Category: Weekly Blog

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Weekly Blog

One of Satan’s Primary Strategies

C.S. Lewis writes in The Screwtape Letters of Satan’s strategies to lure us away from God. From his work, other places, and our own experiences, we know that Satan uses division, fear, self-pity, pride, greed, lust, and discouragement, to name a few. If we’re truthful, we’ve all experienced these things. There’s an additional strategy of Satan’s that I just experienced recently…that is busyness. Working in the Conference Office at Franciscan University of Steubenville, it’s going to be an incredibly busy summer. This summer we are anticipating 16 youth conferences and 5 adult conferences.

Too Busy to Pray

Although gratifying, given the many blessings of the weekend experiences for the teens and adults, it is exhausting. And given how incredibly busy I (we) are, my prayer life diminishes.

Photo by Tomas Ryant

Prayer is a Struggle

I don’t know anyone on this journey who doesn’t struggle with prayer. Although the same is true for me, every day I get in my rote prayers, in addition to spending some quiet time with Jesus. ( didn’t get any prayer time in, but I didn’t even think about it until on the flight back home.)
 
The most important relationship I have is with Jesus and it gets massively interrupted given the busyness of my life. Satan wins that battle some days.
 
For the longest time, my life was about the pace….when I was praying to the god of money. Now, it’s all about the peace. I’m not interested in running from one thing to another, always chasing what’s next and being exhausted. I want peace and balance in my life.

What Prayer Does for Me

I pray to show God gratitude and to adore Him, but I also pray for what it does for me. It’s been a very positive thing in my life. Although not perfect at it, I do it daily. Continuing to struggle with it, it is always a meaningful part of my day. Prayer helps me be my best.

How busy are you? What are you busy doing? What is your busyness keeping you from? As indicated above, Satan uses division, fear, self-pity, pride, greed, lust, and discouragement. He also uses busyness to distract us from the most important thing in our lives…God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

You can’t address a problem unless you know it exists. Know of the above and try to slow things down. Spend time with God and live in a place of peace, which is way better than the pace so many of us are so used to.

As always, please get to me with questions or comments at [email protected].

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Over the last several years, I’ve come to understand that everything happens for a reason, that there are no coincidences in this world. Since having my eyes opened to this, I’ve seen it over and over in my life and the lives of others. Here’s an example. 

On April 25, 2012, I was driving up the interstate to talk to my therapist (yes, I was in therapy for several years given the tragedy I had experienced) about marrying career and ministry. Having experienced conversion 6 years earlier and growing in my faith year after year, it was something seriously on my heart. While driving, I received an email from Mark Nehrbas, my eventual predecessor at Franciscan University of Steubenville. I had met Mark as part of Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Pittsburgh. 

I pulled over to read the email, then asking Mark to call me. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Moving to another position at the University, Mark was advising his network of the vacancy from his old job…one that matched up to my interests and skill set. When we spoke, he advised me that it was the Feast Day of St. Mark. So it was Mark talking to Mark on the Feast Day of St. Mark, when Mark was on his way to see his therapist about ministry and career. You can’t make this stuff up. 

Knowing the Joy of Christ 

A week ago Monday, I attended Mark Nehrbas’ funeral. After battling cancer for more than 9 years, Mark died at age 71. Although way too young, it was truly a celebration of his life. The Church was packed…not a spare seat. The Liturgy was beautiful, apparently planned in its entirety by Mark. His 9 children, their spouses, and their kids were a joy to see, as was his wife, Carol…all a testament to Mark’s commitment to faith and family.  

During his homily/eulogy, Fr. Tim Shannon indicated that Mark was baptized in the Spirit 52 years ago. Moving to Steubenville over 30 years ago for the Charismatic Renewal, Mark was an active member of the Community of God’s Love. Passionate about sharing the love of Christ and the joy of living life in the Holy Spirit, Mark was a presence in the community and nationally through his work at the University. Always evangelizing, always full of joy, and always smiling. While Mark will be missed, his legacy is significant, centered on his family, second only to Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. 

I thank God for Mark, not only for his witness and example, not just for all the work he did at the University as my predecessor…but also because of the impact he had on my journey. Had Mark not sent that email on April 25, 2012, I wouldn’t be at Franciscan University. Had we not talked that day and he so encouraged me, I may not have applied for the job that I’ve had now for 10 years. 

Mark talking to Mark on the Feast Day of St. Mark, when Mark was on his way to talk to his therapist about career and ministry. You can’t make this stuff up. No coincidences, no mistakes.  Everything happens for a reason, all as per God’s grand plan. Thank you, Mark!! Praise God!!!

Please see this video for an interview Mark gave not long ago on suffering. 

As always, please email me at [email protected] with questions, concerns, comments, or prayer requests. 

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Remember…God made you for Greatness!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

How to Achieve Peace

Do you experience peace on a regular basis? Or instead are you overwhelmed by what’s going on in your life? Does the busyness nullify your opportunity for any downtime, let alone peace of mind? Does the pace crowd out the peace? If you’re answer is “yes” to any or all of the above, be assured that you’re not alone.

For the longest time, I had no peace in my life. I was totally overwhelmed by life, trying to build a business, raise a family, coach our kids in their sports, stay in shape, do chores around the house, have a social life, etc. I prided myself in how much I got done, or thought I got done. What I wasn’t achieving was peace in my life. Likewise, I wasn’t experiencing joy, nor was I fulfilled in what I was doing.

Overtime, I’ve come to believe that there’s a distinct path to peace, which includes surrender, gratitude, humility, and love.

Photo by Ricardo Esquivel from Pexels

Surrender
Acknowledging that I don’t truly have control over anything in my life, coupled with God loving me unconditionally, making me uniquely with special gifts, and wanting me to be fulfilled, I now surrender all to Him.

Doing so means trying to abide by God’s will (He knows best for me) and doing my best, while leaving the results to Him. Knowing His love for me negates my need for validation from others. He and I are in this together and He has my back.

Gratitude
Be thankful. More than that, believe that everything happens for a reason, that there are no coincidences in life. It’s true. Everything is part of God’s grand plan. So live in a place of gratitude; be grateful for everything that happens, even the crises in your life.

Gratitude isn’t just good for the soul, it’s good for the body too. Experts are constantly talking about the benefits to living a life of gratitude, including being happier, healthier, more optimistic, more spiritual, a better friend, a better boss, and many other good outcomes. A true attitude of gratitude is one that allows us to see the hand of God in all things and trust that everything will turn out for the best.

Humility
To me, humility is the opposite of ego, which is our false self, the identity that we create that is often very far from the truth of who we are. The truly humble person lives from the truth of who he is, strengths and weaknesses.

A humble person is genuinely happy for others in their successes. He is accepting of others’ ideas and thoughts (accepting doesn’t mean always agreeing), always very willing to engage in dialogue. The humble person doesn’t always have to be right, be in control, or even win. Humility allows us to accept others for who they are, rather than judging them or trying to change them.

Being humble is understanding that it is only in God working through us that we can perform or achieve anything worthwhile. It is His doing, not ours.

Photo by Orlando Allo

Love
Above all else, we are called to love. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, second only to loving God with our whole heart, mind, strength, and soul. We need to love. When we fail to love, we leave those around us empty, and we are empty too.

Without relationships, life is meaningless. True relationship is impossible without love. To love, we need to be vulnerable; we need to trust; we need to care. Like Jesus, we need to love all.

Please share your comments, challenges, or concerns with me at [email protected].

May God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Your Work Does Not Prove Your Worth

Daily I receive an inspirational/educational email from Reverend Rick Warren, founder of Saddleback Church in Southern California; also author of Purpose Driven Life and Purpose Driven Church…two great reads. One of the things I love about Rev. Rick’s emails is that they are ALL related to real life issues, things we face every day. Related, I believe that we as Catholics can learn much from our non-Catholic Christian Brothers and Sisters while maintaining our Catholic orthodoxy. Rev. Rick is a good example of that. You can get information at https://pastorrick.com. 


His January 16th email was titled, Your Work Does Not Prove Your Worth. It’s repeated below in its entirety…because it’s that good. And very consistent with my message. You can also find it here.

Photo by Vlada Karpovich

When you find yourself stuck in a cycle of overworking, you need to remember your value to God.

This is the exact opposite of basing your worth on your work, your career, or your full-time role. It is countercultural and may require a major change in your thinking, especially if a little voice in your head keeps saying, “You’ve got to prove you matter.”

One of the reasons people can’t relax is that they confuse their work and their worth. They confuse their net worth with their self-worth. They think, “If I work really hard and succeed at work, then I am valuable. If I’m not productive, then I’m not valuable.” That’s a lie! But in Western culture, our identity often revolves around our work, so we overwork in an attempt to prove ourselves. We believe that if we achieve a lot, then we must be worth a lot.

But your significance has nothing to do with your job, your career, or your achievements.

You don’t have to prove your worth. God says that you are already extremely valuable. You’ll never be more valuable to God than you are right now; you’ll never be less valuable to God than you are right now.

How valuable are you? Your heavenly Father created you; Jesus died for you. And if you are a follower of Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in you.

God doesn’t create anything without purpose or intention. The fact that you’re alive means God loves you and wants you alive. You’re priceless. You’re a masterpiece.

It’s not what you do that gives you worth but who you belong to.

Did you know that God has a tattoo of you? Isaiah 49:15-16 says, “Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you. See, I have tattooed your name upon my palm”. 

Are you perfect? Absolutely not. Are you broken? Yes. Are you a sinner? Yes. But are you of infinite value? Yes! And you are deeply loved by God.

He already proved your worth on the cross.

Loved the above from Rev. Rick, which is why I’m posting it…very succinct. We all need to remind ourselves of these things. Hope this helped. 

As always, please email me at [email protected] with questions, concerns, comments, or prayer requests. 

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Remember…God made you for Greatness!!!

Mark Joseph