Our Faith's Constant Reminders

Aside from our obligation to go to church on Sunday, have you thought about the GOOD that comes from our consistent faithfulness? To me, it all has to do with living more intentional lives, as long as we are willing to do the work. After all, living intentionally seems simple enough, but it certainly isn't easy. Our Sunday obligation helps us with that exact thing, but is it enough?

I have randomly found myself feeling grateful for the constant reminders that our church feeds us. The reminders to humble ourselves with verses like

"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matthew 23:12)

or reminders that our trials and tribulations in life are actually good for us with verses like

"Consider it a joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance" (James 1:2-3). Wouldn't you agree that these are great mindsets to have? Let's consider for a moment that our minds are always humble and that we consider every trial we face a joy. What wonderful things can we achieve and how do we see others in relation to ourselves?

We humans are quick to forget without these lessons - I know I am guilty of it. The hustle and bustle of our demanding lives don't always give us time to sit down and breath, let alone reflect on lives and our faith. So that's why I'm so grateful for the consistency of going to mass each Sunday and celebrating it others. However, that's not always enough. For me, I wanted to try to be more consistent; to be more intentional.

For Lent this year, I resolved to read the daily readings on usccb.org and take some time to reflect on my day. Even now, many weeks into the Easter season, I find so much good in reading the words of God.

So here's what I do... Each night, before I go to sleep, I find the daily readings and open up the audio version as well. I listen and follow along. Afterward, I open my journal and take a minute to reflect on my day by writing down a prayer either about what I read or what my day has been like. That's it! It's not much, but I feel like I am setting a foundation for so much more in the future.

What can you do? If you feel that your faith is weak, start off small. Do you go to mass every Sunday? If not, start there. Do you go to mass every Sunday but don't pay attention? Find ways to pay better attention (follow along with the readings, take notes about the homily, etc.). If your faith is strong but you still feel there is room for growth, keep asking questions and start more conversations or even help others find their faith, but start off small. My point is to do just a little better, a little at a time.

This life requires us to continually think about our intentionality. To think and rethink and reassess over and over so that we can always have a focus on what things are most important in our lives.

Let's think for a second, what does a life without intentionality look like? How does it feel to look back on a day and wonder "where did all the time go" without having accomplished much? I know I've done that and it sucks. We've all been there... Now think about what your life looks like if that happens 3 days out of each week. That's nearly half of your week gone in the wind.

Now let's think about it in the context of our faith. What does that look like? Do we sin without thinking and upon later reflection, we wonder how it even happened? Is it a constant struggle with sin where we find ourselves going to confession because of the same sin? Do we intentionally live our faith 4 days out of the week and drift the other 3? Heck, do we intentionally live our faith only on Sundays and drift the other 6 days? I don't say this to scare you, but to simply give you perspective. We are meant to do more. We are meant for so much goodness.

I am so grateful for our church and out faith and all its reminders. Our Sunday obligation helps us to live better, fuller lives, but is one weekly reminder enough? Our church and its leaders are great foundations of this desire for intentional living, but we have to take steps to do better for ourselves. We should feel empowered to do more - to do better every day. I hope you join me, one step at a time, to try to do better. And when we fall, we need to continue to get up and try again. As long as we continue to be intentional about our lives, I am confident we are headed toward God.

Gratefully yours,

Mr. K