Personal Spirituality

Category Archives: Personal Spirituality

LifeTeen.com Blog

Love Hurts

By | April 6, 2012

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Try to picture it now. When the earthquake subsided and the darkness lifted that Friday afternoon, it must have resembled something like a crime scene. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your mind and heart now as you discern the site.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

This Is My Body: One Girl’s Journey From Doubt to Belief

By | April 4, 2012

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Joanna and I became friends in college, when I was a junior and she was a freshman. Her family had converted to Catholicism when she was a teenager and she struggled to embrace their new beliefs. I was a theology major who loved my Catholic faith and a good discussion. Joanna would often knock on my door, offer me a pudding snack, and spend hours grilling me about the Church. Not Just a Symbol Joanna’s biggest issue with the Catholic Church was the Eucharist. Having been raised Episcopalian, Read more [...]

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LifeTeen.com Podcast

Lent: Finish Strong

By | April 2, 2012

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Editor’s Note: I never guessed 40 days could fly by so fast! But here we are in Holy Week and I’m not so sure my heart is prepared to fully enter into the Triduum – the most epic time of year for us as Catholics. What about you? Are you prepared? If you feel like you need a recap of this journey through the desert we just took, listen to Fr. Mike Schmitz’s homilies from the last couple weeks. If that sounds boring to you – you’ve never heard this holy man preach! Just press play . . . you Read more [...]

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Don’t Give Up Because of Pain and Failure

By | March 28, 2012

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7th grade rolled around, and it was time to tryout for the school team. I made it past the cut and the second cut. There were 18 of us left to fill 16 spots, and well . . . I was one of the last two cut. It was heartbreaking, but I dusted off my wounds and worked harder. I tried out for the 8th grade team the following year, and guess what? I got cut again . . . one of the last ones. The hard work continued, and I gave it a couple more shots early in my high school career, and, each time . . . cut . . . at the end.

The pain was too much, and I couldn’t bear the thought of another year of hard work only to be rejected again. So, when it came time to try out for the Varsity Team my senior year, I gave up. I quit.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Do You Feel Like You’ve Failed This Lent?

By | March 21, 2012

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Then it happened. In a moment of weakness and stress, I found a Coke and failed my annual challenge once again. I was really frustrated. This was supposed to be the year that I finally got it right, the one Lent that I could finally prove to God and to myself that I could do it. I spent a day or two so frustrated that I couldn’t bring myself to pray. I couldn’t face the God who suffered and died for me when I couldn’t give up a freaking soft drink.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Faithfulness: Why I Don’t Eat Cookies in Lent

By | March 8, 2012

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I have refused sweets many times already this Lent. I don’t refuse them because I’m scared of breaking a promise or afraid God will triple the calories for disobeying my Lenten commitment. I refuse the sweets because it’s one of the things I decided to do for Lent. I’d rather take the seemingly sad situation as a chance to run to Jesus and unite my (puny) sufferings with His. I prefer to be moved and driven by love, not fear. Remember that we are the beloved. Notice that we word beloved breaks up into be-loved.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Do I Have False Gods in My Life?

By | March 7, 2012

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Then I realized that I was not much better than those pagan voodoo worshipers.

In my head I know that God was the only one worth my worship, but I still found myself turning to so many other relationships, habits, and even sins to save me when I was overwhelmed and in need of help. I knew that Jesus was my Savior, but often I turned anywhere else but towards Him when I needed to be saved from loneliness, hurt, or boredom.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Confession in Boots

By | March 6, 2012

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There’s a hole in the side of my parents bathtub and it’s all my fault.

I was 11 years old. We had only lived in our newly built house for 2 years. On this particular evening my siblings and I were getting ready to go to a square dance. Yes, I just said square dance. Leave me alone. It was cool.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Catholic Advice for Every Girl

By | February 28, 2012

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It’s such an honor to be able to write just for you girls this time. I love being able to share with you some of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the past couple years about being a woman and being a Catholic. It took me a long time to learn these things! I hope you can put this advice to good use in your own life.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Life Teen’s Lent Adventure

By | February 28, 2012

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How do you feel about lent? Follow the path to see where you end up!

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Being a Catholic Man: Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

By | February 21, 2012

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One of my favorite things about being a man is that we know everything. Or . . . no . . . wait a minute. We think we know everything. There, that sounds more like it.

But seriously, in high school I thought I had it all figured out. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it was because I got my driver’s license and drove a really cool beige minivan, or maybe it had to do with my ability to make sweet graphs on my TI-83 calculator. Perhaps my ever-increasing bench press played a role. (Ok, that last one may be a bit of a stretch.)

But yet, for some reason, I thought I knew it all. If you had a question, I had an answer. If you couldn’t figure something out, I could. And, armed with this array of knowledge, I was gonna teach the world a thing or two. That is until I started getting older and realized something: I didn’t know as much as I thought.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Don’t Sit So Close to Me

By | February 7, 2012

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One of the things I hate about flying is the discomfort and awkwardness of sitting very close to a stranger for 4 or more hours (the typical length of one of my flights).

I’m an introvert, but I’m not anti-social. I like talking, but I hate small talk – which is what plane conversations often are. (For me, at least)

It’s my luck to always get stuck next to: the creepy, flirty man, the smoker or perfume over-doser who gives me a headache, chatty Cathy who ignores the book in my lap, and many others who have left me with the opinion that I’d rather sit alone.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Why Am I Alive?: And Other Thoughts on My Birthday

By | January 24, 2012

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I’ve been thinking about life a lot lately. Mostly my own, really. This past weekend I celebrated my birthday.

It was an awesome day. How could it not be great? There was a Boston Cream Pie cake, calls from all my favorite people, and Facebook notifications endlessly popping up on my phone from wall posts.

I can’t help but thank God over and over again for the gift of my life, especially at this time of year with so much talk about abortion. A lot of our generation never made it out of the womb, let alone into their 20’s. Why me?

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Fear Factor: Will You Eat Beetles in the New Year?

By | January 4, 2012

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What if during this new year we tried to accomplish just one or two things we’re afraid of? And not slightly meaningless things like sky-diving or beetle consumption. I mean things that have a ripple effect into eternity.

I’m afraid of wearing bright red lipstick. But I’m also afraid of seriously praying about a vocation to the religious life. I’m afraid of sushi. And I’m afraid to let go of resentment and love my enemies.

I think you can tell which ones are under the “slightly meaningless” category.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Waiting for Joy: Christmas With a Heavy Heart

By | December 22, 2011

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The bus exploded. The rim of the left, rear tire flew off while we were speeding down the highway. First I heard the pop. And then I smelled smoke. The bus driver pulled over. He didn’t know it was on fire, but he had felt something. We evacuated quickly, and everyone got off safely. We tried to put out the flames, but they grew too rapidly. A loud explosion ripped through the air, and sent most of us running farther down the highway. We watched at a distance as the flames consumed the Read more [...]

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LifeTeen.com Blog

That Awkward Moment When You Say “And also with you”

By | December 8, 2011

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Have you had that awkward moment yet? I have. Actually, a couple times. Everyone around me remembered to grab their instructional pew cards. But no, I haven’t mastered that necessary skill I need to remember not to say “And also with you.” So there I stand, awkwardly sputtering the words my mind automatically supplies.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

What if Jesus is Really Present in Eucharist? [Video]

By | November 8, 2011

“And the moment he held that bread up, for the first time I looked at it and for a split second, for a nano second, in my soul I thought … what if? What if that’s really Him? What if that’s really who they say it is?” Mark Hart, XLT: Life Teen Training Convention, 2010

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Jesus, My Life

By | October 24, 2011

I don’t walk to Communion looking around anymore but I walk up the aisle toward my Bridegroom who is giving himself to me. Imagine, my God lets me hold him in my hands. I gently and deliberately place Him in my mouth. We have the most intimate conversations during those few minutes after I return to my seat and the peace that envelopes me nourishes my soul as earthly food nourishes my body.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

A Full Contact Sport: Why Participate in Mass

By | October 18, 2011

Here in South Bend, people get pretty pumped over Notre Dame football. They dress in blue and gold, paint their faces, prepare food all night for the tailgates, even get up early. When the game starts, the crowd goes nuts! Cheers. Standing. Sitting. High fives to strangers you don’t know. We are fully engaged in the event. I wonder what would happen if we participated with the same heart and passion at Mass on Sunday?

Let’s be honest. Mass … it’s boring, right? Growing up, that’s what I thought.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

What I Learned About the Spiritual Life From Tiny Wings

By | October 18, 2011

When someone introduced me to Tiny Wings, I was instantly hooked. I was thinking the other day about the game and I wondered if the creator was thinking of the spiritual life when he made it! Ok, maybe he wasn’t. But here’s what I was reminded of when I thought about Tiny Wings in light of every Christian’s spiritual journey.

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