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Hurt People, Hurt People

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Today, Jesus states in the Gospel to love our enemies.  Yup, we’re going to be talking about this today. He said to LOVE them and pray for those who persecute you. Some of you are thinking well duh, I’ve already heard this many times in my life and others of you are starting to get an achy heart or boiling blood.  I don’t know if this is just the Sicilian in me, but every time I recall a memory of someone hurting me, I mean REALLY hurting me, the blood starts to boil. I feel as though I look like a cartoon with steam puffing out of my head. As pretty as the picture I am painting for you sounds, I’ve come to a conclusion in my life that truly helps me to follow Jesus’ words and teaching.

It’s something many of you already know and some may think, “Really? That’s how you get your boilin’ blood down? Really?”  Yes, really. It’s pretty simple, but the choice to carry this truth in your heart truly does help you to love those who hate you, pray for those who have mistreated you, and love those you once called enemies. When we think to any memory of hurt, embarrassment, or hatred, there is usually a moment of US being hurt.  The moment that they did or said something that pierced our heart and we can recall or relive so quickly. What I’ve realized in my life is that I have never once been hurt by someone who isn’t already hurt.

Hurt people hurt people.

This simple phrase encompasses all the wounds of my life.  When I take a step back and look genuinely at the people who’ve hurt me, I see the truth in this statement.  Every single person who has ever hurt, abandoned, gossipped, stole, manipulated you were all people who were hurting.  When I acknowledge this to the best of my abilities- and I mean truly take the time to ponder this- I am found with less hatred.  I come to feel sympathy & prayer. Isn’t that what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel today? If you only love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

I know I’ve hurt God before.  I’ve hurt Him by the many sins throughout my life, but He looks at me with love and sees not an enemy, but His hurting daughter. When we take the time to pray about those who have hurt us, acknowledge that they too are hurting, we allow God to offer us grace.  It is grace that pulls our hearts from hatred to sympathy. It is grace that takes the viewpoint from us and our feelings to them and theirs. I ask you to truly think about that one person who has hurt you most in your life. Take God’s hand and recognize that hurt people hurt people.  This is the way God desires us to love our enemies and pray for those who hurt us. May you experience His grace in this endeavor, Amen.

Briana is a Catholic youth minister at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish in Cleveland, OH. She is also a nanny and district manager at Arbonne. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH and is excited to use these skills to bring her students closer to Christ and His Church. “My soul has been refined and I can raise my head like a flower after a storm.” -St. Therese

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Longing for Spiritual Food

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God communicates in different ways to different times, but the core message remains; a message of love. In the Old Testament God the Father spoke to the Prophets, in the New Testament the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and after the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles at Pentecost the Holy Spirit has been guiding us and the Church ever since.

Though we can see these real examples of each person of the Trinity working in specific times of history, every person of the trinity is present with us all throughout our lives. One of my favorite parts of the Catechism is where it says, “God is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.”

Our destiny is to share intimately in the relationship of God, but that destiny starts today. We can start to enter into that relationship here and now. The Father loves us and we can experience him through our prayer. The Son loves us through the Holy Eucharist. The Holy Spirit loves us through the Sacraments and our openness. We do not have to wait until the end of our lives for our destiny to start to become realized.

I like to think of this in relation to food. I love cooking and I love eating so most of my analogies are food based. Haha. Think of eating your favorite food. You have the taste and goodness of it instantly, but you don’t experience the fullness of it until it has been digested and used for energy. In the same way, we can taste the love of God in a very real way here on this earth, and we long for the fullness of that love to be realized at the end of time.

One time when I was on a work trip we stopped for dinner and I had these bacon wrapped dates that changed my life forever. Ever since tasting those delicious little pieces of perfection I have longed for the day when I can get back to that restaurant and try them again. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we treated our relationship with the Trinity in the same way? That we tasted God every week in the Mass and then longed for him until we could receive again. With this mindset, Mass stops being a chore and starts becoming something we look forward to every week, the same way I look forward to getting back to that restaurant. But the food God gives will give us eternal life. I know I can be more aware of this in every moment of my life.

One of the most helpful things I have heard about the spiritual life came from The Wild Goose Series. Fr. Dave Pivonka encourages us to simply say, “Come Holy Spirit,” throughout the day. This helps us not only to experience the love of God but also to help us be aware that we should long for the day when we are united perfectly with God in heaven. He longs to be united fully to us. Let us hunger for the same. From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless!

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

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Everything is Different Now

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Life-altering events change our perspective on everything around us, don’t they? I remember so clearly how I felt the day my mother died. I walked down the street and looked around me and felt astonished, truly astonished, that so many people were out and about and acting as if nothing had happened, nothing had changed, everything was the same as before.

For them, of course, it was. I was the one who’d felt the earth move. I was the one who could now divide my life into two halves, my life when she was still here, and my life after she’d gone. I was on the second half of that journey, the one I had to undertake alone. I knew then—and I was right—that nothing would be the same. Everything would be different forever.

I’d passed from what-was to what-is. I couldn’t yet imagine what-will-be.

Today’s first reading is about change, too, the change of transition from one way of living to another. The old order, St. Paul tells us, must give way to the new. “Everything old has passed away, everything has become new.” Before, as a community, we lived in the what-was, the first half of our journey; after Christ, we’re living in the what-is and we look forward to a future what-will-be.

In other words, everything is different now.

If grasping that change wasn’t enough—and heaven knows it should be, drawing a clear line between the past and the future is difficult all by itself!—St. Paul has more to say about it. It’s all fine and good that we acknowledge the change; now we have to live it. To enter into it. To change our lives to reflect this momentous, earth-moving event.

In other words, once we know, nothing can be the same. Everything is different.

One of my favorite writers and theologians, C.S. Lewis, explains the transition better than anyone. “It is as if there is a door behind which, according to Christians, the secret of the universe is waiting for you,” he writes. “If their claim is not true, it is the greatest fraud in history. It is obviously the job of every man to find out if the claim is true; then to devote his life to exposing this gigantic humbug… or serving this tremendous secret.”

God opened that door to us, and now everything is different. We need to serve that difference.

The letter defines what’s at the core of that difference: we are reconciled through Christ; a fundamental relationship has been changed fundamentally. One recent translation of this passage talks about a “fresh start” and “settling relationships.” Can you feel how the words themselves are filled with excitement? Accepting that everything is different isn’t about mourning what was past, but setting out on an adventure into the future, and St. Paul is clear: we’re to include everyone in that adventure. God reached out to us through Christ, and now it’s up to us to pass Lewis’ “tremendous secret” on to others.

It’s moving forward into the what-will-be with confidence, not knowing what awaits us there, but trusting that whatever it is, we won’t be alone in facing it. God will be with us, and our community of faith will be with us. Because we’ve been reconciled to him, and through him to each other, we’re never again alone. Everything is different now.

Oddly enough (or perhaps not so oddly), this is the anniversary of that life-changing event: my mother has been with God in heaven for exactly thirty years today. And as I look back on that transition, I realize that all change, whether it’s losing something or gaining something, is a reflection of the transitions we live in our lives in Christ: the what-was we once had becoming the what-is we are living now as we wait with joyful anticipation for the what-will-be.

Or, as St. Paul assures us today: everything is different now.

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Jeannette de Beauvoir is a writer and editor with the digital department of Pauline Books & Media, working on projects as disparate as newsletters, book clubs, ebooks, and retreats that support the apostolate of the Daughters of St. Paul at http://www.pauline.org.

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An Antithesis of Ideas

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An antithesis is a figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by a connection of meaning through a connection of form. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stands everything we think we know on its head. He redefines happiness (Beatitudes) not for what the world thinks is happiness, but in a manner consistent with how God created us to be happy.

Following the Beatitudes, Jesus presents 6 antitheses. He uses the form, “You have heard that it was said…” “But I say to you…” to connect the teachings and to take us beyond the written word of the law to spirit or purpose for which the law was written. He even goes so far as to present the literal interpretation of the law as opposed to the purpose of the law.

The first reading also uses a connection of form to set up concepts which the world sees as opposites. The world sees affliction as a constraint against happiness. St. Paul says, we are afflicted, but we are not constrained. The world sees being perplexed as a road to despair, St. Paul says we are perplexed, but we do not despair. The world sees being persecuted as an abandonment, St. Paul says we are persecuted, but we are never abandoned. The world sees being struck down as being destroyed. St. Paul says we are struck down, but we are not destroyed. Why? We carry within us the death of Jesus so that His life may be manifested, incarnated, may live in the world through us!

We are people who don’t shy away from the crucifix. We look upon the death of Jesus and see his arms outstretched for us. We see that suffering and pain and being perplexed and struck down are not the path to despair and destruction. We look at Jesus on the crucifix and we see the power of his Sacred Heart. When we look at the crucifix, we see the incarnation, the love of God made flesh. We see Jesus’ merciful heart, wrapped in bands of thorns, on fire with the Holy Spirit.

As we pause today, part way between Pentecost and the Feast of the Sacred Heart we read about the relationship between the law and our life. Jesus shows us that it isn’t about just following the law, it is about living the spirit of the law. “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.” Jesus isn’t advocating self-mutilation, Jesus is telling us that nothing, nothing is as important as love. Nothing is as important as living the rest of eternity in the presence of love itself. As we look back on Pentecost and forward to the Feast of the Sacred Heart, let us love. For in love is happiness, not happiness as the world defines, but God’s true happiness found in a heart wrapped in thorns and on fire with the Holy Spirit.

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If you catch Sheryl sitting still, you are most likely to find her nose stuck in a book. It may be studying with her husband, Tom as he goes through Diaconate Formation, trying to stay one step ahead of her 5th and 6th-grade students at St Rose of Lima Catholic School or preparing for the teens she serves as Director of Youth Evangelization and Outreach in her parish collaborative. You can reach her through https://www.ignitedinchristnacc.com/.

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Faith and Charity

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Today is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, priest and doctor of the Church. While we know him as St. Anthony of Padua, he is from Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon, understandably, takes great pride in being the birthplace of St. Anthony and today is their national holiday. For the days leading up to his feast day, there are festivals in the streets, parades that lead to and from different churches around the city, and posters explaining when and where prayer vigils will be held throughout the week. It truly is beautiful to witness the faith so obviously present.

The first reading reminds us that we are to bring the light of Christ to the world in the same way that He Himself has set our hearts on fire for Him: “For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ.” We as Christians know the Good News, we know that Christ is our Redeemer and it is our job to preach that to the world. It is through our words and through our deeds that those whose eyes are still veiled to the Gospel, to the Word of God will come to know and believe.

On sharing the faith St. Anthony said, “Without faith no one can enter the kingdom of God, it is the life of the soul. The Christian is one who, with the eye of the heart, enlightened by faith, understands the mysteries of God and makes a public profession.”

This public profession of faith of which St. Anthony speaks can be the way we live our lives. He goes on to talk about the importance of charity in faith. It is a great act of charity to bring others to faith. In the Gospel, Christ teaches his disciples how to enact greater charity in their everyday lives. To be charitable and kind in their words and thoughts, to be charitable and forgiving to those who have done wrong against them, to be charitable and honest in dealings with others.

May we go about our day with charitable words, thoughts, and actions so that we might enter the Kingdom of Heaven and bring others with us.

St. Anthony of Padua, pray for us!

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Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO is studying for her Master’s in Spanish, and loves her job as an elementary school librarian. She is married to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com.

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What Makes for Greatness? Who is the Greatest?

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These are questions people ask all the time because there is in each of us the desire to matter. We want to know that what we do and who we are is important and meaningful. Our deepest sorrows come from a sense of meaninglessness. We feel alone and despondent when we feel that we do not matter to anyone.

The truth is that we are made for communion, we are made for love, we are made for greatness. But because we forget that we come from God, we are returning to God, and God is rescuing us every step of the way, we often seek purpose and meaningfulness in the wrong places. Rather than seeking our true identity and purpose in God’s Kingdom, we seek to make ourselves great in the eyes of this world, among our acquaintances, on social media; sometimes, we make ourselves seem greater by making sure others seem smaller. And then we find ourselves feeling unfulfilled and un-great.

So who is truly great? In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us who will be called the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven: “whoever obeys and teaches (the) commandments.” Wait. What?

In a world that sorely undervalues obedience because it overvalues independence and personal expression, these words of Jesus are easily passed over. Obedience seems to be in opposition to the freedom and individualism we value so highly. Obedience seems to be a virtue only in children. We want children to do what they are told. We can decide for ourselves.

We need to differentiate between blind, uninformed obedience (in which a person is expected to respond in robotic fashion to every order without thinking) and mature, intentional obedience (in which we consent with our free will to follow the authority of another). The first is the obedience that puppies learn in “obedience school.” The second is the full flowering of virtue in the soul that has learned TRUST.

Like a child who trusts completely in her parents, the person who has learned to submit all in loving trust to the Father, accepting His commands as the guardrails His loving will has placed in our lives, obeys the commandments and encourages others to live within their horizons. This is not a superficial conforming of our outward actions to “fit the mold.” On the contrary, this kind of obedience goes right to the heart, to the subtle movements of our desires and motivations, as Jesus will go on to tell his disciples in the next verses of Matthew’s Gospel.

This can be a point of examination for our conscience: Do I trust the Father enough to accept His commandments fully and obey them completely? Where am I “holding back” on submitting to Him wholly? When I pause to pray, is there any part of me that I am not yet holding up to His light?

Our greatness comes from glorifying God with our lives, by living according to the Truth: that we are God’s children, and we love Him in our obedience to His Will.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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A Thousand Points of Light

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Does anyone remember this quote from President George H.W. Bush:

“For we are a nation of communities, of thousands and tens of thousands of ethnic, religious, social, business, labor union, neighborhood, regional and other organizations, all of them varied, voluntary and unique. This is America … a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.” — Aug. 18, 1988

I often think of these words whenever I hear the Gospel about having to be the light of the world; about having to put my light upon a lampstand so that it will shine to all who come near; about having to let others see my good deeds so that they will glorify the heavenly Father. Oh my, such a burden you and I bear.

The word “light” is found in the bible 146 times in the Old Testament, and 58 in the New Testament. Not all references are as profound as that of today’s Gospel, but they were important references. We are also salt; “salt of the earth” you’ve heard many times. Salt was a precious commodity in ancient times. Often, wages were paid in salt rather than money. It was needed that much.

These statements of Jesus are integral to our lives as Christians. These statements pretty much sum up who we are and how we are to live our lives as Christians. I would believe that if we take to heart that we as “salt” can transform another the same as the way salt will transform the taste of food, much would be accomplished. I would also believe that if we take to heart that we are “light”, and live as a light to the world, we will transform others who come to see our light and come to know the Lord.

This is a lot to live up to. We can very easily fall into the trap of not wanting the light because of all it will reveal about us. The same as sunlight through a window shows us all the dust in our homes, so does the light of the Lord shining on us show us the “dust” of sin in our hearts. We often don’t want to see, but we must. You can close off your heart all you want, but the Lord is determined to transform you so that you can transform others, and that light will find the smallest crack in your defenses and will begin to permeate your life. And onward it goes.

I’d like to look, once again, at President Bush’s quote and change it a bit.

“For we are a Church, of thousands and tens of thousands of ethnicities, of men and women, of neighborhoods, social, business, regional and other, all of them varied, and unique. This is our Church — a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky. And hopefully, someday, a broad and peaceful world for the Lord.”

Go forth and be salt. Go forth and be light!

God Bless.

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Jeanne Penoyar, an Accounts Manager at Diocesan, is a Lector at St. Anthony of Padua parish in Grand Rapids, MI. Jeanne has worked in parish ministry as an RCIA director, in Liturgy, and as a Cantor. Working word puzzles and reading fill her spare time. Jeanne can be reached at jpenoyar@diocesan.com.

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Return to Him and Trust Him

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The readings from Sirach and the Gospel are both clear and timeless.

Go read them… if you haven’t.

I’m confident that they will convey to you deeper and more vital truths than a reflection by yours truly.

Did you read it then?!

Ok, here are my thoughts: February 22nd-24th of this year, I traveled with my band to Kalamazoo, MI for the Presence retreat; it was actually on this same retreat in 2014 that I first met Tommy Shultz (the organizer of this blog series).

A “Steubenville”-style of retreat, the weekend goes from Friday night to Sunday morning. Saturday night is the epic 2-hour long Adoration. Before I was committed to shaking the shaker and crashing the cymbals for the service, I wanted to receive confession.

I was fortunate enough to receive the grace of the sacrament through the gentle and insightful Fr. Derda.

In our conversation, we discerned that I fell victim to my sin of lust because I was first slothful (willfully). But, why was I slothful? Pure laziness wasn’t an adequate explanation.

I was afraid. Really, I needed to confess that I didn’t trust God’s plan to “prosper [me] and not harm [me]” Jer. 29:11.

 The sleeping beast in my life, ever lurking and harming my will, is the belief that failure in a new venture will crush me beyond repair. Bleak, I know. But it’s my demon. And I’m happy to share that it is losing.

A couple of years ago, Tommy shared this Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete quote,

“The only temptation we face is the temptation to believe that God does not want to fill the deepest desires of our hearts.”

Ain’t that the truth!

Should we steal scraps from the waste bin because we’re too afraid to accept our invitation to the feast?!

I think it not too bold to suggest that the rich man in the Gospel did not trust that God would fulfill the deepest desires of his heart and he did not trust that God would indeed care for him; why else would he be sad?

It is written in Sirach 17:21

“Return to Him and give up sin”.

It could also be read:

“Return to him and grow in trust.” Turn to Him. Trust Him. Even if He asks you to sell all that you have.

During the week, Matthew Juliano works as a Direct Support Professional with individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. Visit his Patreon page to learn more about his job; there you can also find more reflections on life and faith. On weekends, he travels as the drummer for Full Armor Band to play retreats and conferences.  Most importantly, Matthew is planning and preparing to wed his fiancé this July.
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Real and Permanent

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The Church, faithful to the Gospel, believes that marriage is a lifelong bond, that God Himself joins the spouses together when they freely declare their vows.

Much like today (unfortunately), divorce was taken for granted in first century Judaism because it had been allowed for so long. The Pharisees surely had heard of Jesus’ radical teaching on divorce and challenge him to defend it. Jesus asks what Moses “commanded”; they must concede that Moses did not actually command anything, but rather “allowed” divorce, implicitly acknowledging that this legal right is not a matter of privilege, but simply a tolerated abuse. Jesus responds that it was only allowed because of their hardness of heart, and then – as he so often does – he holds up the full vision of what God intended from the beginning: “male and female He created them… what God has joined together, no man can separate”. Jesus’ words remind us that the question about what makes a right marriage cannot be separated from the question about what it means to be human.

Jesus points out that a man and a woman are joined in a covenant by God Himself, linked by a bond that is real and permanent. To his disciples, he reaffirms that neither the husband nor the wife is free through divorce to marry again!

What’s the big deal? We are careful about how we talk about marriage because we must be careful about how we understand the way we participate in the life of God. If we get our theology of marriage wrong, it threatens to distort our theology of salvation. Marriage is a central Scriptural metaphor to describe this: as God is a communion of Persons, a communion of Love, so WE are created in His image and likeness, to live in communion; in addition, God is portrayed as Bridegroom and His people (that’s us) as His BRIDE. So the Sacrament of Marriage is a sign of God’s love for the Church, His Bride.

The truth of the matter is that in the sacrament of Marriage, spouses are given the grace to make manifest to the world Christ’s faithful, fruitful love for his bride, the Church.

Contemporary Christians sometimes misunderstand this, or think that Catholic declarations of nullity (commonly, but not quite accurately, called “annulments”) are a kind of “Catholic divorce.” But they are very different! Divorce is a legal designation about the END of a marriage; a declaration of nullity is a religious statement about the BEGINNING of a marriage, about its sacramental status (not the historical, legal, or emotional truth of it!). In granting a declaration of nullity, the Church is stating that one of the essential elements required for a binding union was missing from the beginning, and offering those who entered into a marriage that was lacking in some crucial aspect the gift of freedom to move forward in right relationship with the Church and with truth, which is sanctifying!

For a fuller understanding, see http://www.foryourmarriage.org/annulments/

Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Deacon Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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Free Will and Responsibility

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“And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes.” – Mark 9:47

Jesus’ words in today’s gospel seem intense and are meant to make us uncomfortable. But they need to be taken very seriously. He is giving us insight into what we need to bar ourselves from in order to enter the Kingdom of God. It’s a sort of road map to heaven, where we should all desire to go.

The Lord gave us the gift of free will from the moment we were created. He is not a puppeteer controlling our every move. Because he loves us so much, he wanted to give us the freedom to make our own choices and encounter him out of true desire.

The beautiful thing about free will is that we have a choice to work towards heaven or hell. Our decisions in this life affect that. It may seem like a lot of responsibility. Eternity is a very long time and there is a lot riding on the things we do today.

Luckily, we don’t have to make those choices on our own. We can have an intimate and personal relationship with Christ who is our guide. He presents us with teachings like lessons in today’s gospel, as well as the opportunity to receive him in the most intimate way humanly possible through the Eucharist, so we can go out and be imitators of him. We have been given other Christian brothers who can keep us accountable and help us on our journey. And when we mess up, we can be forgiven through the priesthood he established to be in persona Christi.

In short, nothing is so important that it should keep us from following the way of Christ and entering the kingdom of God. We are called to be so rooted in Christ, that we have to have detachment not only from sin but from our very selves. It’s better to strip away the things that are not in alignment with God than keep them. It is better to chop off our own hand, as Jesus says than to allow it to keep us from him.

But separating ourselves from those things that lead us to sin is hard. We have worldly desires. We desire things that pollute our bodies, our families, and our relationship with God. We like how sin makes us feel.

With Lent beginning very, very soon, we have an opportunity to reflect on this gospel call from Christ to make an examination of conscious and commit to following through on removing those things during the 40 days.

What gets in between you and following Jesus? What are the things that you need to cut out of your life? Is it a toxic relationship? Is it a bad habit? Is it a particular prayer that you have brought up in confession on numerous occasions?

In prayer, ask Jesus to be a divine surgeon for you as you sift through what needs to be amputated from your life and for the courage to follow through. Tell Jesus how much you desire to enter the kingdom of God and recognize that you will not be able to embark on the journey by yourself. Ask him to be your strength and your guide. And thank him when those near temptations come your way but overcome them regardless.

Contact the author at hannah.m.crites@gmail.com.

Hannah Crites is a native to Denver Colorado and a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. She has written for numerous publications and blogs including the Chastity Project, Washington Times, Faith & Culture: The Journal of the Augustine Institute, and Franciscan Magazine. She is currently working in content and digital marketing for a small web development and digital marketing agency. Connect with her through Twitter (@hannah_crites) and Facebook. Check out more of what she has written at https://hannhcrites.com/.