Know - Grow - Go

The Father is my loving Father. I am His beloved child. You are his beloved child. And he is indeed well pleased with each of us, not because of anything we’ve done, but because of who He is.

Continue to pray the words from Fr. Hans last week: "Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit." We need a renewal of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives in order to be everything that God needs us to be.

As we prepare for the celebration of Pentecost next Sunday, here are three simple words to say over and over again: "Come, Holy Spirit!" When I am comfortable: "Come, Holy Spirit!" When I am afraid: "Come, Holy Spirit!" When I don’t know what to say: "Come, Holy Spirit!" This is how we will be a Faithful Presence and Influencers for Jesus: through the courage and wisdom of the Holy Spirit. I encou...

We often think of faith as a comfort and a refuge, and it is. But that’s not the goal of faith. It’s more the by-product. Faith, first and foremost, calls us not to comfort, but to courage. To dare. Sometimes even to risk. And in all of that to trust. God’s love doesn’t protect us from difficulties or shield us from suffering. What it does do is encourage us – literally put the courage into us – t...

Even though we know absolutely that Jesus loves and knows each of us by name, we also know that he loves everyone throughout the world. Communion is not just about each of us individually and Jesus - it is about Jesus and every person, all of God's people. Communion reminds us that life isn't just about "me" - we see life from God's perspective, as all of creation is connected together in God's gr...

Say the following out loud: "God has a special place in His heart for me." It’s true. God also has a special place in His heart for each of our family members and friends and so on, but let’s not lose sight of how He loves each of us individually, because He’s able to love all of us that way. Each of us is the most important thing in the world to God, and that’s possible because He’s God. For toda...

All world religions speak in some way about mindfulness, about living lives that are looking beneath the surface and asking, "What's happening on a deeper level? How might God be involved in what's going on?". Take the time to do that in the simple, daily things - like prayer before meals, morning prayer, giving thanks to God in the evening - and don't just do them mechanically. Be really wide ope...

For those who want to be great Christians, or even just to be pretty good Christians, we can make the choice to pray daily, to put others first regularly, to willingly carry our crosses, and to love all those we meet. Repeated daily choices to follow Jesus will build themselves into habits, creating that 'muscle memory'. Take a moment right now to choose something good you can do in your daily lif...

It's important to practice an awareness of resurrection. There are signs of resurrection all around us, and we have to make the decision to see those signs in our day-to-day life. We ourselves are "previews" of the resurrection: the way we live, our ordinary acts of kindness and thoughtfulness, and at times those extraordinary moments when we are called to do something heroic for the people around...

Think about the crosses that God, in his mysterious wisdom and providence, has allowed to come into your life. Think about the persons in your life and in our world who most need God's grace. Give your cross to the Lord; allow Him to take it, to join it to His own; and offer it up: for you, for your loved ones, and for the transformation and renewal of the world.   Permission to podcast the music...

Jesus lowers Himself to serve those whom He loves. That kind of self-lowering can often offend our human pride; while many of us are willing (or want to be willing) to give everything for someone we love, we want to control how much others are allowed to do for us - even Jesus. But to truly receive the love of Jesus, we must not only be willing to give everything for Jesus: we must also be willing...

Practice hosannas by allowing your words to be those of encouragement and support, your prayers to be of praise and surrender and humility. And be alert for any way that, instead, you are giving in to a kind of "crucify him" by your words and actions.

Embracing the cross is a "perishable skill" - you lose it if you don't use it. How do we practice, though? Deacon Brett uses "Mother Teresa's Humility List" (see image below), and challenges us to choose one or two to work on this week (and in weeks to come).

We are called to reach out to the lost, wherever they may be. Drawing in those who have wandered isn't about some kind of piety or moralizing people, shaking our finger at them for "being lost" - it means building relationships with people. It's about kindness. Sometimes it's not easy; often times it's messy; but it always starts with basic friendship and relationship. This week, let the Holy Spir...

Signs appeal to those seeking for power. Wisdom appeals to those seeking after knowledge. But the cross attracts those seeking after love. The cross is attractive because it demonstrates a total, self-giving, self-emptying love. Lent is all about getting back to the basics of our faith: We proclaim Christ crucified. That means putting aside our search for signs or wisdom, and striving instead to g...

We have a choice when we go through those really foggy times: to give in to doubt and discouragement, bargaining with God; or to live trustingly that God will provide. We are not spared the troubles of this world, but God promises that in everything He will be with us - and no matter what we face in our lives, God will provide.

The temptations Jesus faced are not much different than those we all face, and He not only gives us a model for how to respond to them with humility, but He also promises to stand with us as we face them and help us to reject them. And even when we fail, we can get up, go back to our Father, and be received with prodigious love.

The practice of giving things up for Lent is about learning detachment from good things, so that God can have His proper place in our lives.

It’s easier to put people into categories rather than see them as an individual loved in particular by God. As Lent begins, think of the people in your life that you have dumped into categories, and ask God for the grace to see them as He does.

We are not spared the crosses and hardships of this world, but God is right there with us in the thick of it. Look at your cross at home and let it be a reminder to you that in everything, our God is with us: not sparing us troubles, but promising to be with us in the midst of them and, ultimately, to bring hope out of them.

In any relationship, trust is built from coming to know someone. Read the Gospel of Mark this week (two chapters a day takes about 10 minutes) and get to know Jesus better by reading His story, and learn from Him that He is worthy of your trust.

Despite the world's uncertainties, Fr. Dave reminds us of the security we have in Jesus. Take time daily (literally every day) to release the anxiety that so easily robs us of living fully.

With the prevalence of social media, it’s easy to fill our minds (and hearts) with all kinds of (relatively) worthless words that we won’t remember even five minutes from now. This year, why not resolve to get to know God’s Word better, allowing it to shape your mind and heart so as to be better able to receive His life and His peace? Consider tithing your time you spend on social media and media...

We are God's children, and God's home (the Church) is our home. Each of us belong here, and none of us need a reason to visit. It is simply a place to be yourself and to be with God.

Take time each day to listen into your heart and hear Jesus say to you personally, "I love you; I'm fond of you; I value and treasure you" — and let that be the foundation for how we live our lives.