At the end of the day, it’s not up to me to make the right “political” choice in that moment when I’m faced with a brother or sister who is hurting… it’s up to me to help protect life… and to love.
Our family is a walking Christmas card. No one ever fights, has gas or morning breath or bad hair days.
Our Lenten sacrifice gives us an opportunity to exercise our freedom and will power, building spiritual resiliency and old-fashion discipline. It is, in fact, the most powerful weapon against the strong pull towards sin.
And because we’re here to help you, we want to briefly address five of the most challenging aspects of the Catholic dating world.
You see, in order to mourn — to truly feel the depth of mourning, sadness, depression, guilt, anger, shame, anxiety, loneliness, dread, remorse, fear — we can’t numb ourselves.
We are made to be filled up every day and then go out to empty ourselves out for others.
If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “I can’t wait until _____; I’m tired of all the drama of the people I’m around now,” or something like it – I have really earth-shattering news:
One time when I was on a retreat God really put on my heart that I needed to speak to my youth minister about something I was struggling with. I felt a huge pit in my stomach.
Usually I do the whole fasting thing to the extreme. I still take care of myself but I give up a lot of extra things like chocolate, candy, meat, cheese, etc. the list goes on.
