the trip.  The passage talks about how there are those who never accept the word of the Kingdom, those who believe for a while but fall away because of persecution, those who believe, but in whom the word is choked by worldly anxiety and the seduction in riches, and those who respond to the word and produce fruit abundantly.  Seed is either planted on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns, or on good soil.  I want to see everyone embrace Jesus fully and go forward to produce fruit abundantly.  The challenge in this is to help people to have receptive and open hearts, continuing to walk with each other so that we stay close to Jesus.

When we encounter Jesus in a powerful way, we cannot forget.  We need to always take time to think about the times we’ve experienced Him in a profound way so that we continue to recognize He is real and always working in our lives and walking with us, even when we go back to regular life.  My prayer for each of us today, especially for each and every retreatant and leader on the CLR 2025 trip, is that we would “remember our peak” and never let our love for Jesus fade.

Over the weekend, in preparing for an upcoming retreat, the team leaders all took time to run through our witness talks for the different themes of the day and share pieces of our stories and how our faith has been impacted in different ways.  As we took time to share and discuss our ideas for our witness talks, I was reminded of how cool it is that every person has different stories and faith journeys.  Not one person’s story is the same and each of our journeys reflects God in a different way.  We are all called to share about our faith and how God has worked in our lives.

Some people have big and dramatic stories.  Maybe they stopped practicing their faith and strayed far from Jesus or left the Catholic Church altogether, and then they experienced something that brought them back.  Others have stories that seem like a roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs.  Those big stories are great and powerful and people are always amazed when hearing them.  Other people have stories where nothing seemingly major happened, and at surface level, may seem boring.  Some people might think that they don’t have a story to share because it’s not big and exciting.  But if we are alive, we have a story to share and that’s what we need to do.

Each of our faith journeys is a testament to God.  All the bits and pieces of our stories are worth sharing.  At times, we might be asked to stand in front of a group of people and share a personal witness talk.  Other times, we are called to share through a conversation with someone.  At times we might be asked to share our whole story, and at other times, just parts that are applicable in a given moment.  Regardless, our lives can be a witness to our faith, simply by what we do and say.  And God can use our lives to impact others.

We should always strive to be a witness to why faith matters and why we need God in our lives.  Each of our stories have value and are a piece of who God is, and our stories also share our love for God and His love for us.  My prayer for today is that we would all recognize the value of our faith journeys and be open and ready to share!

Over the past week, I have been using the Hallow app to pray through a Sacred Heart Retreat.  Since the month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it has been a great way to reflect and pray with this devotion.  Some of the days have been about various obstacles to giving our hearts fully to Jesus and embracing the Sacred Heart.  One of these obstacles is being lukewarm in our spiritual lives.  Are our hearts on fire with love for Jesus and do we live with an awareness of His love for us?

I think one of the worst things we can allow is to become lukewarm in our faith.  In the meditation on the app, Mother Olga, one of the people leading the retreat explains that being lukewarm is “a disease that progresses” and it is “like a death in slow motion” (Sacred Heart Retreat, Day 2).  Being lukewarm prevents us from loving Jesus as we should.

How can we look at Jesus and not recognize His Sacred Heart, burning with love for us and not want to be filled with that same fire?  What it comes down to is being lukewarm.  We all go through periods of spiritual dryness in our lives, but this is not the same as being lukewarm.  Being lukewarm is being neither hot nor cold, and being indifferent.  How can we encounter Jesus Christ and not be impacted each and every day by His love?  If we are lukewarm, this is the reality.  We would go about our days, moving from task to task, event to event, without even thinking once about Jesus.  We might be living lukewarm lives in some aspects, because we all fail to love Jesus at times, due to our weaknesses and sins.  How do we overcome this obstacle?

We can ask Jesus to help us.  One of the suggestions from Fr. Pierre, a priest providing reflections for the retreat, was to pray “Jesus, I don’t want to be lukewarm” or “Jesus, send the fire of Your love so that I can truly be on fire for love of you” (Sacred Heart Retreat, Day 2).  He will help us if we ask.  Going to mass, reading scripture, receiving the sacraments, spending time in His presence, and surrounding ourselves with a faith community are all ways that we can continue to keep the fire burning. 

Jesus’ love and His Sacred Heart change everything.  Do we allow His love to change our lives?  My prayer for each of us today is that our hearts would be continually set on fire with love for Jesus and that we would not be hindered by the obstacle of being lukewarm.

In today’s (6/10) gospel passage, Jesus tells his disciples that they have a mission to show the world who He is by the way they live their lives.  He says “you are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13) and “you are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).  As Christians and followers of Jesus, we too are called to be the salt of the earth and light of the world.  Do we take this mission seriously and try to share Jesus through our daily lives?

Jesus also warns about losing the faith and failing to make Him known.  He tells His disciples, “if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?  It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” (Matthew 5:13).  He also tells them that they should not allow their light to be hidden.

Our faith should make a difference in our lives and it should impact who we are and how we respond to the world around us.  Salt enhances the flavor of food.  In our call to be salt, we must attempt to enhance the world around us by sharing Christ with the world and letting Him work in us and through us.  We must be different from those who do not have faith in Christ, bringing His love, mercy, and joy to all we encounter.  We must not lose our faith in the midst of the culture that desperately needs Jesus and all He brings to one’s life.  We also must let our faith shine through our lives and not hide our faith and love for Jesus.  

Trying to be the salt of the earth and light of the world can be challenging in a world that tries to diminish our faith.  But staying focused on Jesus is the key to being able to live for Him and share Him with the world.  My prayer is that we would all be the salt and light that He is calling us to be.  Lord, let your light shine through me today.

In today’s gospel, Jesus acknowledges God the Father.  In the passage, Jesus looks to heaven and says, “Father, the hour has come.  Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you” (John 17:1).  He is focused on glorifying the Father.  This is a great example for us.  We must seek God’s glory in all that we do.  Reflecting on this passage, I came to think about the things that we do for God.  Anything that we do for God is not wasted. 

When we say yes to God and get involved in various ministries, projects, and acts of service, we might wonder if all that we are doing matters.  We might not see the fruit that we want to see and can be tempted to lose hope.  But anything that God has called us to is worth doing.  We may never know how a person is impacted and how someone’s faith might change.  God can and does work through us.

As long as in whatever we do, we seek to please and glorify God, our time and gifts are not useless.  Maybe you run a Bible study and only two people show up consistently.  For those two people, it might be deepening their relationship with God.  Maybe you have an event at church and only five people show up.  For those five people, it might help them learn how to pray in a way that they didn’t know before.  Maybe you teach religious education and only three students participate in class.  For those students, both those participating and the others seemingly less engaged, it might be those conversations that spark an interest in Jesus and faith.  All of this is to say that, whatever you do, even if you wonder if it is making a difference, keep doing it.  As long as the goal is to share the faith and point to God, it is making a difference, even if we don’t see it.

God calls each of us to different missions.  Whatever He calls us to do, there is a reason for it.  May we all seek to glorify God and always remember that nothing done for Him is wasted!

Today’s Gospel passage from John is a good opportunity for us to reflect on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Jesus tells His disciples that He will send the Advocate and talks about how He will “convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation” (John 16:8).  I think one thing that this passage is getting at is the need for us to be led by the Holy Spirit and just how important He is.  Do we allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit?

As Christians, our words, and actions should point to Jesus.  In our sinful and human nature, this can be difficult.  But the more we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit, the more our lives will reflect Jesus.  We have been given the Holy Spirit to help us live our faith daily and to share it with others.  How often do we fail to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives?  He is just as essential to the Trinity as the Father and the Son, yet we often don’t seek His guidance or we don’t take time to understand His role in our lives.

Throughout my life, there are things I have done that I recognize as being because of the Holy Spirit.  There are certain things that I know I would never have done on my own but that I have been convicted to do because of prompting from the Holy Spirit.  He gives us courage to step out of our comfort zones and to share our faith.  When He calls us to do something, He does not leave us hanging, but He guides us and leads us through whatever tasks we have been given.

The Holy Spirit is always working in our lives, whether we recognize Him or not.  My prayer for each of us today is that we would continue to open ourselves up more to the Holy Spirit in our lives, listen and respond to His promptings, and allow Him to guide us.  May we all be filled up more by His presence!

Earlier this year, I had been praying about whether or not to sign up as a Biking for Babies missionary.  It is a prolife organization that proclaims the dignity of human life and forms young adults into missionary disciples, while raising money and awareness for pregnancy resource centers.  After not signing up last year due to an opportunity to go to the National Eucharistic Congress, I thought maybe I would jump back in this year.  However, after thinking and praying about it, I did not feel called to it in the same way that I had the five years I participated.  It is the greatest organization I’ve been a part of that is doing important and much needed work, so I was not sure why I had discerned not to sign up for this year.  But little did I know that God had something else for me.  Ultimately, the question we must ask ourselves is, do we trust God?

In April, I received a message one morning that took me by surprise.  It was a message letting me know that this person had been praying about adding someone else to a retreat taking place in July and that my name came up.  This message was unexpected and with the trip being only three months away at that point, it was something that wasn’t on my mind as a possibility.  But God knew what He was doing.  As I thought about it, I realized that there was a reason I wasn’t called to do Biking for Babies this year and it was because God knew that I would be invited to something else.  It is amazing how my prayer discerning whether or not to do Biking for Babies aligned with the prayer of someone else regarding inviting one more person to the retreat in July.  It can seem like a mere coincidence, but I know it was God. 

When we take time to pray and listen to what God is trying to tell us, it is amazing what can happen.  Discerning what God is asking us to do or not do can be really hard.  It can be difficult to hear what He is telling us.  We might ask ourselves, is this what He wants or is this I want?  But when we do receive a clear answer through our prayer, we must recognize that God is guiding us and leading us.  Do we trust that He knows what He is doing and that He has everything planned out already?

God hears all of our prayers always.  It is a matter of whether we are listening and paying attention to His response.  He loves us and knows what He is doing.  My prayer for today is that each of us would trust God in prayer and know that He is always working in our lives!

In today’s (5/12) Gospel, Jesus describes Himself as the gate for the sheep to enter through.  He is the gate through which eternal life will be found.  In one part of the passage, Jesus says, “he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.  But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers” (John 10:4-5).  The voice that we are most familiar with in our lives is the voice we will recognize and listen to.  Are we more familiar with the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, or the voices of all in the world trying to influence us?

It can be really hard to hear the voice of Jesus in our lives.  The media, the constant noise, and people who disagree with us can all make it difficult to listen.  I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I was on a silent retreat.  Turning off my phone and being in silence for a whole weekend reminded me of just how loud life is and how needed and refreshing the quiet is.  I was reminded of how much easier it is to pray when you put yourself in an environment of silence.  Unfortunately, it is not possible to live our lives in silence and turn off all noise all the time.  So, how do we hear the voice of Jesus in our daily lives?

In order to hear Jesus’ voice, we must know His voice.  And to know His voice, we must spend time with Him.  Going to mass, spending time in eucharistic adoration, and reading scripture are all ways that we can learn to recognize Jesus’ voice.

If we are not spending time with Jesus, we will allow the “voice of strangers” to pull us away.  Countless influences in the world  around us try to tempt us to stop following Jesus and to walk in the other direction.  This noise and distraction can lead us astray.  The voices around us can often be masked as good and right, but apart from Christ, there is no good nor truth. If we are deeply committed to Jesus and allow Him to lead us as our Shepherd, we will know what He teaches and recognize that He alone gives us “abundant life” (John 10:10).

My prayer for each of us today is that we would recognize the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd and not be led astray by the voices of the world!

In this past weekend’s Gospel, we heard another story of Jesus interacting with His disciples after the resurrection.  In the story, Jesus asks Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me” (John 21:16)?  And Jesus asks him this three times.  When reading this passage, we are reminded that Jesus is asking each of us the same question, “do you love me?”

When we think about our lives as Catholics, this is what it really comes down to.  It can be easy to do things out of habit and because we know it’s what we’re supposed to do.  To attend mass, to pray, and to volunteer in different ministries at church are all essential for us.  We must ask ourselves- are we just checking off boxes and going through the motions or are we participating fully in our faith because we love Jesus?  If we are in a place where we are showing up mostly out of obligation and because we know it’s the right thing to do, Jesus can use that and can increase our love for Him if we keep showing up with an open heart and a desire to be closer to Him.

My number one goal in life is to love Jesus and to live in a way that proves it.  It is something I know I need to work on each day because sometimes I allow things to get in the way.  We all must stay focused and remember the point of our lives.  This gospel passage brings to mind something that St. John Paul II once shared.  In a homily he gave to youth, he said, “Today Christ is asking each of you the same question:  do you love me? He is not asking you whether you know how to speak to crowds, whether you can direct an organization or manage an estate. He is asking you to love him. All the rest will ensue.”  This quote beautifully reminds us that our purpose is not found in what we achieve and our abilities, but rather, in our love for Jesus.

Jesus has a deep desire for us to love Him.  We can always ask Jesus to help us increase our love for Him.  My prayer for each of us is that we would hear Jesus asking us, “do you love me” and that our lives would be a reflection of that love!

Over the weekend, while on a retreat, the director giving the talks made a statement that I’ve been thinking about since.  She shared that many people have reduced Christianity to “having good table manners and being nice and good.”  But Jesus was radical and He reminds us several times in scripture that we will be hated by the world because of Him.  As followers of Christ do we truly understand this reality?

As Christians and Catholics, we absolutely should be kind, polite, and compassionate.  But being these things does not mean that we withhold the truth or water down the faith.  We see this all the time.  People often use Jesus and Christianity to justify sin, to promote a certain agenda, and to accept any and all behaviors, even if it’s contrary to the faith.  Many have reduced Christianity to warm and fluffy feelings.  It seems that many people often want to be seen as tolerant and accepting rather than known for sharing the truth.  As Christians we need to ask ourselves, are we willing to say the hard things?

We need to learn what Jesus taught and what the Church teaches and we have to live it.  This is not a popular thing to do.  But who do we want to serve, Jesus or the world?  When we share the truth, we must do it with love.  And even when we do that, the world will not recognize it as love and will reject us and the truth.  But we must continue on.

To truly follow Christ and live by the teachings of the Catholic Church is countercultural.  It goes against what the majority says, what the media says, what many people around us say, and what the world says.  But we must not live to seek the approval of the world because if we follow the Truth, the world will never approve of us.

Jesus tells us that we will be hated by the world if we follow Him.  We need to use the feelings and pain of rejection to strengthen our faith and beliefs.  We need to allow it to deepen our commitment to living for Christ and His Church.  And we must not cave to the social pressures to go with the flow.  My prayer for each of us is that we would always cling to Christ and our faith and be strengthened in our commitment to the Truth always, even in the midst of a culture that rejects us.