Road to Redemption: How to Overcome Feeling Sorry for Yourself

Feeling sorry for yourself, and you present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have.

-Dale Carnegie

What can we do about this, how can we change our own outlook on our own life? How do we stop feeling sorry for ourselves, stopping the self-pity and self loathing?  What can we do to save ourselves from ourselves?

Some points to consider:

• Only you can make you feel bad
• Only you are in control of you
• Only you can fix you
• Only you can do it

We are in control of our own lives, this is a basic and true fact, nothing can change this basic fact. However, being human, being of a fallen nature, we are prone to failure, we are prone to self-doubt we are prone to self-destruction. So how do we change this, how do we get past our fallen human nature? What can we do to become a better person, a person of confidence a person of integrity and person of character?

We can teach ourselves to over come our fallen nature, we can grow above and beyond that, it is achievable, it is with-in our grasps, all we need to do is trust, trust in God, trust that He will provides the graces we need to archive our perfection.

Trust in God does not mean we sit back and do nothing, quit the contrary, trust in God means we buckle down, place our nose to the grind stone, work our fingers to the bones, what ever cleaver little saying you choose. Trust is God is not the easy road, but it is the road less traveled. It is the road to perfection and happiness, it is the road to freedom and salvation, it is the only road to our own personal redemption.

God is our ticket to liberation, liberation from self-doubt, liberation from self-hatred, the two self-defeating attitudes that create the conditions necessary for self-loathing and just plain old feeling sorry for yourself. God and His graces, His love for you and all your imperfections, our ability to accept His love, to use His graces, that’s the way to freedom, the road to liberation.

Sounds easy, who would not want Gods love, who does not want the graces God bestows upon us? Ask almost anyone, and they would tell you, Yep, I want Gods love, I want His grace, not many would out-and-out refuse it. Some do, but most would be more than happy to accept the freely given gifts. So why that do we have so much pain and suffering, why do we have so many people who are full of self-pity and self-hatred?

Because the gifts and love are given freely, but we must be open to and willing to accept them, and simply saying yes, simply using words, dead words, is not enough. Action is required, God wants us to fully participate in His divine plan for ourselves, He wants us to be active, not just a vessel to poor His love and graces into, but an active participant in His love and grace.

What good are gifts, given freely, if we do not use them, what good is love, given unconditionally, if we do not accept it? A gift is only as useful as it is used, otherwise the gift is of no value. We can receive Gods love all daylong, but if we do not open ourselves to this love, if we do not partake in this love, the love is of no value to us. Yes God continues to love us, regardless of our acceptance or not, but the love goes unused, it is not returned nor is it give to others. The love of God is not meant to be buried like a secret love, but to be received and displayed for all to see, and to be given to others as freely as it was given to us.

The act of receiving is not a passive act, it is an act that requires us to participate fully. Consider this, have you ever given a gift to a friend or loved one, a gift that you gave out of no obligation, no requirement, no special occasion. You gave the gift just out of love, given freely, expecting nothing in return. But the recipient was not receptive to your gift, they may have accepted it, they may have even opened it, but they were not receptive. They showed no sign of joy in the act of love, they showed no sign of rejection, they just accepted it. We, the gift bearer, leave feeling rejected, feel that our love was neither accepted nor outright rejected. We think to ourselves, I would rather have them say I reject your gift, I do not want it, than to just accept it with no emotion at all. The act of receiving is active, it requires work on the part of the receiver. It is the same with Gods gifts to us, He freely offers His gifts, He will not force them upon us, we must freely accept them, and just saying yes is like the friend that opened the gift you offered with no emotion, no reaction, just nothingness. The gift, although given was not truly accepted, it was discarded, not with words, but the lack of action.

So what actions, what is required of us, nothing, we are not required to accept Gods graces nor Gods love, just like we are not required to accept gifts on our birthday or at Christmas. We can choose freely to participate in Gods love, just as we choose freely to accept Christmas gifts and attend birthday parties. But once we choose to attend, action is required, input and output are part of the interaction of any social gathering, so is the case with God, He provides the input, and we provide the output. He gives us, freely, His love, the input, and we actively, through our works, provide the output. Notice, God gives freely, and we work actively, it is through the active works we perfect the graces and love of God is fully realized.

So how can God help us get over our self-hate, our feeling sorry for ourselves. What must we do to actively participate in Gods graces and love given freely. How do we perform the work to  fully realize the gifts God has given. For each of us God has given the gifts that we need, the gifts that are unique to us, so for each of us the works are also unique, but here is a list of a few things all of us can do to help us realize the full potential of our gifts.

• Pray daily, offer up 30 to 60 minuets per day to God, talk to Him, but more importantly, listen, be still, be quiet, and listen to the loving voice of God. And do not worry if you don’t hear Him  the first time or every time you pray, like everything else in our lives, it take practice. So just pray, daily and know and accept that some days will be better than others.
• Read daily, anyone who has read my blog before knew that this would be one of the point, it almost always is. But reading is important, reading opens our minds to new possibilities. Read the bible, read a good solid spiritual book or read a novel, just read and let your mind go, let your mind enter into the story or passage. Let the author take you along for the ride. Read at least 15 minutes per day. God often times speaks to me through the books I choose to read that day, the passage I decide to look up or the magazine I choose out of the stack on my coffee table. God uses the everyday items about us to communicate to us, God comes to the place we are, He does not wait for us to arrive at the place He desires us to be.
• Journal daily, write about your day, write about what you see about you, write about your prayer life, write about what ever you choose to write about. This blog is my journal, it allows me the opportunity to clear my mind, to put down on paper (well in this case, electronic paper) what is on my mind, allows me the opportunity to clear it, to visualize it. God uses these opportunities to speak to us, often times I just sit to write, no idea what I want to write about, just feel the need to clear my mind. It is in these moments that I feel God guiding me more that any other. So journal daily, allow the Holy Spirit to guide your hand across the paper, or in my case the keyboard. Use your time journaling as a time of communion with God.
• Learn daily, learn about your faith, learn about your life, learn about your country learn about wine or basket weaving, just learn, never stop learning. God created our minds to grow, to learn to expand. In the process of learning, we are using one of Gods greatest gifts to us, the gift of knowledge. So learn something new daily, try something new daily. I try to make it a point to learn something new daily, be it a simple fact or a complex idea. Learning about this world, our self, our nation or about basket weaving is learning about God, for through the ordinary we find God.
• Think one positive thought daily, when you are in the mist of a bad day, stop yourself, and think about one positive event that took place that day. There is always one, no day is completely bad. Even Good Friday, the day our Lord was killed upon a cross had a positive moment, the moment He offered His life for our sins. So stop and think, seek out the shinning spot among the darkness of your day. It is in the moment, that spot that God will be found.
• Thank someone daily, always give thanks to all around you, but find someone who needs your thanks more than any other, we find God in our fellow-man, and they find God in us, give freely of your Gift of love from God, by returning to others.

Our works do not purchase Gods love nor are the required, God gives it freely, but our works bring the fullness of Gods love to light. Through Gods love we will learn to love the self, and only through our works will we fully realize that self-love.

 

God Bless

 

Paul W Sposite

Guided Insight Life Coach

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Holy Week: A Lenten Reflection

Jesus and Mary Magdalene (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This week is the summit of Christendom, it is the week that establishes our missions and our purpose. It is the week the God sacrificed His Son for our sake. This week we experience the Passion of our Lord, the scourging, the ridicule the lies and the humiliation. This week we are taken to the hill, we partake in the nailing of our Lord upon the cross, we share in the agony of Mary and John and we are party to the mocking. We cannot remove ourselves from the Passion, because the Passion is eternal. Christ died for our sins, our sins of today and of tomorrow. The Passion unfolds daily, when we sin, the hammer falls upon the nail that pierces our Blessed Lords skin with each utterance of disparity and sin. Our actions today, our inequity of our humanity places the crown of thorns upon His blessed head and our lies are the spit upon His most Holy face. We are the cross that we nail Him to, we are the sins that He died for, we are the bystanders that mock and call to Him, “Come down from the cross, and save yourself”. We are the reason for His passion.

We are also the reason for His Resurrection, we are the stone that covered His tomb, but we are also the stone that was moved away. We are Mary Magdalene, when she peered into the empty tomb and saw that our Lord was “taken away”. We cried the tears of loss and desperation as she did, in the frantic search for our Lord. We are Mary in the garden when she hears the word “Why do you cry” and we are Mary when she discovers that our Lord is not dead, but risen. We are the paradox that is humanity, we are the saints and sinners we are the crucifiers and the crucified, we are one with the Lord.

We carry our cross daily to the hill, we nail our own hands to the cross with our actions and we carry our own passion in remembrance our Lord.  Holy week  offers us the opportunity to experience the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord in a very personal way. Through the Holy Mass and reflection upon our lives, we can and do die unto ourselves and resurrect anew with the Lord. Easter is a time of renewal, a time of death giving over to life, we see it in the earth with the birth of spring, and we experience it the Mass with the Holy Sacrifice of Communion. Catholicism offers the opportunity to truly walk with Christ on the road to Calvary, to partake in the Passion in a real sense and experience the resurrection in our lives. Allow this Easter session to truly awaken in you the Passion of our Lord, allow your feelings to flow as if from the wounds of our Lord and allow your heart to feel the last earthly movement and your soul to experience the Resurrection, not as a bystander, but as a participant. Join your suffering with our Lords, and allow the healing grace of the Passion to wash over you, to engulf you and renew you.

God Bless & have a Blessed Holy Week, one filled with many deaths and resurrections

Paul Sposite

Guided Insight Life Coach

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Between Sleep and Awake

Image via Wikipedia

Each and everyday we all wake with the opportunity to make a difference in our lives. We awake with an newness that only exist in that moment. The moment before reality sets in. What we chose to do with that moment can make or break our day.

that sounds a little “new age”, but it is the truth. There is that moment when life and reality are separated, a moment that can and does define us for the rest of the day. The moment between sleep and awake, we all know it, its that moment when the breeze seems lighter and fresher and the smells seem sweeter and stronger. the sounds of the world give away to the sounds of nature. It’s that moment when all of Gods creation are singing praise to Him.

I love that moment, but all to often we allow it to slip away, we awake to fast or fall back in to the darkness of sleep. But every now and than we seize the moment, make it ours and define the day. We take the sweet smells of creation and turn them in to the fragrance of love and understanding. We harness the sounds of nature and use them to hear the truth of the world and we let the soft breeze of the Holy Spirit guide our movements as if we were a leaf blowing lazily in the spring breeze.

We allow the poetry of the day to speak to us, and the caressing words of Christ to calm us. We feel secure in the world around us and are filled with the hopes and dreams of a child. The soft scent of heaven drifts just above us, tantalizing us to follow in to the alpha and omega of creation. The Great I AM calls to through the natural splendor our eyes seem to see for the very first time. The sharpness of focus seems almost alien to us, yet somehow more natural, almost organic in its sensation.

The time between sleep and awake is a time of the heavens here on Earth, the time between sleep and awake is the time of communion with the heavens. It is a time of oneness and peace. It is a time of dreaming and reality and time of love and understanding.

Many know this time I am speaking of, all have experienced it, yet some reject it. This is a time of innocence and youth, a time of purity and simpleness. It is a time of trust, a trust in the reality of Heaven a trust in the love of God and His creations. A trust in the senses that often times are untrustworthy.

The Psalms sing of such a time, a time when God filled there hearts. A time when the joys of this world were pale to the joys of the next. It is in that moment between sleep and awake that we get a glimpse of the next world. And the Psalms sing if the glimpses.

So the next time you find yourself in that brief moment between sleep and awake, savor it for what it is, a brief moment of heaven. Allow the scenes to be overwhelmed, experience the sensation of a oneness you never thought was possible. And allows the soft breeze of the Holy Spirit to sweep you away as a spring breeze sends a leaf of a journey of flight.

God Bless

Paul

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Saints

Image via Wikipedia

Each day offers new and exciting opportunities, one never knows what one may fine tomorrow. That’s what I love about life, everyday can is new and can be exciting, if we only allow it.

One of the splendors of the Catholic Church are the Saints, ordinary people who offers us an extraordinary life as an example of how we are to live in Christ. The Church in Her wisdom knows that life is a struggle and God in His mercy has given us Saints to emulate and learn from.

Many Catholic websites offer a Saint of the Day email that can be used to help remind us of how we are to act. What I like about the saint of the day concept is this, each and every day a new and exciting offering is in my inbox. A new world to explore or a new name to read about. The lives of the Saints are anything except boring. Most Saints seem to have lived very hard lives and a few, well ok lots and lots of them lives what one might call a life of sin until their conversations.

You can read about child saints and saints who came along reluctantly. Sainthood is no cake walk and all to often it seems that the saints suffer more persecution than you and I could ever dream of. Yet the Church sees the glory in the suffering the redemption and the holiness. the Church, through the eyes of Jesus knows the souls of the saints and understands their power on us, here today, even thought they themselves may have passed on hundreds of  years before.

We believe in the communion of saints, a line we pray, or as in most cases we just say, each week at Church. But do we really understand this one simple statement from the credo? Do we truly understand the power of that one line, do we truly believe in the communion of saints?

God has established for us a communion of saints, He has given us a gift of living examples in times passed and yes, even in our own times. But not only has God given us people living in this world, but He has also given us the living souls in the after world. Remember God is the God of the living, living here in the material world as well as those living in the spiritual world.

Saints, the gift of examples offered to us all…

What an exciting world indeed, who knows the next person I talk to could be the next St. Thomas or St. Faustian or even The Venerable Pope John Paul II. Every person has the ability to become a saint, the only difference between St. Francis and you or I is choice. They chose to trust in God, they chose to suffer, they chose to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. We, well we give lip service to it all, we say we want to follow, but the path is to hard, we want to suffer but the pain is to much, we want to trust but we have been let down to often. Sainthood is not a live of ease, rather it is a life of earthly discontent and a prayer of submission.

I thank God for the likes of Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II, modern day suffers along with Padre Pio and Fr. Solanus Casey along with Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Souls that seem to be made to sing the praises of the Lord. Each one of the modern day examples given to us by God offers a life time of refection and study. Each soul brings a new and exciting ingredient to the mix, creating a “Saint Stew” of sorts with in the Catholic Church. Each adding a flavor that is uniquely theirs yet at the same time ours. The communion of Saints, a gift of love is ever I saw one.

God Bless

Paul

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Stand or Kneel

Yesterday at after our Easter dinner the discussion of the different Parishes that we attend came up and the different practices at each.

The Parish I now attend kneels after the reception of Communion until the priest is finished cleaning the vessels and is seated himself. The Parish my friend attends Stands during Communion and is seated once the Holy Communion is placed in the Tabernacle.

The the debate went on about what was correct. Below is the passage from the GIRM.

Standing after the Agnus Dei and Communion

---

Agnus Dei. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) states that the people stand from the end of the Offertory until the end of Mass, except that they kneel down during the Consecration. In the U.S. the approved adaptation is to kneel for the entire Eucharistic Prayer and after the Agnus Dei.

43 … In the dioceses of the United States of America, they should kneel beginning after the singing or recitation of the Sanctus until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer, except when prevented on occasion by reasons of health, lack of space, the large number of people present, or some other good reason.. Those who do not kneel ought to make a profound bow when the priest genuflects after the consecration. The faithful kneel after the Agnus Dei unless the Diocesan Bishop determines otherwise.

After Communion. In 1974 Rome gave an official interpretation of the rubrics on the period after Communion, which makes the posture an option. It states, 

After communion they may either kneel, stand, or sit. Accordingly the GIRM no. 21 gives this rule: "The people sit. . .if this seems useful during the period of silence after communion." Thus it is a matter of option, not obligation. The GIRM no. 121, should, therefore, be interpreted to match no. 21: Notitiae 10 (1974) 407.

The new GIRM states,

43… They should sit during the readings before the gospel and during the responsorial psalm, for the homily and the preparation of the gifts, and, if this seems helpful, they may sit or kneel during the period of religious silence after communion.

However, some of the faithful complain that hey are being required to stand at their place after getting back from Communion. A response which Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, received from Rome appears to clarify that point.

Query: Is it the case that the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, by no. 43 of the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, [the new 2000 GIRM]  intends to prohibit the faithful from kneeling after the Agnus Dei and following reception of Communion?

Response: Negative. [Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Prot. 2372/00/L, 7 November 2000]

This debate is all to common in today’s Catholic world. We have Parishes deciding for themselves what is and is not expectable, creating disconnects between parishes that are only miles apart. If the argument of “Unity in prayer” can be used to defend all standing after reception of communion (as was used by my friend), than that very same argument can be used for all knelling after reception.

To me it comes down to respect. We have just received the greatest gift anyone can receive, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Blessed Lord, Jesus the Christ! To show reverence by kneeling is a simple task and to me a very privet moment between me and my Savior.

I was told about a radio or TV minister that made the comment that if Catholics truly believed that Jesus was TRULY present in the sacrament of Communion we would crawl on our stomachs to get there. AMEN! It is God we are receiving, the one true God made man in the flesh of Jesus. Is it to much to ask that we show a tad bit of reverence, just a little respect? I think not.

Now I am not stating that people or parishes that stand after the reception of Communion are not showing respect. I am sure many are. But our actions are outward displays of our thought. So I ask you, are we standing because we just received the TRUE Jesus in Communion or are we stating to show unity with others? To me, and to what I have been told, we stand as a sign of unity with others. Hmmm, what about the unity we just made with Jesus in the sacrament of Holy Communion? What about the fact that we have Jesus in us like no other time, what about the fact that we have been united to our savior in a way that non-Catholics can even dream of being! We have just taken the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Blessed Lord in to ourselves. We have just united our being with His glorious being in a way that we could not were in not for this sacrament that Jesus established.

To me, to stand shows a sign of disrespect, and I felt that way at every Parish I ever attended that stood after the reception of our Blessed Lord. I followed the community and stood, because I also think it is disrespectful to act contrary to the community, but in my heart I was kneeling.

Standing after the reception of communion, like so many other acts of reverence were removed in the name of Vatican II.  People, most with good intentions, used this document to remove all signs of reverence from the Holy Mass and prayer and turned it into one large group hug. Like the bible passage states,

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV)

There is a time for group hugs and a time of reverence. It seems that reverence, for some, is code word for pre Vatican II and  must be eliminated. It is almost a sickness that consumes the Church like a cancer. A cancer that will spread and destroy any semblance of the Holy Roman Catholic Church if we do no
t start to get it under control.

All is not bleak nor lost, for Jesus told us:

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18 NIV)

So take heart and hold strong.

God Bless

Paul

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Lenten Seeds

Image by P.C. Is2dnt via Flickr

Michigan is a funny state, in a lot of ways. The weather here can change day to day, one day be in the 70’s the next in the 30’s, we cal this spring. Our political climate is about the same, we are, for the most part a conservative people, yet we vote in liberals. This state just don’t know what it wants.

Our faith can be a lot like Michigan, one day we are all about our prayers and the next we forget we are even Catholic. Us humans, we just don’t know what we want.

Today is Michigan is is raining out, not a big rain, just rain. No thunder or heavy down pours, just a light rain. We need it, the grass and flowers need it. Spring is here so soon the flowers will be up and the grass will be needing it’s first cut.  The outside work will began and soon all will look fresh and new. I love spring for that reason. After a long and cold winter, all the muted browns and the lack of flowers and the smell of fresh cut grass makes for a long winter. Spring is welcomed with open arms. Soon I will be outside raking the dead leaves that somehow made it to the first snow fall and setting up the gardens. Ah spring!

Lent is here for us Christians, lent is our spiritual spring. It’s a time for us to open up the door to our soul and allow the fresh air of Easter to enter in to us. Lent is a time for us to clean out our gardens of all the dead leaves of our lives. The leaf of hatred and jealousy or the leaf of pride and contentment. They some how managed to last through the long and hard winter of our souls.

Spring is a time of renewal a time for new growth and to plant the seeds of new and exciting flowers for your garden. Lent offers us the same opportunities, we are encouraged to renew our faith through prayer, alums and sacrifice. The seeds of new growth are plated during the Lenten session, but like a new flower seed, if it is not cared for, given water and the nutrients it needs, it will wither and die. 

The sacrifice of the Holy Mass and the reception of the Eucharist are our nutrients we need to care for the new seeds planted during Lent. Gardens need to be weeded and cultivated to allow the good seeds to grow. The same is true for our souls, we need to weed and cultivate our souls to allow the seeds that God has planted to grow. Holly Mass the reception of Holly Communion and the Sacrament of Reconciliation are the tools and means of such work.

Being Catholic takes work, it requires time and effort from us. Lent offers a time for us to all work together as a community. For all of us to share in the struggles of being Catholic.

Sure, we have our hard winters in Michigan and I have my hard winters being Catholic. I know as a life long Michigander that if I wait a second the weather will change, the same is true with my Faith, I know that if I wait a second I to will change.

God Bless

Paul

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My Jesus, not Yours

I have a personal relationship with Jesus?

Me and My God….

It’s my faith….

 

You notice that there are a lot of singularities in our faith life today. We don’t seem to want to share our faith, or our God.

 

Many of us are under the impression that our relationship with Jesus has no connection to others, what Jesus and I decide is between us, how He treats me affects no one else. Nothing could be further from the truth!

 

We are all part of the one Body of Christ, we all are connected. Your actions or lack of them affect me, and my actions or lack of them. Faith is not a singular act, it is not a solo act, faith is a community act, we celebrate communion, togetherness, not one on one, but rather all together.

 

When did we decide that faith was only a personal thing? When did God become a possession?

 

It’s a sign of the times; we have a culture that does not share, a culture that does not like others involved or invested in others, and a culture that believes that each person is unto them selves.

 

God has never been a God of one, but a God of many, a God of all. Jesus did not come to save just you, but rather to save all.

 

Yes, we need to have a personal relationship with Jesus, but it can not be exclusively personal, it must also be communal in nature. We are all one body, with only one head, Christ…

 

Paul

 

Catholic & Proud

Can you call yourself Catholic? Can you say it with pride?

When people see you, will they say “They must be Catholic?

 

There was a time when people could pick us out of a crowd, but that doesn’t seem to be anymore. Now Catholics are just part of the crowed. Some would say that’s a good thing, that we need to be just part of the everyday crowed, but I’m not so sure it’s a good thing.

 

Why are we afraid to stand out, to be seen and know for what we believe in? Why do we wish to keep our catholic identity hidden?

 

Over the last few weeks we have celebrated two great days at out church, First Communion and Confirmation, each once being a very important point in a Catholics life.

 

First Communion is the first time that a child gets to receive the true presence of Christ, what a awesome gift. I love the mass with our first communion kids, all dressed up, looking so proud, and scared, it’s a cure mix. The parents are glowing the kids are glowing and all is as it should be, they are excited to be at Church, to receive Jesus. But all too often that will be the last time they enter in to communion with Jesus and the Church as a whole.

 

One of the traditions of our parish is for all the kids to sing a song, after communion has been received by all. I know the song well, it has been sung for years, it “This little light of mine”

 

This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

 

 

 

The idea about the song, and the fact that it’s sung by our little ones makes it a very special song to me.

We all too often do place our faith under a bushel; we do blow out the light of Catholicism all too often, in the name of not wanting to offend.

 

What are we teaching our kids, our communities and our world when we are ashamed of our faith?

 

We need to stand tall, and shine our light so all can see…

 

Confirmation was this past Sunday, and once again, all the kids where dressed up, looking sharp, the parents where all beaming with pride, and the Bishop was ready to call down the Holy Spirit. It was a nice mass, and all went well. I was very proud of our kids, as I always am, but also a little sad because I know that will be the last time I see many of them.

 

Once again we have created a culture in our world, where it’s not cool to be seen there, or to let others know you are Catholic.

 

We need to change this culture, this anti-catholic view. But before we can change it outside of the church we need to change it inside of the church. Each one of us needs to change it, starting with ourselves.

 

You may be thinking, “Hey, what’s he talking about, I am a proud Catholic, I am always doing this and that….” And that may be true, but none of us are perfect Catholics, so all of us are in need of change…

 

We all can show our pride in our faith, hold our heads up high and proclaim our Catholic identity.

 

Maybe what we need is a “Catholic and Proud” day, one day a year where all Catholics proclaim there Catholicity to all. I propose that we create such a day, an international Catholic Pride Day. A day we can wear our Catholic faith on our sleeves with pride!

 

A day when kids can wear a button or shirt stating they are Catholic to school, a day when adults can wear a tie or pin to work; Churches would have pot luck dinners and speakers to help us grow in faith and community. A day that would make others says, “Hey, I want to be Catholic”.

 

I propose May 30^th to officially be Catholic and Proud Day!

 

So everyone, start planning something, and let me know what you plan to do… Be Proud! Be Catholic! And be Bold!

 

Paul

 

http://www.cafepress.com/catholic_proud 

 

http://www.cafepress.com/all_catholic