The Victor's Crown

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- In Every Situation I have a challenge for each of us this week. Myself absolutely included. Here it is: Learn to turn to God in every situation. Not just when we need help—in every situation. We're pretty good at turning to the Lord when we need help. When things are hard. When we're despe...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Strive Always Perseverance is a virtue that doesn’t get enough attention. Maybe because you can’t see it in a moment. Perseverance is possessed over time—over months, years, a lifetime of continuing to strive. St. Teresa of Ávila captures this beautifully: “Come what may, happen what will,...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Standing With Him Sometimes we treat our faith life like we’re always chasing after God. He’s way off there, distant, and we’re trudging through the muck trying to reach Him. Falling. Getting back up. Continuing. That image is true. It captures something real about the struggle. But there’...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Willing to Fight It’s around that time when many New Year’s resolutions are beginning to falter. Maybe we came out too strong. Maybe we were sprinting when we should have been thinking about a marathon. That’s okay. You can pick yourself back up and start again. The journey in this life is...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Useless Things What you give your attention to becomes your reality. I recently read this in a book about our online habits. The author’s point was simple: if you spend all day reading articles about crime, you’ll start seeing potential threats on every street corner. What you consume thro...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- To Cut Off The Latin root of the word “decide” means “to cut off.” The same root appears in words like homicide and suicide— -cide , to cut, to strike down. Every decision cuts something off. When you decide this, you cut off that. Deciding to pursue holiness means cutting away sin from ou...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Gaps As we grow in faith, prayer takes on a central rhythm in our lives. We develop anchors—times when we pray consistently. Morning prayer bookending the day with night prayer. Grace before meals. The Angelus at noon. These are good.  Our days are built around these anchors, but there...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Ordinary Life "The ordinary life of a man among his fellows is not something dull and uninteresting. It is there that the Lord wants the vast majority of His children to achieve sanctity." —St. Josemaría Escrivá Sanctity happens in the ordinary. In the everyday. In the life you're livi...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Unwilling St. Augustine gives us a disturbing scenario: at the final judgment, the devil and his demons speak these words to our Lord about us. "Most just God, declare him to be mine who was unwilling to be Yours." It should unsettle us a little. First, because at the end of time, we're go...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Where We Expect Him “How many souls are troubled by doubt because God does not show Himself in the way they expected.” —J. Leclerq The problem isn’t that God doesn’t show up. It’s that He doesn’t always show up where we expect Him. We look for God in the big moments—the dramatic answers to...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Act and Trust The spiritual life can feel like a roller coaster—steep declines where we fall into trusting ourselves, steep inclines where we're learning to trust God again. We swing between the extremes. Sometimes we trust but don't act, waiting passively for God to do everything. Other t...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Not Into the Nest "God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest." —Josiah Gilbert Holland Our journey toward God is one of collaboration. God doesn't do it for us. We don't do it entirely for ourselves. It's both. God provides the food, but the bird still has to le...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- When He Wills It One of the challenging parts of following Christ is trust. Or as the saints call it: abandonment to Divine Providence. We trust that God wants the best for us, but in any given moment, we don't see the whole picture. We might desire to be somewhere else, to be different, t...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- No Proxy Conversions "We cannot forget that conversion is a profoundly inward act, in which the individual cannot be replaced by others and cannot make the community a substitute for him." —St. John Paul II There's no such thing as conversion by proxy. The trap is thinking that because we...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Begin Again “All human creations are the result of unwearied new beginnings.” —G. Chevrot Chevrot is talking about works of art, sculpture, books—the products of our labor. But he’s making a deeper connection to the spiritual life. Excellence doesn’t come from getting it right once. It com...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- One of the Five "How I wish your bearing and conversation were such that on seeing or hearing you, people would say, 'This man reads the life of Jesus Christ.'" —St. Josemaría Escrivá What a line. Not "This man is perfect" or "This man has it all figured out." But "This man reads the life...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Little Skirmishes "Today, as yesterday, heroism is expected of the Christian, a heroism in great struggles if the need arises. Normally, however, the heroism will be in the little skirmishes of each day." —St. Josemaría Escrivá A number of saints have talked about this idea, and I need to...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Change My Face I remember back in college when a few friends informed me that I have a bit of an intimidating face. My wife says that my resting face can look a little stern. Apparently, I need to smile more. But the other day after receiving the Eucharist at Mass, a prayer came to mind. U...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Path Is Lit Our Lord lights our path. He shows us the way. But sometimes that's by candlelight—we can barely see a few feet ahead. Sometimes it's a flashlight in the dark—we see our destination but we're not sure how to get there. And sometimes God lights up the path like an airport ru...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Merry Christmas I'm so grateful you're here. Thank you for spending part of your days with me this year—for reading these reflections, for wrestling with these ideas, for growing in faith alongside me. Today we celebrate the moment everything changed. God became man so that man can be with...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Don't Miss Jesus The last thing you want for Christmas is to miss Jesus. I don't mean that's the last item on your list. I mean that's the very thing you want to avoid—missing Jesus when He comes on Christmas. In the Bible story, people actually missed Him. King Herod was too threatened to...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The One True Light The Christmas story has become so visual for us. We’ve seen nativity scenes, heard the story countless times, watched recreations. It’s familiar. Mary and Joseph searching for shelter in the cold night. Shepherds tending their flocks at night. Wise men following a star....

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Preparing the Way It's not hard to see why Saint John the Baptist is a figure we return to in Advent. He came to prepare the way of the Lord, and he is also a model for us. He didn't do the work of Christ. He didn't heal the sick or cast out demons. He didn't convert hearts—that's the work...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- "Go to Holy Communion even when you feel lukewarm, leaving everything in God's hands. The more my sickness debilitates me, the more urgently do I need a doctor." —Saint Bonaventure Are any of us actually worthy to receive the Eucharist? It's too great of a gift. Every time we approach, we...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Making the Stop "A good Samaritan is he who stops to relieve the suffering of another, no matter who or what he is." —Saint John Paul II We know the parable. It's dramatic. Life-or-death. The kind of suffering you can't miss. But what I love about Saint John Paul II's words: relieving suff...