Articles of the Month

Make  It  A  Happy  Year  With  God

     We all know that life has its ups and downs and life has a way of throwing us a lot of hard knocks but we can learn to overcome these difficult times by learning to lean on God, on Our Lord Jesus and on Our Blessed Mother.  We don't have to go through this life on our own.  In this new year, we need to rely more on the goodness and kindness of God and the Lord Jesus.  How can we do that?  Well, sometimes it's not easy to let go fully on the reins of our life because sometimes people are so used to doing everything themselves.  Of course, we still have to be responsible human beings and do our due diligence in life but we also need to leave the things that we have no control over to God and to Our Lord Jesus Christ.  
     Even our Blessed Mother can help us when we learn to imitate Her humility, patience, prayerfulness and quiet resolution to leave all things up to God.  We can do this step by step in our own lives.  Instead of freaking out over every little problem that comes our way, one should instead quietly pray and ask God, Our Lord Jesus and Our Blessed to resolve the issue(s).   Once we learn how to do this every day, our life will be much happier and holier.  Stress levels will begin to drop and even our health will be better for it.
     What else can we do in this new year that would make our lives happier and holier?  We all need to develop a healthy relationship with God, with Our Lord Jesus and with Our Blessed Mother.  During the new year, we need to make sure, first of all, that we are doing everything we should be doing to go to heaven.  That's number one.  That means going to confession at least once a month, going to Mass every week and receiving the Holy Eucharist every week as well.  If we are not doing those basic requirements then we are not doing what we should be doing in order to go to heaven and that is no good!  
     If we want to turn our lives over to God, we can't really do that sufficiently if we are not obeying the Ten Commandments.  When we disobey God, we are going down a wrong road which will only lead to misery, sadness, guilt, and unhappiness.  In order to have that "missing piece" that some people are always looking to fill, the only thing that can truly make us happy is in obeying, loving and honoring God and Our Lord Jesus.  Without that, this life is truly fruitless and empty.   
     Let us make the life-long resolution to leave the difficulties up to God, pray and ask Him, Our Lord Jesus and Our Blessed Mother to help us in our daily lives.  Let us also make the resolution to live a happy life with God, obeying the Ten Commandments every day.  Let us also obey and follow the Catholic Church and its teachings so that God and Our Lord Jesus will look down on us with a happy expression and take us to our heavenly home when we are called from this life in the future, after we have done all that we could do to merit Heaven.  God bless. 

 

Lent--A  Time  For  God  and  For Our  Lord  Jesus  and  A  Time  To Become  More  Holy

     Lent is a wonderful time because we are to give of our time and energy to God and to Our Lord Jesus Christ.  During the ordinary times of the year, people usually utilize their time and energies for themselves and it should not be that way.  We must learn how to give more time and energy to God and to Our Lord Jesus because they are the only ones who will judge us and decide where we will go after this life is over.  Our family and friends will not be around to speak on our behalf during our final judgment--only God and Our Lord Jesus Christ will be there.  So, it is adamant that we dedicate our lives to Them fully every day.
     How can we do this?  We can set aside some time during our day and night during these forty days of Lent to meditate and pray the Stations of the Cross, pray the Holy Rosary every day, watch Catholic TV and cable channels, read Catholic literature like books and magazines, read and meditate on the Holy Bible, pray Novenas, and pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day, just to name a few.  We can learn to let go of watching sports 24/7, our favorite programs and other favorite pasttimes in order to give time to Almighty God and to Our Lord Jesus.  Afterall, Jesus died for us, we can give our time for Him as well.  
     Jesus was tempted in the desert in the forty days that he set out to be with God before His ministry was to begin.  We also may be tempted by the Devil to not give our time and energy to God but don't fall for that trap.  We owe it to God and to Our Lord to give time to Them because Our Heavenly Father and Our Lord both do so much for us every day of our lives.  Where would we all be if it was not for God or for Our Blessed Lord Jesus?  I can tell you and everyone else that this life would be a living Hell without God and without Jesus.  The Holy Spirit also comes to us each and every day and inspires us to become more holy.  He wants us to be united to God and to Our Lord.  That yearning we feel to go to Mass and receive the Holy Eucharist comes from the Holy Spirit.
     The devil knows that it is our God-given right to go to Heaven and to be counted among the holy ones but he will nevertheless try countless times to persuade and lie to us that it is not important to obey and honor God and Our Lord Jesus.  His only purpose is to distract us from seeing clearly that we should be following  God and the teachings of the holy Catholic Church.  He will try to make you reason-away that you don't have to give more of your time to God and to Our Lord Jesus during Lent by saying such things as, "You don't want to waste all of your time in prayer.  Remember that baseball game that's coming up!", "Don't you want to go to that Happy Hour after work or to that singles bar this weekend because you might find Mr. or Miss Right?", "Go ahead and play that heavy metal music the loudest you want, you owe it to yourself!"  The devil can be very cunning and say things that you want to hear because he preys on our weaknesses.  We have the power to say "No, I'm going to give up those things for now and give more time to God and to Our Lord Jesus instead."
     We need to learn to take care of our souls because it is our soul that will carry on after we have passed away from this earthly life.  Everything that we do should be a reflection of God and of Jesus on this earth.  Whether it is in our relationships with strangers, with our family or with our friends, we should bring a little bit of holiness to this life in every way we can.  Be a light in a dark world for others and try everything to become as holy as you can be now and forever.