My Priest Made Me Think…

Hello Dear Reader and Happy New Year (today is the first Sunday of the new Liturgical year)!

It is that time of year where we get ready to celebrate the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and ponder within ourselves how we can be ready for the time at which Jesus will come again! And YES, He WILL come again… Hint! Hint!

This morning our priest mentioned how we should start out this Advent season by reviewing the commitment we made as Catholic Christians at our confirmation and prepare ourselves to renew that commitment. He raised a lot of good points and topics (too many for me to list here) and I’d love to share the ones that spoke loudest to me with you. While he was going through his list, I realized that there are quite a few things that I need to work on in my spiritual life during this Advent season. I really want to make my Advent journey count this year and use it to grow closer to The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. Here are three things that Father brought up in his homily that really spoke to me…

Do I study The Catechism?

When I first bought my copy of the Catechism of The Catholic Church several years ago, I started reading it from the beginning with the intention of reading it to the end. However, life got in the way (as it always seems to do) and I never finished it. I do use it for research purposes and keep it handy, but I don’t know it like I should. Therefore, I want to try reading it from front to back again. If I read 8 paragraphs per day minimum, I’ll be thru it in a year. Just have to make myself do it… If anyone has any tips, don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know! I want to make sure I learn what the Church teaches in it though, and not just get through it simply for the sake of getting it done…

How often do I receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession)?

This is an almost tender subject as I am full of shame just thinking about it… I must be honest with you Dear Reader… I, like many people who call themselves Catholic Christians, have received the Precious Body of Our Lord knowingly in an unworthy manner, meaning… With a mortal sin on my soul that I was fully aware of. I am ashamed to admit this but I want to be honest with myself, and in order to do that, I must be honest with you… I know I need to receive absolution for my sins before receiving the most holy Eucharist but I always seem to be able to make excuses for myself (i.e. I didn’t have time to go to confession this week… God understands… He knows I’m sorry for what I did… and on and on…). I recently fell into a “rut” in my spiritual life where it made so much more sense to make excuses for not doing what I should do and allowed the business of my life to act as my “shield” between me and my conscience.

No more will I let this happen… I am going to make a point to go to confession asap whenever I know I have committed a mortal sin so that I can receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of my Lord with a clean soul, heart and mind as we are all called to do… In recognizing the seriousness of this (I can assure you I am not alone) I hope that everyone is able to make this commitment in their own lives if they haven’t done so already.

Do I know and perform corporal and spiritual works of mercy?

The short answer is “No”. I don’t perform these works of mercy as I am called to do, but I really want to make an effort to change this. My family and I are so blessed with the mercy and love that we have been given by God that I have no excuse to make other than the usual “I don’t have time”…

Let me tell you that finding the time to volunteer with an organization or perform some other grandiose sort of act is at the least challenging, and at most impossible, with juggling a full-time career, 3 kids and another baby due in a couple of months. With that in mind my first thought goes to a quote that I love by St. Therese of Lisieux:

Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.

St. Therese of Lisieux

From CCC 2447, the spiritual works of mercy include instructing, advising, consoling, comforting, forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned and burying the dead. Giving alms to the poor is also one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity and is also a work of justice that pleases God.

While I don’t yet have a set “plan” per se of how I am going to work on getting better at performing these acts I realize that I haven’t done enough to take care of and be a witness to my fellow man in need… I’ve passed men and women on street corners and while waiting at stoplights, instead of giving them what change I might have in my car, or taking the time to try and purchase food coupons to McDonalds, I sing my music or act like I’m talking on my phone and pretend that I don’t see them… After pondering on my priest’s words from this morning I know that having looked into myself I cannot continue to ignore the needs of others around me.

In closing, I think the main goal that I have this first week of the Advent season is to start off by taking as many small steps as I can to increase my knowledge of the Catechism, make my way into the Confessional (rather than just think how much I need to go) and perform as many acts of kindness, no matter how small or large they may be for those around me… With the end goal of being honest and open with myself everyday about my progress during this penitential journey of Advent.

I hope you know Dear Reader, that I do not tell you all these things in order to make myself appear virtuous or pious to you… On the contrary, I need the knowledge of having shared these things with you to bolster my conscience and thus increase my self-accountability so that my Advent journey will be fruitful for increasing my relationship with God. And… I hope by some small measure, my sharing this aspect of my journey with you will help you in some way too with your journey this Advent season.

May God Bless You on Your Journey as we await the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ…

Your Humble Servant in Christ,

William

Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.

St. Therese of Lisieux