RosaryMeds

RosaryMeds’ Catholic Voters Guide

I must have too many subscribers and visitors to RosaryMeds because I’m going to write about something that may turn some of you off — politics. With the upcoming elections in the United States, I feel like I need to speak up with my thoughts on how we should proceed as Catholics. Even if you’re not a US citizen but live in a country with a free election process, I believe these thoughts also apply to you.

Flawed People

As I listen more to Father Mike Schmitz’s Bible in a Year, I learn how God uses imperfect and broken people to accomplish his plan for humanity. Look at King David, someone who God handpicked as king of Israel. And yet, he lusted over Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, and had him killed in battle so he could marry her. Look at David’s son, Solomon, who honored God by building His temple. And yet, he married foreign wives and was influenced by their pagan ways. Jump to Saint Peter, our first pope, who denied knowing Jesus at His arrest. These were all mighty people, chosen by God, and yet flawed.

Uriah the Hittite being killed in battle on King David’s orders

Our elected officials aren’t perfect and have many flaws. And yet, God can use them to bring about good. When we cast a vote for a particular candidate, we aren’t endorsing their personal behavior. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to elect anyone because no one is perfect. We should elect people not based on their personalities, but on their platform. Will they promote the values and ideals we want as a society? Will they promote the freedoms all people deserve? Will they apply the law fairly?

Values Matter

Let’s talk about values for a minute. As we should know, some sins are more serious than others. There are mortal sins and venial sins. Similarly, there is a hierarchy of values; the Church holds certain values higher than others. The bishops in Colorado neatly summarizes these values. As Catholics, we need to do these two things:

Learn why the Church ranks certain values higher than others. Why are life, family, and freedom ranked higher than the environment and immigration? We must be always learning Church doctrine and, like the saints, humbly accept Her teachings.
Choose leaders who promote these values. Is a leader going to perfectly execute the laws according to these values? Probably not. But we need to elect leaders that align closer with our values and certainly don’t attack our values. With certain propositions, the Catholic answer is clearer. For example, it should be obvious that we must reject laws that expand abortion since they attack our primary value of protecting life.

2024 Catholic Voter Guide | Denver Catholic

A Moral Obligation to Vote

We have a moral obligation to vote. I know many people who want to “sit this one out” because they don’t like either candidate. But when we do that, we are not bearing witness to our Catholic values. If we truly believe in what the Church teaches, then we will want a society based on those values. We can’t say, “well, I personally think valuing life, religious freedom, and family are good but I’m not willing to promote them with my vote.” We need to be courageous in our faith and help the larger world understand why our laws need to reflect our values.

I will cut right to the point. We need to elect Donald Trump. He’s not perfect and has many failings. But when you compare him to Kamala Harris, his plans and track record aligns more closely with Christian values. In the last four years of the Harris/Biden administration, we’ve not only seen a move away from Christian values, but an attack on it. The FBI circulates memos labeling church-going people as terrorists. The Department of Justice has been throwing people in prison for opposing abortion and turns a blind eye to attacks on churches. And don’t get me started on the woke agenda which will only accelerate under a Harris presidency. I know Trump isn’t perfect, but we aren’t electing a Messiah. We are looking for the flawed people who will help align society with our values. We want people who will allow us to freely worship and live our lives and not impose their 1984 newspeak on morality.

October’s Cornucopia of Rosary Articles

In addition to writing about the Rosary, I read a lot about it too. After all, I need inspiration and information about this unique and powerful prayer. Every October, Rosary articles flood my email inbox and news feeds. As much as I would like to write in-depth commentary on each article, I don’t have enough time. Better to publicize these posts than hold on to them thinking I will write about them “some day.”

Fixing RosaryMeds’ Mysteries Pages

First, some good news. I’m fixing the mysteries pages on RosaryMeds. A few weeks ago, an extension I had been using for scrolling through each decade was dropped from WordPress. The good news is that I found a replacement. The bad news is that I need to re-enter all my scripture and intentions text. But I’m on my way! Take a look at the First Glorious Mystery page for a sample of how they will look.

7 (New!) ideas for praying the Rosary

If your Rosary routine feels a little stale, here are some ideas to change it up.

The Realness of the Rosary

The Mysteries of the Rosary upon which we meditate work to re-tether us to a reality that we are so often detached from in our modernist, post-Christian, hyper-worldly society.

The rosary: common myths and facts

7 questions about the Rosary dispelling common misbeliefs about this powerful prayer.

20 Things Guardian Angels Do for Us

Not specific to the Rosary, but it’s good to pray to our guardian angels for their protection. I remember to pray to my guardian angels when I meditate on the Fifth Glorious Mystery since one of Mary’s titles is Queen of Angels.

God Always Provides a Path to Heaven

CHOOSING A PATH

Certain video games are designed so that certain outcomes are no longer possible based on the actions you take. This is particularly true for role playing games (RPGs) where you make choices on how to customize your character and missions. I remember playing Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and I could choose whether to make my character lean towards the dark side or light side of the Force. But I had to choose carefully because the game’s plot would change based on my decisions.

Like an RPG, I think we often feel like our life decisions close and open various possibilities. That’s true to a certain extent. Buying a house, choosing a career, and getting married certainly put us on a certain track. But what about happiness? What about fulfillment? Sometimes, we feel like obtaining true happiness and peace is forever out of our reach due to our choices and circumstances.

We too often believe that our choices can make achieving happiness impossible. Maybe we have some self-destructive vices and addictions. We think we are too far down the road of self-destruction that we are forever cut off from joy and peace. Perhaps we’ve done some terrible things and think that not even God can bring us back. We are like Darth Vader in Star Wars believing it’s too late to turn from our dark ways.

THERE’S ALWAYS A PATH TO HAPPINESS

The great thing about our Catholic faith is that, unlike an RPG, there is always a path to peace and happiness. God never completely closes the road to grace and eventually Heaven. There are so many unhappy souls out there that don’t understand they can always come back into God’s grace as if they never left. Sure, the path back may be harder and longer for some. After all, some of us have more damage to repair. But the victory will be the same for all of us once in Heaven no matter the paths we took to get there.

Saint Bartolo Longo‘s story shows us that everyone can return to God’s loving grace no matter how far they fall. Born in 1841 in southern Italy, he was raised in a devout Catholic family. However, after his mother’s death when he was ten, he began to drift away from his faith.

While studying law at the University of Naples, Longo became involved in the occult and eventually became a Satanic priest! His involvement in Satanism led him to a state of deep depression, anxiety, and paranoia. Concerned for his well-being, his family sought help from a devout Catholic professor, Vincenzo Pepe.

Pepe introduced Longo to a Dominican priest, Father Alberto Radente, who guided him back to the Catholic faith. Longo’s conversion was marked by his devotion to the Rosary, and he eventually became a third-order Dominican. He dedicated his life to promoting the Rosary and restoring the faith of the people in Pompeii. Longo’s journey from Satanism to sainthood is a powerful testament to the transformative power of faith and redemption.

THE LONG ROAD TO HAPPINESS

If Saint Bartolo Longo could travel from Satanic priest to saint, surely God has a way for any of us to find true happiness. I like to turn to the Fifth Joyful Mystery when thinking about our faith journey. Mary and Joseph searched for Jesus for three sorrowful days before finding him. We too, sometimes need to search in sorrow before finding Jesus in our lives. We may take all sorts of wrong turns, but if we have faith in God’s plan, even those wrong turns will ultimately bring us victory in God’s Heavenly Kingdom.

Since I’m listening to the Bible in a Year, I’m hearing stories from the Old Testament of how God never abandoned the Israelites no matter how far they strayed. He always left a path open for them. It wasn’t always a clear path and certainly not an easy one. They experienced trials and tribulations at the hands of the Egyptians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. God used these terrible pagan rulers like Nebuchadnezzar to ultimately redeem humanity through His son Jesus. Salvation certainly wasn’t an easy road starting from Adam and Eve’s disobedience and culminating with Jesus’ resurrection.

We need to remember that while the road can be a long and difficult one, God never closes it completely. The people who end up in Hell are the ones who stop or turn back. They know the road eventually leads to true happiness but don’t choose to go down it. When we pray the Rosary, two things happen. The road towards God’s Kingdom becomes a little easier with the help of Mary and the Heavenly court. And we can better see glimpses of that final victory out on the horizon. If you ever feel stuck, please pick up that Rosary and take a step in the right direction.

The Power of Confession

IAACS: IT’S ALL ABOUT CONFESSION SILLY

My family invited a friend who was the former associate pastor at our parish, Father Tony. He has since moved to the role of pastor at his current parish. We picked his brain about how to make parishes stronger. Without skipping a beat, he proclaimed “adoration and confession.”

I’m going to focus on confession in this article. Father Tony said that parishes need to do more than just offer the Sacrament of Confession for 30 minutes before the Saturday vigil Mass. It needs to be widely available and promoted. Think about it, when was the last time you heard a priest talk at length about the importance and value of Confession?

WHERE GRACE ABOUNDS

You really have to think of a parish as a group of people with various sins on their souls. Now, which parish will be stronger? The parish where a large portion of the congregation receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly or the one with very few penitents? From a purely logical viewpoint, the stronger parish is the one with less communal sin.

Faith and grace flourish where sin is reduced. It’s like cleaning up all the junk and trash to reveal the natural beauty of the soul. If you understand the importance of Confession, then you also recognize the importance of the other sacraments as well. You will want to go to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day and receive the Eucharist in a state of grace. In fact, you will follow all the precepts of the Church. Where Confession abounds, so does grace.

FAMILY PEACE

Here’s a small example of the communal power of Confession. My wife, who is a living saint, insisted that we all go to Confession as a family because we haven’t gone in a few months. We all received the forgiveness and for a brief time, we were a family without sin.

The following Sunday was a peaceful one. I don’t know if it was just a coincidence, but it seemed like there was a greater effort in the household to foster a sense of peace and joy. Personally, I really wanted to live out the last part of The Act of Contrition — “And I firmly resolve with the help of your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.” It’s like the entire family wanted to keep the sinless streak alive, at least for a day.

I can see the wisdom in Father Tony’s words about building a parish on the foundation of the Sacrament of Confession. After all, if my immediate family felt a sense of peace and joy after Confession, imagine how an entire parish must feel. At any given time, a good proportion of the congregation has a “clean slate” and is trying to keep their sinless streak going. That will have an entirely different dynamic than a parish where only a few “old school” members are going to Confession while the vast majority haven’t gone in years.

While we should support an individual going to Confession whenever they need to, we should push our pastors to place a greater emphasis on that sacrament. They need to encourage more people to receive it. If there isn’t enough time in the current slot, increase it. A parish family that is free from sin will be a stronger parish. I don’t know a single pastor that doesn’t want a stronger, more vibrant parish with more individual souls in a state of grace.

How Expecting Perfection Leads to Unhappiness

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in the world today — the expectation of perfection. It is often seen in expecting perfection from others but is sometimes manifested in expecting perfection from oneself. I believe that that we too often forget that we are not perfect beings.

Constantly Finding Flaws

Complaining seems to be people’s default mode now. When I run into a friend, I greet them and ask how they’re doing, only to be barraged by their list of grievances. Here are some of the examples of what I come across on a daily basis.

In my youth soccer league, coaches complain about the competencies of referees. Keep in mind that most referees are volunteers just wanting to help out.
Also in soccer, parents are upset that there aren’t enough coaches or referees or that they don’t like how a particular coach manages their child’s team.
At a Mass, a new lector made a mistake regarding the readings. Despite people telling him it’s okay, he beats himself up over the error and pledges to never lector again.
At a school event, people complain about the way a particular event is being run or a particular policy. The lines were too long, they didn’t have enough supplies, they didn’t give enough notice, etc.

Striving for perfection and expecting perfection are two different things. I often try my very best in whatever I do. Likewise, I hope that other people are doing the same. But I need to also have an understanding that things won’t always go as intended. The desired outcome isn’t always achieved. We will always find things that disappoint us if that is all we focus on.

Modern Day Pharisees

I think back to the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. In the Gospels, they seem to always be expecting, even demanding, perfect adherence to Jewish laws. Those who did not live up to the 613 laws were cast out of certain circles or at least looked down upon. When you have so many laws, you’re most likely going to be in violation of a few of them at some point. When there’s the expectation perfection, you will always be disappointed because you will always be surrounded by imperfection.

We can act similar to the Pharisees. We cast heavy burdens on people because when we expect them to behave flawlessly according to our standards. They may be doing everything just fine — being kind and thoughtful, working hard, and doing their best. But so many times, we focus on their shortcomings — they’re lateness, unresponsiveness, lack of organization, etc. When the Pharisees saw Jesus, they only saw the Mosiac laws He broke, not the good He did. We too tend to get into modes where the people around us are nothing more than a collection of flaws.

Our Catholic faith is so great because God sees more than our faults. He knows we are imperfect and yet He loves us anyway. God gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation knowing that we won’t always succeed at living according to His Will perfectly. It should be a comfort to us that God knows us so well that he knows we have our flaws and provides us a means to correct ourselves. Instead of God being disappointed in our imperfections like a Pharisee, He rejoices whenever we strive to follow Him.

Accepting Our Imperfections

We need to imitate God and also understand that no one is perfect. That means:

Not getting overly frustrated when things don’t go perfectly.
Not getting angry with people when they don’t live up to our expectations.
Looking for the good in people and not focusing on their flaws.
Not beating ourselves up when we fail to live up to our expectations.

When I think of our imperfections, I’m drawn to praying the Fifth Joyful Mystery. Mary and Joseph physically lost Jesus. Talk about failing as parents! But they just kept looking for Him for three days before finding Him. I think about how we have those moments when we lose Jesus. We often spiritually lose Jesus when we sin. We can either fall into despair because we aren’t living up to God’s high standards. Or we can imitate Mary and Joseph, turn around, and start searching for Jesus again in our lives.

Speaking of imperfection, sorry that my Rosary decade pages on my website are in bad shape. The slides extension I use for each “bead” isn’t working and is no longer available. I’m trying to find a replacement or redesign those pages to do something different. Stay tuned.

Shocking! Living Immorally Leads to a Decline in Morality

Statistics Don’t Lie

Let’s take a look at the results from a recent Gallop survey about morals in America. Overall, only 15% of those surveyed said American morals values are good to excellent. Now, I would really like to meet those who said that. How low are their expectations to think our society is excelling morally? 49% rated the state of American values as poor and 34% said “fair.” I probably side on the “fair” viewpoint.

Here’s where the survey gets interesting though. They broke it down into people’s view on specific moral and ethical topics. Here’s how those broke down:

54% responded that abortion is morally acceptable
55% said that death penalty is acceptable
53% said euthanasia is acceptable
69% have no problem with fornication (sex outside of marriage)
26% are okay with polygamy
14% think affairs are okay
94% are on board with artificial birth control
38% think pornography is okay
63% approve of embryonic stem cell research
82% are cool with in virtro fertilization
44% think you can change genders

I don’t think it takes a PhD in mathematics to see the connection between society’s views on individual issues and the overall sentiment of the US’ moral state. If such a large number of people have favorable opinions of immoral actions, is it any surprise that we have a dim view of the overall morality of the country? Statistically, there must be overlap in the people supporting these immoral actions who are also in that 83% believing that the overall state of morality is fair or poor.

Moral Truths and Selective Morality

To me, this actual affirms my belief in moral truths. You have so many people favoring immoral attitudes and yet they have an intuitive sense that something is wrong. Try as we might to rationalize certain immoral or unethical behaviors, we can’t escape that intrinsic sense that something is out of balance. This is like someone claiming the benefits of eating junk food all day long and then wondering why they are overweight. Deep down, we know that eating junk food is unhealthy. And we know, deep down, that many activities are immoral. We can’t support immoral actions and expect a high overall moral state of society.

I’m betting that people are selective with their immorality. Someone might claim, “it’s not my belief in gender fluidity that is leading to society’s moral decay. It’s those abortion advocates!” Or “I’m not hurting anyone with sex outside of marriage, it’s those pro death penalty people who are to blame!” We all like to think that we’re not part of the problem because we can always point to someone else who is worse in our minds.

This Isn’t New

The Old Testament is filled with accounts of the Israelites rejecting God and then suffering the consequences. They couldn’t see that breaking the Commandments lead to unhappiness and despair. Or they thought it was someone’s else’s rejection of God’s Truth leading to issues. Unfortunately, this just seems to be part of human nature going all the way back to our first parents, Adam and Eve. We can’t help ourselves from disobeying God and we refuse to learn from the consequences.

How the Rosary Develops Strong Moral Character

Where does the Rosary play into this moral mess? For starters, by praying the Rosary you are investing in learning God’s Will and for the strength to follow it. I think so much of today’s problems is caused by people doing what feels good or what those in power (politicians, media, celebrities, etc.) tell them they should do. But they don’t stop and ask what God demands of them. By praying the Rosary with utmost humility, you are seeking God’s truth.

Humility, the fruit of the First Joyful Mystery, combats the sin of pride. When we humbly pray the Rosary, we tell God that we may not always understand His ways. We may not even agree with His ways. But we know God’s ways are always good and we ask for His help through Mary and her Rosary for the strength to follow what is good. If more people sought divine guidance through prayer, our world would take a stronger moral character.

Why Should We Practice Mortification?

You Can Do This

The movie, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, starts with the main character’s military helicopter being shot down. The movie then flashes forward to Jack in rehab. The doctor has some pain medication for him, but she asks him to wait two minutes before taking them. When asked why, she replies with “so that you know you can.“

I liked this little exchange. While Jack Ryan is suffering from his injuries and the rehabilitation, the doctor asks just a little more from him. While not in the movie, I imagine that she’ll ask him to wait 2.5 minutes the next time she administers his pain medication. And then 3, 5, and maybe challenge Ryan to not skip a day entirely. The point is that Jack needs to know that he is strong enough to control his wants and endure a little bit of discomfort. That is how he grows into the determined and steadfast CIA analyst throughout Tom Clancy’s books and movies.

Practicing Mortification

That leads me to thinking about the Church’s demands that we practice mortification. Mortification means subjecting oneself to self-discipline and self-denial of bodily goods. It’s more than simply not committing sin (that’s a given). It’s giving up something good for the sake of the greater good. It means giving up some comfort to honor God and to show penance for our sins.

Some classic ways we practice mortification is by fasting and abstinence, acts of charity and service, and generally doing what is good when we don’t feel like it. But there’s also a dimension of putting up with a little discomfort. The Catholic Gentleman podcast challenged listeners to practice some form of mortification every day. They mentioned small acts like turning off the air conditioner, taking a cold shower, giving up electronics, or skipping your morning cup of coffee.

Your Life’s Power Plan: 8 Essential Pillars

This may strike us as the Church being cruel. What does a cold shower have to do with our relationship with God? Like Jack Ryan, small acts of mortification show us that we are stronger and have more control over our passions than we think. If I can tolerate a cold shower for one minute, maybe I can also resist certain temptations. If I can drive to work on a hot summer day without A/C, I’m in much better shape to resist Satan’s empty promises.

Building up Endurance

We build physical strength through exercise. Every movement in exercise actually tears muscle fibers which grow back stronger and more resilient. In the spiritual sense, mortification breaks us down slightly and allows God’s grace to build us back up. It clears out our desires for what is physical for what is Heavenly. If we are detached from our earthly passions, Satan has very little to tempt us with.

Mortification is so important in our spirituality, it’s the fruit of the Second Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary — The Scourging at the Pillar. We remind ourselves every Tuesday and Friday that God calls us to a life of purity and mortification. Like Jesus being scourged and his flesh being ripped away from his body, mortification is us ripping away our earthly desires. Keep in mind that those passions and desires aren’t necessarily bad ones. They may be good — food, comfort, quality entertainment, sleep, etc. But we need to occasionally “rip away” those good comforts and replace them with even better ones — God’s grace. We need to remind ourselves that we can do small things for God building us up to accomplish the big, saintly things.

Disclaimer

Now I shouldn’t have to say this but be smart in your mortifications. Don’t do anything dangerous. Don’t wear a parka when it’s 110 degrees. Don’t try to go extended periods of time without eating or drinking. Don’t flog yourself like you see in some movie portrayals of Christians. Mortification is about building spiritual strength over time to show that you can live for God’s Kingdom. God is not impressed by stupid stunts.

How Boredom Leads to a Better Life

I read this post on DesiringGod.org about why God introduced boredom into His divine plan. He explains:

Boredom is the relentless experience of not finding satisfaction in this world. Something starts out being exciting, satisfying, but soon we weary of it and we need something else.

I think that is God’s design in this universal experience of boredom: to point us to the origin of everything interesting, to the world where no one will ever be bored again — God’s presence through Jesus Christ.

If I understand this article correctly, boredom is God’s way of telling us to try some other way to find satisfaction in our lives. The cycle of trying something new, getting bored, and trying something else eventually brings us closer to God. If we never got bored, we would just be content with the status quo and never have a drive to strive for something more like finding a deeper relationship with God.

I’m working hard to make the most of the boring moments of my life. Or rather, I want to be aware enough to know when I’m trying to satisfy my boredom in unfulfilling ways. Like empty calories in a diet, my boredom is telling me that I need to find something more substantial in my life. Here are some ways to make the most of boring situations.

Embrace Doing Nothing

Your body needs rest, including your brain. We all need a little down time where we aren’t actively doing something. It’s not easy when there are so many ways to spend our attention. Like starting a new exercise routine or a diet, you have to start small when it comes to quiet time. Now that the weather is nice, I try to sip my morning cup of coffee outside in the back yard. No screens, no podcasts, no exercising — just me alone with my thoughts. These sessions only last 3-5 minutes before my urge to “be productive” becomes too powerful to resist. But, taking a few minutes to center myself does have a positive impact on my day.

Hold Conversations

One aspect that is lost in our age of streaming video and smartphones is conversation. When you’re feeling bored, try having a conversation with someone whether that be your kids, spouse, siblings, or friends. This has the added benefit that you now have multiple people no longer isolated in front of their screens. It also helps forge a tighter connection between people. I’ve heard repeatedly that you can’t evangelize strangers. By talking with people, you introduce opportunities for evangelization.

Pray

Often, boredom may be God’s way of telling you to get in touch with Him in prayer. I know there are so many times when I’m feeling bored, and I reach for my smartphone when I should really reach for my Rosary or a Bible. I think of how much time I spend in front of devices and how relatively little time I spend with God.

We so often operate in “Martha Mode.” If you recall in John’s Gospel, Martha was hosting Jesus and was busy handling all the details of the event. Her sister, Mary, sat and listened to Jesus. Martha was upset feeling that Mary wasn’t spending her time wisely when there was so much work to be done. We so often act like Martha — how can we rest and relax when there is so much to do? But there will always be things to do. We can’t perpetually push out spending time with Jesus in prayer because there is work to be done. That will lead to us increasing our boredom because we aren’t filling our time with the ultimate source of satisfaction — Jesus Christ.

Don’t Multitask

I’m still working on taking advantage of boredom. I often continue to “doom scroll” before going to bed or watch one more pointless video clip. But one thing I’m really trying to cut back on is multitasking. If you look at the modern family (mine included), you will see us eating dinner with our heads down in books, magazines, and phones. I’m working at being present and focused on whatever the event is. If I’m watching sports, then I’m watching sports. If I’m talking to someone, I’m talking to someone! It’s better to have a single good experience than try to cram in three superficial experiences by multitasking.

When it comes down to it, we all just need to slow down. The world isn’t going to come to an end when we don’t look at a screen for an hour. We don’t have to cram 36 hours of tasks into a 24-hour period. Sometimes, it’s okay to take a little break and allow a little boredom into our lives. God is better able to reach us when we’re still.

Loving God is an Obligation, Not Optional

The Thing about Volunteers

I volunteer for my local AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) chapter as the coach administrator. I’m already ramping up for the upcoming fall season. As usual, we have way more kids and teams than we have coach volunteers. That means we have to plead with people to coach a team. Thankfully, we can usually guilt trip enough people into coaching.

All AYSO coaches need to undergo training. They need to obtain a coach’s license, pass background checks, and take all sorts of training to ensure the children’s safety. I often get some pushback from those people we ask to volunteer late in the registration process. Their thinking goes, “you asked me to volunteer and now you’re pestering me about completing training? You should be grateful that I stepped in when no one else would. Now leave me alone to coach my team how I see fit.”

“I’m here aren’t I? What more do you want from a volunteer?”

I understand the frustration. After all, coaching any youth sport is a big commitment. And some people didn’t expect that commitment when they signed up their child to play. They were expecting to show up on Saturdays with their cup of coffee, chat with other parents, and cheer their child. Because they feel coerced into coaching, they think their certification process should be easier than the coaches that really wanted to volunteer.

The Thing about Catholics

I see something similar to the reluctant coach with how we often approach practicing our faith. We can feel like we are doing God a favor by going to Mass, a parish event, or even saying some prayers. Because we give God some of our precious time, He in turn shouldn’t bother us with difficult Church teachings on sin and Hell. We want the pastor to just tell us how Jesus loves us no matter what we do so we can go on acting however we like.

“I’m here, aren’t I? What more do you want God?”

Many people no longer see their faith as an important piece of their lives. Instead, faith is something optional like a gym membership. Your parish is something you can utilize as much or as little as you like. If it’s considered optional, there’s no commitment or challenge. When we encounter a teaching we disagree with, we pack up and take our business elsewhere. We love our parish and our faith when it confirms our ways. But when our faith requires change and even some sacrifice, we complain about how the Church isn’t “inclusive” and is being mean.

Pride and the Rosary’s Solution to it

We commit the sin of pride when we feel that God should change to conform to our worldview instead of us changing our worldview to confirm to His truth. Instead of us honoring God, we want God to honor us whenever we grace Him with our attention. Many times, we want God to give us a heavenly discount because we did something the Church instructs us to do. The age of participation trophies seems to have spread to how we interact with God.

Now, it’s okay to have doubts and questions about our faith. But we need to show the maturity to seek answers when we have doubts instead of dismissing God and His Church when He challenges us to live as the people He designed us to be. When we realize that our faith is an obligation, not optional, we’ll be more inclined to look for those answers.

When it comes to our obligation to practice our faith, we can meditate on the Second Joyful Mystery — The Visitation. The fruit of this mystery is love of neighbor. It’s a good mystery for breaking out of a self-centered worldview by acknowledging that we are connected to others. We are ultimately connected to God, our supreme neighbor if you will. We have an obligation to love and follow Him even when it’s difficult. That’s where Mary and the Rosary come in. When we meditate on the Rosary mysteries, we ask her for the strength to honor God by faithfully following Him.

Faith is a Routine, not a “Quick Fix”

As I move into summer, I often think about how my daily routines change. My kids are out of school, so we don’t have to scramble in the morning getting ready. I don’t have to pick them up in the afternoon. We don’t have after-school activities and homework to deal with. I also don’t have the house to myself to do my work. All these changes got me thinking about routines in general and what it means to have a healthy, spiritual routine.

Healthy Routines

Most people understand the benefits of healthy routines. The results from a routine are often greater than the individual benefit of each part. When you feel physically healthy, you usually can’t pinpoint the exact cause of it. It’s not due to a specific workout, diet, night’s sleep, or vitamin. It’s the combination of those healthy activities that produce an overall desired result.

I think the same thing can be said about feeling spiritually healthy. It’s not a specific devotion that will put you at ease and feel some sort of existential joy. Rarely, does someone come out of a Mass feeling completely transformed. I don’t look back at my evening prayers and think, “wow, that totally changed my life!” It’s the combination of praying the Rosary daily, reading theological books, going through the Bible in a Year, attending Mass, and participating in the parish which gives me a sense of spiritual joy and moral direction.

The Lie of “That One Thing”

Too often, we either look for that “silver bullet” or dismiss a practice because of a single lackluster experience. We are always on the lookout for that one thing that we think will make us happy. Our consumer culture banks on that desire that this one specific product will make you happy. Politicians do it too. They promise that if you support them, you will get the life you desire. But as many successful people will tell you, happiness isn’t found in one easy step. It usually takes hard work and patience to obtain worthwhile goals.

On the flip side, we often give up good habits because they are hard, or we have a single bad experience. Many people stop going to Mass when they hear a homily that doesn’t confirm their vices or non-Catholic beliefs. Instead of working to understand Catholic teaching and try hard to live up to it, it’s easier to quit and blame the priest for saying something “mean.” Or they give up praying the Rosary or reading the Bible after a few attempts because they didn’t immediately feel any different.

What Makes a Successful Routine?

Those who are successful stick with good habits even when they are challenging or don’t seem beneficial at a particular moment. There is plenty of evidence that exercise, sleep, and diet lead to better overall physical health. But you can’t give up on them just because you don’t feel completely changed after a single workout or good night’s sleep. The same goes for our spiritual health. It takes time for those healthy practices to transform you. But we have plenty of evidence from the saints and maybe people in our own lives that these habits do work when you stick with them.

In my life, I can’t point to a specific Bible verse, book paragraph, Rosary decade, or homily to explain why I keep trying to live the Catholic faith. That’s like trying to find the specific vegetable I ate or the particular pushup that made me feel good one day. It’s the combination of those Bible verses, homilies, books, novenas, and Rosary prayers that create that spiritually healthy lifestyle.

My challenge to you is to ask yourself, “Am I living a spiritually healthy life?” Are you investing in your faith every day? Are you praying every day? Are you learning Catholic teachings (from source material, not what some “catholic” commentator proclaims)? If we truly believe that our faith leads to eternal happiness, then are we working towards that goal every day?