Pray To God Today

 Living in 2022 is no easy task, and I won't go further into the troubles of our times, because you already know them. But living as a Catholic in 2022 seems to be even more difficult. Living as someone who believes in God, believes that we will rise again, believes that bread is the Body of Christ, believing in life and believing in a God centered world is a lot to ask for in 2022, especially when society, friends, family and social media consistently supply us with a humanistically pagan, pleasure-seeking teleology to our existence.  If you haven't seen or read part 1 or part 2 of this series, I would recommend catching up on them before we conclude with this piece today.  One question remains why believe? What is the point of believing if in believing we aren't going to get it an easier and it might actually be more difficult for us, especially if we are in high school or in a place constantly surrounded by a small number of people that we desire to fit in with?...

Following God in 2022 is tough for anyone, but especially the young and all of us who are still under the influence and formation of our peers. It becomes increasingly difficult to: say you are Catholic, to practice your faith and to live a life that often goes against popular opinion and societal standards for an 'acceptable' and 'inclusive' person.  Not to mention the baggage and labels that can often come towards someone who is Catholic and who practices or the fact that in many places it can become dangerous to practice your faith.   If you haven't seen the first post in the series, you can do so here, it is worth a read before you pick up on this one.  The one thing that becomes abundantly clear, however, when  you do choose faith, and when you do choose God over society, ideas and movements, is that God is the God of abundance. Yes, believing in God will set you apart, for you are believing in something that holds God as the ultimate being (not humans!), ...

Trust me when I say that I know that living in North America and being young and being in high school, and trying to fit in, finding yourself and trying to gain as many friends as possible, makes it extremely difficult to live out your faith. Certainly in our day and age, saying you are or practicing your Catholic faith is extremely difficult: you are seen as being again progressiveness, you are labeled as uncool and believing in a myth, you are seeing as someone who says no to what appears to be all the good things in life, you are labeled as someone different, weird, or even a bystander to all that is going on. Some people may even stop talking to you because your association with the church; with the stance on abortion and gay marriage, with the church's stance on sex before marriage or that bread actually becomes the body of Christ.  We live in a world of division, and you certainly do not escape that when around your friends, family, and social media. The church and believing ...

 I... am pretty tall. When I was in elementary school and beginning of highschool, I use to be one of the shortest kids in the class. Now, much older, I am quite tall and it's fun to say how much I love people looking up to me! (Joke most definitely intended. I am not that prideful). But I do end up taller than most people, so it is not often where I feel small and towered over.  The last couple of weeks I have been camping out in the middle of my province, quite literally in the middle of nowhere. I love being surrounded by the dense boreal forest and the heavy rock formations of the Canadian Shield. It really is gorgeous and a spiritual event for  me. One particular thing I love is that the campsite is truly out in the bush, and as such the light pollution is very little, if any. The lack of surrounding lights, of course, means that the night sky lights up with the most gorgeous of stars that is never possible in a city. I stayed up until the early hours watching the st...

Today we celebrate in the Roman Catholic Church the feast day of St. Benedict of Nursia. Benedict, of course, if famous for his Rule on monastic living which focused heavily on 'Ora et Labora' which means "Pray and work."  It is important to pray and be close to God, but we can do so as we work, as we accomplish the tasks here on earth. In fact a personal favorite quote of St. Benedict is, " Prefer nothing, absolutely nothing, to the Love of Christ."  This quote summarizes perfectly the entire spiritual life and our goal as growing in our discipleship with Christ.  We love a lot of things in our life; we love times with friends, our phones, games, drinking, archery, bowling, any sport, any talent. We love a lot. A lot of things consume our life- and so they should, as they give us meaningful time and help build meaningful relationships when done properly. So how on earth am I suppose to be prefer the love of Christ above all? Am I suppose to give up everythi...

For the first time in forever I was watching daytime TV on an American channel and I had forgotten how the commercials are often more entertaining than most shows. One particular thing that stood out to me again was that everyone always appears so happy in those commercials.   They have a new toothpaste and instantly they smile with teeth shining brighter than the transfigured Christ. They invested in a new brush for their dog and now their life is so much better, so much happier, because their dog has been brushed like never before. They were able to sell their gold and the cash in their wallets makes them oh so much happier.  Happiness sells.  Happiness seems to be the selling point of a fulfilling and meaningful life. If we were to listen to these commercials we would see that it is only happiness that comes from having stuff, having money, having shinny teeth, or having a clean dog that can actually make our life better and meaningful. Stuff = happiness.  We...

It... has been a while.  Globally we have experienced a global pandemic, and, here in Canada, have faced many challenges that arose from it. We have seen some civil unrest and some new beginnings in both the USA and Canada with supreme court decisions and a greater understanding of our Canadian past. In Canada, we look forward to the visit from Pope Francis later this month. It is an exciting and challenging time, to say the least, to be a catholic in this world.  That is what has brought me back here, to my blog I started long ago, and have had a desire to start up again. One such event that begin to reignite this passion for me was taking the Youth Minister position at a local school. This job has put me first hand at the cross roads of what the church teaches, what students actually   care about and think, and their sense of humour. With these new insights, I want to begin writing short posts, messages that I think are good for the students I serve, but also large...