Month: July 2021

What’s the One Thing?

Author: Cathy Loh, Diocese of Palm Beach Director of Marriage,
Family Life, Faith Formation and Youth Ministry

As the long, hot summer days speed by, we are once again quickly approaching the start of another school year.  Ah, new beginnings, new hopes, new challenges, a time to start anew.  Yes, God has provided us with many occasions for a fresh start…. a new calendar year, a new liturgical year, a new school year, indeed, each new day when God’s mercies are made new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). 

Our Christian faith encourages us to not let these opportunities go to waste.  We must be intentional about making the most of them.  Some of us may just overlook these opportunities for a fresh start, while others may set lofty goals. However, experts tell us that the greatest chance for success in starting over and creating lasting change is to focus and decide what is the one thing we can do to affect meaningful and positive change in our lives.

Where to start?  Jesus teaches us that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the second greatest is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).  What is the one thing that we can do today to better love God?  We could spend some time with Him in prayer, even if just for a few minutes; it’s a place to start.  Perhaps stop by Church for a daily Mass or just to sit with Him.  Or we can stop in an Adoration Chapel.  Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, the consecrated bread, and He waits patiently for us to visit with Him, ready to bestow those mercies that are made new each morning.  We could spend a few minutes reading His love letter to us, the Bible, where He tells us about His plans for us.  We could seek Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation where He forgives our sins and restores our relationship with Him.  After all, Jesus tells us that the way to love God is to keep His commandments, and they are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).  Well, that may require some divine assistance, so we can just ask for help and be assured that when we ask according to His will, He hears and answers us (1 John 5:14-15).  So now we are back to prayer again.  Have you ever tried to pray the Rosary?  What about one decade?  What’s the one thing you could do today to grow closer to Jesus, to love Him more?

What about loving our neighbor, who might just be a family member rather than the person next door?  Or it could be someone we know or are related to who lives miles away.  What’s the one thing we can do to love that person more?  Maybe it’s as simple as a smile or forgiving the person who offended or annoyed us.  Perhaps it’s offering up a prayer or making a phone call to say, “I’m thinking of you.”   Maybe it’s something slightly more involved like making a meal or a visit or running an errand for them.

We all lead very busy lives, so we need to be intentional about making changes in those lives.  How can we grow in love of God and neighbor?   Take advantage of the opportunities to start fresh.  Tomorrow is a new day, and God’s mercies will be there for you.  Take some time, be intentional, and decide what is the one thing you can do, no matter how small, to better love God and neighbor. 

Here’s what Scripture has to say…

Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.

Matthew 22:36-39 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

Here’s what the Saints have to say…

St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.

St. Therese of Lisieux Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.

Labels

Author: Beth Zanotelli, Diocese of Palm Beach Coordinator of Family Life

Do you ever label yourself in your thoughts?  A label is a name you call yourself in your head. It is part of your self-talk. Whether it is a name you were called, or words you have “tagged” yourself with, you use labels to describe yourself.  They can be positive or negative.  These labels arise when you accuse or maybe repeatedly accuse yourself of a misdeed or pat yourself on your back for a success. Really, it is your pride and your humanness that keep you stuck in these thoughts.

Pope John Paul II said, “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures, we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son Jesus.” If you want to know who you are, it is misguided to look to a wounded humanity for answers.   When labeling yourself, you should look to God and remember His words to Jeremiah (1:5), “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.” God gives you every label that you need.  God helps you to realize that there is more to your life than the labels you hold on to. 

As you were created in His image and likeness, you reflect God’s truth, beauty, and goodness.  Do not allow your self-talk to direct who you are, rather, be satisfied with the way the Lord sees you, hears you, and loves you.  St. John Paul II’s words render so much wisdom, it makes sense to share them now, to help you to see God’s truth, beauty, and goodness:

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that  will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.” JPII – WYD 2011

Challenge yourself to do as St. John Paul II says and “shed your masks of a false life”.  Do not settle on the “compromise” of the labels you give yourself.  Fully rely on God!

Here is what the scriptures say…

Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

Psalm 139:16 – Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to me.

Romans 8: 28-30 – We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.  For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.

Romans 12:2 – Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.