Never Get Discouraged

Remember, happiness is a choice.  Resistance almost always stands between me and happiness.  I have to break through it to experience the happiness I yearn for and the happiness God wants for me.

Every moment is a chance to start anew, a chance to turn it all around.

When am I slaying resistance?  When is it slaying me?

Holy Saturday

Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.

God created us for lasting happiness in a changing world and eternal happiness with him in heaven.  The happiness he wants for us in this life is a rare kind of happiness that is not dependent on situations or circumstances.

Over these four days, the disciples experience incredible shifts and swings and emotion; incredible experiences.  And by placing myself there, I experience it differently that just reading it on the page.

Focus:

What will tomorrow bring for me?

Act:

Reflect on my Best Lent Ever Journey and think about the habits presented in this program.  They are life-changing, tried and true methods that can help me master resistance.  In order to stay focused after lint, choose one way that my life is going to be different.

Pray:

Jesus, help me celebrate your resurrection with joy this Easter and help me carry that joy with me always.  Let it inspire me to choose the happiness you created me for, and to never stop striving to be all that you created me to be.

Amen.

Good Friday

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hewbrew is called Golgotha.  There they crucified him.

Make no mistake, resistance is my enemy.  It will not quietly go away and leave me alone.  I have to slay it like a dragon, and I have to slay it anew each day.

What does it feel like to be disoriented?

How does Jesus on the cross inspire me to overcome resistance in my life?

Focus:

If Jesus had not beaten resistance, there would be no Easter.

Act:

Spend some time in quiet reflection today.  If I can, schedule some time during the three o’clock hour, when Jesus died on the cross.  As I read today’s Gospel and reflect on Jesus’ passion and death, consider how he can inspire you to battle resistance in my own life.

Pray:

Jesus, may your victory on the cross fill me with the courage to persevere in times of difficulty, and the hope to see beyond the cross to the joy of the Resurrection.

Amen.

Holy Thursday

Jesus got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.  He came to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” (John 13:3-8)

God is constantly inviting us to immerse ourselves in the present moment so we can be with him.

What would it feel like to have Jesus wash my feet?

Focus:

God wants good things for us, but, like Peter, we often resist him.

Act:

As I read today’s Gospel, reflect on my life and ask two questions.  First, how is God trying to love me?  Second, how have I resisted God’s love in my life?

Pray:

God, help me to receive everything that you are pouring into me and learn to simply be with you.

Amen.

Day Thirty Seven - World Changing Days

The Triduum is an incredible opportunity.  Don’t let resistance win.  Persevere, and experience these days in a way that you never have before.

Through the brokenness of the world, the imperfection of other people and situations, and even our own limited humanity, God wished to speak to us.

The world has been waiting patiently for the Messiah.  And then, here is Jesus.

As we go into the Triduum, it’s good to approach it with something in mind.  Who am I going to be in the next four days?  By placing myself there, I will experience it differently than just reading it on the page.

The next four days will be life-changing events that happened two thousand years ago.  It’s an incredible opportunity.  I am in a place this year to experience the Triduum like I never have before.

Focus:

God wants to speak to me throughout the Triduum.  Am I ready to listen?

Act:

Reflect on the invitation to pick a word to define my Triduum experience.  Choosing a work will bring focus and intentionality to the next three days.

Pray:

Jesus, open my ears and my heart to you as I reflect on your passion, death and resurrection.

Amen.

Day Thirty Six - Blessed and Gratified

Without gratitude, what was extraordinary yesterday becomes ordinary today.  Without gratitude, a sense of entitlement take over and begins to rot our soul.  Without gratitude, we get old and grumpy, or even young and grumpy.  Gratitude keeps us young.  It anchors us to the present moment.  It reminds us of what matters most and what matters least, and fills us with the resolve to carry on the great mission God has entrusted to us.

Everything is a gift, and when we step back and truly consider it with any measure of honesty, it is all incredibly humbling.

When I get down, gratitude can change my internal space.  It helps me step back and gain perspective.  It helps me get back on track.

What am I grateful for today?

Focus:

Gratitude anchors us to the present moment, reminding us of what matters most and what matters least.

Act:

Count your blessings.  Make a list of 10 people, experiences, things or blessings that I am grateful for.

Pray:

Loving Father, thank you.  Thank you for blessing me in so many incredible ways.

Amen.

Day Thirty Five - Don't Let the Critics Win

It is so easy to let the critic distract me form what God is calling me to do in the present moment.  It is amazing how easily we can allow the critic to rob us of our passion and energy.  The critics will always be there, but it is not the critic that counts.

Critics are a difficult part of life, but it can’t be ignored.  I can receive tons of positive feedback, but one negative comment can weigh on me for a long, long time.  I have to be more careful about the voice of criticism in my life.  It can be a voice of distraction and discouragement.  I’ve got critics but I cannot let them run rampant in my life.  I need God’s help to teach me to detach from the critics and not allow discouragement.  If the criticism is going to help me become a better version of myself, great!  If it can’t, it’s incidental and I need to let it go.  It cannot become a distraction to my mission from God.

Everyone has critics.  They stop us from acting.  They distract us.  It’s resistance.

God wants me to break through that discouragement and go out and do something!

How have I overcome critics in my life?  Getting beyond my own inner critic is what I struggle with most.

Focus:

The critics will always be there, but I need to be careful not to allow their voices too much space in my heart.

Act:

Reflect on a time when I allowed critics to have too much influence in my life, and how would I do it differently next time.

Pray:

Jesus, help me persevere when I encounter critics.  In those moments, help me to simply do the tiniest thing to move forward.  I know you will do the rest.

Amen.

Day Thirty Four - When God Looks at a Resume

God only asks one thing of us.  He can take care of the rest.  The only thing God needs from me is availability.  If I make myself available to God, incredible things will happen.

How available am I to God at this time in my life?

Throughout history, God has never picked the people we’d expect him to pick.  God just wants us to make ourselves available to him; surrender to Him.  What is stopping me from making myself 100% available to God?  Is it really worth it?

Sometimes I push God out of the way because I think I can manage my affairs better than God can.  The only way I can get real security is to give God the reigns.

Focus:

Make myself 100% available to God and incredible this will happen.

Act:

Pray this prayer of transformation every day for nine days.

Pray:

Loving Father,

I come to you today to make myself 100% available to you.  

I lay everything I have and everything I am at your feet.  

Take what you want to take and give what you want to give.  

Command me in all things.  

I will do whatever you ask me to do.  

Transform me and transform my life, so that I may become the best version on myself and lead others to you with my life and my love. 

Amen.

Day Thirty Three - Made for Mission

“Place your talents and enthusiasm at the service of life.”  We were made for a mission.  We were created to serve powerfully.  We will never have lasting happiness until we realize this and act on it.

What are my talents?  What am I really good at?  How is God calling me to make the world and the Church better through these talents?

God is a God of purpose.  We were created for a purpose.  Figuring out this purpose is really important to finding joy.

How can I serve other people today even in a small way?  The more we serve other people, the more our mission becomes clear to us.  When I get caught up in myself, things go sideways. 

The more I serve other people, the clearer my mission will become.

What mission is God calling me to right now in my life?

Focus:

I cannot be happy focused on myself.  I was made for a mission.  It’s deep within me.  Only by serving others in a meaningful way do I truly discover the happiness I yearn for so unrelentingly.

Act:

What mission do I think God is calling me to now in my life?  Don’t get caught up in what he might have been calling me to in the past, or what he might call me to in the future.  Write down his invitation to me today as best as I can discern it.

Pray:

God, I want to serve you powerfully.  Which talent do you want me to focus on at this time in my life?

Amen.

Day Thirty Two - Let Your Light Shine

In Matthew 5:15, Jesus says, “Nobody lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel. They put it on a stand, so that it can give light to everyone in the house.” What stops me from letting my light shine?

God wants to fill me with his grace and courage so that I can go out into the world and let my light shine.

When is my light bright and strong?  When is my light dim and weak?  What effects that?

I have the perfect set of talents that I need to fulfill the mission God has called me to.  That should be where my focus is.  Not on what talents I don’t have, but on the ones I have.  It is those talents that will help me fulfill God’s purpose for me.  What are my unique set of talents?  How do I let those talents shine.

What talent does God want me to focus on at this point in my life?

What is holding me back?

Focus:

I have the perfect personality and talents to fulfill the mission God is entrusting to me.

Act:

Which of these traits most prevents me from letting my light shine?

Fear

Laziness

Procrastination

Selfishness

Addiction

Obsession

Comparing myself to others

Allowing my critics to drain my energy and direct my life

Unwillingness to move beyond my comfort zone

Self-doubt

Gossip

Negative relationships

Excuses

Pray:

Jesus, I want to live my life with joy.  Give me the courage to let my light shine, do good works, and give you glory.

Amen.

Day Thirty One - A Weekend Away

We all need people to do life with, friends to accompany us on the pilgrimage of life.  What makes a great friend?  Our best friends are those people who encourage and challenge us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves.

“I was comfortable and satisfied, and looking back that should have set off alarm bells, but we all have blind spots.  If it weren’t for my friends, I would probably be out there doing the same old thing.  That would be a tragedy.  Thank God for interventions.  Thank God for friends who care enough to intervene.”

When I think about the friends of my life, some helped me become a better version of myself.  And some of them did not. 

I need encouragement and to feel like I belong.  I need a pat on the back from time to time and to hear, “Good Job.”  In this journey, I need other people.

Just this past weekend, I realized how much I do need to connect with other adults.  I saw how easy it was to go down this rabbit hole by isolating myself from others.  After a few hours with my sister and brother in law, I gained new perspective on my life and where I am going.  And hopefully I was able to provide new perspective for them.

Friendship is a beautiful thing, but also an enormous responsibility.  Our friendships are either helping or hindering people from becoming the-best-version-of-themselves.  Today is a good day to look around my circle of friends and do an examination.  Who is helping me become a better version on myself?  How am I helping these people become the best version of themselves?

Focus:

Our best friends encourage and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves.  They don’t let us waste our lives, and they push us to serve powerfully.

Act:

Who in my circle is God calling me to encourage or challenge to become a better version of themselves?

Pray:

Jesus, help me to strive for meaningful friendships that bring me to you.

Amen.

Day Thirty - The First Intervention

It is the ordinary daily spiritual practices that matter most.  These day to day encounters with God are a hundred times more important than the extraordinary grace-filled experiences that God gives us sometimes.

Have I ever really had a plan for spiritual health and growth?

Am I spiritually fit?  Am I spiritually healthy?

I need a plan.  Some might be daily components and some might be annual components and some might just be things I need to do once.  But I need a plan.

I need to incorporate daily prayer and spiritual readings.  But most of all, I need to write down this plan and then work this plan.

Great things will start to happen as soon as put that plan together.

What is one thing I could do to grow spiritually?  I should look at my life every day like a coach looks at his team.  Analyze what I am good at and what I could be better at.  And then, I need to align myself with God’s plan.

Focus:

What’s my plan?  Have I ever really had a plan for spiritual health and growth?

Act:

How am I going to grow spiritually over the next 12 months?  Write down my plan.

Pray:

Jesus, I want to live the full life you have for me.  Help me dedicate myself to spiritual growth.

Amen.

Day Twenty Nine - Are You a Pilgrim or a Tourist?

We are just passing through.  It is helpful to remind ourselves of that from time to time.

We are always hungry for something more complete, and God is that completeness that we yearn for from the depths of our souls.

A pilgrim is always looking for the signs from God; for his guidance.  The key to being a pilgrim is patience.  What is God trying to teach me through these delays?  With eyes wide open, I should be looking for the signs.  We are called to live our lives like pilgrims.  We are just passing through.  We are on this journey to be with God in eternity.  Am I preparing myself to live in heaven?  What do I need to do to get prepared?  This world is not home. I must live in a way that leads to home to God.

What does it mean to be a pilgrim?  Life is truly an incredible gift.  It’s worrying less about Earthly things and more on touching people’s hearts and minds.  Life is just a short journey on Earth, but an eternity in Heaven.

Focus:

We are just passing through this place we call Earth.  We are pilgrims.

Act:

Spend some time today thinking about heaven.

Pray:

A PILGRIM’S PRAYER
by Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following Your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust You always though I may seem lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for You are ever with me,
and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.We are just passing through.  It is helpful to remind ourselves of that from time to time.

We are always hungry for something more complete, and God is that completeness that we yearn for from the depths of our souls.

A pilgrim is always looking for the signs from God; for his guidance.  The key to being a pilgrim is patience.  What is God trying to teach me through these delays?  With eyes wide open, I should be looking for the signs.  We are called to live our lives like pilgrims.  We are just passing through.  We are on this journey to be with God in eternity.  Am I preparing myself to live in heaven?  What do I need to do to get prepared?  This world is not home. I must live in a way that leads to home to God.

What does it mean to be a pilgrim?  Life is truly an incredible gift.  It’s worrying less about Earthly things and more on touching people’s hearts and minds.  Life is just a short journey on Earth, but an eternity in Heaven.

Focus:

We are just passing through this place we call Earth.  We are pilgrims.

Act:

Spend some time today thinking about heaven.

Pray:

A PILGRIM’S PRAYER
by Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following Your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust You always though I may seem lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for You are ever with me,
and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

Day Twenty Eight - The Light is On

Confession: We all have a great need for healing.  But we resist it.  We resist God.  We resist his forgiveness.  We resist happiness.

Be gentle with myself.  Be gentle with others, and never stop striving to be all that God created me to be:  the very-best-version-of-myself.

Sin is a sad thing.  It’s heavy and it makes us sad.  We carry it around with us.  Confession gives us a place to drop all of that stuff off.  To feel light, free, a fresh start.

A fresh start is a great thing.  There’s something powerful about going to confession and coming clean before God.  It allows us the opportunity to try again.

Now is a great time to go to confession.  Come before God and request a fresh start.

How have I found healing in confession?  God continues to love me even when I mess up.  I may not deserve forgiveness, but Jesus forgives me anyway.

Focus:

We all have a great need for forgiveness and healing.

Act:

No matter how long it has been, go to Reconciliation this week.

Pray:

Jesus, help me break through resistance and go to confession.  Help me to be gentle yet honest, and help me to accept the healing you want to give me.

Amen.

Day Twenty Seven - The Secret to Excellence

You can get good at something just by working hard at it.  If you have some talent and you work hard at it, you can get really, really good at it.  But excellence, peak performance, being the best you can be at something---that doesn’t happen without coaching.

Resistance encourages us to take it easy and settle for mediocrity.  God created us for happiness, and he fills us with great joy as we strive for excellence, especially in the spiritual life.

Nobody achieves excellence at anything without coaching.  Coaching plays an essential part in our lives and it is often done through everyday conversations.  It’s part of the generational experience that we pass knowledge along, we pass wisdom along, we pass know-how along to other people.

Who’s coaching me spiritually? I have to be constantly looking for spiritual coaches because I need them to achieve excellence in the spiritual life.

Am I striving for excellence in my spiritual life or am I satisfied with mediocrity?  As soon as I start striving for excellence, I will start to look for spiritual coaches.

Who has coached me in my spiritual journey?

Focus:

Nobody achieves excellence at anything without spiritual coaching.

Act:

Seek out a spiritual coach.

Pray:

God, help me to know that holiness is possible for me.

Amen.

Day Twenty Six - You Cannot Succeed At Anything Without...

On the day I decide to intentionally start denying myself, my life will improve in a thousand ways.  “Conquer yourself and the world lies at your feet” (St. Augustine).

God wants us to have a strong mind, a strong heart, and a spirit that soars with so much strength that nothing in this world can weigh it down.  These things can only be accomplished with prayer and fasting.

There are themes in success.  One of these themes is delayed gratification.  You cannot be successful at anything without delaying gratification. There is a process we go through to be successful at anything and delayed gratification is part of that process.

God wants me to achieve excellence at everything I do.  Delayed gratification is the key to experience excellence.

Delayed gratification is the path to happiness.

How do I delay my gratification?

How do I practice self-denial? The fruit of the spirit is this: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

Focus:

You cannot succeed at anything unless you are willing to delay gratification.  This ability and success are intimately linked.

Act:

Say no to myself at least once every day.

Pray:

Jesus, I want to deny my false self so I can find my true self.  Grant me the strength and the courage to trust that delaying gratification leads to happiness.

Amen.

Day Twenty Five - Breaking the Cycle

To love is to freely give ourselves to another.  In order to freely give ourselves, we must first possess ourselves.  We all have destructive cycles of thought or behavior that need to be broken.  Breaking the cycle is never easy, but we can only love another to the extent that we are free.

Breaking the cycle is not something I can do on my own.  I need the encouragement and prayers of the people around me, and I need the grace of God.

While it is good to give something up, it is also good to do something very positive; to take on a new habit.

Why do we fast?  God uses fasting to liberate us.  Some demons can only be cast out by prayers and fasting.

We are all struggling with something.  Jesus’ message is that it doesn’t matter how strong our will power is.  I can’t overcome that struggle without Jesus.  It’s bigger than me.

What in my life can only be cast out by prayer and fasting?  What do I need to deny myself to overcome this even with Jesus’ help?

How is God inviting me to make prayer and fasting a part of my spiritual journey?

How have I overcome a big struggle in my life?

Focus:

We are all struggling with something.  Identify my something.  Name it.  Own it.

Act:

Pray and fast, asking God to liberate me from the area of slavery in my life.

Pray:

Heavenly Father, I want to be free.  Help me give this struggle to you, because you are the only one who can liberate me.

Amen.

Day Twenty Four - Hungry

Every yearning we experience as human beings is a yearning for something more complete.

We have a lot of different hungers:  spiritual, emotional, intellectual.

How aware am I of what’s going on around me?  Do I know what I’m hungry for?

Jesus came to feed the hungry and heal the sick.  We are all hungry.  We are all sick.  Do I know what my hunger is?  Do I know what my sickness is?

Every yearning is in some mysterious way a yearning for God.  While I am searching for him far and wide in this world, he is waiting for me in the very depths of my soul.

What am I hungry for?  I hunger to be loved just because I exist.  That is how God loves.

Focus:

We are all hungry for something.

Act:

Write down everything I am hungry for at this time in my life.

Pray:

God, I need you.  Give me the patience and awareness to let my hunger for things of this world lead me to the deeper need and yearning that I have for you.

Day Twenty Three - Attempted Murder

There is a direct relationship between truth and happiness.  Truth leads to happiness.  Lies bring misery.  Celebrate the truth in life.

We cannot be happy separated from the truth; we cannot be happy in a world of lies.

Our society right now has a very casual relationship with the truth.  We actually live in a culture that is trying to murder truth.

Culture hates truth.  Current culture believes that we can all live happily ever after in our own individual truth.  But that is nonsense.

Wisdom is actually not knowing the truth, but living the truth.

If there is no such thing as truth, there is no such thing as wisdom.

Our culture doesn’t believe there are great decisions because there is no such thing as objective truth.  Decisions that align with truth are wisdom

As Christians, we have to reject the casual relationship with truth.  We are called to take truth seriously.

What does it mean to give truth a place of honor in my life?

Focus:

Our culture is trying to murder truth.

Act:

Give truth a place of honor in my heart, mind and soul by telling the truth.  Next time I catch myself about to tell a lie, pause.  Ask myself why I am lying.

Pray:

Jesus, I know you are the way, the truth and the life.  Inspire me to speak the truth, live the truth, and celebrate truth.

Amen.

Day Twenty Two - How Many Sundays Left

The average life expectancy of an American male is 76.  On average, an American female lives to 81.  How many Sundays do I have left?  What will I do with the Sundays I do have left?

Don’t waste a single Sunday.  If I don’t waste Sundays, I will be less likely to waste Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

It’s easy to waste life.  We tend to waste life in moments.

When I think about it, people don’t change that much.  Do I know anyone in my life who has really changed their life?  Anyone you has gone down a radically different path?  It doesn’t happen that often but should happen more often that it does.

The reason it doesn’t happen is because we’re incredibly comfortable with wasting life…wasting an hour here, wasting a day there, wasting a week. But the day is today.  Go out and get it!  Don’t waste a single moment today.  Don’t worry about tomorrow or the next day, the next week , the next year…just today.

Get out there, get a hold of life.  Don’t waste a single moment today.

If I had one Sunday left, what would I do?

Focus:

Life is short.  Never waste a day.

Act:

Based on actuarial estimates, how many Sundays do I have left.

Pray:

God, I know every moment is a gift.  Help me to break through resistance when I am tempted to waste the time you have given me.

Amen.

Day Twenty One - The Power of Habits

For better or for worse, habits can shape our destiny.  We all have habits, good and bad.  Negative habits of the mind, body and spirit are easily formed.  Positive habits of the mind body and soul require great intentionality and persistence.  But once gained, they are like ground that is won forever.

Strong habits will help me break through resistance.  Good habits effortlessly defeat it.

Successful people have great habits.  These habits are rocks in their lives that keep them grounded and anchored.  When things get tough, when things are great, these things keep them grounded.

There is not a saint in the world who did not have a habit of daily prayer.  It’s a really ordinary habit, but when placed in my life as an anchor, it becomes phenomenally powerful.

When starting to assess our lives and character, we often come to some bad habits that we realize must be eliminated.  But the amateur mistake is to focus on that bad habit.  And in many real ways, whatever we focus on tends to grow in our lives.  The more we focus on it, the more obsessed we become about it and the harder and harder it is to get rid of that bad habit.

To get rid of a bad habit, I need to crowd it out of my life by replacing it with something good.  Our lives change when our habits change.

There are a lot of little good habits that are needed to crowd that one big habit out of my life.

To create this ritual, this rhythm, these powerful routines of habit in our lives, over time becomes incredibly powerful.  Habits are like the steady in and out of the ocean, breaking down whatever the rocks and barriers and obstacles are in our lives.

Focus:

Habits – good and bad – have an enormous impact on our lives.

Act:

Write down your three best habits.  Now write down three habits that you need to change.

Pray:

Jesus, I know that every moment is a chance to turn it all around.  Help me to defeat my bad habits and to embrace the habits that lead me to you.

Amen.

Day Twenty- Learning to Listen

From time to time it is good for us all to learn to listen again.  Listen to those we love.  Listen to our bodies.  Listen to our conscience and soul.  Listen to God.  Every relationship improves when we really start to listen, especially our relationship with God.

If I want to improve a relationship, one of the fastest and easiest ways to improve a relationship is to become a better listener.  Every relationship improves when we really listed in a deeper way, I a new way, in a fresh way.  And that includes our relationship with God.

In church, it’s easy to fall into a passive state. We go to church to listen to the voice of God.  Our involvement in mass should be much more active, especially when it comes to listening.

A Mass Journal will help me become a great listener at Mass.

God is deeply interested in personally communication with us in a very powerful way.  Go to church as a proactive listener and I will be astounded at the message God is delivering to me every Sunday of my life.

How do I approach Mass?  My best Mass experiences are when I surrender to God’s will and actively listening and participating in the celebration of the Mass.

Focus:

The most practical way to improve all our relationships is to continually become a better listener.

Act:

Make a conscious effort to listen to God and the people in my life.  One way to do this is with a Mass Journal.

Pray:

Lord, help me to listen to your voice at Mass.  I know if I do, I will go out focused, energized, and invigorated.

Amen.

Day Nineteen - Bored

Boredom is a manifestation of selfishness.  It can only occur when we are overly focused on ourselves.  It always means that we have set God and neighbor aside to focus exclusively on ourselves, and that is never a recipe for happiness.

Saying you are bored is an insult to God.  God has given us life and so many opportunities exist in every single day.

Has Mass become irrelevant to the modern life?  Or more likely, has the modern life become irrelevant to the Mass. Our lives have become irrelevant to God’s world view.  We’ve stopped chasing the best-version-of-ourselves.

Very often we go to Church but we do not want God’s input in our lives.  When I go to Church on Sunday, it is impossible to be bored, if I go to Church to listen to the voice of God in my life.  When I am disengaged, I am a little more disengaged at Mass.  I’m probably resisting God in something, in some way, somehow in my life.  And when I’m resisting God, I get lazy in my prayer, in my spiritual reading and I tend to focus on myself more and become more self-interested and more selfish.  I become unhappier, because when I resist God, I resist happiness.

What is my favorite thing about the Mass?  The Liturgy of the Word is my favorite thing about the Mass.  I enjoy the readings and gospels because I like to relate them to what I have going on in my life.  The Homily helps me to put it all in perspective and is what I look forward to the most about the Mass.

Focus:

To say we are bored at any moment in my life is a massive insult to God.

Act:

If I am ever bored, look for a way to get outside of myself and serve others.

Pray:

Lord, open my heart when I go to Mass this week.  Help me to discover your recipe for happiness and peace in the Mass.

Amen.

Day Eighteen - Tuesday Nights

The prayers of the Mass are both ancient and fresh.  They speak of yesterday and apply to my life today. 

We are halfway through Lent!  How much has resistance slayed me this Lent?  A LOT!  I did so great last week getting up early to pray and read the daily devotions.  But here I am on Tuesday of the next week, and I haven’t been able to get out of bed yet this week.  I know that I want to and how much better it makes my days, but that extra 15 minutes in my bed has defeated me each morning.  It’s easy to schedule this on my calendar, but actually doing it is difficult.  I would like to attend a weekday mass.  It would be worth my effort to find a church that offers a mass time that I could attend.  But saying and doing are two totally different things.

Find a mass each weekday, each week.  It is a very intimate experience.

One week over the next year, go to Mass every day for one full week.  Then reflect on how it affects me.

Focus:

Once I understand that God has an incredible dream for me, once I grasp that God wants me to become the best-version-of-myself and help others to do the same, and once I start to listen to the prayers of the Mass with all of this in mind, I will very quickly discover that there is genius in Catholicism.

Act:

Go to Mass twice this week, Sunday and any other day I like.  Pay attention to how it focuses me and fills me with peace.

Pray:

Jesus, thank you for inviting me to spend more time with you.  Fill that time with your grace, love, patience and peace.

Amen.

Day Seventeen - An Unconventional Education

Even in the small things, God is at work.  I can learn more in an hour of silence that I can in a year from books.

God is constantly teaching us so many lessons in order to win us, and build us and send us, but he does want to send us.  God wants me to be his ambassador…to answer some prayers.  I can answer people’s prayers by God doing it through me.  As I become more spiritually aware, I will realize how God is using me to answer prayers.

We all have the ability to collaborate with God to answer other people’s prayers.  That is an outstanding thing!

Have I ever thought about being the answer to someone’s prayer?

Focus:

Life is always teaching us lessons.

Act:

What lesson is God trying to teach me through the experiences of my life at the moment?

Pray:

Jesus, your grace is at work in my life.  Increase my awareness of how you are working in my life and what you are calling me to do in each moment.

Amen.

Day Sixteen - No Visitors

One of life’s most essential lessons is learning to be alone.

What do I mean when I say get inside myself?  I mean I need to step back from things on a regular basis, have some solitude and get new perspective.

The role of solitude in my life is very powerful.  That silence and solitude is essential to develop clarity to hear my own voice clearly, hear the voice of conscience clearly and learn to hear the voice of God clearly.

It’s also important to get outside of myself.  The best way to do that is to serve other people.  To do something for somebody else will help me focus on someone else besides myself.

So, two main lessons:

Get inside myself.  Work out who I am by spending some time in solitude.  Get clear about the most important voices in my life.

Get outside of myself.  Find ways to serve other people.  Few things will bring me more joy in this life than serving others in powerful and simple ways.

Who could I visit this week? 

Focus:

We keep resisting God even after we are convinced that his way is the best way.

Act:

Visit the lonely.  Somewhere not too far away from where I live, someone is saying a prayer.  He is asking God to send someone to visit him and lift him up out of the depths of his loneliness.  God wants me to help him answer that prayer.

Pray:

God, help me to dive deep into solitude, especially when I don’t want to.  Help me to learn more about myself and about you, and inspire me to reach outside of myself to those around me.

Day Fifteen - Falling in Love

Fill my mind with thoughts of God.  Spend my days thinking about things that are good and true and beautiful and noble, and I will become good and true and beautiful and noble.

As Christians, we are called to be people of possibility.  In order to maintain that and grow spiritually, I have to be a continuous learner.

When I fall in love with learning, I fall in love with life in a completely new way.

How has continuous learning made my life better?  Good books help me understand the world and enlighten my life.  Spiritual books help me to rediscover Jesus and the plans he has for my life.

Focus:

Wherever I find excellence, I find continuous learning.  They go hand in hand.  Wherever I find that continuous learning is missing, I find mediocrity.

Act:

Do something today to stoke my love of learning.

Pray:

Lord, inspire me to fall in love with learning.  Help me to fill my days with you, and with things that are good, beautiful, noble and true.

Amen.

Day Fourteen - Interesting People

Read the Bible.  There’s something very powerful about reading one of the Gospels from start to finish.

When I reflect on the Word of God regularly, when I reflect on the Word of God in a meaningful way, on a regular basis, I tend to make better decisions.

There are some interesting people in the Bible.  We get to see who made good decisions, who made poor decisions and when the same person was making their best decisions and when the same person was making their worst decisions and what was different in their life at those different times.  The most interesting part is that I can see myself at different times in my life, in each one of those people.  So it’s not just their story, but my story as well.

Am I a good decision maker?  When God is centered in my life, yes.  When I try to create my own path or let resistance win or choose to do my own thing, then no.  It is so simple to just ask God to be with me.  To pray without ceasing.  To pick up the Bible and read it (I even have it scheduled on my calendar).  Yet, I fail every single day.  Not in all moments of my life, but in some.  That is the struggle and the exact reason why I must keep trying.

Is there a story in the Bible that inspires me?

Focus:

People who regularly read the Bible make better decisions.

Act:

Set aside a few minutes each day to read and reflect on a passage from the Bible.  Begin with Matthew, Proverbs or Psalms.

Pray:

God, I know the Bible can give me incredible insight.  Guide me as I read your word.

Amen.

Day Thirteen - Hour by Hour

As Christians we are called to transform every activity in our lives into a prayer.  This is how we become the best version of ourselves and live holy lives.

Christianity is incredibly practical.  It is a beautifully human invitation to experience the divine.  For a Christian, everything is a prayer.

Everything I do can be changed into prayer.  Even my sleep can be offered as a prayer.  Every hour of every day can be offered as a prayer for someone or something.

It changes the way we live.  It changes the way we work.  Doing so will transform my life.

A lot of the various aspects of our Christian spirituality are just designed to wake me up, because sometimes I really can be sleepwalking through my life.

As I grow in this awareness, it changes the way I live.  It also changes the way I love.  Imagine being loved by someone who’s that aware.

What is an ordinary activity that I can transform into prayer?  For me, my daily work, my morning routine and all the time I spend driving could be transformed into prayer.  I can also transform my eating into a prayer.

Focus:

Every activity can be transformed into a prayer.

Act:

Offer each hour or activity of my day to God as a prayer for a specific intention.  Take a deep breath and lift the coming hour up to God.  Ten seconds at the beginning of each hour will change my life.

Pray:

Lord, help me to transform my life into prayer.  Inspire me to bring meaning into everything I do so that my presence in the world may elevate and transform ordinary, everyday things.

Amen.

Day Twelve - Living Soulfully

Every moment of every day, every situation, every person I encounter is an opportunity to become a better-version-of-myself.

What does it mean to live soulfully?  To be authentic, to become the best version of myself, to become all I can be, to become who God created me to be.

Every single day I do things that, I know even when I am doing them, do not help me become the best version of myself.  Bad habits need to be crowded out of my life with good habits.

When I am striving to become the best version of myself, that is when I am living soulfully.

Jesus said, “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the fullest” (John 10:10).

God wants me to live soulfully in a way that is beautifully handmade, unique and just me.

In what area of my life is God calling me to become a better version of myself?

I think God is calling me to be a better leader.  He has put me in a unique position to help shape the culture of our department at work.  He is challenging me to lead by doing his will and allowing his grace to flow into my work life.

When I compare myself to others, I am either giving myself an excuse to give up or settling for someone else’s standards.  What God calls me to do is a lot harder, but a lot better.

Focus:

Some things I do help me to become the person God created me to be, and some things don’t.

Act:

In each moment of each day choose the very best version of myself.  Ask myself, “Is what I am about to do going to help me become the best version of myself?”

Pray:

Jesus, I want to live soulfully.  Help me approach each day with energy and enthusiasm so I can become a better version of myself.

Amen.