Tag: Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

The Gift of an All Knowing, Ever Present Mentor

If a parent, maybe you can identify with the following. It has been humbling for me to see our three kids, all of whom are now married, go to their spouses for advice instead of me and my wife. I assume I did the same when I newly married. That said, it’s interesting. With all due respect to our two sons-in-law and our daughter-in-law, each of whom we like a great deal, they don’t have our same life experiences.

As interesting is watching our kids as they matured, making the same mistakes we did when we were their age. Again, not unlike us in our youth, they didn’t go to those in the know. If like me, you’ve probably said to yourself or them, “I wish you would have asked me about that”. It’s just part of human nature…to not learn the lesson without making the mistake.

Here are some questions for us to ponder:

  1. How would you feel if you had someone in your life who knew you better than anyone else; knew your strengths and weaknesses, your likes and dislikes; what it is you were designed for, your life’s calling?
  2. What if that person were always there for you, always present and never letting you down; constantly there to pick you up no matter how many times you fell down, always helping you course correct and prepare for the future?
  3. What if that person loved you so much that his or her ultimate goal was your happiness, your peace, joy, and fulfillment?
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a mentor like the above? Given my first 57 years, with hindsight what it is, I could have saved myself many, many challenges. Assuming I had the maturity and humility to listen, having an all-knowing, ever-present, all loving-mentor would have been a game changer.

I have some good news and some bad news. Let’s do the bad first. There is no one on this earth, for the history of humanity, who has been capable of 1-3 above. With best efforts and really great people in many of our lives, the above is just an impossibility. Blame it on the human condition.

Here’s the very good news. What is described above in 1-3 does exist in the Person of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

  • As evidenced by His torturous death on the Cross, He loves you unconditionally, wanting the very best for you.
  • It’s scriptural (Jeremiah 1:5 and 29:11, John 10:10) that God His Father, made you for greatness, knowing intimately your every gift and talent.
  • Through His Holy Spirit, He’s always with you…always.

There’s an expression in the recovery program (AA), that I believe can serve all of us, no matter who we are or what our experiences. That is, “let go and let God”. How do we know our Heavenly Mentor….by being in relationship with Him and abiding by His Will. We do that through prayer and the Sacraments (if Catholic), through encounter and community.

Doing the above, which is a function of embracing God’s unconditional love, will result in for you:

  • The unimaginable being achievable
  • Living Heaven here on earth
  • Experiencing true Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment

As always, please reach out to me at [email protected], with questions, comments, concerns, challenges and/or prayer requests.

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

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

So You Want to Fix the World…?

I thought this week I’d share a story I’ve heard before. I love its message. It goes as follows.

A father is preparing for a meeting, needing a couple hours of quiet time, when his son, a 10 year old, comes into his study, wanting to play. The father encouraged his son to go play outside, but the son returned. The father saw a magazine on the table with a picture of the world on it. He picked it up, ripped off the cover and tore it into many, many pieces. He handed it to his son, encouraging him to piece together the hand-made puzzle, thinking he bought himself a couple hours.

The son went into the other room and spread all the pieces on the floor. He wasn’t familiar with the world and as such, had no idea how to put the puzzle back together. One of the pieces got turned to the other side and the boy noticed the picture of a hand. He then proceeded to turn over all the pieces, guessing that possibly they would create the picture of an entire person.

 Photo by Sharon Snider from Pexels

 

The boy assembled the puzzle, knowing what a person looks like. He then got some clear tape to ensure that all the pieces stayed in order. He placed a piece of paper over the “person” puzzle, then turning it over, exposing the picture of world, perfectly put back together. All of this took him all but 10 minutes.

The boy rushed back into his dad’s office, incredibly excited about what he did. Looking at his watch, his dad was amazed. Knowing that his son couldn’t possibly know how the world would fit together, he asked how he did it so quickly. His son explained finding the picture of the hand, then turning over all the pieces, followed by assembling the puzzle of the person. He then explained how he taped it and turned it over, showing the world assembled perfectly.

Absolutely amazed, the dad expressed his incredible pride in his son, hugging him and telling him so. The father said, “Son, how in the world (no pun intended) did you figure this out?” The son then responded, “Dad, I figured if I took care of the person, the world would take care of itself”.

Out of the mouths of babes…such a true statement. In so many ways, if we had happy, healthy people, we’d have a better world. In reading my blogs, it won’t be a surprise to you that I think that the best measure of these things is our spiritual lives. In the Great Commandments (Matthew 22:36-40), Jesus instructs us to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. I think that those reading these posts would agree that men and women adhering to the Great Commandments are arguably our best people…and I’d suggest the happiest.

So again, “if we take care of the person”, if the person is the very best he or she can be, then “the world will take care of itself”. Huh!!! How about that. Go God!!!

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

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

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

Donald Trump Isn’t Jesus Christ; Neither is Joe Biden

It’s the day after our 2020 election. As you might imagine, I wrote this blog several days ago and if I had to guess, we still don’t know who our president will be for the next four years. Given the division within our country, i.e. the election, COVID, race issues, the riots, hopefully we can start experiencing some healing…God Bless America!!!

In the 2+ years that I’ve been writing these blogs, the most ever opened was “Tom Brady Isn’t Jesus Christ”. My point there was the emptiness of the false gods that so many of us are victim to, whether people, possessions, prominence, or pleasures.

The point is different here. So often, people put so much emphasis on what takes place in our world or our country and the impact it’s going to have on them. It is often looked at as “make or break”, extremely positive or extremely negative. Examples might be climate change, the economy, immigration, or world affairs. The presidential election is a good example, where we look to one candidate or another as our savior, the one to save the world from its woes, to save us individually. Neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden is Jesus Christ.

Don’t get me wrong; I strongly believe that there’s one political philosophy that makes much more sense for the United States and its citizens…the same philosophy that is more consistent with the teachings of the Church. That said, I don’t see either presidential candidate as the “be all and end all”, nor either political philosophy. That’s because I know my “why” and I know my “who”. I know there’s something greater!!!


Photo by Alem Sánchez from Pexels

There’s Something Greater

Let’s start with the latter first. I know that I’m a beloved child of God, made in His image and likeness, made by Him with special talents, designed for a specific purpose. I know joy and fulfillment, while living the path to peace, which is surrender, gratitude, humility, and love.

My “why” is straight forward, as identified in the Great Commandments and Great Commission, Matthew 22:37-39 and Matthew 28:19-20, respectively. Paraphrasing, my “why”, like yours’, is to love God, love my neighbor, and to share the good news of the Gospel.

Here’s the thing…while our country, our world has limits (they will come to an end), you and I are eternal beings. By embracing our “who” and “why”, not only do we have the opportunity to change lives, but we can change eternity. There’s something much greater!!!

As I’ve stated in previous posts, you don’t have to be in ministry to do ministry. You don’t have to work for the Church to realize your “who” and “why”. Here’s two of many things I’ve come to know as very true:

  • Authentically embracing your “who” and your “why” is the only Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment
  • If each of us as individuals truly are the best we can be (Great Commandments and Great Commission), the world is going to be just fine

Politics is important. Elections have an impact. But there’s something greater…and it all starts with you!!!

Happy to help you on your journey, including any of the above. Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected], with questions, comments, concerns, challenges or prayer requests.

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

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

Why are We Losing our Liberties?

Why are We Losing our Liberties?

The New York Post broke a story a week ago about presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son’s pay for play behavior with several foreign countries, including China and Ukraine. The intent of this blog isn’t to argue the merits of this apparent scandal (you can decide that on your own), but to call out the fact that Google, Facebook, and Twitter blocked the story. While their rationale is that the story wasn’t substantiated, these are the same organizations that routinely publish things on Donald Trump that are unsubstantiated. The hypocrisy is so rich that it’s sick. Again, you can agree or disagree, which doesn’t change the message of this blog.

The above is an indisputable fact. Here’s the issue though, democrat or republican, what we’re talking about here is censorship. We’re the United States of America, not Russia or China, not Cuba or North Korea. Unlike these communist countries, who have a history of censorship, we don’t behave that way. We’re Americans and the freedom of the press is critical to our democracy.

Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels

The First Amendment to the US Constitution reads as follows… Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Understanding that we’re people of faith, notice that the First Amendment includes
“respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. My fear, based on what we’re seeing happen in our country, is that our freedom of religion is next to go. The same people who are squashing our free speech have no tolerance for our religious liberty, as evidenced by the criticism of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for her (our) Catholic faith.

Why is This Happening?

True to my beliefs, I state often that everything happens for a reason. The question then becomes, “why is this happening now”? Why are we where we are as a country? In praying about it the other morning, I thought of repentance as indicated in Scripture. Referencing the Bible, I found:

  • Mark 1:15, Jesus states, “repent and believe in the Gospel”.
  • Luke 13:3, Jesus states, “but unless you repent, you too will perish”.

The above are two of over 100 like verses in the Bible. I think it’s clear. As a society, we have dramatically sinned. We have far fewer attending Church today than decades ago. We’ve removed God from our schools. Our society is hostile towards religion. We’re aborting over 800,000 babies a year. Two thirds of our babies are born out of wedlock. Instead of concentrating on character, integrity, and courage, people are busy chasing prominence, possessions, and pleasure. It seems that the richer our country becomes, the more secular and depraved it is.

There are many, although far fewer as a percentage as compared to past generations, who are passionate about our faith. That said, as a collective society our sins are many and grievous. Clearly, we need to repent.

I’ve indicated before in these blogs that all the answers to life can be found in Scripture and are taught by the Church. Maybe what is happening in America is happening because God has had enough of our pettiness, our hedonist ways. Given where our country has come, in this post Christian time, we need to repent…individually, as the Church, and as a nation.

In closing, related but slightly divergent, there’s no moral equivalent between the sanctity of human life, i.e. abortion, and any other issue, the former being intrinsic evil as per our faith.

God Bless America!!! John 14:6, Jesus is the truth, the way, and the light.

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

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

 

Mark Joseph