Are you ready for your work out?

Lent starts next week on Wednesday, March 2^nd with Ash Wednesday and if you are an active Catholic your email inbox might look like mine; flooded with ways to make this year’s Lent the MOST AMAZING LENT EVER.   There is no shortage of publications, email subscription lists, and prayer meditations for you to subscribe to make your journey through lent a powerful one.   But will you?

As Catholics, our Lenten experience is supposed to be a bit of a workout.  It is 40 days of spiritual weightlifting.    Sacrifice, Prayer and Charitable works. This is the tri-fecta for your Lenten Exercises.   But with so many choices out there for spiritual content, sometimes less if more.   

However, you decide to spend your Lent, just like with a workout regime, it’s best to come up with a plan BEFORE you begin.  Think about your Lenten Goals. Think about what ways God is calling you to grow.  Take time to discern and listen to the will of God, and then pray for God to reveal himself to you in a powerful way!  Decide now, which resources will be best for you.

There is something for everyone.   Are you into podcasts? Listening to prayer? Know the basics of how to use a smart Phone?  Then the Catholic App HALLOW is amazing!  There is a free version with access to wonderful prayer resources and speakers, or a paid subscription that unlocks content to keep you listening and praying through the day.  This is one of my favorites to use with my family and has wonderful content for children as well.   (I like doing the examen prayer with my kids before bed.)

Do you sit in front of a computer all day long?  Then perhaps filling your inbox with prayer spam isn’t a bad idea?  The Catholic Company sends a daily reflection that only takes a few minutes to read each morning.  Beginning your work day in prayer is a really smart way to spend some time focusing on God and what better place to read these prayers than in your own INBOX.  Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire also provides excellent content to keep you focused, or if your parish subscribes to Flocknote, they have access to send you wonderful Lenten reflections through email or Text.

No matter what you decide, decide SOMETHING.  Your extra sacrifices might end come Easter, but hopefully your charitable acts and prayer time will continue into life-long habits.  

Sorry it's been a while...

I have definitely been avoiding this blog for a bit.  It wasn't that I didn't have a lot to say, I just was having a hard time staying positive.

Do you ever go through those dark times?

I stopped praying regularly, and I stopped meditating on my awesome God.  I still talked to God, but it was more of a whine than a prayer.

And well, life has been a little crazy lately. Like Hurricane Crazy.

But in truth, things are good.  Isn't that when it all comes crashing down? When things are normal, it's like autopilot.  That is when it is hardest for me to connect with God.  When it seems all is well.

In an attempt to get back into a powerful prayer time here are a few things I think I need to do.  Maybe these are good for you as well. 


1.  Just sit and be quiet for at least 10 minutes a day.
2.  Read a prayerful or Christ-centered book for at least 10 minutes a day.
3. Be grateful for the normal that might exist at the moment.
4.  Seek out others that might not be experiencing normal, and walk with them through their darkness.

Pray for me Yall!  I will be praying for you!

New Parish Event!

 My new parish event that I am really excited to promote is going to be HUGE.  I am actually hoping to get THOUSANDS of people to participate in this FREE event.  First of all this is going to be a super fun event, that will be extremely convenient for pretty everyone, and I think will be pretty successful!  

The name of this event is:

"GO HOME AND LOVE YOUR FAMILY!"

I can't wait to launch this event.  I am thinking bulletin posts, social media promotions, maybe even some Lector announcements.  WE ARE GOING TO PROMOTE THE HECK OUT OF THIS EVENT!

This event is grounded in Scripture: Mark 6:19 actually says, "But he would not permit him but told him instead, Go Home to your Family."

Basically I am thinking our parish is getting short of a country club.  We have events pretty much every night and weekends.  Bible studies, fellowship groups, Catholic Women groups, Knight of Columbus, youth group, etc. etc.   I think I see some of the same people at church EVERYDAY.  

I gotta be honest everyone, Church is not meant to be everyone's mission field.  We definitely need to be spiritually fed, and I LOVE studying scripture with others. But at some point we have to Go home and love our families!  Then we need to go OUT into the world and share the Love of God with everyone out there.

We haven't settled on a specific date yet, but I will be sure to let you all know how it goes!