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An Old Fish Tale

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This Gospel today is pretty familiar to most of us, especially if you have watched the phenomenal series, Chosen. But today I want to focus on an aspect of the story that maybe we don’t think about, and that is the fish themselves.

What was going through their mind during this whole ordeal? Here they are having a great morning and evading capture from the evil fishermen above, and all of a sudden they are caught. As they are pulled in they must have a thousand thoughts swimming through their heads. Knowing they have seen their friends go in this way and never return. Anxious as they are pulled from the water and wondering what is next for them. And then they see him, Jesus, standing there with a smile as the crowds are astonished. If I were a fish and I had the ability to understand what was going on, I hope I would be elated that Jesus picked me to help others come to know him.

What kind of fish are you? What kind of fish am I? Are we the fish that would grumble the whole time about the inconvenience of being part of God’s plan? Would we tell our other fish friends that we don’t want this to happen or that we don’t care who Jesus is. Would we even try to denounce that we know him altogether? Or would we be excited that God is using us to bring his love, light, mercy and peace into the world. Jesus asked the disciples to be fishers of men. Are we ready to take on that call, or are we just going to float through life and hope never to get caught in the plan God has for us? It’s an important question and I pray today that we all receive the grace to give a good answer when God asks it of us. From all of us here at Rodzinka Ministry, God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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Divine Power

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I love the snark coming from Jesus in the Gospel today. First off, we see Nathanael doubting that anything good could possibly come from Nazareth. You can almost feel the uppity attitude through the text. Jesus, knowing what Nathanael was already thinking, went and told him things that he couldn’t possibly know to prove his power. Then when Nathanael praises him as the Son of God, Jesus says in so many words, “Really? Because of that? That was nothing, wait until you see what I can actually do.”

This is pretty funny to me, but it also illustrates an important point. How often do we believe in the power of Christ? We may believe he had power years ago or that he had divine strength when he walked on the earth. We may even say he has power in the lives of those around us. But do we believe in his power when it comes to our life?

I think all too often we leave our own difficult circumstances up to ourselves because we don’t want to bug God or don’t believe he can handle it. We go through this life struggling because we rely solely on our humanity. We try with all our might and begin to realize that there are some things we just cannot do, some things that leave us feeling completely helpless. In walks Jesus. Do we believe he can help?

St. Teresa of Avila I think said it best when she said, “We pay God a compliment by asking great things of him.” Do we ask big things? Or do we do the classic Catholic thing where we believe God can do all things but we immediately add the caveat, “if it is in his will.” Of course, this is true that God will not do anything against his will, but when I hear people say that it is often to say God probably won’t do it.

How about we try walking through life and believing in the power of God? No caveats, no doubt, no fear, just trust. Let’s pray for this grace and be bold in our prayer. From all of us here at Rodzinka Ministry, God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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Divine Forgiveness

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Imagine the tangible power of forgiveness? Have you ever experienced it? In the fallen and broken world we live in, forgiveness is what can make us whole again, it is what can fill in the cracks of our fallen humanity with the divine love of God.

I can remember a specific confession of mine as a kid where I literally thought the priest was going to punch me through the confessional screen after finding out what I had done. Instead, he calmly said to me, “Son, I am a Monsignor in my parish. I have been around a lot longer than you have and I have been sinning longer than you have and at times I can be good at it. You have to give yourself a break. We all fall short, and Jesus brings us home.”

This really struck me. No matter what we do, God still loves us and desperately wants to forgive us. We only need to ask. Now I think we all know this in our minds, but take a second and ask yourself if you’ve let it penetrate your heart. That no matter how shamefully we fall, we can have hope in the mercy of God and what he did for us on the cross.

Now let’s flip it around and receive our lesson for the day from the Gospel. As much as we need forgiveness from God, we also need to give forgiveness to others. The Gospel reading can seem harsh, but it’s true. If we are constantly asking for mercy and not giving any in return than we are no better than the Pharisees.

So the question for you and me today is this, who do you need to forgive? We all have someone who has hurt us in one way or another. God has already forgiven them, have we? This can be a tall order, depending on what they have done to hurt us, but this is where we ask for the grace of God to come into our hearts and allow us to forgive with divine forgiveness. The same forgiveness he has open to us every single day. From all of us here at Rodzinka Ministry, God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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Trust in the Power of Christ

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This is my all-time favorite passage in scripture. Firstly, we see Jesus go off by himself to pray. As if preparing for the opening night of a play or an amazing feat of strength, Jesus goes off by himself to focus on the miracle he is about to perform, and more importantly, the message he is going to send.

Secondly, you can almost feel the fear in the hearts of the disciples. The boat being tossed by the waves, their minds knowing from their trade how quickly the sea can turn from a friend to a foe. A single second is the difference between life and death. Jesus allows them to stay in the boat until they mistake him for a ghost and he immediately shows to them who he is. The disciples realize how much they need the Lord, and immediately he shows himself to them.

Thirdly, he shows them how they can trust. Trust in the power and might of God. Trust in his promises. Trust in his love. Trust in his mercy. So Jesus prays, helps the disciples see their need for God, and then fulfills this need through his miracle of walking on the water and calming the storm.

The question is how do we respond? The disciples responded in three ways. There were those who remained scared and stayed in the boat. Fear overcame them and they did not trust. There was Peter who walked out on the water towards Jesus. His eyes fully fixed on Christ and his promises. And then finally there is Peter as he sinks, getting distracted by the waves that crashed about around him and losing focus on the Lord.

Which one are we? Are we afraid? Are we walking and trusting? Or are we starting to sink? The answer to wherever we are at right now in our lives is what Jesus taught us. Pray, realize our need for God, and then allow the Lord to perform wondrous miracles in our lives. May we be honest with ourselves about where we are and strive to trust, even when the waves crash. God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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Peer Pressure

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In today’s Gospel, we hear about one of the first documented and most intense cases of peer pressure. Because of a fear of the crowd, Herod murders John the Baptist. Now it may seem like this is an extreme example and we might think, nobody would ever do that in our time, or how could it have gone that far?

But let’s take a moment and bring this story into our particular experiences. Sometimes it can help when we read the bible to put ourselves into the situation. Usually, this works best if we put ourselves as one of the people Jesus is loving or teaching, or it’s at least easier that way. But I am going to challenge us to put ourselves in the point of view of Herod.

When was the last time we let our beliefs crumble because of a certain fear or embarrassment? Think about this last time and ask the question, is that something you ever would have done years ago? What I have noticed in my own life is if I start to slowly give in to peer pressure or remain silent when I should speak up, it starts slow and eventually I lose sight of who I was years ago and the things I promised I would never budge on.

Maybe we wouldn’t murder someone out of fear, but what have we done recently because it was just easier to give in than to stand up for the truth? This is an important and difficult question. As we ask it, let’s keep Jesus close. He will help us remember what the truth is and how we can continue to live from it to the best of our ability with his grace and mercy. God Bless and happy thinking and praying.

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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How Lucky We Are To Be Alive Right Now

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“They look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.”

I know I’ve been there in my spiritual life. Sometimes we have these things called plans and they end up being way off the mark and then we see what God had planned all along. Ever been there?

When I read the Gospel today I think about how frustrating it must have been for the people in the Old Testament, because they didn’t yet have the teachings and life of Christ.

To quote a popular musical, “How lucky we are to be alive right now.” We are among the people who have been granted the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but still, sometimes we do not see or hear.

What would it take for us to fully believe in the Sacraments in such a way that we actually saw Jesus in the Eucharist? What would it take for us to fully believe that Christ died for us and we are saved through his grace? I mean fully believe it. We want it to be true. We have faith to believe, but there is still this human doubt that sometimes gets in the way.

I think this happens when we listen with human ears and look with human eyes, instead of relying on the spiritual revelations of God. What Jesus did on the cross bridged the gap between our human nature and the divine. So much so that when we are in heaven the Church teaches that we will participate fully in the divinity of God.

This isn’t something that is just for our future in heaven, but we have been adopted into this beautiful reality here and now, through our Baptism. If we allow Christ into our human hearts, we start to become what we were meant to be, and we can listen beyond human ears and human eyes.

This may all seem a little high in the clouds to comprehend, and in a sense, it is, it is beyond our intellect, but God gives us the grace to believe. Are we listening? That’s the question for today. Let’s pray for the grace to hear as Jesus hears and see as he sees. God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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Signs and Wonders

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Have you ever thought about how many processes are involved just to bring us one simple breath or a heartbeat? This is commonplace knowledge for a med student and beyond the realm of most of us, but very few sit and reflect on what is actually involved. What about the mathematics of the distance between the earth and the sun and how a single degree off could send us spiraling into a fiery abyss? Again, common knowledge to an astrophysicist and above our limited reason without study, but how many truly sit and ponder and reflect on this?

Ok, maybe those are huge examples. How about the process that goes into a hot cup of coffee? From someone growing the beans to shipping them, to grinding them, to roasting them, to finally making the cup. A seemingly simple action, but lots of work behind the scenes.

Such is our spiritual life sometimes. I don’t know about you but I grew up asking for signs. Asking for things that would be tangible that would show me Jesus and his love. Here in today’s Gospel, we hear the same cry and we hear Jesus’ quick response. “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign.”

This kind of hits you in the face at first, but of course Jesus is not saying that there is evil in signs. In fact, he spent most of his time on earth performing miracles in order to show his power and love. What he is saying here is that an evil generation continues looking for a sign when we need to look no further than our very lives.

When was the last time God blessed you with his love? The simple answer is the last time you took a breath, but really stop and think about it for a second. When was the last tangible time that God blessed you? I think for many of us we are far too busy to see. We don’t slow down enough to notice the miracles happening right before us.

Let’s change this today. I challenge you and myself to pay attention to the Lord’s love and power. Make it a point to thank Jesus throughout the day as you see him working and know that he is with you. God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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The Perfect Will of God

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A will, a desperate attempt to put things in order and give the loved ones in our lives their due if anything were to happen to us. Free will, that messy and confusing thing which allows for wars, death, unhappiness, and pain but also allows for true love, joy, and peace. God’s will, something that we know keeps all the world in motion, but that is also impossible to grasp with our human reason because we cannot see with the eyes of God.

God’s will isn’t directly spoken of in the Gospel, but we see a glimpse of it. Jesus, being both God and man, knows that he has a purpose that he is getting closer and closer to. He also knows he has a limited time to minister to the people he is with on the earth. With this knowledge, when the threat of death came to Jesus, he left the area.

This was not because of fear or rejection of the will of the Father, quite the opposite. He knew this was not yet his time and so he left to a place where he could continue to minister to others and heal the sick.

There has been a lot of talk about the end of the world in 2020. All the things this year has brought has made people wonder about when Jesus will return, but the reality is, the end of the world is not yet here.

Whether it is coming soon or not our focus should not be to try and figure out when it is but to go where we can still minister, love, and heal. Let’s take a lesson straight from Jesus’ actions and try to find moments where we can escape the evil that is currently going on and instead bring people hope.

Whether the world ends tomorrow or in 2,000 years, let’s make sure that when Jesus comes we are busy doing exactly what he would have done. God’s will is perfect and he has us exactly where we need to be to bless the people he wants us to meet. May we all have the strength and joy to live it well. God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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Already But Not YET

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“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing
compared with the glory to be revealed for us.”

What hope we have from today’s second reading. We are in a strange period on this earth where we anticipate our glorious future in heaven. But we do not just sit here and wallow in suffering, anxiety, and fear. The theologians talk about an already but not yet of redemption that should give us such great hope.

The already but not yet of redemption can be thought of with the analogy of eating food. When we eat the food we immediately taste it, but we do not receive the fullness until it is made into energy for our bodies. In the same way, we can experience a taste of redemption through Christ on this earth, but we receive the fullness when we reach heaven.

So no matter how dark or evil the world looks, we always have hope in Christ. We should work for redemption now in as much as we can participate in it, and look forward to the fullness of this redemption in heaven. This is a message worth sharing in our day and age. May God bless you and help you to share it.

Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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Our Mediator

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In the beginning, we hear that God creates the heavens and earth. It seems like we have grasped what that means, but really take a second to think about. In the beginning, God creates us to be with him, walk with him, love him, and be loved by him. The heavens and the earth seem to mix together like a beautiful tapestry of wet paint still waiting to dry.

Then as time goes on, the paint dries and seems to start to separate. The colors pulling further and further apart with every stroke that we flick against our own humanity. The chasm of the world and heaven rips open and we realize what it means to die, to suffer, to be unhappy.

This seems to be a painting that nobody would ever want, forgotten in an attic to collect cobwebs as we forget more and more our original state, our original happiness. Getting more and more comfortable with the mediocre because we forget the beautiful colors of our birthright.

Thankfully, someone steps in, like Bob Ross picking up a painting and fixing the colors, the shading, and the overall feel of the landscape. Taking our fractured painting and turning it once again into something beautiful. Fixing the gap of black paint with vibrant colors again and a new air of hope.

Have we ever thought of salvation history this way or do we let the depth and reality of it fly over our head and become familiar and boring? That’s the question we should ask ourselves today. Jesus is our mediator with the Father, and he cares. That should blow our minds. That should be better than any work of art, no matter how beautiful.

I pray today that we all realize how much Jesus has given up so that we could once again walk with, talk with, and love our Father, where the heavens and earth fuse together in perfection for all eternity.

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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Rejoice Heartily

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I chose the image for today because I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw it. Such a simple photo was able to bring joy. Lately, our life in the Shultz household has been interesting. We moved houses, had to care for our dog who broke its leg and have had some very late nights. Through all of this, it’s important to take moments and find joy even in the little things. I think it’s similar with faith.

It’s easy to look at faith as just a set of rules or to look at the state of the world and wonder what is going on. But as the first reading reminds us today, we should rejoice heartily for our King shall come to us. Are we the types of Christians who give so much joy at what Christ has done for us that it is contagious to others? Have we preached the Gospel with a joy that matches our happiest of moments? Have we found joy through Christ?

We then hear in the Gospel that God will give us rest. I know this week we could use joy and rest. It’s waiting for us in Christ. Some of the most profound moments I have had with God have been very simple moments where I have realized that God is with me. I think the key to living in joy is realizing the moments throughout the day that God is with us and bringing us his love.

I encourage you today, look for those moments, and rest in them. Let Christ bring you his joy and rest today. God Bless!

Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.

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Relationship Building

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Do you ever feel like evil has all the power and has somehow won? Well here is a little quote from today’s Gospel reading that hit me in the face; “What have you to do with us, Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?”

Even the evil spirits know the saving power of God and are aware of his strength. They may not like it, but they are aware of it and powerless before it. This has always given me so much hope. No matter what happens in life, Satan does not have the power, that alone belongs to God.

When Christ died on the cross he conquered sin once and for all. Yeah, yeah, yeah we have heard it all before. Jesus saved us. Take one minute. Take a deep breath. Breathe slowly and with every breath invite the Lord into your heart. Now take a moment to actually let the saving power of God work in your life. Let him speak truth into your heart. Let him wrap you in his sacred love.

We know so many concepts of the faith, like Jesus died for us, but let’s not let these be facts on a page. Let’s make them into real and tangible realities that change our lives forever. Take another moment. God loves you. He sees you. He knows you. Let him just be with you for a minute. Take a breath.

You know those moments when you have been away from someone for a really long time and then finally are reunited? Let’s try to live in such a way that we never have these with God. I have found that taking moments throughout the day to realize the reality of God’s love and to let it soak in can be so helpful. We build a relationship instead of just learning facts. That is where the beauty and love stream in. God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is Director of Evangelization for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative and the founder of Rodzinka Ministries. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. 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. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith.