All that is Beautiful

I’ve always been struck by the beauty of movement, whether it’s a ballerina gracefully moving across the stage, a baseball hitter’s powerful swing, a skier masterfully navigating the mountain, or an athlete in the gym maneuvering heavy weights with ease. 

Beauty is all around us in many forms and I try to take the time to appreciate how the many hours of repetitive practice allow the human person, at every level of athletics, to move with beauty, grace and ease. Thanks be to God for the incredible design of the human body and all that it allows us to do

The ability to appreciate beauty, in any form, is truly a gift from God. I was reminded of this recently as I listened to a Catholic podcast and the topic was goodness, beauty and truth. This time of year especially, when the trees are budding, the flowers are blooming, and all of nature becomes a flourish of green, it is a easy be thankful for the goodness, beauty and truth of God displayed in the majesty of His creation.

Beauty resides not only in our vistas and valleys, but also in literature, art, music, theatre, gardening, cooking, woodworking, athletics, and most especially in how we love and serve. Beauty resides in really any activity that we unite with God and that lifts our eyes and hearts to Him in thanksgiving. God generously pours his grace into us as we live, laugh, love, pray, play, move, share and create—each of us in our own way—and so we all contribute in some way to the beautiful tapestry of God’s creation.

What a powerful prayer to ask God to guide us in our creative, artistic and physical endeavors and that we do everything with pure hearts rooted in His love. Let us nurture and share our gifts and talents freely so that the goodness, beauty and truth of God flow out from us to others.

The pinnacle of beauty is love in the human soul. St. Pope John Paul II referred to the human person as the “masterpiece of God’s creation.” May we give thanks for the inner beauty of every soul which is like a shimmering jewel illuminating the light of Christ, each in our own way. 

St. Augustine said, “How does that beauty bring us closer to Him? Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.”

Help us Lord to appreciate the goodness, beauty and truth of both the joys and the sufferings that we will inevitably experience in this life — and by your grace, may we unite all of it with the love of your Son Jesus Christ, who by the Cross, gives us new life.

Woe to Compare

One of the tenets of physical strength training is to listen to your body and go at your own pace. It can be tempting to compare our progress to others, but comparison can lead to discouragement and frustration. It can take the fun out of our little successes.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

In the spiritual life, comparison can also lead to discouragement. God gives each  of us different gifts and inspirations about how to use them. Praying for guidance, being faithful to the Sacraments, and learning about ourselves through the study of scripture are some ways God reveals who we are through Him and how we are called to use our gifts and talents to accomplish our unique mission.

St Paul addressed comparison in 2nd Corinthians 10:12, “Not that we dare to class or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”

As Christians, we are called to support, encourage, love and be inspired by each other. We are on the same team! We are each given unique gifts for the purpose of lifting up the Body of Christ and bringing people to Christ. How ineffective we would be if we all had the same gifts! 

God is so generous, and has such great plans for each of us that if we wallow in the fact that some people have more gifts (or what we consider better gifts) than we do, we may miss out on our unique mission and purpose. Most certainly comparison opens the door to Satan to discourage us and perhaps even stop us from striving for holiness (and sainthood!) altogether.

Christ knows our individual strength and weaknesses and he works with us just as we are — so let us seek Him rather than looking to people to give us our mission and identity.  St. Francis de Sales said, “Be who you are and be that well.”

Let us pray for the humility to be honest with ourselves about our gifts and to patiently discern how to use them. Often our mission is small and hidden, but of no less importance than what appears to be someone else’s grandiose mission. May we be grateful for whatever gifts we have and pray to find God’s peace and joy in living authentically with Him as our guide.

St. Augustine's New Years' Wisdom

The New Year is always filled with promise. Something shifts in us that makes us want to become more holy and healthy. Maybe its the change of routine during Christmas and New Year, the travel, or our over-indulging in things of the world (like cookies and wine) that make us ready to begin anew in January.

It’s a great to build new habits of exercise and healthier eating patterns, but more importantly, this is an excellent time of year to renew our commitment to prayer, fasting and receiving the sacraments. Developing strong holy habits now can help us have a more holy and healthy Lent (which is just around the corner.)

As it turns out. St. Augustine has some priceless and even humorous words of wisdom about the power of habits and the role of God in our lives. 

He said, “Such is the strength of the burden of habit. Here I have the power to be but do not wish it. There I wish to be but lacks the power. On both grounds, I'm in misery.”

I laugh (and cry) in agreement with him. I want so much to be faithful to holy and healthy habits that will help me grow and to more fully live out God’s mission for me, but I try and fail, try and fail, again and again. Oh misery!

He encourages us. “You aspire to great things? Begin with the little ones.”

Small steps daily, little things with great love, small changes like 10 more minutes of prayer, offering kind words to others, doing a chore without complaint, starting a Holy Hour. A series of small steps can be a gift, a surprise of happy and holy changes that take root and bear fruit in our lives and in the lives of those we love.

St. Augustine said, “For if God is man's chief good, which you cannot deny, it clearly follows, since to seek the chief good is to live well, that to live well is nothing else but to love God with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the mind.”

And so in our steady stream of resolutions, goals and desires for achievement, we are reminded by this dear saint to stay the course, to pray, to listen and rely on God by seeking his will and loving him with all we’ve got.

When the discipline of holy and healthy habits becomes wearisome, we are reminded that what we are trying to do here on earth is filled with temporary toil and that our true destiny is to be with our God one day in heaven. 

St. Augustine said, “When I come to be united to thee with all my being, then there will be no more pain and toil for me, and my life shall be a real life, being wholly filled by thee.”

Just in case we become full of ourselves with all of our trying, controlling and doing to improve conditions for this temporal body, St. Augustine points us to hope in our mighty Lord and the powerful union we have with him as his beloved sons and daughters.

“Now, may our God be our hope. He Who made all things is better than all things. He Who made all beautiful things is more beautiful than all of them. He Who made all mighty things is more mighty than all of them. He Who made all great things is greater than all of them. Learn to love the Creator in His creature, and the maker in what He has made.”

May this new year be a joyful kickstart of holy and healthy habits for you, with our mighty God at the helm, and with a new appreciation of God living (and working) within each of us.

In Training to Grow in Holiness during Advent

Most of the people I work with want to get stronger and move better for everyday life. They want to be healthy and able to enjoy their families and friends, to travel, and be able to take care of themselves as they age and have the ability to serve others.

So the approach I use in teaching fitness is moderate and consistent physical activity. I refer to physical activity as ‘training’ instead of ‘working out’ because the word ‘training’ sounds like we are on a journey — which we are — to provide consistent care for the gift of this human body so we can serve God and neighbor to the best of our ability while we are here on earth.

I also like to think that we are in training to grow in holiness each day. When we rise and pray anew, frequent the sacraments and try to be loving and giving to others, we are in training in a way — to grow in holiness.

The special seasons of the Church, Advent and Lent, offer us a unique opportunity to double-down on our training. Just like the times of training intensity in our physical training, our spiritual lives can also have times of more intensity. The special seasons of the Church invite us into a deeper and more intense experience of knowing and loving Jesus, serving our neighbor and growing in holiness.

I’m a realist and when I look back over the years, I’ve had some really fruitful times during Advent and Lent, and other times where I can say that, for different reasons, I didn’t give the time or effort that Jesus was calling me to. I have let worldly things crowd out my time with Jesus, but that inspires me to get back up and keep training to grow in holiness with more gusto. I’ve set my heart anew on making this Advent a peaceful and fruitful time with Jesus.

How about you? How has Advent been for you this year? I have learned that for me, it’s best to stick to my routines of prayer, Adoration and Mass. I try to spend a little more time in quiet prayer and reading of spiritual books. I also like to take advantage of parish Reconciliation services and listening to moving music this time of year. I decorate my home simply, and I have realized that for me, doing less during this busy time gives me joy and time to spend with Jesus.

From 1 Timothy 4:7-8, “Train yourself for devotion for, while physical training is of limited value, devotion is valuable in every respect, since it holds a promise of life both for the present and for the future.”

I pray that Advent has been, and continues to be, a peaceful time of training in holiness for you and yours with an eye on the eternal prize. May your Christmas be a time of gratitude for the gift that each of us is called to grow in holiness and may we each courageously respond to the call from Jesus.

From Within the Familiar

In physical training, there is much to gained by training a limited number of key exercises. I think good coaches don’t seek to entertain, but rather help people learn, grow and progress with a small set of lifts and movements that have the most potential to help them achieve their goals. People like familiarity, and in the familiar, they gain the courage and strength to move to new heights.

I was re-reading the Gospel of Matthew recently, and though I have read and participated in bible studies many times, I am amazed how the familiar words moved my heart in a new way. This time, the familiar became a catalyst for something new.

I love how Matthew describes Jesus and the disciples teaching, healing, praying and responding to the actions of Pharisees and Sadducees. The stories are familiar and comforting, but in this reading, I became almost solely focused on how often Jesus went away to pray alone.

From Matthew 14:23, “And after he dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.”

What does it mean when scripture jumps off the page and into our hearts in a new way? Most of us have been introduced to Lectio Divina in some form — the reading and prayerful reflection of scripture to allow God to work in us, but discerning the meaning in our lives can take time. 

I wanted a quick answer, but instead felt called to go up the mountain to pray. For me this is on our back dock by the pond, or in my favorite chair in the family room, or walking around our yard in the sunshine. Probably much like you, I have lots of ‘mountains’ in which to pray.

In the familiar stories of Matthew, God was trying to teach me something new or to take me to new heights. I began to set aside time to pray, not with my usual routine of Mass readings, the Rosary and Chaplet, but instead being quiet and listening, asking, waiting and allowing God more time and space to work in me.

I asked for a saint to assist me in praying more from the heart and St. John of the Cross turned up; I found this deep and tender prayer from him that revealed more of what I felt God was trying to teach me.

O Blessed Jesus, grant me stillness of soul in Thee. Let Thy mighty calmness reign in me. Rule me, O thou King of gentleness, King of peace. Give me control, control over my words, thoughts and actions. From all irritability, want of meekness, want of gentleness, O dear Lord, deliver me. By thine own deep patience give me patience, stillness of soul in Thee. Make me in this, and in all, more and more like Thee. Amen.

Our amazing God can break through, crack us open, and pull us closer to him through the words of scripture — and in any other way he desires. May we be watchful for these breakthroughs from within the familiar — as the familiar may be just the catalyst that God uses to move us to new heights.

Love of Neighbor

When COVID-19 started, the gym where I teach closed and I began video recording myself and my husband working out in the basement. I also loaned out my equipment so my students could continue their training at home. There were challenges, but we persevered. 

Gyms opened at the end of May and we moved to outdoor classes in the parking lot. New challenges emerged as we had to deal with the heat, wind, rain, humidity and having limited equipment to work with. But we adapted and thankfully we stayed healthy.

Now we are indoors and a whole new set of challenges is upon us with face coverings, social distancing, equipment cleaning, and concern about touching surfaces and equipment.

This experience has reaffirmed for me that the only way to get through change and challenging times is to turn to God in prayer to be filled with his strength. By his grace, and his grace alone, can I be kind, patient and loving to my neighbor. Faith applies 100% to daily life and that is more real to me now than ever.

I see the challenge of loving my neighbor most clearly in my secular activities —  living my faith is hardest in the day-to-day, nitty-gritty details of ordinary life. God sees those times where there is angst in my heart as I discern how to respond to a concern, complaint or a difficulty. I want to be a vessel of his love, I truly do, so I regularly unload on him in prayer to help me to be more loving, patient and kind as we are all adapting to the new norms related to COVID-19.

When I give in to my weaknesses, I am reminded how selfishness brings sorrow, not joy, for us and for others. Our weaknesses are immensely powerful teachers and I have been asking God for the light to see my failures with more patience and gentleness — and with a sense of humor — how can I be so silly to let little things get to me or drive me to annoyance or impatience? Acknowledging our weaknesses, with an ardent desire to learn and grow from them, can set us on the trajectory to be more loving, kind and gentle with ourselves and others.

From 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

This time of living with COVID-19 continues to be a time of learning how to love my neighbor more fully, with the heart of Christ, and with the gentleness of his Blessed Mother. May this scripture encourage us on our journey. From 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.”

Focusing on Our Spiritual Fitness

This is the time of year that we often focus on physical New Year’s resolutions … eating healthy, getting into shape with exercise, creating new habits that will help us feel and look better. All of that is well and good, but keeping our focus on our spiritual fitness is an even greater priority.

I have worked in the field of fitness for a while now. The longer I do this work, the more I see our cultural obsession with our physical bodies. Over time, the Lord has shown me that we can easily miss the point of our lives when things of this world begin to play too big of a role or become our identity

My goal as a strength coach has always been to help people learn to move well, lift heavy things to get stronger, and to have fun doing it, with moderation and consistency. While this is a good thing, it began to change for me when I realized I was spending too much time and energy on it and not giving enough time to God.

I am learning to approach any and all goals, physical or otherwise, from a spiritual perspective. Jesus is with us 24/7 and he cares about everything we think, say and do. He and His Mother will help us discern and guide us to enjoy recreation (and any secular activities) with moderation when we seek their help — as it is our spiritual fitness and fulfilling our vocational call from God that matters most.

There was a time when I was new to coaching (this was a second career for me) and I exercised 2-3 hours a day. I was learning how to teach and that’s how I justified the amount of time I spent on physical activity. I was aware that I exercised far more time than I prayed, but it was new, fun and exciting. Eventually, the Blessed Mother intervened and set me on a more spiritually healthy trajectory by straightening out my priorities.

One day when I was swinging a kettlebell in the gym, the Hail Mary prayer kept coming into my heart. I put the weight down and took an honest look at my spiritual life. I wasn’t praying the Rosary any more and I knew that I needed more prayer time in general. I had a desire to go to daily Mass, but I hadn’t made the effort to make it happen with my teaching schedule. I wanted to give my time and talent more freely to those in need. This all came bubbling up as I prayed for Our Lady’s intervention, so I put the kettlebells away and went home to ponder these things in my heart.

Our Lady of the Rosary

That moment with Our Lady in the gym prompted a big change in my life. I was led to SoulCore Rosary prayer and exercise, attended their retreat, and started leading SoulCore Rosary prayer and gentle movement in parishes.

I made other changes too. I changed the location of my gym to reduce maintenance time. I decreased the number of classes I offered. I exercised for only an hour a day (and now it’s less than that and fewer days per week) and I’m healthier, happier, my life is more balanced and I have a loving and active relationship with Jesus and Mary.

Most importantly, God is first in my life, my prayer time is far longer than my exercise time, I’m able to attend daily Mass, be a volunteer, and enjoy the richness of family, friends, parish and diocesan life in a more peaceful balance with my physical life.

My identity is a child of God, a woman in love with the Lord, a wife and mother, a SoulCore leader, and a servant and sinner who is striving for holiness. My role as fitness coach is very small and I’m thrilled about that. It’s not who I am, it’s something I do — and I ask God to sanctify it every day. There is real spiritual freedom in not allowing a secular activity to own the lion’s share of my time and energy.

So in this new year, I pray that we focus on our spiritual fitness first, keep Jesus at the center of our lives, and ask him, and his Mother, to help us discern how to approach any and all New Year’s resolutions.

God's Work and Our Effort

It takes a lot of effort to start a new exercise routine. Sometimes people are not ready, but when they are, it is a beautiful thing to behold. As they learn to move in new ways, you can almost see the pathways expand in their brain and body as they respond to the new impetus. When it clicks, it is pure joy to help that person move better and get stronger.

So let’s look at effort in our spiritual lives. We know that it takes effort to start anything new and to build strong relationships with people in our lives. It’s the same with growing more in tune with God’s will for our lives. We have to give time and effort to God so that he can work in us and through us.

Our Catholic faith teaches us that God responds to our efforts. It might not be in the way we expect, in fact most likely, it will not be our way at all. In faith, we trust that he recognizes even our tiniest desire to give more effort to our relationship with him and with our neighbor — even if our response is slow and weak.

We had a discussion in bible study recently about allowing God to be the pilot in our lives. It seems that many of us were catechized in a way that places us as the pilots with God as the co-pilot — myself included. It is interesting to take this to prayer and ask God to show us where we are depending too much on our efforts, where we are holding back something from him (and why) rather than allowing God to be fully in charge of our lives.

It is good to remember that God is the one who inspires us to make any effort in the first place — and that thought makes me crazy happy. Our effort is the result of cooperating with God’s grace received through the Sacraments, in prayer and scripture study, and in loving and serving others. He is first and we are second. He is pilot and we are co-pilots, no matter what is going on in our lives.

St. Teresa of Avila said, “The feeling remains that God is on the journey too.” 

Do we give God full reign of our efforts on this journey, in all matters, temporal and spiritual? Do we trust that his way, and our effort to cooperate with his grace, will lead us to greater joy, freedom and peace on our journey to eternal life with him?

From the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, 1:11, “To this end, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith.”

God brings fulfillment to our efforts. He makes our crooked lines straight. He is almighty and all powerful and has our best interest in mind. He love us and doesn’t give up on us — and I pray that we don’t give up on him — no matter what is going on in our hearts, families, parish, community, country or world. 

May we make every good effort to know, love and serve God, using the gifts and talents that he has given us so he can do amazing things with us and through us. Cooperation with his grace is a beautiful thing to behold.

Conversion

I’ve been helping people get physically stronger for nearly eight years. In that time, I’ve gone through a lot of changes in how I teach others and how I train and care for my own body. I’ve watched my students learn and grow. I’ve seen my training program, change, evolve and it continues to do so.

Change is inevitable in all areas of our lives, and it can be good, but sometimes life hits us hard with any number of challenges in family, work and life. On top of that, we are aging and dealing with forms of physical suffering, such as injury, illness and infirmity. In our physical difficulties, we learn about the spiritual power of suffering with love and perseverance—and by God’s grace, we have an opportunity to grow spiritually and to develop more compassion for the hardships faced by others.

Spiritual conversion is similar in that changes occur in us that can be both uplifting and challenging. We may experience many conversions in our lifetime as God seeks to bring us closer to him to help us grow in holiness. Changes, both big in small, by the grace of God, can lift us up, lead us into darkness, move us into new ways of serving, living and doing for God and for others. The changes might surprise us, even frighten us a little, and we may, believe it or not, even have an occasional longing for some sins that we’ve left behind.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1989: “The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high.”

Sometimes conversion, or this movement away from sin and toward God, means we change how we use our resources, our time, our energy, and even the people we spend our time with. We might be called to simplify, to give more, to lead or to follow in new ways, to pray more, or to just be more. God works with us so personally that the path of conversion is not predictable nor is it ever universal.

I look to the saints for wisdom on this journey of conversion which we pray continues throughout our lives here on earth. The saints are regular people who had many points of conversion in their lives and grew to great holiness by their gradual, yet eventual submission to God’s will.

Pope Saint John Paul II encourages us. “I plead with you! Never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”

The fruit of conversion can in fact, be the gift of journeying more fully with and for others. Other times, it can be more of a dark and lonely road like St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta experienced when God didn’t feel near to her — and so we rely on faith to keep moving forward without the clear light of His presence guiding us.

In our physical journey, as in our spiritual journey, there will be changes, conversions, movements, big and small, good and not so good — I pray that we listen to our bodies and respond with prudent care — and more importantly, listen to God, accept and cooperate with his grace with a steely focus on the ultimate goal of eternal life.

St. Padre Pio knows well the struggles we face. “The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the heart of its perfection except at the price of pain.”

Holy Friendships

This Scripture passage really hit home recently, from Matthew 12:47-49, “Someone told him, “your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wishing to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? And stretching out his hand toward his disciples he said, “Here are my mother and brothers.”

This Scripture can be a confusing because we love our mother and our brothers. However, recently I gained new clarity when I had the opportunity to visit St. Louis to meet new people, speak and lead SoulCore Rosary prayer and exercise at a parish.

A sister in Christ read a blog post that I’d written for soulcore.com and she contacted me to see if I could speak at her parish. The Holy Spirit worked out the details, and I had a wonderful visit to share, learn and grow with some marvelously faithful sisters in Christ.

Studies show that they key to a long and happy life, well into our senior years, is strong connections with others. When you love Jesus, and are united to him in Baptism, and you have that in common with someone, I have found that friendship comes easy. You have a bond that is not of this world, and God willing, can help prepare our hearts for the next. That is what I experienced with my new friends in St. Louis.

It is both holy and healthy to build authentic and loving connections with our brothers and sisters in Christ. While we are called to love and serve all of God’s children, but those who are on the journey with us can play a special role as they challenge, support and intercede for us.

Holy friendships can inspire us to be more faithful to the Sacraments, to nurture an active prayer life, study Scripture and to become more bold about sharing our faith with others.

The disciples traveled in pairs and small groups—and for good reason; we need each other! We are called to love God and love neighbor and we can get all caught up in ourselves if we try to do it alone. God works through each of us differently, and in many cases, speaks to us through those friends with which we have a spiritual connection.

When I have a life challenge, I have no qualms about asking a friend to pray for me for strength. Intercessory prayer is powerful!

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori said, “How pleasing to Him it will be if you sometimes forget yourself and speak to Him of His own glory, of the miseries of others, especially those who mourn in sorrow; of the souls in purgatory, His spouses, who long to behold Him in Heaven; and of poor sinners who live deprived of His grace.”

When people express concern about having a personal relationship with the Blessed Mother, I explain that seeking Our Lady’s intercession is just like asking a friend to pray for you. Our Lady loves each of us and wants nothing more than to grow in friendship with us to continually move us closer to her Son and his will for us.

We have to make some effort to foster holy friendships. When you ask the Holy Spirit to bring holy friends into your life, you might be surprised what happens next. That was my prayer a few months ago and I see the Lord placing new people in my life who are striving to grow in holiness and who desire to be a saint—and they inspire me.

May these words from St. John Vianney challenge us to persevere in our quest to build holy and healthy friendships: “O my dear parishioners, let us endeavor to get to heaven! There we shall see God! How happy we will feel! If the parish is converted we shall go in procession with the parish priest at the head … we must get to heaven!”

Efficiency

One of the things I am learning from Pope Francis is to focus more on people and less on efficiency. What that means is that in our quest for efficiency we can miss Jesus in the face of our neighbor when we are solely focused on completing a task, a mission, even if it’s a good work. A right and just activity should not be forged at the expense of kindness and care for others.

“We must grow in passion for evangelizing,” the Pope said. “If we must sacrifice something, let’s sacrifice organization and move forward with the mysticism of saints.”

As the Pope exhorts us to be witnesses to the Gospel in our work and play, we might ask ourselves how we can live the “mysticism of the saints” in our daily lives? This is an immense topic to take to prayer that can help us become more holy and healthy.

I’ll share an example from my life. I’m part of a spiritual book group with some women from my Church. We meet weekly—and at first we efficiently marched through the books sharing our thoughts, but staying on track with the topic at hand. Over time, we started sharing more personal stories and experiences (that related to the book most of the time), but now it can take us months to finish a book. We might only get through a few paragraphs in one meeting.

When I look at how our time has changed, we are definitely less efficient, but I see in our approach the Pope’s call to us to live with the “mysticism of the saints.” Sharing, learning, loving, praying and caring for each other has had a profound effect on each of us. We leave our time together feeling that God has touched us and that we have shared the Gospel with each other in new, personal and substantial ways. We’ve learned that it’s not how efficiently we can review a book that matters, but that it’s the listening, loving and moving forward under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that really impacts us.

Pope Francis said, “Mission is never the fruit of a perfectly planned program or a well organized manual. Mission is always the fruit of a life which knows what it is to be found and healed.”

Being “found and healed” is such a powerful sentiment. These words remind me that efficiency isn’t solely about slowing down, but it’s also about truly tuning in to each other. The beauty of this practice is that when we pause to care, God softens our hearts and amazing changes can unfold in both the giver and the receiver.

Here is another personal example. One day I was taking communion to the hospital and I really wanted to make it to daily Mass afterward. I admit, I hurriedly visited patients, but it quickly became clear that this was not being a good witness to the Gospel. Desiring communion for myself is a good thing, but not at the expense of taking communion to the sick. So I slowed down and took more time to converse and be present to the patients. An amazing peace came over me and I left the hospital feeling Christ’s presence in a way that was quite honestly akin to receiving him in Holy Communion. What a powerful lesson in efficiency that was for me!

So I urge you to prayerfully consider the Pope’s call in your own life and ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you can be a ‘wave of missionary passion” to others.

Simplifying our Lives for Jesus

Trying to live a more simple life can help us to become more holy and healthy. What is a simple life? That will vary for you and for me. Here are some thoughts for us to consider.

A good place to start is looking at areas of our lives where there are excesses. I’m thinking about my kitchen pantry right now that has built up with too many items; it’s time to clean it out and give food to my local food pantry. Too much stuff weighs us down. In the example of my pantry, I can’t find things quickly and easily, so it takes extra time to prepare a meal. I also end up buying duplicate items because I can’t see anything in the mess. Simplifying helps me be more efficient at home and giving food away helps others.

Another area of our lives to consider is our activity level. Do we have too much going on, feel stressed, too busy, rushed or worn out? These are signs that we might be doing too much and not doing God’s will. Taking this to prayer can help us sort out what God is calling us to do—and then we can reduce or eliminate activities that are not using our gifts and talents to be balanced and peaceful servants for Christ.

We can also look at how we spend our time. Time management can be critical in simplifying our lives. For example, we can examine how much time we surf the Internet, watch television or pursue a hobby. If we are not finding time to pray or keep up with work and family responsibilities, we might need to adjust activities that are not essential to our vocation. 

Simplifying our lives doesn’t necessarily mean we are doing less. Before making changes, we should pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help us order our lives. It might mean adding in more activity that is aligned with God’s will for us and removing those that don’t contribute to our desire to be holy and healthy. Maybe we need to add more silence to our lives, commit to a regular Holy Hour to talk to Jesus, exercise for more mental clarity, read a good book, or reconnect with a friend.

Simplicity can make more room for God to work in us and help us be better to serve the people we love—and this can help us grow in holiness. 

“Order your soul. Reduce your wants.”―Saint Augustine

The Holy Spirit has showed me that I need to give more time to nurturing friendships. I’m trying to organize my time so that I’m more available to meet friends in person, talk on the phone and hand-write notes. Simplifying my exercise routine and spending less time online is helping me do this.

When our lives are too busy, too complex, with too much stuff, activity, or noise, we can feel lost, lonely, out-of-control, and out-of-touch with God and his mission for us.

Think about a saint you know and love. Look at that saint’s life and you will see a spirit of simplicity. One thing common among the saints is their desire to love and serve God and to do his will—and they make a lot of changes in their lives to do this. Ask your special saint to intercede for you as you seek to simplify your life to be more free to respond to God’s call to you.

The more you have, the more you are occupied. The less you have, the more free you are.” ―St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

The Slippery Slope of Sloth

Have you ever thought about the sin of sloth? It’s number four on the list of the Seven Deadly Sins. I haven’t thought about it either, until recently, when I would catch myself having difficulty attending to both temporal and spiritual responsibilities.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church #2094 states that “spiritual sloth goes so far as to refuse the joy that comes from God, and to be repelled by divine goodness.” Wow, that’s more serious than I thought!

“Because of laziness, the rafters sag, when hands are slack, the house leaks.” Ecclesiastes 10:18

I was looking at sloth as laziness in my temporal activities, but more importantly, I was reminded how much sloth leads us away from God. If we ignore our day-to-day responsibilities, we can fall prey to the evil one who would like us to think we don’t have what it takes to serve God either. Sloth can lead us into a lonely pit of selfishness and despair.

St. Thomas Aquinas said, “Sloth is sluggishness of the mind which neglects to begin good. it is evil in its effect, if it so oppresses man as to draw him away entirely from good deeds.”

It’s not holy or healthy to be slothful. So how do we get off the slippery slope of sloth?

We are nearing the end of Lent, so hopefully we’ve been trying to be faithful to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Acts of love, where we put the needs of others first, can strengthen us. Reading Holy Scripture fortifies us. Frequenting Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation help lead us away from sin and toward God.

In my own life, I see the lure of sloth in unstructured time, so I often ask the Holy Spirit to order my day and set my priorities. Isn’t it amazing how much we can accomplish when we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us? Haven’t you been amazed at what you can do when you seek God’s will in your daily affairs… especially when you think you don’t have the time, energy or resources you need?

“I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13.

Some closing thoughts for staving off sloth:

First we can pray and ask God for everything, anything, big and small. Don’t limit God. He knows our needs better than we do and He delights in helping us with even our smallest corporal concerns.

Second, we can look deeper to see what is tempting us to sloth. There may be an issue behind our sloth that needs to be taken to prayer or addressed with a spiritual director or a faithful friend.

Finally, sloth is a sin against God and it will harm us spiritually, especially if we are not fulfilling the duties of our vocation. We have to fight like St. Paul to be Christ-like, put on the armor of God, and run to finish the race … because God is counting on us.

How Much is Enough?

When it comes to exercise, the general train of thought is that more is better. Sometimes my first task as a fitness coach is to gently move people to a new way of thinking that developing quality technique is more productive that doing lots of work without careful attention to how the body is moving and recovering.

Most people are exercising for general fitness and overall health for life and sport. Even when they are training for a specific event, such as an obstacle course race or a marathon, focusing on the quality of training, rather than the quantity, is essential to prevent injury and ensure they are well prepared.

I was reminded recently, in a conversation with a friend, that sometimes we have the same view of our prayer lives … that more is better. That may not always be the case.

If we set a goal of a specific quantity of prayer, rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us as to what and how to pray, we might not even start, or if we do, we might rush through without any heartfelt contemplation at all.

We might be expecting too much from ourselves based on our vocation and especially with our full lives serving family, community and our employer— which, with the proper intention, are also forms of prayer.

Asking the Holy Spirit to guide our prayer lives and coach us on how to pray can be freeing and spiritually productive — without a time element. So we start by setting aside a little time and space, in our schedule and in our hearts, and trust that the Spirit will move us to pray in the way he desires us to pray.

St. Teresa of Avila said, “Much more is accomplished by a single word of the Our Father said, now and then, from our heart, than by the whole prayer repeated many times in haste and without attention.”

What if it isn’t clear how we should pray? 

We can stop, listen and have an openness to the gentle movement of the heart to pray, for example, a fervent decade of the Rosary for a family member. Maybe later in the day the Holy Spirit will prompt us to pray another decade. We may have a lunch date cancel and we have a desire to attend noon Mass. We might comfort a suffering friend with spontaneous prayer. We can pray the Gospel for that day in a few minutes at bedtime. The possibilities are endless and the Holy Spirit might just surprise us!

I know that each of us have had ‘God instances’ when we asked for help with time to pray and get everything else done too. Then we look back over the day and see how Our Lady and her Son worked it out all in a way that we could never have imagined.

St. John Vianney reminds us that prayer is love rather than an item on a checklist. “Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.” With that thought in mind, let us pray with joy and confidence in the way the Holy Spirit is individually and intimately moving each of us.

Striving

We strive to improve how we execute kettlebell and barbell lifts and movements in the gym. The word striving makes me think of working harder and doing more. In fact, one definition of strive is to ‘struggle or fight vigorously.’ 

Often what we really need to do when learning a new skill is to relax, slow down, feel and learn, be patient and let the process of learning and advancing unfold naturally and gently over time, rather than forcing it.

Our spiritual lives can be the same way. We might be striving for holiness by doing lots of actions … volunteering at a shelter, joining parish committees, praying multiple rosaries a day and being a caregiver to a family member or friend. 

While these are wonderful ways to serve God, it’s easy to get caught up in doing so many tasks that there is little time to get filled up with God in silent prayer and reflection. We might even get so caught up in striving for holiness, that we place our volunteer responsibilities before our family needs.

I think part of our striving should be to stop striving … to give God freedom, open space and unstructured time to do his gentle and quiet work in us — to fill us up and rejuvenate, renew and strengthen us so our service continues to bear fruit. Even 15 minutes of heart-felt prayer daily can be life-changing.

Some of our striving, or our rush to accomplish, is the nature of our secular culture where we place a high priority on productivity, setting goals and achieving results. The spiritual life is different. God already loves us just how we are; he created us, and like a loving parent, is always there waiting to guide his little children. He gives us the freedom to decide when, how and how much time we spend time with him in prayer. I think St. Francis de Sales said it well:

Every one of us needs half an hour of prayer every day, except when we are busy—then we need an hour.

While we are called to serve others, we are called first and foremost to love; to love God and love our neighbor. Growing in any loving relationship requires time, patience, gentleness and commitment. So giving God latitude to work in us in prayerful adoration, in contemplation, and through the Sacraments is less about striving and more about being faithful to slowing down and trusting that, over time, he will transform our hearts.

“Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.” -St. Augustine of Hippo