Faith is an intangible concept that many people struggle to define. It can be described as a belief in something that is unseen. Faith is essential to many people because it helps them persevere through difficult times. Faith is also a source of comfort and unity, and can help people cope with life's challenges.
Faith gives us a perspective that surpasses the natural intellect and allows us to understand His will for our lives.
When I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do in my life journey but can't seem to connect the dots, I often turn to the Holy Spirit to help me communicate with God. For example, I might be struggling with a behavior from a colleague, but I don't feel confident enough to respond the way I feel. Later, I might come across an article or words that confirms my thoughts, and then I act on what I've learned. Other times the Holy Spirit speaks to me in the moment, and I respond to them from that. I reflect on these by using my knowledge from the Bible and the Catholic Church's Catechism.
When God wants to reveal Himself to us, I believe He does so on the '
mountain'. It can be difficult to pay attention to God when there is a lot of noise from the oversaturating of information like from the Internet around, but the
'mountain' is the only way to truly hear His voice. There is no other way to receive God's guidance. ....
For example, one or two days a week I am completely offline for an entire day. I am also online for a cumulative three hours a day. Part of this, each morning, is to spend time listening to the Holy Spirit, even if only ten minutes... . On Sundays I also spend time prostrate before the Crucifix, as well as one Monday a month at my parish at Holy Adoration before the exposed Eucharist. You don't have to do all of this that I do, in fact, you don't have to do any of it. The point is that God wants us to depend on Him – it is the only way I see to understand and have Faith.
The Bible, the Catholic Catechism and our Church, circumstances, other people, and prayer are some ways that God uses to communicate with us. He wants us to use them to understand His Word and to get to know Him better. We can't do this if we're always trying to figure out what He's saying to us, or
telling Him what we think. We need to let Him speak to us through learning to know His voice through the Holy Spirit, and then let Him guide us.
It takes time, learning and developing, it's not overnight.
If these resources are taken away from us, we'll need to find another way to meet God. But until that time comes, we need to live our faith by putting the Bible, the Catholic Catechism, and the Ten Commandments at the center of our lives. Plus, as Catholic men, hold tight to Bishop Perry's Virtues of a Catholic Man.
I have also found it important to have a spiritual leader, not only a live spiritual director, but also a mentor who precedes us in Faith, to ask for intercession. This could be a Catholic Saint or family member, like our earthly father or mother or a grandparent, who has gone before us. My personal favorite is the late Francis Cardinal George, and his tremendous example of understanding Faith and living it out through his life.
Another example is Saint Fra Angelico who brought glory to God through his paintings. His life and work is a wonderful inspiration to me, and whom I pray for intercession so that my life experience, too, may be a source of encouragement to the world through my artwork.
How can others see the glory of God through your life when you keep it all to yourself? When we let go of our own ideas of who we are and focus on giving away our gifts and talents to others, we come to understand ourselves better and the true meaning of our faith.
Our purpose on earth, to those of us who believe, is to bring hope to the poor in spirit, and thus foster our own poverty through living out our faith.
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