Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Ruth: Chapter 13 - Contemplation
The first thought that came to me as I started this chapter was the idea that we teach each other by what we think/talk about. Matthew asks, "What do you contemplate?" adding that "We are all contemplatives." What we contemplate affects our behavior which in turn effects those around us. "When we have a density (Spirit of God) within us, we will have a Christian effect on our environment. When we don't have this density (Spirit), our environment will affect us." I really want to build this density by striving to be more like Christ and humbly challenging others to do the same. This all must be supported by prayer ... contemplating the Christ we want to reflect. I liked that Matthew pointed out that "living a 'Christ'centered' life ....is the very core of Catholic spirituality." I think as Catholics we have to get more comfortable sharing the 'Christ-centered' life we are trying to live. I don't think we begin to touch the number of people that we should because we hide our lights under baskets and then sit on them. ... ...... Matthew states, "If you direct what happens in your mind, you can direct what happens in your life." Contemplating Christ in our minds, leads to reflecting Christ to others." Awesome! ................ Matthew talks about the noisy world we surround ourselves with that drowns out the voice of God. No wonder the currect generations don't follow the Lord....they can't hear him! They have no silence. ......... Matthew's challenge on p. 183 confirms the inner call I have feel to spend more time in silence in church. This chapter challenges us to spend 10 minutes a day in a quiet church. Our church is almost aways empty with no one praying thus, also, leaving the Blessed Sacrament unadored. Please pray that our parish establishes at least some time for Eucharist Adoration and that we start to accept the challenge to spend quiet time with & before the Lord in His empty/quiet churches. The challenge will soon be in our parish bulletin. Please pray that people respond. .......Lord, help us to recognize and respond to your call to come into your presence, into the silence you call us to, and grant us peace as we place our life and our burdens at your feet. ........... p. 186 talks about how having a sense of mission makes the difference between one being happy or miserable. My mother is currently struggling with a loss of sense of mission. She had been very involved in her parish but now feels unneeded as the leadership draws younger people in and forgets about the gifts of the older generation. ( Please pray for her.) I guess prayer has to be our essential mission and grounding as all our other missions (Christian actions) will change as we journey through life.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Comments Welcome
If anyone is following this study but not posting you are welcome to add comments to any of our postings.
Ruth Chapter 12 - Reconciliation
Chapter 12: I read this chapter with amusement because the Lord has been working on me in this area. It is extremely amusing to me that in the other online book study that I am concurrently doing this week’s topic is also Reconciliation….both the same week. There has to be a message here somewhere. Something the Lord has done since Easter is to lay it on my heart to humbly go to my own pastor for Reconciliation rather than to some unknown priest during communal parish Reconciliation services. That was my previous behavior. With amusement and openness I read this chapter. …….. On p. 159 I liked the analogy of the athlete analyzing his/her game/performance to find his weakness and how the serious athletes then “work tirelessly to transform their weaknesses into strengths.” What a great analogy to life. We as serious Catholic have to be just as serious in our faith walk with the Lord, analyzing and confessing our weaknesses, repenting and praying for forgiveness and for the strength to change and then really striving to improve our performance with the Lord’s help. I find this to be an ongoing process, which is helped by the reading of scripture, books like this and studying the lives of the saints. …. “Great men and women want to know their weaknesses.” They are our role models. ………Matthew states “Repent means to turn back to God. Do you need to?” In our society right now it seems like we are not suppose to be judgmental. …We let people wallow in their sinfulness in the name of being open-mindedness. Do we need to repent? Yes! Do I need to repent? Yes! And I think we have a responsibility, with the Lord’s guidance, to lead others to repentance and into relationship with our Lord. Easier said than done! …… I liked the line “Every journey toward something is a journey away from something.” I want to walk a straight journey toward God but I tend to keep turning back and forward. Two steps forward and one step back….I hope the growth is forward. …… I also like the line on p. 163, “I find Reconciliation to be a humbling experience but not a humiliating one.” Amen to that. p. 165 states, “Reconciliation is not just a cleansing experience, but also a strengthening experience.” Amen to that to and what about the example of the clean car tending to stay clean and the dirty car tending to attract more dirt. I really find that I do strive to “stay clean” when I have humbled myself, looked at my sinfulness, repented, confessed, been absolved and been sent out to sin no more. Lord, may we all realize our value as being touched by the Master’s hand and let us hold on to that hand forever. I thank the Lord for our Catholic gift of Reconciliation.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Chapter 13 Contemplation
This chapter deals with quiet prayer or contemplative prayer. I have been working on quiet prayer for quite some time, to be still and give my heart totally to God's presence. Kelly writes, "in the silence you will find God...you will find yourself." I truely believe this, however, I still wrestle to quiet my wondering mind as I sit in silence. But God is only concerned about my heart and when I begin my quiet prayer time I need to give my heart over to Him completely, trust in Him and He will take care of the rest. I must be more faithful in the practice of quiet prayer if my goal is to grow in holiness and be a saint. God doesn't abandon those who come to him in quiet prayer. I pray that God will reveal what His will is for me on this earth and that I may be humbly obedient to His will. JoAnn
Chapter 12 Reconciliation
This chapter mainly deals with the process of identifying our strengths and weaknesses and transforming our weaknesses into strengths - the core of Catholic spirituality. After reading this chapter today I began a retreat tonight with the main focus on What is God's Will for me. The conference reflected a lot of what Kelly was relating to in this chapter on reconciliation. At the conference we read Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." We were asked to contemplate on what graces (strengths) God has given me and how am I using His grace; and, what is blocking me (vices) from doing God's will and growing in holiness. Many people humbly shared what is blocking them from God's will...lack of trust, lack of discipline, pride, selfishness, laziness, fear, etc. This week will be spent in reading scripture, listening to God in quiet prayer, that He will reveal to us our strengths and our weaknesses. Temptation was also brought out in this chapter and in the conference. Praying and being obedient to God's word will give me the strength I need to stay focused on God's will. We are asked to go to the sacrament of Reconciliation and then take action - to be fruitful and be doers of God's word. We can only do this if we do it all for God's glory (not my glory). The conference ended with Psalm 27 - Trust in God. It seemed like God connected the book with the words spoken to me at the conference tonight - awesome! JoAnn
Chapter 10 - Their Attraction and Influence
As I look at my life and think about my friends - I am so grateful to my Lord for blessing me with such special people. I have great companions on my journey with the Lord. Starting with my husband Chuck, who, like Christ, accepts me for "who" I am, encourages me always and challenges me when I criticize or judge another. Each day we pray together for each other and the needs of others. Also, my "forever" friends, that's what I call them, have been together for 30-40 years are more than just social friends. We are angels to each other, praying for one another, always there to help one another and always trying to bring out the best in one another. These are my "authentic" friends. I can see where the saints are our spiritual friends. . . reading about them each day is awe-inspiring. I see them as "extra"ordinary but as Kelly writes about them, "what made them extraordinary was the ordinary". I like how he ended the chapter...."Let your light shine." Lord, let your light shine in my heart so that I can light the way for others. JoAnn
Friday, July 23, 2004
Ruth - Chapter 11: Who Will Be Next?
p. 139 – “First man creates a problem and then God, in his infinite wisdom, creates a solution.” This line made me think about the poor catechesis that has plagued the Church of the last two generations. We created this problem…now what do we see? We see all kinds of apologetic resources and organizations coming to the fore-front of the Catholic Church. We see converts from protestant churches who bring their gift of teaching and love of scripture with them into the Catholic Church. It is good to look at how the Spirit is working out a solution in this area and it gives us hope to know that the Spirit is in charge. We created a problem and the Spirit is working out a solution. “If the problems today are greater than ever before, then God will raise up saints greater than ever before.” We have to trust that HE will ……… This chapter again tells us to reflect on the life of the saints as these stories help us to become the best-version-of-ourselves. Compare that with what we see at the movies or on TV. “We become the stories we listen to” (143) Yicks! The chapter boiled down to analyzing everything we do and deciding if it helps us to become the best-version-of ourselves otherwise the activity is a least wastefully if not harmful. …..Saint heroes make us feel that we can be greater by following their example. ……………. ”Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us…….As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates other.” This quote hit home. I think many of us have a false sense of humility……How do we take credit for something the Lord obviously did through us? An example is the Women’s conference that has held in March. I truly feel the conference was the Lord’s work through us. But how do you accept praise yet direct the glory to God? People should see that if He can use us to touch the lives of 170 women he can use others in other great ways….us ordinary people can accomplish great things if we step out in faith. Does acknowledging this liberate others to step out in faith? Maybe. Hopefully.
Ruth - Chapter 10 Their Attraction & Influence
Will spending time with this person make me want to be a better person?" is a line from p. 134 in this section on friendship. When I reread that line to write this posting the line stood as really being true of my friends but even more so of spending time with my Lord. Spending time with the Lord does make me a better person and makes me more the person HE wants me to be. ….. "A true friend brings the best out of her/his friends." This quote really makes me appreciate the special people the Lord has put in my life, especially Tom (my husband). Friends do challenge me to stretchhhhhhh my spiritual walk, and to grow……. On p. 135 I liked the attractive and contagious aspects of living a social dynamic holiness namely that holiness is not preached but first lived. I appreciated the fact that Kelly pointed out that both goodness and evil attractive. It is obvious in society ….. The line, “Choose your friends wisely” made me think of our sons and how when they were younger many of the choices they made depended on the people they were with….some good and some bad. I loved the line about saints: “It is better to spend time with dead people who bring you to life than with live people who lead you to death.” …. Wow! This chapter makes me wish we had read more of the saints’ lives to the boys when they were younger. I know we will start giving saint books as gifts. Our people, young and old, need these Christ centered heros.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Ruth - Chapter 9: what Sets Them Apart?
This is a challenging chapter calling me to be in the world but not of the world. We need to help each other to accomplish this..….Somehow we think that those people who became canonized saints were specially chosen and given special graces to run the race. Yet we all know that we are called to be saintly people.………….On p. 121 we have a definition of what we think of as a fanatic. “They had a singleness of purpose that penetrated every activity of their lives.” Are we really called to be religious “fanatics”? Or do we strive to be both worldly and religious? We want to have a foot in both camps…….…….On p.126 Matthew stated that we must put aside our prejudice against the idea of holiness and embrace a new vision of holiness. He says that “Mother Teresa wanted to become a saint, the-best-version-of-herself.” Her singleness of purpose directed her goals…… What directs ours? Matthew also stated that (p.122) “This singleness of purpose will save you from wasting your life in shallow and superficial activities that mean almost nothing to anyone……” Called to be saints we are told to fix our eyes on God. ….. I really like Micah 6:8 and pray that the Lord help me to “live justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your (my) God.” (There is a feminine quality to that verse that I like.) I think that the reverse is also true. Our Lord has proved His love for us and he yearns to walk with us so much that He gave his life for us….. Lord help me develop habits that will help me to be the saint I am meant to be walking humbly and always with my God.
Ruth - Chapter 8 Even a Blind Man Knows
The last line of this chapter states, “In their lives (the saintly people just described), you can catch a glimpse of how your life will unfold if you begin to take the life and teachings of Jesus seriously.” The saintly people were people of prayer, discipline and virtue living lives centered on the Eucharistic Lord. These saintly people must challenge me personally. Am I using prayer, discipline, scripture and the Eucharist to become more Christ like? … To reflect on the lives of the saints and not try to emulate them is a waste of time. If we put our light on a basket (and not cover it) there should be results…it should shine for all to see….as saintly people we should bear fruit touching the lives of others……….. Another thought that came to mind is that Vatican 2 called for more involvement of the laity. It reminded us that the call to sanctity and mission is not just for the religious. I think that in this day and age we have to be models of faithfulness, challenging and encouraging our religious leaders. It is discouraging as a layperson today to see the state of the world and the church…. how must it be for committed priest and religious? ……..In these saintly people (Mother Teresa, etc.) I do not see people who want to change the church into their image or with a new agenda but I see people who center on Christ, on prayer, on the Blessed Sacrament, on serving God’s people while living a life of virtue. ……. I think that, like St. Francis, we too are called to the spiritual mission to “Rebuild my Church.” Francis heard this call while kneeling before the crucifix. Who kneels before the crucifix or tabernacle today? Our church is empty of pray-ers…that is so sad to me. Francis inspired millions of people to give their whole lives for a cause. Who do we inspire? What do I give my life to? Where do I get my spiritual vision? I need to spend more time in front of the crucifix and Eucharistic Lord. I also feel called to call others to do the same.……..Mother Teresa did not have to talk about how great the Catholic Church is and the gift it is but it becomes evident when you know all the time she spent in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Her power and witness was born in prayer. She placed Jesus at the center of her life. ……Of all the holy people mentioned I think that St. John Vianney was the most inspiring to me. On page 103 it states, “What he was really doing was making a moral assessment of his parish. He found that the people’s lives were in great need of restoration. They cared little for the Church, as they had been seduced by the pleasures common to every age: slothfulness, drunkenness, blasphemy, and impurity.” Doesn’t that sound like today? Fr. Vianney began a one-man campaign of prayer and fasting, offering all his efforts to God for the conversion of the people in his parish.” He preached boldly and “encouraged his people to make regular visits to the church and sit before the Blessed Sacrament……He knew that the Blessed Sacrament was the most powerful means of renewing the life of the parish.” There it is again…prayer before the Eucharistic Lord. I think that we are in the same position today and that the same remedy is needed. We are called to pray and to encourage prayer especially before the crucifix and the Eucharistic Lord. …………………….On a personal note, the same week that I am reading and reflecting on this chapter I get asked to spend an hour on Wednesday mornings (1 to 2 a.m.) before the Eucharistic Lord at the “Power of Prayer” chapel. I have resisted doing this with Tom for some time but now really feel called to try it. Please pray that I can physically handle it. ………………..(sorry my reflections are so long)
Friday, July 09, 2004
Chapter 9What Sets Them Apart?
On page 123 he writes, "When you have singleness of purpose, everything else is embraced or discarded according to whether or not it moves you in the direction of your goal." The saints surely had a singleness of purpose. If my goal (singleness of purpose)is to be God's holy, humble obedient servant wanting always to do His will and gain eternal life, then my response to every decision I make should reflect this which, of course, it doesn't. Lord help me to focus on my goal and make decisions accordingly. In this chapter he also focuses on habits. To me discipline and good habits go together. He writes (page 129), "Habits create character. And your character is your destiny". I need to be more disciplined in my spiritual life and create better habits if I am serious at all about gaining eternal life in heaven. JoAnn
Chapter 8 Even a Blind Man Knows . . .
We are all called to "holiness". God gave us Jesus as our perfect role model. The saints have accomplished imitating Him successfully. I enjoyed this chapter reading about the saints he chose, their call and their total commitment to holiness. I, too, am called to be a saint, but with a small "s". Lord, help me to become your holy, humble, obedient servant! JoAnn
Chapter 7 The Path Well Trodden
Our life here on earth is our holy journey to our heavenly home. It is a difficult journey because we live in this worldly world. We are people needing a "spiritual" travel guide to help us stay on the narrow path that leads us to our heavenly home. The Bible surely is our road map and the Saints are surely our travel guides and role models. Through their successes and failures they give me hope and inspire me to continue on when I get lost or take a wrong turn on my journey. I like what he says about discipline. The word disciple is part of the word "discipline" and if I want to be God's disciple I must have discipline. Well, here is really where I fall short. On page 85 he says, "Those who develop this discipline go off in search of excellence and live richer, more abundant lives. Those who do not find this grounding in discipline do many things, but none well." I am challenged every day with disciplining myself, especially to spiritual reading, quiet prayer, etc. If I truly want to be a holy, humble obedient child of God I must surely work on discipline. JoAnn
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Kathy - Chap 7
Kathy-Chap 7 As a youth I too attended Mass almost daily year round. Such a big part of my growing up was helping out at our church, convent and school. Maybe that was just a part of being Catholic in a smaller community & living close to all 3! When I moved away I strayed. No matter where I went I missed that closeness to my faith that I had left behind. It took me years to get back on track. I would say I am finally at peace again, but hunger for all that I missed. It is difficult to convey what I missed to my children. They see faith much differently than I do. I guess they hunger socially. I now understand that is ok. Service work for God is faith & I just need to accept that they need compansionship to do some things. Maybe they don't want to show their spirituality alone just as we often don't. This past year I have rediscovered Mary. After being named after the Blessed Virgin (which I had hated) I made a committment to pray more diligently to Mary. First I sought forgiveness for not liking to be called Mary.This stems from birth...I can't put into words the gifts I have rec'd from Mary since then. I truly believe that Mary & the Saints have a wonderful impact on anyone who takes the time to explore the wealth they have to give. I wouldn't say I put Saints on a pedastal but I love them for the discipline they had and amazing sacrafices they endured.They overcame the "3 philosophies" that I need to work on. Am I afraid I will be labeled a "Holy Roller" if I speak of my faith outside the "safe" group, those seeking spirituality like me...most of the time I am. I see and hear myself often in this book...what a great and powerful way to search my soul!! Ruth, 2 or 3 Chapters are fine ...I just need time to blog! -- Posted by webelieve to Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly at 7/7/2004 03:14:19 PM For some reason this posting has not shown up on the BLOG so I am adding it but it is from Kathy. If her posting finally does show up I will delete this copy that I am posting.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Ruth - Chapter 7: The Path is Well Trodden
Chapter 7: The Path is Well Trodden This chapter on the saints was interesting and rang true in my heart. I have found that as I have grown in my desire to grow in holiness the Blessed Virgin Mary and holy people dead and alive have become role models to me. …. On p. 76 Kelly mentions that as a youth he was attracted to holiness. “What are our youth attracted to?” was an immediate questions that came to mind. Who adamantly, without hesitation, calls our youth to holiness? As parents we often hesitate for fear of going overboard and being branded as weird or fanatical……….. Kelly states that we should all be in the midst of transformation. If we are not progressing in holiness we are regressing. Do we openly admit that we are striving for holiness? Have we come out of our “secular closet” so to speak? Do we cheer each other on? Should our faith journey be a private thing we are embarrassed to share? This chapter brought all those questions to mind. We tell our friends we are trying to get in shape. We are trying to loose weight or save for a vacation but can we, without hesitation and with humility, tell people we are trying to grow in holiness so we are making behavior or lifestyle adjustments?……. I think that the faith sharing groups that we have in the parish and even this online study are only valid if they call us to growth in holiness and call us to share the call and struggle for growth with each other. We need each other. ……….. On p. 77 Matthew introduces the idea of the saints as spiritual coaches or role models. I think that we have to look to the saints and realize that those who don’t follow their lead are the losers. I might be getting ahead of myself but I wonder if Matthew will also introduce the need for spiritual directors to help us along the journey. Who do you have as a role model in your faith journey? There are several saints that influence me. One is St. Theresa of Lisieux (Little Flower). She showed me how to offer up all the little things in life. I was part of a book study on her last summer. But also of influence on me are the people in my life who witness to me their eagerness to grow. Examples are Tom, Karen and Jane who are prayer warriors serving the Lord and his people. They call me to a deeper prayer life. Joe, who is new to the spiritual journey, shows such a hungry to grow that I am inspired. Joann and Chuck and member of our TEAM of Our Lady, who as couples, are struggling to grow in faith. Fr. Dan and Bob are examples to me because they choose to center their life on serving God’s people and they challenge us to do the same in our own vocations. Each of you are people on the journey who inspire me as well as so many more. I believe that if we are on the journey we are saints “under construction” being molded and used for divine purposes………The challenge to me is always the discipline that Matthew states is so necessary for growth in holiness. Without discipline (p. 85) Matthew says we will never discover God’s purpose for us. Lord, help me to be disciplined, to follow the saints in following you and help me to lead others to you. May all the saints pray for us and this study.
Chuck: Chapter 6
I am just catching up, so here are my thoughts on chapter 6. Matthew's comments about a call to holiness are what we have been hearing in homilies week after week. Do people actually realize what that means? It is a huge change from where our society is headed today. Individualism and hedonism are so strongly ingrained in our lives that it takes a tremendously focussed effort to begin to change. Personally I have a hard time saying that I place a higher priority on my spiritual life than I place on taking care of my physical needs and obligations - balancing the budget, mowing the lawn, fixing things that don't work, etc. I think the single most effective means to becoming more holy is taking the time to read, reflect and pray. This is something that each person must do - nobody else can do it for them. Then we might reach the state that Matthew describes where we understand that we are not working for $8/hour but that all our activities are opportunities to grow in virtue. To reach the state of holiness that Ghandi was looking for in a Christian seems almost impossible. Given our weaknesses as humans it is probably most important that we are on a path that leads us to holiness. Matthew talks about needing clearly defined goals to achieve results. If we have goals that allow us to progress on this path we should find happiness in making progress toward the ultimate goal of actually becoming holy. To do this and still live in the present physical world is a real challenge. Chuck
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Question from Ruth
Now that we have complete two weeks of the book study would you prefer covering two or three chapters a week? ... (Corrine - thanks for the comment and suggestion) All are welcome to vote even if you have not posted yet. Majority wins. I have enjoyed three chapters a week but I know I will have company here the next two weeks so I just plan on doing the best I can to keep up. ..............Also note that my internet service has been very tempermental lately so if I don't respond for any period of time it is because I have not had access. Happy 4th.
Ruth - Chapter 6: What is the Authentic Life?
The beginning of ch. 6 starts off saying that we should humbly turn to God in our hearts and ask, “How may I serve? What work do you wish for me to do with my life? What is your will for my life?” I believe that the answers to these questions will be different at different points in our faith life with Christ. I continually pray, “Here I am Lord, send me” and “Lord make and remake me into the woman you want me to be.” ... How I want to become “the-best-version-of-myself.”……………On page 59 Matthew talks about making our day and all our activities a prayer….praying constantly When I was a child one of the ways we were taught to do this was by making a “Morning Offering” and meaning it thus making everything a prayer. I liked how Matthew pointed out (p.60) that even tedious tasks “can be turned into spiritual exercises that draw us nearer to God.”……………What is our essential purpose? (p.61) Did this remind any of you that we were “made to know, love and serve God in this world and to be with him in the next.” I learned that as a child but I wonder if many of today’s children have any idea of their purpose……..Did Matthew’s view of holiness match yours? Do you feel drawn to be holy or do you feel like it is unattainable? …. I think of holiness on two different levels. Yes I feel called to holiness and am striving for it but yet my own nature limits the level of holiness I so desire or attain. Yet, I think that the saints probably felt the same sense of “wanting to walk with and be closer and closer to the Lord”…always with a view of their own sinfulness. On page 66 Matthew states, “The surest signs of holiness are an insatiable desire to improve oneself and an unquenchable concern for unholy people.” I think our fundamentalist Christian brethren have nurtured the concern, for converting to Christ, unholy people more than we currently do. We need their concern and zeal. ……….On p. 71 it states that the Church desperately awaits a few brave souls who will stand up and remind us of our great spiritual heritage by redirecting us toward the goal of the Christian life” ….which is our quest for holiness. I think that Mother Teresa and Pope J.P. 2 does this but so does Fr. Dan when he encourages us to live up to our vows as he strives to live his vows and so do others who by their very presence at daily Mass tell me they are striving and I should do the same. Lord, give us “holy moments” (p.66) and do not let us “become unholy” by being less than we are called to be and help us to work on the defects of our character (p.66). Like Mary, whose last recorded words were, “Do whatever He tells you, “ I want to bring Christ to others by carrying Him within myself.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Anybody else out there?
Corrine and I have been posting but where are the rest of you? Hope all is well for everyone. Blessings and Happy 4th to all. ruth
Ruth ...Chapter 5: What are we celebrating
What were your thoughts about your parish when you read this chapter? ……When I think about what our parish celebrates I immediately think of Fr. Dan. He does “celebrate” the sacraments and faith moments not just "DO" them. I really get the feeling that he believes what he celebrates which makes the celebrations more grace filled for me……. The current conflict in the parish hinders our ability to fully celebrate yet hopefully the celebration also helps heal the conflict. Does that make since …. When the chapter talks about the relevance of Jesus’ life and teaching today it makes me realize that where the culture is tearing everything down, life (abortion), marriage (same-sex union, divorce, division, hurt, brokenness), etc the church is building the culture up…. continually standing for the positive it calls us to be better, more Christ like rather than pulling us downward… The church has to be even more counter culture in this day and age. It use to lead the culture, where now I think it has to struggle not to follow the culture. ......... Pope John Paul 2 and Mother Teresa have given us examples of leadership through personal holiness built on gospel values … How does one answer the question, “Are you thriving or just surviving?” In general, I feel that I am thriving when I am doing something that positively affects others. I am just surviving when I am self-centered… (That is why the empty nest is often difficult for some people). I do think that the gospel is calling me and transforming me at the same time and gives me a since of mission. ….. “Personal holiness is the answer to every problem” (p.48) It is the application of the values and principles of the Gospel to ….our everyday lives.” Can you imagine if all the people in our parish were actively striving for personal holiness….what a difference it would make in our community.... “…the best way to defend the faith is to celebrate our faith.” I am proud, hopefully in a good since, of our Catholic faith yet it seems like I always have to defend it even to those who are Catholic. I really want and need to celebrate my faith in the Lord and my Catholicism.... Lord, help us to apply your values to our lives and make us attractive to others…. pointing them to you and to your church.
