Preparing for Lent
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The Art of Faith
Being faithful to anyone is both an art and a decision. Just as we need discipline, practice and determination to love our children or our spouse, so it is with God - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our relationship with God is an art that also requires action. And it involves a whole lot of colorful virtues that work together in concert to help us turn Faith into a personal, encounter with Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, or with God the Father.
It may help to turn to books that invite you to reflect on God’s Word each week. Just as we read the news or other ‘facts’ daily, we also need to keep up on what God is trying to telegraph us every day and every week and every month. It helps to figure out how to apply His Word to our everyday life more deliberately. In turn, we become more authentic disciples of Jesus.
God will never force us to love him just as we can’t force someone to love us authentically. Love is either freely given or taken away. The Catholic Catechism teaches that prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. In other words, He thirsts for us and we thirst for him. Does it seem like a universal thirst is growing exponentially stronger every day all around us and without being quenched? This thirsting feels very palpable to me and I believe that its genuine because too few are going to the Well of Life. Eventually this thirsting will lead to severe dehydration and detachment from the Lord. And many don’t know why their thirst can’t be quenched. Jacque Philippe said it best when stating that our thirsting is often the result of wounded pride — not because God is being offended and spat upon time and again — but because of our own desire to serve ourselves. [Paraphrase from Searching for and Maintaining Peace by Jacque Philippe]. We will ultimately get stuck in quicksand when we refuse to move toward the only Living Water.
How can we genuinely love God? It starts by taking and making time to see what Jesus has to say. It involves listening to teachers that love Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It means reading the lives of the Saints who walked before us. It means taking the time to reflect on the daily Gospel readings for just a few more minutes every morning. It means trying to pray a little bit longer every day and shutting out the busy-ness that surrounds us. It means trying to relax while praying with the understanding that Jesus loves hearing from you. It means making your prayer time personal — between you and Jesus. Praise him for the beautiful flowers and blue skies that you see. Ask Him for forgiveness for your busy-ness. Pray with ACTS: adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication. Jesus knows what you need; but He needs to hear you verbalize your needs just like you expect from your spouse or your kids. Make your prayer time a bouquet for Jesus! Turn your Faith into your own Art Form.
Linda Kracht lives in St Paul MN with her husband, Dave. Linda is the founder of Fortifying Families of Faith whose mission is to support, fortify and advocate for parents as they ‘parent against the tide.’
Fortifying Families of Faith fully acknowledges that society comes from families and will only be as strong as the average family. Therefore, it is crucial that society recognizes the importance of the autonomous family. Linda advocates for parent-directed formation of children specifically in three areas: Faith, Morality & Sex Education no matter where they are enrolled academically.
Linda is the author of multiple publications including her current best seller: Journaling with Sunday Scriptures: A Book for All Seasons. Other publications include; Daughters and Sons Forever. Mothers Forever, Fathers Forever; Black and White; Surviving College; and the Art of Breastfeeding. Linda has also written many articles on a wide variety of topics for parents to support them in their role as lay priest prophet and king of their christian families. Linda’s experience with parenting her own seven children forged her dedication to writing and teaching about matters that pertain to marriage and family life. For more information about Linda, Fortifying Families of Faith, her articles, online materials, and parent programs please visit
www.fortifyingfamiliesoffaith.com.
