How?

I think I feel you calling me. I do not know though. So many things pull me in so many different ways. I have found life outside of you, but you are still there. Still calling me to you. Christ please make me more aware of the ways you are trying to bring me to you. I feel like I am concoiously unconcious...

Hello?

Have you seen the movie "Billy Madison"? If you have remember the scene where they are on the field trip to the old west place and that old lady is giving the kids a tour and talking about the most random and oddball stuff and stops in the middle of her sentence and asks, "Is anyone even listening to me?" Ha ha ha. I feel like that old woman with this blog. Someone comment or something and let me know you are out there to give me more motivation to write on here so I know I am not just doing this for my own health please!

Fresh start

I think it is very interesting to look at life in general, and then look at life within the Church and compare the two. Lets take debt and sin and compare them. Debt in life can be a burden for some. Sin in life is also a burden. How do we get rid of these two things in life and in the Church? Lets say your $20,000+ in debt. Now, you can start trying to pay off these debts and try to get caught up on all of the things you owe money on and work your hardest at getting it all eliminated. This is going to be a long and hard road ahead of you as $20,000+ is A LOT of money and will be hard to pay back in full while supporting yourself and a family if you have one? What is one way you can wipe out all of your debt and start over again fresh? Bankruptcy? Not the best way to handle money problems because it leaves a very very bad mark on your credit and it will haunt you for years to come. But, if this is the path that you chose to handle these problems, then it wipes everything clean and you start over all brand new. What is a way in the Church that we can get rid of all of our sin's and get a clean slate with God? The Sacrament of Confession. We go confess our sin's and explain what we did and admit that we are ashamed of our actions and we want, and more importantly NEED forgiveness. Now, bankruptcy and Confession are completely and entirely two different things and I know this, and in no way am trying to say they are the same. I am simply trying to work the Grace's and Blessings of the Church into te routine of everyday life and show that it is not that hard to get a hold of and grasp the teachings of the Church, and let me tell you, If I can figure this stuff out and understand it and embrace it, ANYONE can. Think of your life. The troubles you face and the day to day nonsense we come across and try to make parables for yourself to bring the Holy Mother Church into perspective and make your faith much easier to understand and apply, and much more fruitful for you.

Church Signs... Good or Silly?

I always read the saying's and things that Church's put up on their sign for the passing traffic to read. I saw one the other day that I did not agree with. Simply because I felt it was misleading... The board read "The narrow path to Heaven is always open." Now to me this is not correct. the path to Heaven IS always open. But I strongly disagree that the path is in any way "Narrow". With all of the redemptive options Christ gives us to get to Heaven the path is Wide like an empty California Highway. I cant imagine thinking that the path to Heaven is narrow and complicated. Christ gives us so many opportunities to get to the Kingdom of Heaven it is overwhelming. Think about it... With the Sacraments alone. Confession, The Eucharist, Mass... Then there are the things that we can do voluntarily that bring us closer to Christ and make our relationship With him so much stronger. for instance: Adoration, The Rosary (this of course being with the intercession of our Blessed Virgin Mary to help us grow closer to him) stations of the Cross, Devotions. I mean the list goes on. I am just giving ideas of a few things we can do. Now, I also thought of the fact that this saying was in fact on a protestant church board. Meaning a lot of the pathways that we as Catholics have leading us closer to Christ are not there for the people who are attending this Church. Which then leads to another point. If your Church is teaching that the path to Heaven is "Narrow" and it is in some way difficult to get in, and the Catholic church, The FIRST church, Built on Peter our first Pope, Disciple of Jesus himself is teaching that there are many ways to make your journey to Christ and Heaven much easier... why would you stay at the church that is telling you and trying to make it sound so difficult to get there!? It makes no sense to me! But then again I guess I have just been blessed with my beliefs and have never been to close to any beliefs of a protestant church to understand them... I don't know. Its like this, If you can go to a store, and pay less for your stuff and get ten time's as much as you would from the store right next door, why continue to pay more, struggle with things and get less result's? Not much sense in it is there?

Something I read today and liked a lot

'Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen.'.. It is very short and simple and It covers a lot. Short little prayers that sum up a lot, easy to remeber and useful in many situations are very helpful to me. Sometimes when you are praying and run out of things to say, sometimes you can throw little one's like that in and then take a whole different approach to your prayer and start thinking, talking and relating with God on different thoughts. Just thought I would share that with you and hope you like it.

I still love this video

Cold

Have you ever heard the song "Cold" by Crossfade? If you haven't I have posted the music video on here. I feel the song is meant for a failing relationship or a already finished relationship. But, if you listen to the words, and take the human relationship aspect out and listen to it and think about it being twords God it is an awesome song in that light. Just imagine that it was written to God. Let me know what you think.

Running, not such a great idea

I have recently come to the realization that running from things, no matter what, is not a good idea at all. Wether it be debts, fights, God, life problems it is just not a good idea! What brought this on is while I lived in Denver I was laid off from work. I had some money saved up in a savings account to fall back on, but once that was gone and I still didn't have a very good paying job I quickly fell into a debt problem. I used my credit card for a lot of things and did not have the money to pay the bills for it, but did that stop me? Not one single bit. Then finally I got a very good job and started making some money and started making attempts at paying bills and I inally realized how big of a hole I had dug myself into. It feels like I am standing at the bottom of a well, looking up at the little bit of light that is shining down on me and trying my hardest to get to that light which is financial freedom. But wait, maybe the light should be something else that would make me get out of my well much faster. That light should be God. When you are in a place in your life that all seems dark and all seems like a loss and you just want to scrap everything and start over you should realize that there really is no reason to give up. No matter how bad you think you have it, it honestly could be worse. I have always had a roof over my head, Food in my stomach and a family that loves me more than I think I know. I also have a God that does everything for me and is there for me through everything. I guess I know a lot more than I let myself believe. I still stray away from him and still act like I can handle everything on my own. I recently have started rejuvinationg my prayer life, and my devotion to Christ and it honestly has made things go a lot better. I have been doing better in life than I have in a long time. I owe that all to one person. It is just interesting to think about. If you turn away from the one thing in life that means everything then you have nothing. Even if you have material things, and material wealth you atill feel empty inside. Wether or not you want to admit it, there is a huge empty spot in your heart. Your heart was built like a jigsaw puzzle. In the imensity of it, there is one single piece that is supposed to be there or the puzzle is not complete. It is meant to fit in there perfectly. It was cut and shaped to sit right in there and not waiver in any way. But if you do not put the pice in it will not get there on its own. YOU need to do it. I need to do it. But why do I still refuse and run from placing that final piece of my heart together and making life 100% better? I guess one day I will learn why. Right now the only reason I can think of is because I cling to tightly to my human traits, especially the one that makes me think I am all there ever was and ever will be of me. But that is so not true. I pray that one day I can see through MYSELF and see what really is myself.

Who, What, When, Where and How?

Hello all, I am back again hoping that this can be a good avenue for me to express some of my feelings again as I venture down a new, yet well traveled road in my life. The title of this post may not make much sense to you right now but i hope it does after reading thins and I hope it makes me realize the importance of something I already know.



Lets begin with the "Who"
The Who is Jesus Christ. The one and only Son of the Father. He is the one person that we should look up to at all times. No matter what others are doing in their lives, it does not compare to the greatness of Jesus and the awesome love and sacrifice he gave, and actually still gives us to this very day. He is the one our focus should be on and all of our energy should be devoted to.

The "What"
What do we need to do to become closer to Our Lord through Jesus Himself? We first of all need to develop a relationship with Jesus so we can learn to listen to him and learn what he is saying to us. We need to learn the way that He works and the ways of which he teaches us so we are able to walk away from certain situations with him and have something to show for it. It is very difficult to not pay attention to him and expect to learn something. Just like when I was in school, I couldn't possibly expect to pass the Final in a class if I slept through the whole semester and then all of a sudden woke up to take the test.

The "When"
For some people this is a hard question. When should I begin giving my life to the Lord? When is the right time? The answer to that question is really quite simple. Anytime you are not giving your life to the Lord is the PERFECT time to start doing so. When you are not in full Communion with God it hurts him. One of his children have strayed away from him. He wants us at all times to be with him and be living our lives to become closer to him so we can spend all of eternity with him like he intended since the first day.

The "Where"
In my opinion I would say the best place to start a journey to Christ or to pick up on a wayward journey with him is in the Confessional. On your knees confessing your faults and you Sin's to Jesus. And having the hands of our very Lord placed on your head and haveing your sins Absolved! How Beautiful. One of my favorite things about Confession is when the Priest is Absolving you and he is acting "In Persona Christi." That is such a beautiful thing. That to me is the best place to start.

Finally, the "How"
How do we give ourselves to God? The answer is with EVERY single beat of our heart and breath that he gives us!" Go all out, Do not hold anything back. You can put everything on the line with God and not even have to worry about losing anything. He will in turn give you more for you turning everything over to him. It may not be in the exact same way you would have pictured him giving it to you but that is why earlier I had said that you need to learn how He works and how teaches and blesses us because sometimes our human qualities can make it difficult for us to see what he is doing. Please keep me in your prayers as I begin a journey back to Christ, and I will kepp everyone in the world in my prayers that may be starting or re-starting a relationship with Christ. God Bless. Also, Please feel free to pass this blog onto others and please, if you have anything to say, comment. That is a lot of my motivation to sit down and write on here. Your Brother in Christ, Jon