Live Your Catholic Life

Category Archives: Live Your Catholic Life

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Eat Healthy, Live Happy: Fr. Leo from GraceBeforeMeals.com Shares Two Recipes just for Teens

By | May 23, 2013

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http://youtu.be/I0O3iX85kvY Have you ever met a priest who fights like a ninja, talks like TV star, and cooks better than an Iron Chef? You probably haven’t, because there’s only one Fr. Leo Patalinghug. Fr. Leo and his ministry GraceBeforeMeals.com have been helping people around the world learn to eat better, share time with their families, and have a ton of fun doing it. In today’s video, Fr. Leo makes two special recipes just for LifeTeen.com that will help you be a healthy, happy, holy, Read more [...]

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The One Word That Will Make You Strong

By | May 14, 2013

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If I could get a ripped, NBA body by sitting in front of the TV an hour a day watching Mythbusters, you bet I’d never miss an episode. In fact, if getting in shape was that easy we’d all be walking around looking like Tony Horton and Jillian Michaels (fitness gurus to the uninitiated). But it’s not that easy. And there are so many things I’d rather do than exercise for an hour a day — like watch reruns of Mythbusters. Things that are good for my body are rarely ever Read more [...]

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Hey, I Just Met You . . . So Let’s Get Married?: Emotional Chastity

By | May 13, 2013

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One day, a handsome, mysterious stranger walked into the shop where I work and I gave him a job. I had no idea where he had come from or how he found me, but we needed the help and he was willing to work. Over time, despite many obstacles, we fell in love…

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LifeTeen.com Blog

You Are Wanted

By | May 9, 2013

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Let’s take a little trip down the country road with Hunter Hayes. I was recently listening to “Wanted.” I know . . . so last year . . . but you know what never fades with time, our desire to be “wanted” . . . so HA! As I listened to this song I often picture myself dramatically belting the chorus into a microphone as a country singer star. While, in all actuality, I am just sitting at my desk bobbing my head and swaying to the music (desks are rather inhibiting to any other type Read more [...]

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Six-Pack Jesus Loves You

By | May 7, 2013

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As a high schooler, I was a scrawny, ghost-white toothpick with very little strength but a lot of stamina. (Oh, wait . . . I’m still like that.) I loved to play sports and I certainly had the genes for it. Unfortunately, my build made it easy for the opposing team to crack me in half before the referee had any time to notice what happened. Good thing I was fast.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

The Crying Chair

By | May 6, 2013

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The chair had a problem though. While I could sit in it, drink coffee, talk on the phone, and do homework unaffected, I was the only one. For everyone else, it was the “crying chair.” Girls that had been frolicking through the hallway singing N’Sync (which was our One Direction) would see that my door was open and, upon entering and sitting down, would burst into tears. I would sit on my standard-issue desk chair and nod, sympathetically, while they poured out their hearts.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Can I Have Your Movie Money?

By | April 30, 2013

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“Hold on,” you’re asking me, “Are you telling me I shouldn’t own anything fun?” Of course not. Music and movies help us relax, clothes help us express beauty, and smartphones keep us connected and informed (and yes, entertained). These are all good things.

My challenge is this: to look at the things that we’re spending money on and ask ourselves, “Do I really need this thing?” Do I need a new pair of shoes, or are the ones I have okay? Do I have to buy these songs or can I just listen to the radio?

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My Love/Hate Relationship with Pom Poms

By | April 26, 2013

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I’m definitely going to pull a Jekyll vs. Hyde . . . Beyonce vs. Sasha Fierce right now. What can I say? The Jonas Brothers have that effect on me; our relationship is tumultuous.

I love the song Pom Poms.

And I also strongly dislike it.

It’s a multi-flavored mixture of emotions. Don’t ask me how this is possible . . . the complexities of the feminine heart have been a mystery for a long time. I think it’s mysterious-ness falls right under the mystery of the Trinity.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Is Pornography Cheating?

By | April 16, 2013

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But the battle isn’t over.

I have to recognize my humanness and be vigilant. There’s a spiritual battlefield happening around me (and a selfishness in my own heart still) with an enemy wanting to tear me down, especially in this time of engagement and preparation for marriage. I’m thankful that the Lord rooted this out of me; I would never want to bring this evil into my marriage. But I also understand the struggle and the humility I’ve learned in passing through what will likely be the major battle of our generation, and the battle our sons and daughters will all have to face.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Gosnell Shattered My Pro-Life Passivity

By | April 15, 2013

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If you haven’t heard about Kermit Gosnell, I’d like to fill you in. After reading the entire grand jury report on his trial, it is undoubtedly something that needs to be discussed. When I first started following his story, I spent a lot of time in tears of rage and thinking this case is so terrible it had to be made up. I want to preface this post by warning that this story is graphic in nature, but I believe it’s an ugly truth that we should not shy away from.

Kermit Gosnell is currently on trial for 8 counts of murder – one count for a poor immigrant woman and seven counts for newborn babies.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Type Nice: Digital Evangelization

By | April 8, 2013

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If you’re on any type of social media and have an opinion about anything, you’ve probably experienced this. You type, “Wendys fries are so much better than McDonald’s” as a status update. You walk away from your computer and return to find World War III has broken out on your wall, with friends declaring their allegiances.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

An Open Letter to St. Joseph

By | March 19, 2013

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Dear Saint Joseph, First of all, as a new dad, I’ve just got to ask you: how much sleep did you get? You see, while I may think my baby girl is the best and most beautiful baby (and I mean come on, she’s adorable), she’s no baby Jesus. Did He keep you and Mary up all night? Because the past few nights my baby girl has decided that the middle of the night is the perfect time to practice her new talent of rolling around . . . I can’t help but wonder if you experienced stuff like that Read more [...]

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Oh, Happy Fault

By | March 19, 2013

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For a while, though, I lost hope in a happy ending to my story. I thought I was “tainted” or “damaged goods.” I didn’t know Jackie was coming (if I had, I would never have left my room!). She’s been saving herself for marriage, and I had to confess to her that I didn’t. I messed up. But the way that Jackie loves me — in such a pure, disinterested, and benevolent way — has brought so much healing. She told me one night that she doesn’t want the “Bobby of 2007” or the “Bobby of 2010;” she wants the “Bobby of now.”

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All of Me: 3 Reasons Why I’m Waiting for Marriage

By | March 19, 2013

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I’m 29 and a virgin.

No, I don’t have some incurable alien disease that causes people to shutter at the sight of me. No, I don’t have the sex drive of a grandma (unless it’s my grandma who had 11 kids). And, no, I’m not Tim Tebow’s girlfriend.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Confessions of a TV Addict

By | March 18, 2013

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“I don’t even know how she got on this show if she can’t harmonize,” I said as I leaned back in my chair and looked at the TV.

“Megan!” my roommate snapped. “You’re not supposed to be watching TV! Get back to work!”

“I’m not watching, I’m just . . . ” I trailed off, unable to come up with an excuse. I sat back up in my chair and started in on my schoolwork again.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

A Father Like Francis

By | March 14, 2013

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I needed Pope Francis.

And not only because I’m part of the Catholic Church and we were without a shepherd . . . I mean I needed him because I’m sinful, and broken, and I need a constant reminder of how to be like Christ.

I have been awestruck by him from the first moment he walked out onto the balcony, to the last news article I read about him.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Where Have You Been?

By | March 13, 2013

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We, like the Samaritan woman, continually ask God, “Where have you been?” or “Where were you?” when relationships or life don’t go the way we planned.

The thing is God never asks us, “Where have you been” because He knows where we’ve been. He knows the websites, the parties, the rooms we have entered, and the bottles we have opened to satisfy our thirst. He knows the relationships we have been in and the lines we have crossed emotionally, physically, and sexually. And yet, He sits at the wall of the well waiting for us to discover Him and accept His mercy and love.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Hello Spring Break . . . Goodbye Dignity?

By | March 12, 2013

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Life is stressful, right? Between school and work and relationships, it can be exhausting, and Spring Break is the perfect way to blow off some steam and finally relax. And over the next few weeks, countless teens and young adults will make very, very poor decisions – some that they won’t remember, and some they won’t be able to forget, because they’ll regret them for the rest of their lives – all in the name of freedom.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Stop Worrying, Your Vocation is to Love

By | March 9, 2013

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The idea of discerning our vocation can cause a lot of anxiety. Wondering if we are called to be married, enter religious life, who we should date, if we should visit convents or try out seminary can be overshadowed by fear – fear that we’ll do the wrong thing or that God will plant us somewhere that will make us miserable.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Discernment in 3 Easy Steps

By | March 5, 2013

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Figuring out what to do in the future is one of the things that most young people struggle to figure out. Now that you know your identity, you can remind yourself that God, indeed, has a purpose for you. You were created for a reason, and figuring that reason out will be one of the most exciting things you ever do.

Discernment is simply seeking and discovering God’s will in your life. It’s an adventure with God and it begins with bringing a question to the Lord. It’s easier if the question that you ask isn’t an open-ended question.

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