😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. It’s been one of those weeks in which I’ve been struggling with motivation. Not related to one single item, but in multiple areas of my life. I know Satan is trying to beat me down. How do I know this??? I know this because I spent 1 ½ hours arguing with myself internally about writing a message today. I know it wasn’t God, because He’s not going to try to stop me from talking about my relationship with Him. But…I know Satan is the first in line to try to get me to stop talking about the Lord.
It’s so stupid, but yet we indulge Satan in moments like these. I get frustrated with myself, that I let those conversations go on as long as they do. GRRRRRR!!! Why don’t I just shut Satan down from the get go? It’s as easy as, “In the name of Jesus Christ, be gone Satan and all your demons!” Yes, it’s that easy.
When we’re being pursued by Satan and his demons, the ONLY way to respond is to shut him down. “In the name of Jesus Christ, be gone Satan and all your demons!” Don’t let him mess with your mind and steal your life from you one minute at a time. That’s 1 ½ hours of my life that I will never get back.
Not today Satan! Even after all of your attempts to stop me, I wrote God’s message anyway.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. I have really been enjoying the beautiful fall weather we’ve been having in this area. Crisp mornings, highs in the mid 60’s, and very colorful sunsets. I know I’ve mentioned Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “The Catechism in a Year” podcast in previous messages, but I have to share a couple more episodes with you today.
The episodes for Day 287: The Gratitude of Children and Day 288: The Duties of Parents really go hand in hand. I am a child and I’m also a parent, so I can really relate to both sides of each of these episodes. I have to tell you, they are really convicting…in a good way.
As I was listening to Day 287: The Gratitude of Children, that took me back to my childhood. My parents did many things for us kids, teaching us lessons, not knowing if we would accept them, but hoping we would take them to heart. There are things that no one other than our families can teach us, by living together as a family unit, a community. One story from my childhood, that I have shared on multiple occasions was about going to Mass one Sunday. There are six of us in the family. Us kids were in our early to mid-teenage years. We had a late start that Sunday morning and we were trying to make it to the last Mass being offered that day. If I remember correctly, Mass was at 12:45pm. We were cutting it close to making it on time and then…the car wouldn’t start. I don’t remember what all Dad did to try to get it to start, but the next thing I remember was the entire family getting on bicycles and riding to Mass. Did we make it before Mass started, no. Was I sweaty when I got there, yes. Do I remember what the readings and Gospel were about that day, no. Did I learn a lesson that day that will stay with me the rest of my life, yes! That day, I learned how important it was, and still is, to make sure I go to Mass, to receive Christ into my body each week. It would have been very easy for Mom and Dad to just blow off Mass, so Dad could try to fix the car. We only had one car and he needed it to get to work on Monday. They showed me that it was more important to go to Mass, than to fix our only car. Honestly, I don’t know if I would have learned this life lesson any other way.
Day 288: The Duties of Parents had me thinking more about how I failed in my responsibilities as a young parent of three. Really, it’s so much easier to beat ourselves up over our failures. I’m sure my girls would agree with me on some of my failures, but I would guess their list of my failures is probably not as long as mine. The thing is, I’m still their parent and always will be. Yes, our relationships have changed throughout the years, but they will always be my girls. Until I take my final breath, and maybe even after I’m gone, I will continue to guide them the best way I know how, to live their life to the fullest. And I’m not talking about money.
Take a listen to these two episodes. What memories do they bring to mind for you? We can’t change the past, but how can they guide your actions today and going forward, as a child and a parent?
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. – Phillipians 4:11-12
These two verses were from last Sunday’s second reading. Pondering these verses in conjunction with different seasons of my life, I have indeed lived through what I thought were times in need and times of plenty. My perspective in these different moments certainly played a factor in how I lived out these situations. There were a good number of years that were struggles, without the knowledge or commitment to moving out of them. Then there were seven years of struggling on purpose, with a plan for financial prosperity.
God has been with me through it all. In every struggle, He showed me the way out. Did I always take His suggestion? No! If I would have, I wouldn’t have struggled so much.
When you’re in a relationship, the decisions are no longer yours alone. When you have a family depending on you, the decisions are no longer for you alone. In reality, your decisions have never been and will never be for you alone. Every single decision we make starts a ripple effect.
Give this a try. Pick a situation in your past or maybe focus on a decision that you are currently faced with. Talk yourself through the different options you could select in that scenario. Brian and I were doing this on the drive home from work yesterday.
How does your decision directly affect those immediately around you? Now, take that ripple out a few waves. How does your decision directly affect the people immediately around those, that are immediately around you? This could be easy to see within families. But what about at work? Even people you don’t know are affected by your decisions and actions. Do you think the person texting while driving stops to think about the person driving behind them, before they started messaging with their phone while driving and caused an accident? How will the ripple affect wash over the friends and family members of the person in the accident?
Some ripples are easy to see, but some are more subtle. Every one of our decisions has an effect on others, which is why it’s so important to have a conversation with God before we act. We were never made to do life alone. From the very beginning, we were made to be in communion with the Lord (Father, Son and Spirit) and those He gave us to share His creation with. How is God calling you to be a ripple for Him?
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. It is by our baptism in the Lord that we are called to evangelize. Yes, whether you want to be or not, you are an evangelist, but what are you evangelizing? You have a personal relationship with the Lord, but it’s not meant to be kept private. Your experiences, epiphanies, and even just your ordinary moments with the Lord are meant to be shared. That’s exactly what I do with you on Wednesdays. Some of these Wednesday messages are more elaborate and in depth, while other Wednesdays are just normal everyday encounters with the Lord. But yet, He still asks me to share them. Why? I never really know, until I hear and receive responses from you. That’s when I get a little glimpse of how God is moving.
It’s Tuesday night and I’m sitting with Jesus and some other people at Adoration. I imagine some people might be giving me the side eye for having my laptop with me during Adoration. It’s okay Lord, Yours is the only opinion that matters.
Every single day…every single one of us…fail in one way or another. That’s not the goal, but it is life. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care and just do whatever we want to. Even though we know we are going to fail, we have an obligation to work at preventing ourselves from having too many failures. Does it really make a difference? It absolutely does!
If every failure, and I’m talking failure in your relationship with the Lord, equaled another lash with a whip on Christ’s body, wouldn’t you agree that every time you turn away from failure makes a difference to Christ and to you? I know it does. Trust me, He is really wanting you to act and be the best version of you. He doesn’t want to have to rebuke you or have you turn away from Him. All He wants is a loving, personal, intimate relationship with you. There isn’t anything better than that. Amen, thank You, Lord!
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. Tuesday was the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels. Being that the patron saint of our parish family is St. Michael the Archangel, we celebrated the Feast of the Archangels during our Sunday Masses. The second reading was from the Book of Revelation 12:7-12:
‘War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them.”
As this was being read, I could physically feel myself getting excited and cheering on St. Michael, all God’s angels, and the works they were doing. As we go through our daily lives, it’s very easy to forget to celebrate these victories for God, big or small. Every “Yes” to God and “No” to Satan is a victory, a celebration for God. These victories a well worth celebrating.
😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. I’ve been pondering, questioning, and praying about something these past few weeks that seems a bit radical, but has me questioning what if it were true.
Matthew 5:44, “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you…”
Luke 6:27, “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…”
Luke 6:35, “But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”
Who is our enemy? Who is God’s enemy? How can we love our enemies to turn them from their evil ways and back to the original relationship we were made for, to live with the Lord? The greatest enemy of God is Satan, his demons, and all the trickery they use to draw us away from the Lord and into sin.
As I mentioned, this seems a bit radical. If I hear Him correctly, I believe God asked me to pray for His, our greatest enemy, Satan and his demons, to turn from their hatred, jealousy of the Lord, and works that lead us away from our Lord and that Satan and his demons will come back to their original, loving relationship with our Lord. It sounds crazy, right? But, if we pray and it is the will of our Lord. With God all things are possible. We believe there is power in prayer, right? But do we truly understand how much power is in our prayer.
Are you willing to love your enemy by praying for them to have a full conversion and return to the Lord? I told you it was radical, but what if it actually worked? What if Satan and his demons returned to a loving relationship with the Lord and we were free to live a 100% loving relationship with the Lord?
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. Last Sunday Brian’s friend was received into the Catholic Church as he received his First Holy Communion and Confirmation. One of the things that gives me the greatest joy in my life is witnessing and cheering someone on when they are welcomed into the Church, whether that be as an infant, youth, or adult. Sunday’s Gospel reading was Matthew 18:21-35, in which Jesus tells the parable of the man who was forgiven an incredibly large debt, but forced a man that owed him a much smaller amount to be thrown in prison until he paid his debt in full. We were not at our home parish, so I don’t know the name of the priest that was leading us through that Mass, but he had some great take aways in his homily that I would like to share with you.
The debt that the man was forgiven for was greater than he could have earned in multiple lifetimes.
He wasn’t able to fully receive his forgiveness because he was unwilling and unable to forgive others.
Receiving the Sacrament of Confession is one of the best ways to learn how to forgive.
Our God is infinitely good and forgiving. He is the example we must follow.
When we don’t forgive others, we are sinning against the Lord’s freely given forgiveness.
Forgiveness of others frees us and leaves justice to God.
Pray for conversion.
Be strengthened by the Lord to forgive others and ourselves.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. One year ago today, I was given my Camino shell, Camino de Santiago passport, and daily maps. I was so excited to start my journey the following day.
I now have my shell in the living room on the entertainment center. The water bottle I used on that journey now has two stickers on it, the St. James cross (like the shell) and one that says Buen Camino. I literally think about this trip and journey every day. It was definitely a life changing, life enhancing, experience with my best friend (my husband) and new friends that I communicate with on almost a weekly basis.
As I was thinking about my Camino, I truly was more excited about what I experienced and took away from the journey along the Camino, than what I experienced and took away from our destination in Santiago de Compostela.
Yes, our journey prepares us for our destination with the Lord. Every mini journey is a path that connects us to places and people, growing us into who we are. In the episode of Fr. Mike Schmitz’s podcast, The Catechism in a Year that I listened to yesterday, he was discussing sin and how every time we choose sin, it makes it that much easier to sin again and to a greater level. It’s in this compounding of choosing sin that we step off the path of light and trip and fall deeper and farther into the dark, dense, thicket of going along with what society exclaims to be okay and acceptable. Unbeknownst to you, one day you realize you’re just a shadow of who you used to be.
God’s story for you does not end there. He very much wants to be in friendship with you. Yes, there is a good chance that when you start choosing God, those that are walking with and guiding you away from the Lord with no longer want to be with you. Honestly, that’s a good thing. The people and community you do life with are more subliminally affecting your choices than you realize. What you eat, watch, and how you speak are all choices that will either bring you closer to or further away from God. Every step you take that isn’t toward God, is actually a step away from God. Ask God. He will not lie to you or lead you down false paths. Seek a community and friends that are not afraid of speaking truth to you, in love.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. I’m sure most of us have the experience of needing to hear something multiple times before it sinks in or really hits home. Actual Grace is a temporary grace that God offers each of us, in different ways, that will enlighten and strengthen our will to make wise choices and turn away from evil. Actual Grace is for a specific situation, a fleeting moment in which we can choose to accept God’s offer of Actual Grace or we can choose to deny ourselves that gift of grace. Actual Grace is like a God nudge, encouraging you to take a positive step forward for the good of others and your relationship with the Lord.
Actual Grace is the 4th of 15 talks on a Cursillo weekend. This talk really got me thinking about the multitude of Actual Grace moments the Lord offers us every day. Then I started thinking about how many of them that I choose not to accept. “I’m too busy.” “That’s out of my way.” “Mybe if I didn’t need to do this thing first.” Any excuse will do, right?
During one of our long breaks that Cursillo weekend, I went outside to walk the beautiful grounds. I came to a basketball court that had a ball sitting, just waiting for someone to pick it up. So, I grabbed it and played some basketball. During one of my missed shots, the ball bounced over to the grass. I bent over to pick the ball up and noticed there were a ton of three leaf clovers. Without thought, I immediately started searching for a four leaf clover. That’s when God spoke. All those three leaf clovers, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the Actual Grace opportunities I offer you. The four leaf clovers, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and you, are the Actual Grace opportunities you actually accept. The three leaf clovers far out number the four leaf clovers. That was extremely convicting, because it’s true.
Since that moment, I’ve been working on recognizing and accepting more of those Actual Grace opportunities. I’ve also started noticed Actual Grace opportunities that other people are choosing to accept. One of which happened on Sunday when I was filling up two 5 gallon gas containers, so I could finish mowing the lawn. I was at the gas station, had both containers full and was tightening down the caps. A gentleman about as tall as me and thin, I would guess in his late 70’s, that was pumping gas next to me, came over and asked if I would like some help putting the container in my car. He said, “I’m not real strong, but I would like to help.” That was an Actual Grace moment that he accepted and it made me smile.
When I got home and started mowing along our property line, God made me smile again. He was sitting on my neighbor’s swing, waiting to have a conversation. I even took a picture to share with you. So, as I continued to mow, I did have a conversation with Him.
Be on the watch for your Actual Grace opportunities and remember the three and four leaf clovers. You get to decide if it will stay a three leaf clover or become a four leaf clover.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
A big “THANK YOU” to all of you that have prayed and will continue to pray for the ladies and team of Cincinnati Women’s Cursillo 190. Some small attacks and some bigger attacks occurred during our weekend, but none that couldn’t be handled by your prayers and God’s strength and might. One of our ladies left due to an unexpected death of a family member and a team member left due to a family emergency.
The Lord was with us and we could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. It’s absolutely incredible watching and experiencing the ladies allowing the walls they’ve built, be deconstructed one brick at a time by the Lord. Their hearts were softened and their faces radiated a sense of hope, love, peace, and a desire to grow their relationship with our Lord. They journeyed into their 4th days with tools and methods to dive deeper into their faith, but not alone. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and their new Cursillo family will be joining each of them on their journey.
We cannot journey this life alone. God never intended us to journey alone. He is a our first and forever friend, BFF. And, just as He did with Adam, the Lord will place other people in our lives to support us and join us on the journey.
Thank You Lord, for Your Friendship and those you’ve given me to travel these roads with. Amen!
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.
