theROCK

Gift of Grace

What was the last gift you received that truly surprised you and changed your life? Maybe it was a tool that helped you better organize your life or helped you to finally lose that stubborn weight. Maybe it was a gift that changed the trajectory of your life or gave you a second chance at life itself. Gifts that have the ability to change our lives often come from people who truly love us.

Through the sacraments, we receive an undeserved gift from God called grace. This sanctifying grace helps us get into heaven. So what are you doing daily to stir your faith so that it is a fire that consumes all parts of your life?

Unfortunately, I believe many of us can treat our faith as another activity to squeeze into our busy lives. When we treat our faith as an activity, as an obligation, it is easy to place faith on the back burner when life gets busy. Our faith is not an activity, it’s a relationship with a God who loves us. A God who is constantly willing to give us the gifts we need to handle the turbulence in our lives and was willing to give the gift of Himself for us to spend eternity with Him. What are we doing with that gift to better ourselves, better others, and better our relationship God?

Advocating for a Culture of Life

“God will never forget those … who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land.”

This Scripture passage should serve as an appropriate lead in to Respect Life Month in October. We live in a self-gratifying society that uses things and disposes of things whenever something bigger, brighter, better, or newer comes along. It’s the world we live in. We cannot apply that same attitude when it comes to the dignity and safety of all human beings. Respecting life at all stages has been squeezed into four weeks during October, but it must become an effort where we live and speak for a culture of life every day of the year. Whether it’s a baby still in its mother’s womb, the poor and the needy, or a person nearing their end of life, everyone should be treated as a child of God and deserves the dignity given to each one of us by our Creator. For some, living as an advocate for life might mean strengthening our resolve to protect the most vulnerable and, in other cases, it may mean changing our hearts to recognize the dignity in all human beings.

Post-Christian Era?

From time to time I find myself listening to Relevant Radio. On several occasions, I have heard their various guests use the term "Post-Christian Era". Evidently, we live in the Post Christian Era. When did that happen? At some point in recent history, we went from an era that was Christian to one that no longer is. That is really scary to think about. At some point, our culture shifted from one that was dominantly filled with people who lived and conducted life in relationship to Jesus to one that doesn’t.

So, when did it happen? Rather than think on it too long, I’d rather consider how do we get it back? Why would we want to? For me, looking at a world that has turned away from God – a world that is angry, mistrusting, hateful, in pain, in sorrow, in distress, in all essence, lost – my faith can demonstrate how a life with God is loving, peaceful, gentle, fruitful, kind, focused, centered, and disciplined. For every aspect of what a life without God can reflect, a life with God can dispel. Knowing that there is a God, a very powerful and loving God, who wants the very best for me no matter what I do, provides a reason, a hope. A reason to keep at it. A hope for things promised yet to be revealed. Indeed, if it were easy, everyone would do it, but being a believer is not easy. Jesus has even said so. "It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." (Luke 18:25) The world is proving it to us right now. Since not everyone is doing it anymore, it clearly is not easy. More people are giving up than taking it on. I am comforted that I am among others who are taking it on. As a student of Scripture, it almost feels as if we are returning to our roots – there are more who need to be convinced of Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life than those who are already convinced.

Therefore, this is truly what makes us different. We are standing on the shoulders of Saints. We have the opportunity to learn from history and continue to make the future something better. We are in the Post-Christian Era that could become the Pre-Christian Era part 2 if we all live and work together for God’s greater glory.