//Let Your Light Shine//
Think It’s Too Late?
In Your Darkest Moments
//Beulah Hope Ministries//
No Plan? That’s a Problem
“It’s not easy to have a great Christmas in a world where everyone is striving for what isn’t worth having.
Welcome back to 28 obstacles that will prevent you from having your Best Christmas Ever. Click subscribe to ensure you don’t miss out on any of this series.
Obstacle #3 is… No plan.
Not having a plan will make it all but impossible to have a great Christmas. “Those who fail to plan can plan to fail,” was Napoleon’s counsel. You are not simply going to stumble into your best Christmas ever. It requires a plan and intentionality. Over the next couple of weeks, we will help you put that plan together. But remember…
Find your joy. Guard your joy. Follow your joy. Not just happiness. It seems our culture has confused happiness with comfort, and following comfort will lead you to misery. Find your joy. Cherish your joy. Guard your joy. And follow your joy.
Daily Reflection – It Comes Down to This
Daily Reflection – A Plan Has Been at Work in Our Past
Start Every Morning With a Plan to do Better
Meditation of the Day – God Has a Plan
“When one is given the Spirit of wisdom, one is able to perceive God’s fingerprints upon the wonders of the world. One is able to see the pattern God has established in history (world history, faith history, and even our own personal history). This should leave us with a sense of comfort, for it means that life is not chaotic. God has a plan.” — Rev. Jude Winkler, OFM, p.62
//The Catholic Company//
Why You Should Trust God
A Plan of Life – Chapter 3: Holy Mass
According to the Catechism, our duty to attend Mass is primary: “We must attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.” Furthermore: “To knowingly break one of the commandments of the Church in serious matter is a mortal sin.” Attending Mass is thus of vital importance for a Christian. From the fact that the
Church requires this minimum obligation under pain of mortal sin, it is clear that the holy Mass in order to sustain our spiritual health.
In 1973 Pope Paul VI wrote: The observance of the Sunday and holy day Mass precept more than ever retains its gravity and its fundamental importance. The Church has granted faculties to make this observance possible. The one who is conscious of the content and of the purpose of this precept ought to consider it not only a primary duty, but also a right, a necessity, an honor, and a good fortune which no intelligent and aware believer can set aside without grave reasons.
Holy Mass is the renewal of the sacrifice of Calvary in an unbloody manner. Without the merits of Christ we can neither save our souls nor sanctify our work. Nor can we give to God the glory that is due him or do apostolate. We need the Mass, for “as often as the sacrifice of the Cross in which Christ our Passover was sacrificed is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried on.” We should not, therefore, be content with the minimum necessary for supernatural life; the personal call to sanctity and the duty of apostolate demand more of us — daily Mass and Communion.
This point is essential: we have been born to give glory to God, and the fullest glory we can give him is through Jesus Christ: “Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.” Through holy Mass we give all the glory to God. A PLAN OF LIFE 9 HELPING YOU FIND GOD WHEREVER YOU ARE
Holy Mass “is the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,” and in the Mass we find the ends that are proper to every sacrifice: the end of latria or adoration of God the Father; thanksgiving for the redemption and all the benefits we have received; reparation for the sins we have committed; and petition for all our necessities. Little reflection is required in order to see the need we have for all of these. Without them our lives are narrow, lacking meaning and overwhelmed by the weight of our sins and our needs. To the extent that we feel the obligation of apostolate and realize that without grace all our efforts are in vain — “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) — we are fully convinced of the need for the Mass. It is for this reason that St. Josemaria has noted, “[A] very important characteristic of the apostolic man is his love for the Mass.” In it priest and laity are united in the most sublime of tasks, namely, the world’s redemption. For this reason, “the Mass should be the center of the entire life of the Christian community.” On it rests our interior life, the sanctification of our work — in short, our redemption and eternal life.
How, then, should we live the Mass? The first condition is our presence. Athletes often say the same sort of thing about the Olympic Games — the most important thing being there. Next, we must have a dignified posture, the correct responses, an alert mind, a heart in love, and firm resolution of the will. We go to learn, to adore, and to receive: to learn through the liturgy of the word from the scriptural readings and the homily; to adore in the sacrifice, where he is really present through the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into his body, blood, soul, and divinity; and to receive Christ himself in Holy Communion, which “is the most perfect participation” in the holy Mass. After this we add a few minutes of personal thanksgiving, recollected in holy silence following the Mass.
A Plan of Life – Introduction
INTRODUCTION: NEED FOR A PLAN OF LIFE OUR LIVES
Nowadays are so filled with activities that if we want to maintain our social relations and not overlook other important aspects of life, we need to organize ourselves, plan things out, and avoid leaving things to last minute improvisation. In short, we need
what we might call a “plan of life.” This plan must be specific and yet flexible, adapted to the changing circumstances of the life of an ordinary person. It should includetime for one’s professional work or study, family, and apostolate, while at the same time fostering a synthesis or unity of life which should be characteristic of every Christian. Such a plan should not be considered a straitjacket but, rather, more akin to the rails along which a train, symbolizing one’s life as a Christian, moves swiftly and safely.
A personalized, fully thought-out plan will enable us to accomplish more with the time we have available, and will help us realistically to set our goals. It should embrace both the human and the spiritual aspects of life. For a Christian, a full life is but an ordinary one lived in a Christian manner. Religious formation and a well-developed interior life are essential for sanctifying human activities and, at the same time, making them instruments of apostolate.
When electrical engineers are planning a high-tension line, they mark out the tower sites at distances that prudently take into account the shape of the terrain. From these will be suspended the cables along which electrical current will pass, providing power to homes and businesses. If the towers are set too far apart for aesthetic or other reasons of convenience, the cables will be stretched too far, compromising their utility. This image can help us understand the importance of certain norms of piety that should factor into our plan of life, in order to sustain throughout the day the supernatural dimensions of our being. Distributed prudently, taking into account our daily activities, they are like the towers of a high-tension line upon which our interior life is mounted. If we spread them too far apart, because they take time from our daily pursuits or are otherwise inconvenient, our humanity will be without supernatural light. To fulfill A PLAN OF LIFE 2 HELPING YOU FIND GOD WHEREVER YOU ARE these norms, to live them, to love them, is to care for our interior life and in turn draw closer to God.
What follows are some norms of piety practiced by many ordinary Catholics in their daily lives.