Stations of the Cross

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Readings: Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7 Romans 5:12-19 

Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11

Just as Eve was tempted in the Garden and Jesus was tempted in the desert, we too are tempted daily. For example, in today’s high-stress world, we are often tempted to prioritize our outside obligations, causing us to lose sight of the precious blessings in our life, like Family and Friends, that should matter most. 

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What Really Matters – The 7 Most Important Things in Life

Written by Natalya Bannister

“Life is short and in a world of chaos, social media and divisiveness, precious things can easily become lost. Sometimes, circumstances out of our control cause loss, and sometimes our own choices cause us to lose the things that mean the most. We all have different needs and priorities in life, but we share one thing in common: the absence of certain things in life causes us to feel incomplete. While our lives and priorities may differ, there are some things vital to living a life of fulfillment… things we need to fight for… things that really matter.

Family & Friendship

Our relationships are our foundation. They are truly the things that make our lives richer and more complete. We must prioritize time with friends, family and loved ones to foster our relationships. Being busy is normal, but why not try to be busy with the people that mean the most to us?

 
Having people in your life that you can call family is priceless. Knowing that you have someone who cares for you and will always be there for you is the type of support we all need, even if we don’t always admit it. But it is so easy to forget just how much family means to us. They’re the people we typically take for granted because at the end of the day, we know they will still be family. Always remember, your family is irreplaceable. You must devote time, love and energy to nurture your family relationships – not just for the sake of your family, but for yourself.

 
You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends and make them members of your family. If you know a person you can call your best friend, then consider yourself blessed. Make the most out of your time with your friends and, more importantly, be the best friend you can be.

The unconditional love of family is an indescribable feeling and although you may not always see eye-to-eye, respect each other’s uniqueness and do your best to show your love more often.”

Readings: Genesis 12:1-4a 2 Timothy 1:8b-10 

Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9

Like Jesus and our biblical ancestors (although ours pale in comparison), most of us have faced and will continue to face hardships and adversity, overcome fear of the unknown, had to have faith, be brave and stand true to our beliefs in order to discover who we truly are and fulfill God’s plan for us. 

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Take a Leap of Faith – Tips to Help You Confidently Step Forth

Written By: Bernadette Logue

“Can you recall one of those times in your life when you've had a gut instinct that you needed or wanted to do something new, but you felt hesitant? Maybe there was uncertainty or risk involved, going outside your comfort zone. Maybe you were worried that your gut instinct might be wrong, questioning yourself.

They are times in our lives when our inner voice is asking us to make change happen, and if we do, then our lives can elevate to the next level. But fear often rears up so intensely that it threatens to kill that possibility!

We all want to predict what comes next and define our exact path and outcomes. But that just isn't how life works. We can define what we want and how we want to go about making it happen, and then we have to give over to the uncertainty of life. We have to…

Here's the dealio. A leap of faith is NOT blind faith. There is nothing blind about it! A leap of faith is intuition. It's an innate, deep knowing that won't go away. It's a whisper that keeps calling to you. It's a passion, or an inspiration that draws you forward. You invest in faith, not fear.

One helpful thing I discovered on my journey, which I hope you will find useful to, is the realization that taking a leap of faith doesn't mean you leap off a cliff. I used to think that leaps of faith always involved big change, big risk and dramatic decisions. But that simply isn't true. It's not diving into the abyss. A leap of faith can be one small little step forward. Followed by one more small step forward. Followed by another. And over time you realize that your many little faith-based steps add up cumulatively to create a leap of faith.

I like to keep things real. So, let's address your worst fear. You fear that things won't work out. You'll take the leap of faith and regret it. You won't like the new career, the new location, the relationship. You'll look back and wish you hadn't done it. You'll feel upset at yourself, regretful or whatever other “worse case scenarios” your mind likes to come up with.

Well guess what… If you do something in life and it doesn't work out… CHANGE IT, DO SOMETHING ELSE, KEEP JOURNEYING. There is no failing when you leap. Someone who leaps is always a winner. Someone who follows their intuition is FULLY ALIVE.” 

“To love yourself as you are is a miracle, and to seek yourself is to have found yourself, for now. And now is all we have, and love is who we are.” – Anne Lamott

Readings: Exodus 17:3-7, Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 

Gospel: John 4:5-42

Just like the woman at the well, most of us have, at some point, been willing to settle for less to “quench our thirst” or fill a void in our life. We need to see in ourselves what Jesus sees in us and not settle for the water that this world offers so that our “thirst” can be quenched and our voids can be filled. 

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If You Feel Like There's A Void In Your Soul You Cannot Fill, Read This

Written By: Laine Sterbenz

“Some of us are constantly seeking for meaning in our lives, always trying to be better and expand our horizons. Although it's great to constantly strive for better, in the long run, it leaves us feeling empty if what we keep searching for is the one thing that doesn't exist, perfection. Our lives could be extraordinary, yet we still feel a void that cannot be filled. 

It's like we're never content with where we currently are in our lives. We can be rich but that doesn’t make us happy. We could have all the friends in the world, but not find love. It seems like nothing is ever enough. We take the good things for granted and focus on what's "lacking" according to our own perception of what a "perfect" life is supposed to be. Will we ever be truly satisfied? Will we ever stop aiming for perfection? 

It is a trend to fit in and be accepted. Every day we are in search of contentment and meaning. Yet, we look for those things in all the wrong places. Instead of being content with ourselves, we look to superficial things that will make us perfect so we can fit into society. We spend our days trying to reach unrealistic expectations and comparing ourselves to others. Losing everything that makes us unique. Then we wonder why we can’t find meaning. There is no creation in filling a mold. 

The pressures of society put a hole in our hearts that is hard to repair. If you don’t love yourself, someone else’s love cannot replace that.

The pressures of society shouldn’t change who we are as people. We are all different and beautiful in our own way and shouldn’t conform to be the same as one another. No one can fix our damage but ourselves. The void can only be filled by us making a change. 

Be mindful of the life you choose to live. Be grateful for all the little things and accept yourself. You were blessed with the people and things around you, why take them for granted? Don’t compare yourself to others, they aren’t you. That’s not your life. 

Be happy with how far you come, you have made it this far. Remember what makes you happy, your passion and your dreams. Stop looking beyond yourself, and letting the outside world bring you down. You are more than enough. Be confident in who you are. 

When you love yourself unconditionally, you don’t have to look for validation elsewhere. The pressure from society can’t get to you. Your happiness won’t be temporary because loving yourself isn’t superficial.

Life has its ups and downs but loving yourself through it all fills a void that nothing else can fill. Forget about what society tells you to be, you are more than enough. Keep your chin up.”

Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a / Ephesians 5:8-14 

Gospel: John 9:1-41

It is important to always try to find the Light through the darkness in our own lives so that we can live our best life and so that our walk through this life as Children of God can be a reflection of His goodness, grace, kindness, truth and sincerity.

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Looking For The Light In The Darkness

Written By: Mark Arnold

 
“These times we are living in are hard, aren’t they?

 
It sometimes seems like a never ending ‘Groundhog Day’ and so dark and I don’t just mean the still short days and long, long nights. It’s harder and harder to get up in the morning, to be motivated for another day that seems just like every other day. And it’s still cold.

But there is something that we all too easily forget about darkness:

Darkness isn’t actually a thing, it’s an absence of a thing.

Darkness is an absence of light. Where there is light, darkness isn’t possible. It doesn’t exist.

What ‘light’ looks like for each of us at the moment will be dependent on our individual situation and that of our family. It will be personal. But if we peer hard enough into the darkness, we might see a glimmer of light still burning. And if we encourage it, if we feed it, if we focus on it, it will grow brighter and drive the darkness away.

It might be that we see light in the smile of our child, or in the first glimpse of a snowdrop or crocus fighting its way out of the ground. We might see light in the joy of baking a cake that is actually edible, or in the sound of a blackbird singing as we take a much-needed walk. We might see light in the progress that our child is making in their development. In times of ‘darkness’, I’ve found that looking for these signs of light and focusing on them really helps.

I read a book called ‘One Thousand Gifts’ by Ann Voskamp. In it, Ann encourages us to find three things each day that are good, three things to give thanks for, and to write them down.

Sometimes it’s hard to find three things, but look hard enough and it is there, look hard enough and we can all find three things to be grateful for. And if you write the three things down, over a year you end up with one thousand gifts!

One thousand positive things to look back on and be glad about.

One thousand glimmers of light that come together into a blazing brightness!

Maybe doing something like this would help you to see more of the light and less of the darkness.

To give you a list of things to be glad and grateful for. To help you see that even on the darkest of days, there is something, something, positive and bright, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Light drives the darkness away.

In time, spring will replace winter and longer sunnier days will come. But until then, let’s not stare into the darkness, but let’s look for the glimmers of light, and help them to burn brightly in our hearts!”

Readings: Ezekiel 37:12-14 / Romans 8:8-11 

Gospel: John 11:1-45

We all know that as Christians, God has promised us eternal life with Him once our life on this earth ends. Our life on this earth, however, is not eternal. We must always remember that God’s spirit lives in all of us and to bring our dreams back to life so that we can live our lives on this earth to their fullest. 

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“Feeling Alive” & “Dreams Coming Back to Life”

A combination of two blogs Written By: Amanda Devine & Joel Osteen

“I wonder how many times we’re burying things alive. We thought the dream was dead. We tried, but the doors didn’t open. It’s been years, and now we’re convinced that we’ll never start the business or move into a nice house. We bury relationships. “Our marriage is done. We don’t get along.” We bury God’s promises. “I’ll never get well. I’ll never break the addiction. I’ll never live an abundant life.” At one time we believed. We talked like it was going to happen, we took steps of faith, but now we don’t see any signs of life. All the circumstances say it’s too late, so we buried it. The good news is, it’s buried alive. You may not be able to see it, but there’s still a pulse.

Those dreams you’ve buried, you need to dig them back up. Start believing again, start dreaming again. Start thanking God that it’s on the way. Every circumstance may say, “You’ll never get well. Just accept it.” If you agree and go around discouraged, you’re burying it deeper. But when you believe, you’re shoveling the dirt off. When thoughts tell you, “You’ve gone as far as you can. Just accept that you’ve reached your limits,” turn it around and say, “my latter days will be greater than my former days.” That’s how you remove the dirt, and you’ll see a dream that you’ve buried come to pass.” ~ Joel Osteen

“The passion for what we do, the enthusiasm for life makes us alive. When we feel alive, we are truly living a happy life. We find ourselves feeling awesome mentally and physically with lots of energy and we are eager to get up every morning to start another amazing day. And… we go to bed at night with gratitude for all the wonderful experiences that the day provided. Sounds like a tall order? Not at all!

I saw a lady that I met a 2 years ago who told me that after our meeting she made a huge change in her life that turned everything around. She was very unhappy in the job she had and decided to find the one that would make her satisfied. She found the perfect job and she is very happy at it. Because of that change her entire life went on to a new level. It affected her family life and now, she feels alive.

But, feeling alive goes beyond our professional careers. It is about being happy in every aspect of our lives. We need to have great relationships, health, etc. The feeling of being alive starts from the inside.

Realizing how abundant we already are, by feeling gratitude for what it is that we already have, no matter how much or how little. When we feel love and gratitude we become alive and we have so much to be grateful for! Do you realize how blessed you are? When we look at everything that way, before we know it, the list of things that we already have is longer than we have ever realized. When we feel gratitude, we feel good. When we feel good we manifest in our lives what we want. We create more things to be grateful for.

When we recognize the things that we have, we love them and feel grateful for them, our lives go on a completely new level. When you say to yourself, every day, what it is that you are grateful for, you will truly become happy and feel alive. You will have the passion for life. You will eagerly get up in the morning to give more thanks for what you have. When you do that diligently, you will be surprised how quickly the list of things that you have is going to become longer and longer…and before you know it, your life will become truly magical.” ~ Amanda Devine