Tag: evangelize

Categories
Weekly Blog

Week #8 – Discovering God’s Love

This is the 8th of our 14-week program, where we provide Lesson #8, Discovering God’s Love. This is where everything changes…where you begin transforming the challenges of life into true Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment. It all starts here.

The first 7 of these 14 lessons, much like the first half of my book, covered the challenges we have in life and how they overwhelm us…from growing up believing that we have to earn the love of others to that manifesting itself in us having lack of self-love, and living out of our fears. We’re wounded by others hurting us, in addition to the tragedies we experience, often creating resentments. We end up looking for happiness in the wrong places, creating false gods along the way.

In the past 7 lessons, I’ve made recommendations as to how you can overcome each of the above. While each of the things I’ve suggested have worked for me, each is rooted in the following truth…

God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done.

Let that sink in.

  • God loves you more than you’ll ever know,
  • No matter what you’ve ever done

Knowing this, internalizing it, changes everything in your life. It’s not that you need to be worthy…you’re wanted. You’re chosen. God our Father loves you unconditionally; He forgives you unconditionally.

Photo by Laura Allen on Unsplash

God’s love is so great, that He gave His only begotten Son to die for your sins. Jesus Christ, our Savior, innocent of all, willingly allowed Himself to be killed on the Cross for you. In fact, Jesus loves you so much, that if you were the only person on this earth, He would have still endured that same tortious crucifixion just for you.

There’s only one way we come to understand this very true reality…and that’s through conversion. My conversion changed my life forever. I got there through the tragedy I endured. Others get there in other ways. Regardless of the path, here are the lessons learned.

In understanding and internalizing the unconditional love and forgiveness of God, you know that:

  • The unimaginable is achievable
  • You can live Heaven here on earth
  • There is a very specific path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment

My greatest prayer, the thing I take to our Lord every single day, it that EVERYONE comes to a place of understanding and internalizing the unconditional love of God. As stated above, it changes everything.

Suggested Actions

So, how do you come to know the love of Christ? How do you achieve conversion? Again, there are no “quick” fixes to anything in life. Going from overwhelmed to peace, joy, and fulfillment, which is the purpose of this program and my book, can’t happen overnight. It’s a process that is much more than simply flipping a switch. With that, the process all starts with conversion. I suggest:

  • Do what speaks to you below (all of which can be found on page 71 of my book):
    • Pray for your conversion on a regular basis. It is a gift from God, and he wants to give it more than you want to receive it.
    • Remind yourself often of the unconditional love of God for you. Even if you don’t feel it, tell yourself, “God loves me unconditionally.” Let yourself believe it (there is nothing more true).
    • Pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to lead you to conversion.
    • If you are Catholic, participate in the sacraments, especially confession and the Mass. I also suggest praying in front of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
    • Engage with a spiritual mentor, such as a priest, religious sister, deacon, pastor, or another wise person in your life who can work and pray with you.
    • Find a friend who is on the journey, who is willing to come along side you, to love you, coach you, and share with you.
    • Read Scripture and do other spiritual reading, especially on conversion and the love of God for us.
    • Seek out and participate in a vibrant Christian community; attend religious events and retreats.
    • Listen to inspiring talks and beautiful, uplifting music
  • During your morning prayer routine this week:
    • Visualize and meditate on Jesus on the Cross. Pray through the love that took from our Savior. Pray on the fact that love exists for you today
  • Watch this Friday’s video on this same subject….it will be emailed to you.

Please join us next Wednesday for Week #9 when we talk about FORGIVENESS AND HEALING, both critical to our journeys forward. As always, please feel free to get to me with questions, comments, or concerns at [email protected].

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

Categories
Weekly Blog

Kobe Bryant’s Big Three

Lakers at Wizards 12/3/14

Hey *|FNAME|*,

Kobe Bryant was one of the most prolific professional basketball players of all time, winning five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was the 3rd highest scorer in NBA history until January 25th, 2020, when LeBron James took his place, moving Kobe to 4th.

In classy Kobe fashion, he tweeted “continuing to move the game forward @KingJames; much respect my brother”. That tweet would be his last public statement. Kobe and his 13 year-old daughter were killed with several others, in a tragic helicopter crash the next day, on January 26th.

Image by Alexandra Walt from Flickr CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

When I reflect on Kobe’s passing, two things come to mind. First is how we glorify our heroes in this world, whether sports stars, performers, dignitaries, or the rich and otherwise famous. In our culture, they are idolized. They are held on a pedestal, with most being envious of their lives, often believing that they don’t have challenges like us plain folk.

Two points I would make on the above:

  1. Everyone, regardless of fame or fortune, or lack thereof, has challenges in their lives….everyone!!!
  2. We are gifts from God, made in His image and likeness. As such, we are not to look down on anyone. Likewise, we are to look up to no one except Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Number 2 above doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to emulate positive characteristics of others. It does mean that you aren’t to idolize or envy them.

The second thing I think of are the “Big Three” things that Kobe arguably had figured out. They include:

  1. Faith
    1. It’s widely known that Kobe was Catholic. That in of itself isn’t a big deal in that many Catholics don’t practice the faith. Kobe did, reportedly attending 7AM Sunday Mass on a regular basis, including the day he and his daughter were killed.
    2. It’s also widely known that Kobe made a bad decision in 2003, where he was with a woman other than his wife. Kobe is quoted as saying, “The one thing that really helped me during that process was talking to a Priest”. Kobe indicates that the Priest gave him advice that all of us could use, “Let it go. Move on. God’s not going to give you anything you can’t handle, and it’s in his hands now. This is something you can’t control. So let it go”. Kobe indicated that was the turning point.
  2. Family
    1. Even with the above, although they split for a period, Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, reconciled. The couple had 4 beautiful daughters. Reports indicate that Kobe was hugely invested in all of his girls, including his precious wife.
    2. So many people step over their families to be with others. Not Kobe. As the reports indicate, he knew his priority. He spent tons of time with them and loved them all dearly.
  3. Purpose
    1. In watching interviews and reading several articles, it’s clear that from a very young age, Kobe was an incredibly hard worker. He knew his passion. He pursued his passion vigorously and he was among the very best.
    2. One interview indicated that Kobe was keenly aware of the platform that basketball gave him. As such, he was committed to making a difference in retirement. With a concentration on youth, the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation provides scholarships and leadership training, while attacking youth homelessness. They were both actively involved in other charity work as well.

In reading my blogs, you know that I strongly believe that God made each of us with special gifts and talents; gave us all a unique purpose….and that it’s incumbent upon us to discover those things and exercise our greatness. You also know that I believe that first in our lives needs to come our faith and our family. Kobe Bryant got it. He did these things. He’s a great example to all of us, not because he’s an NBA star, but because he loved our God, embraced his purpose, and was a very good husband and father. Kobe and Gianna, Rest in Peace.

Image by Ethan Miller from Getty Images

How is Kobe an example to you? Feel free to comment on that question or reach out to me with other questions, comments, challenges at [email protected].

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

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

It’s Such Good News, You Have to Share It

There are many things that we discover in life that change our behavior on a go forward basis. A good example for me is my diet. Given the extensive research that my wife has done, in addition to her willingness to shop for and cook organic, quality ingredients, we eat incredibly healthy food, which also tastes very good. My diet today isn’t what it was 20 years ago or 40 years ago. Our diet is different than it was just 5 years ago.

The same is true regarding my exercise. Always an exercise enthusiast, my routine today is different that 30 years ago. I’ve not only enhanced it over time, but adapted it to my age, with more of a concentration on cardio and light weights as opposed to heavy weights.

In both cases above, I’ve made changes in my life for the better, having learned lessons along the way. That said, I’ll occasionally miss a workout. I’ll also rarely stray from my good diet to indulge in an old favorite, i.e. Italian hoagie from my favorite sub shop.

You Won’t Want To Go Back

There’s one place I don’t stray, given the lessons learned and experiences had…that’s my faith. I have a deep faith in and incredibly strong love for Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Since my conversion in March, 2006, I’ve not wavered on that for a second. In fact, there’s no one I know, who once they’ve had their conversion or made the decision, would go back to a life without Jesus Christ. No one.

The point of this blog isn’t to answer the question “why” for the above. For those who regularly read my weekly messages, have been to my website, or read my book, they know that me understanding and internalizing the love of Christ changed everything in my life. It absolutely rocked my world…for the (much) better.

You Can’t Help But Share

Part of having this particular, overwhelmingly positive experience is the desire, the need to share it. Although not exactly the same, we can draw analogies from life. If you see a great movie, read a really good book, or have a very nice experience at a restaurant, you’re very likely to share those things with others. We all do this. It’s human nature. We share the things we like in our lives.

The same is true of our faith. For those of us who have caught the bug (so to speak), who have had that conversion and/or really have internalized the love of Christ, we can’t help but want to share it. The question is how.

How to Share Your Faith

I have a good friend named Dave VanVickle, who is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, an author, national speaker (including the Steubenville Conferences), and the Director of Evangelization at my Parish. Dave just published an article in our weekly Parish bulletin on this subject, where he states that the goal of evangelization is to foster an encounter with Jesus Christ. Dave indicates that we are introducing two people and until the introduction actually occurs, we have not met our goal. He suggests three possible methods to use when engaging in personal evangelization:

  1. Very simply asking someone if you can pray with them is often that moment where Jesus breaks into their life in a meaningful way. It might be awkward, so both have step out in faith that God will work. A great opening for this is when a person presents a specific problem in their life. Instead of saying you will pray for them, why not ask them right then if you can pray with them. Lead them in prayer and ask God to come into the situation.
  2. Suggesting a prayer or scripture to take to their quiet times. When you sense someone is ready to let Jesus in, suggest to them to prayerfully read a specific chapter of the gospels. What’s your favorite?
  3. Possibly the most powerful way is to invite them to Eucharistic adoration. They don’t have to do anything at all. They can be angry, sad, bored and none of it matters because Jesus is there, and all they have to do is be honest with Him.

This is the moment you prepare and pray for. That moment when you feel the Holy Spirit saying, “Now…they are ready for an invitation.” Are you ready to step out in faith?

As always, feel free to contact me with questions, comments, or challenges at [email protected].

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

Mark Joseph