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The Power of Positive Living
Have you ever had the experience of hearing someone say something and it’s as if you received a revelation? That recently happened to me. I was having a conversation with someone and he said, “You can’t think your way into a new way of living; but you can live your way into a new way of thinking.”
Those words penetrated my heart and mind, and they have stayed with me ever since. I’ve thought about those words almost daily over the last few weeks, and I’ve used those words in my conversations with others.
There is truth and power in those words, but the experience of the truth and power come in putting those words into practice. How often are we tempted to buy into the “just-think-positive-thoughts” message? Certainly there’s something to be said for positive thinking; but positive living is much more powerful…and life-changing. Once we choose positive living, then positive thinking will follow. I know this might be contrary to what you’ve believed, but my only suggestion is that you should try it.
Another friend recently told me that problems of the mind can’t be solved by the mind. So many of our problems in life stem from the way we think. And so we can’t solve our problems by thinking more. The only way to experience true freedom and peace in our lives is by living the virtues. It’s one thing to think about the virtues; it’s another thing to live them.
The liberating power of the virtues is experienced in living them. If a person is struggling with hate, then that person must choose to love; it’s then that loving thoughts will follow. If a person is unjust, then that person must be just in their dealings with others; it’s then that just thoughts will follow. If a person is unchaste, then that person must choose to be chaste in their relationships; it’s then that chaste thoughts will follow.
How can we grow in living the virtues? It begins by choosing to live prayerfully. The more we choose to pray, the more we desire to pray. By staying united to the Lord, we stay in union with the source of holiness.
So begin today. Think about an area of your life that needs to change, and then make little decisions today to grow in that area. Maybe you need to be more patient. So, when you’re in traffic today or in line at the store or the bank, wherever you find your patience being tested, choose patience. In time, the more you choose the virtue, your thinking will eventually change. And what a liberating change it is!
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The Saints: Teachers of Authentic Happiness
This is a video of my homily from All Saints Day at La Salle Academy, the high school where I am blessed to serve as chaplain. The Mass was celebrated in the gymnasium. It’s such a great feeling to be able to preach to over 1400 teenagers! Thanks to my campus ministry colleague, Ms. Maggie Naughton, for shooting this video with my Flip recorder.
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Holiness and Healthiness
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you. . .Therefore, glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
I was a little overwhelmed on Saturday afternoon when I looked at my schedule for the coming week. I use iCal because I like to see the week in front of me on my MacBook. As I stared at the screen the week was filled with green, the color I use for all events and appointments related to my ministry. Yes, priests work the other six days of the week too!
Truthfully, I wasn’t concerned about how I’d get quality prayer in; an advantage of being in the seminary is that there are scheduled times of prayer each day and the priests in the house join the seminarians during these times. I was, however, concerned about how I’d get my exercise in. You see, I believe that to live a holy life we need to take care of our souls and our bodies.
St. Paul says that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and that we should glorify Him in our bodies. We must, then, take care of our temples. We need to pray, but we also need to exercise and eat healthy.
So far this week I’ve managed to exercise almost everyday, but it has been a battle. I’ve had to be proactive in squeezing in a run or some strength training. I do this because I know that God wants me to be healthy. I also enjoy reaping the benefits of exercise: my mood is better, I have more energy, and I’m more mentally focused which actually helps me to pray better. Also, exercise enhances my sense of well-being, and I believe that God wants us to have a healthy sense of self.
We’re all at different levels, but each of us can make time a few days during the week to do basic exercise. You don’t need to train for a marathon, but you do need to take care of your temple.
My routine is simple. It’s not necessary to spend a ton of money to stay in shape. I don’t have a gym membership. I try to run three or four days a week, and on days that I don’t run I do simple strength training in my living room. I have a few sets of dumbbells that I use for shoulder press and curls, I use a chair or my coffee table for tricep bends, and I do pushups and sit ups. I do a few sets of each exercise. It takes me about 30 minutes. Some weeks I only exercise three or four days, but it’s better than nothing.
As for eating, I just try to cut out the junk. Believe me, I’m not perfect! But I try to be prudent. Three meals a day with a midmorning fruit and a mid-afternoon yogurt. Again, it’s simple. We don’t need to rush out and buy a bunch of books on how to be healthy. It’s mostly common sense.
There’s a spirituality to exercise and eating healthy as well. It helps us to grow in self-mastery because when we exercise we are choosing to rise above the pull of our emotions and passions which will inevitably rebel against the good of taking care of our bodies. In other words, it’s easier for us to take a nap than it is to go out for a run.
I also find that exercise can be a time of prayer. If I’m struggling up a hill during a run I can offer up my struggle to the Lord for a particular intention; if I’m fighting to do one more pushup I can think of Jesus carrying His cross up Calvary. If He did it out of love for me, I can do one more pushup out of love for Him. And sometimes I like to listen to contemporary Christian music on my iPod.
When it comes to diet, saying “no” to ourselves is a way to do penance, mortifying our appetites so that they don’t rule us. We can say “no” to that piece of cake and offer it up for a particular intention. We can then choose to make the healthier choice of a piece of fruit. This small action translates into our daily lives when we must say “no” to other temptations and “yes” to the Lord.
So what are you waiting for? Start small. Take a 30 minute walk three or four days a week. Start doing some pushups and sit ups. Eat healthy. We are temples of the Lord, so let’s make sure we take good care of the temple.
Feel free to share how you stay healthy and how it helps you spiritually.
I encourage you to visit fellow blogger Anastasiya Goers’s blog, Balance in Me. She does a fine job encouraging us to live balanced, healthy lives.
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Are Fun and Holiness Compatible?
When I speak to young people about my life as a priest, inevitably the question is posed: What do you do for fun? In other words, they want to know if I’m “normal.” So, my friends, if you are interested, here are some “normal” things that I enjoy: • I’m a diehard New England Patriots [...]
HOLINESS: IT’S NOT ABOUT SPIRITUAL GYMNASTICS
I think it’s safe to say that most of the readers of this blog greatly admire the saints. We look to them as our role models for living the fullness of the Christian life. “They inspire us by their heroic lives.”[1] “Their glory fills us with joy, and their communion with us…gives us inspiration and strength…” [2] We know some of their stories. Some spent hours in deep prayer every day (Teresa of Avila), with little sleep to boot (John Vianney); others spent their days in selfless service to the poor and homeless (Mother Teresa); still others worked tirelessly in hospitals ministering to the sick (Elizabeth of Hungary), or built orphanages (John Bosco), or schools (Elizabeth Ann Seton). And then we look at our own lives and think, I just don’t have what it takes to be like that; I don’t have what it takes to be a saint.
How to Start Your Day in Holiness
We learn so much from our parents, good habits and bad. Maybe that’s why I’ve always been conflicted about waking up in the morning. On the one hand, my father has always risen before the sun; he’s the earliest riser in the family. On the other hand, my mother, well, that’s a different story. Although she gets up early for work, the truth is that on the weekends she has the ability to sleep until…let’s just say she can sleep pretty late. Honestly, I think I inherited my mom’s sleeping gene. I’ve always loved sleep, and getting out of bed has tended to be an effort for me; yet, I have continually made an effort to get up early. Therein lay the conflict. I really do love the early morning, and I’ve become more of a morning person as I’ve gotten older. Since I live at the seminary I have to be up early—which means I go to bed pretty early as well. We begin our day with meditation in the chapel at 6:30. Prayer is a great way to start the day.
What is Holiness?
Above my desk where my Macbook, printer, and lamp share their home, hangs a large framed print of one of my favorite saints, Ignatius of Loyola. He’s dressed in a red chasuble and stole, the traditional vestments for the celebration of Mass. His eyes gaze heavenward; there is a glow on his face and an aura of light around his head. His right arm is bent upward; his hand, fingers and palm also pointing upward, is open in a gesture of praise. His left hand rests on the top of an open book and on the left page are written the words "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam": For the greater glory of God. It is the image of a saint, an image of holiness. As much as I love this painting of St. Ignatius and how it can inspire me to stay focused on the Lord, looking at it can also make me forget that he was imperfect. Of course, that may be what the artist’s intention was: images of saints are supposed to reveal their holiness, not their imperfections. However, does being holy mean that we are perfect, that we never sin?
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