Tag: Mark Joseph

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This Faith Thing is a Great Theory

I had breakfast with a friend the other day and we agreed that what’s going on in our world and country today was unimaginable 3-4 years ago. I won’t go through the litany but suffice to say that the disorder, distrust, division, and destruction are all significant. 

Internationally, nationally, in our communities, and impacting many families. I know some who have turned off the news because it’s too depressing. Cyndi and I watch much less today for that reason. 

Couple the above with the everyday challenges most people have…the outward ones we talk about like paying the bills, loss in our retirement accounts, sickness, etc. Then those that we don’t dare share with others, i.e., feelings of doubt, despair, lack of confidence, lack of self-worth, etc. I suspect that how we react to all of this is based on our worldview….and whether that view involves faith.

In my men’s group, where we use Steubenville’s Discipleship Quad Model, I’ve joked lately that this surrender thing is great theory…surrender to God’s will, living our faith to the fullest. In these times, some may be asking “is our faith real…or is it just theory?” 

Our Faith is Real

Given my life experiences, including and maybe especially since my conversion in 2006, God is very real to me. That reality is based on His love that I feel on a consistent basis, coupled with the efforts that I’ve continued to make in growing in faith. 

The question then…what do we do for ourselves and others in these challenging times? I’d suggest we: 

  • Surrender
  • Serve

Surrender

You can only get to surrender by understanding that God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done. He not only knows what’s best for you, but what will make you happy…having created you with unique gifts and talents for a specific purpose. It’s also believing that all happens for a reason, according to God’s grand plan for your life. Lastly, it’s getting yourself out of the way and allowing Him, through prayer, to guide your life. 

Easier said than done, it’s like standing at the edge of a cliff, with one leg on the ground and the other dangling…and Jesus saying to you “jump, I’ll catch you”. While not always being at this place, the times I’ve experienced surrender have been incredibly freeing. I yearn to be there more consistently…knowing that God knows and loves me so much more than I do. 

Mark and Cyndi were in Horseshoe Bend, AZ in September. If you look closely, you see left eye open, right eye winking, with a smile below. The thought that came to their minds, “God’s got this”. 

Serve

I’d suggest that in prayer we discern how God is calling us to serve. That may be in some public way or in joining an organization. Or it might be within our families or with neighbors. Regardless, I’d suggest it’s one person at a time, one soul at a time. If we all did this with intentionality and others did it too, it’s my thought that we would be making an impact on all the disorder, distrust, division, and destruction…and feel peace, joy, and fulfillment in doing it. 

Like so much of life, it’s simple although not easy. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is always there for us. Just reach out and He’ll reach right back. Together let’s pray for our world, country, communities, and families…and let’s pray that we do our part…surrender and serve. 

As always, please email me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com 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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What to do with Regret

We’re told we can expect two things in life, death and taxes. I often say a third we all experience is human tragedy. It doesn’t skip any of us…doesn’t matter our race or religion, gender, genetics, or socioeconomics. It could be something global like war, terrorism, or a natural disaster. Or it could be much closer to home like death of a loved one, divorce, addiction, or financial hardship. All of us are subject to it. 

One of the other things we all experience, I guess the 4th, is regret. If you’re human, you have regret. If you’re like me, you have regret. Regret is different than resentment, which is most often towards someone else….we typically resent others for offenses committed against us. 

Regret is a feeling of sorrow or remorse for a fault, act, loss, or disappointment. It’s typically what we feel when we’ve done something we wish we could take back…get a “do over”. It could be that we regret something that made a negative impact on us. More common I think is when we hurt someone else. Often times we’ve not done it intentionally. 

Bracketing my life in 10-year increments, I can remember regrets in every decade of my life. When I was single and married. Things I’ve done to my spouse, my kids, parents, siblings, and friends. Even collogues at work or mere acquaintances. Still to this day, I can’t tell you how many times I’d like to pull the words back in my mouth. Ouch!!!

So what do we do with it? You may have heard of Fr. Mike Schmitz. He’s not only a wildly popular speaker for our Steubenville Conferences, but the most popular Catholic podcaster there is, doing both the Bible in a Year and the Catechism in a Year. Not to my surprise, he has some great thoughts on regret. I’d suggest listening to his 8-minute talk here. In summary, he says, 

Have you ever heard the saying “don’t regret the past, because it’s made you into the person you are today?” While there’s truth to this saying, there’s also something that we as Christians should be aware of…we make mistakes, do things we wished we hadn’t, hurt those we love in the process.

While we don’t want to be burdened by the mistakes we’ve made, it’s safe to say that all of us have done things that didn’t make us the people God wants us to be.

Fr. Mike goes on to say…There’s a difference between regret and repentance, and it can best be seen when comparing St. Peter to Judas. Both men sinned gravely against the Lord: Peter denying Him during the time of His Passion and Judas delivered Him to crucifixion. The difference is, where Peter regretted his sins and repented, Judas let his sin consume him.

It’s okay to regret the things we’ve done in the past that took us away from the path of God, but we can’t dwell in this regret. Instead, we have to do something about it. We have to repent. Repentance is what gives us the strength to forgive ourselves and continue striving for the kingdom of Heaven. When we repent, we surrender ourselves and our mistakes to the Lord, and then He can use those mistakes to glorify our lives. God can use everything—even our worst sins—for our path towards eternity. Nothing given to God is ever wasted.

To me, repenting is authentically being remorseful (even apologizing) and trying to change….making improvements to who you are. 

At work we say the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day at 3PM.

One of the closing prayers reads as follows: Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

God’s mercy is endless and He loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done. He forgives you that much. We need to forgive ourselves.

As always, please feel free to contact me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with comments, concerns, questions, 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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What Can I Do About It?

I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe what’s going on in our country and world…a sentiment I’ve expressed before, promising not to get political…same is true here. Too many bizarre things to list, the question that often comes to my mind is, “what can I do about it?” After all, the issues I’m referring to are national and international. I’m not involved in politics. I don’t have a platform. With rare exception, I’m not known…I don’t have a voice. And although I’m not complaining, my wife and I don’t have the wealth to make any significant impact. So again, “what can I do about it?”

Rick Warren
Matthew Kelly

Related, two of my favorites of our faith are Matthew Kelly (https://www.matthewkelly.com or https://www.dynamiccatholic.com) and Rev. Rick Warren, who I’ve mentioned before. Their messaging really speaks to me, whether it be their books, blogs, or talks. I’m going to reference both in relation to this blog.

It’s my lived experience that God gives us an opportunity to make a ministry out of our messes. Rev. Rick recently wrote in a post:

  • Life is full of heartache. We suffer, feel lonely, discouraged, and face criticism. And sometimes that can feel unfair.
  • Ask yourself this: Did Jesus suffer? Was he sometimes lonely? Was he tempted to be discouraged? Was he misunderstood and criticized unjustly?  Yes! Jesus understands suffering better than anyone.
  • None of us are exempt from suffering, loneliness, discouragement, or criticism, because God is developing in us the character of Christ. In order to do that, He takes us through some of the same struggles that Jesus experienced. 

In another post Rev. Rick states:

  • God will give you all the grace you need to endure hard times. But he also wants you to be willing to use your experiences to help other people. God doesn’t want you to waste your hurt! He may let you go through a period of darkness, depression, or discouragement so that you can comfort others with the same comfort he gives you.  
  • Your greatest life messages always come out of your weaknesses, not your strengths. 
  • The things in your life you wish you could change are often the very things God wants to use to help you grow in spiritual maturity and as a ministry. While God works in you, he also wants to work through you to help others.

Matthew Kelly wrote a book called Holy Moments. It speaks to how each of us individually have the opportunity to change others’ lives on a regular basis, one Holy Moment at a time. Like all of Matthew’s books, a great and easy read.

I think the answer to the question I pose above (“what can I do about it?”) is in combining these two concepts. In my life, it’s those things that I’ve most struggled with that God has most blessed in me helping other people…making a ministry out of my messes. Add to that the idea of Holy Moments, whenever you get the chance, on a regular basis. And although a Holy Moment doesn’t have to be specific to your giftedness, often born of your challenges, blessing others with your experience is a great way to do it.

How do I impact the craziness in the world? How do you do it? One Holy Moment at a time, using the gifts God gave us, given the experiences He’s blessed us with.

As always, please email me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com 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

The Pittsburgh Steelers and America

During the 1970s, I was 7 to 17 years old. What a great age, during an incredibly exciting time to be a Pittsburgh sports fan. We were the City of Champions. The Pirates had won 2 World Series and the Steelers 4 Super Bowls. Pitt won a National Championship in ’76 as well. The oldest of 4 boys, my brothers and I would swim and play baseball during the summer, but the other 8-9 months of the year it was football, football, football…with us pretending to be our favorite Pittsburgh Steelers. 


These days I often watch TV or DVDs while working out. Most recently I took in The Complete History of the Steelers (great watch), from when Art Rooney bought the team to when they won their 6th Super Bowl. Dan Rooney makes the observation that Pittsburgh was the City of Champions during the decline of the steel industry, and that the Pirates and Steelers gave people hope, something to really be excited about.

Too young to worry about the steel industry’s impact on the local economy, I fondly remember the hope, happiness, and excitement we had in Pittsburgh in the 1970s. What great times, whether you were at a game, watching on TV, or playing outside with family and friends. Being young, not having a care in the world. Seeing the good in people, the good in things. Having role models truly worth looking up to. An amazing time to be a young Pittsburgh sports fan. 

Still today my favorite sport is football and favorite time of year the fall. The turning leaves, temps in the 50s and 60s, the smell of autumn. What are your memories? How do you relate them to your life today? Times with your friends and family. Maybe related to particular events, sports or otherwise, or a favorite food. Maybe a holiday picnic, i.e., 4th of July. 

This might seem like a stretch but this time of year, around the time of the birth of our country, I’m incredibly grateful that I live in the USA. Although there are other places of the developed world where I’m sure I would have had a great childhood, I sincerely doubt that anyplace could have delivered like America. 

Whether Pittsburgh or Portland (no Steelers there). California or Colorado. Sioux Falls or Sarasota. We’re blessed to be in the United States. I know we have challenges, some very big ones right now, but think about it. What country would you rather be in? If like me…none. Our country has so much to offer. All the freedoms. All the opportunities. The resources, the niceties. 

That hope that existed in the 70s in Pittsburgh. That’s the hope I wish for today. For our kids and grandkids. For our country. And for the world. 

You’ve seen me write about an attitude of gratitude. With this being the day after July 4th, I thank God for our country and all those who have fought for it. I thank God for my journey and all the good memories (including those Steeler Super Bowls). He has us where we are because that’s where we’re supposed to be…with all our experiences (and memories). The question now for all of us is…what’s next? What’s God calling us to do with the experiences, memories, and yes…blessings we’ve enjoyed? 

As always, please email me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com 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