Faith
Phone Home Daily
We live busy, hectic lives. When you first get married, you both might be young professionals. Both of you are working hard on your careers. It is a great phase of life to be in.
As with any stage of life, it has its own threats. The greatest of these is time poverty. There simply isn’t enough time to do all of the things that you must. You end up having to make tough choices.
I would challenge you to start looking at your time and activities differently. Think of yourself as investing time. You invest time in your marriage by spending time with your wife. You invest time in entertainment watching a movie. You invest time in your health by exercising.
When you start to view time as an investment, you make different choices. When you view time as a commodity, as a resource, you tend to not spend it so loosely. You begin to make different choices. Even the saints viewed time in this way.
St. Isidore the Farmer is one of those saints. He lived at the end of the 1000s in Spain. St. Isidore knew the importance of investing time in his faith. Every morning, even during the harvest time, he went to Mass. One might think his time might have been better invested in his work. Miraculously, while he was at Mass, Angels were seen plowing his fields.
St. Isidore made a sound investment of his time, and he was richly rewarded.
Having a daily routine of prayer can help us to remain grounded. It can increase our charity and decrease our sin. It can lead to more peace and comfort in our lives. It can help us to be better men. It can make us better workers.
Adding prayer to your daily routine isn’t too difficult. You should first decide on what your goals are. Then, you need to make a plan. Like working out, too much too fast can be discouraging. Be reasonable. Make this a transition that is natural and gradual.
What are some easy ways to add daily prayer in your routine?
• Rosary on your daily commute
• Commute too short? How about a Divine Mercy Chaplet
• Get up 15 minutes early and pray Morning Prayer
• Take 10 minutes of your lunch break for some meditation
• Wind down just before bed with some spiritual reading
It has never been easier to pray! With all of the apps for your phone and tablet, you can find some Catholic apps to assist you. Even the Bible can fit on your device! Take advantage of these technologies.
It is easy to include prayer in your life, you just need discipline. Make this small investment of time and reap the dividends it pays!
Traveling Mass
I travel a fair amount for work. Perhaps you are like me. One of my favorite unofficial games is “Find the Catholic Church.” If you want to get an idea for the universality of the Church, notice how you can’t go far in any direction without running into one.
One of the really cool things about Catholicism is that we are Universal. The Mass in New York is the same as the Mass in Los Angeles. The Mass in Los Angeles is the same as the Mass in London.
I had that opportunity in Pennsylvania while my wife took a test. It was a foggy Monday morning and I was tired. I had my plans set to go back to the hotel and go to sleep. After all, I had just completed a grueling 12 hour travel day.
We drove to the test site and I dropped her off. I pulled out of the parking lot, looked to the left, and there was a Catholic Church. I was starting to turn right and immediately cut back left. It was 7:15am. Morning Mass?
I parked and went in. Yes, Mass at 8:00am. I grabbed my rosary and picked a pew. For 35 minutes it was just the Priest and I. We sat there, praying.
The Church was beautiful. Although it was only built 60 years ago, it was an ornately decorated ethnic (I believe Polish) Parish. It was so quiet, so serene.
By the time that Mass had started, the attendance had swelled to 7. I was by far the youngest person there. I was also sitting closest to the front. It was essentially a test to figure out how well I knew the new translation.
There was something very special about that Mass. First, of course, I felt cared for as a traveler. Cared for in that I felt that I had a home so far from my own.
The intimate setting was unlike anything I have ever experienced. It was like my Wedding Mass. I was in the front, it was as if it was just the Priest and I.
There is a depth of prayer that comes from that setting. There is a feeling that, through the ministry of the Church, the Church is truly there to serve the individual, as well as the community.
I was grateful to make one of the two daily Masses that happen during the week at this Parish. I was grateful to have the opportunity to intercede for my wife while she took an exam no more than 300 yards away. I was grateful to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for taking care of a traveling pilgrim.
Rejoice
The day of my wedding will live forever in my memory. It was a magnificent day. I can so vividly replay all of the scenes, all of the emotions, all of the senses. It was a day of joy.
Today, Easter Monday, we celebrate that same level of joy. We are not slaves. We are not doomed to die. We are destined to live forever. We are like prison inmates on the day of our release.
As we celebrate, we must harness this joy. We must let this joy lead us on the path of truth. We must also acknowledge that we will soon be challenged.
At any time in our lives that we resolve to change our lives for the better, there is joy. We must, at the same time, prepare ourselves for the test that is coming. Our resolve will be challenged.
Today, let us rejoice in our identity and lives as married men. Let us praise God for the gift of Marriage in His Divine Plan! Let us resolve to live as men in the light.
The Ultimate Sacrifice
Today is Good Friday.
My thought for today is very simple. Christ died because of what I have done. His passion was because I chose to not love Him fully. He suffered because I am selfish.
Christ died for the Church. He gave His own life in exchange for the life of His Bride. He is a model for us as husbands.
We are called to lay down our lives for our brides. We are called to sacrifice for them.
On a large scale, it is easy to grasp this concept. On a smaller level, it is much more difficult. It is hard to remember when we are in a situation where our wife has done something that annoys us.
Today, let us acknowledge where we have failed as husbands, where we have failed as men. Today, let us look to the cross and see the example of who we are to be. Today, let us love our wives better than we did yesterday.
The Secret to Getting Up After You Fall
We all have a very deadly disease. It is a disease whose effects are felt throughout society. The symptoms are everywhere. We are infected with deadly pride.
Pride causes our marital fights to drag on for days, or even weeks. Pride hurts those whom we love most. Pride even hurts ourselves. We make prideful decisions and then have to reap the consequences.
As Catholics, we have been given a great gift by the Church to be cured. It is called Confession. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is perhaps the most underutilized Sacrament in the Church. Catholics just don’t take advantage.
Maybe it is because we are afraid that the Priest will know who we are. Maybe we are ashamed to say out loud what we have done. Maybe we haven’t been in so long, we wouldn’t know what to say. Maybe we don’t think we can be forgiven. PRIDE!
Confession is such a powerful tool because it cares for us spiritually and psychologically. We are able to take off the burden of our mistakes. We are able to confront our failings out loud. Sometimes even just calling our sins by name is enough to get us to change.
Maybe we just need to change our paradigm. Perhaps if we changed the name from “Confession” to “Free Counseling,” more Catholics would engage the Sacrament. That is, of course, a ridiculous proposition, but it is true. There is an added benefit to calling your sins what they are in the Sacrament. You then get advice directly from Christ, through the person of the Priest. Free counseling.
To further sweeten the deal, the Priest can never tell anyone what you said. Ever. Even still, it is unlikely that they would even remember what you said. Have you seen how much priests do these days? I’m sorry to hurt your pride, but your sins probably weren’t even that interesting. They’ve heard it all before.
I bring up this subject of Confession because I believe that it is vital to your marriage. When you are open to the Sacrament, when you engage fully, you can de-stress. You can stop bringing the stresses of your failings into your marriage. The Sacrament can even help you stop sinning within your marital relationship.
How often should you go to Confession? The Church has two rules. You must go at least once a year during Lent. You must also go after committing a mortal sin before receiving Communion. That is the minimum. Those two rules will help you to be average.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be average. I didn’t get married to have an average marriage. I don’t enter into any relationship hoping that it will be average. I want to be awesome. I want to have an awesome marriage. I want to have awesome relationships. If you want to be awesome, once a month will do it. Going for baller status? Weekly.
Confession is vital to your success in marriage. Through the process, you begin to renew yourself. You begin to grow closer to God and, through that closeness, you become a better husband. Grab your bulletin and head to Confession this week!