Hate Your Life in This World - Jesus Says So!
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Recently, I completed the “Rescue Project” challenge on the Hallow app. Within the challenge, Fr. John Riccardo explained that just as God has a good plan for our lives to get us to heaven, the Enemy also has a plan for our lives to get us to hell.
He asked us to reflect on where we felt spiritually sick/wounded and to visualize the Enemy’s strategy for our lives. That was super powerful for me, and I encourage you to do the same. I guess I never realized the Enemy was strategizing in this way.
It reminded me of the “weeds” Gospel we hear today at mass. Where is the Enemy sowing weeds in your life? What is the Enemy’s strategy to get you far from God and turn away from the Truth? We need to be keenly aware of the Enemy’s tactics because they will cause us to stray and go the path we should not go.
For me, the weeds are discouragement, hopelessness, and doubting God’s goodness – my many sins often flow from these weeds. How often these weeds creep into the wheat - the harvest of blessings, faith, and goodness that God has given me.
What are your weeds? Carnal pleasures? Love of money and possessions? Worldliness? Bitterness? Resentment? Anger? Despair? Lust? Envy and comparison? Device addiction? Drug or alcohol substance abuse? Pride and ego - needing to have excess power, control, and authority? Weeds could be any number of things that make us spiritually sick.
We all have some weeds growing with our wheat, but so many of us trudge through life unaware that the Enemy has sown these to hurt our eternal trajectory. Perhaps today, take a look at those weeds more closely and become more aware of their impact on your relationship with God and His plan for your life.
Are you on God’s trajectory, or are you on the Enemy’s trajectory? The state of your weeds will tell you.
Katie Zalany lives in Cleveland Ohio. She is a Third Order Secular Franciscan (OFS), spiritual director, benefits/wellness leader, certified health and life coach, and volunteer. She is the creator of the ministry Women in Waiting | Made for Fruitfulness and is a published author. Her writing interests and focus areas include Gospel reflections, Franciscan spirituality, women's spirituality, prayer, and integration of faith and daily living.
