I recently began re-listening to a talk I recorded during one of my retreats. It was a talk on the power of prayer by Fr. Bill Casey. I’ll post one of his talks on the subject here. For whatever reason, after listening to the recording, I got to thinking about Christian platitudes. I began thinking about the power of prayer and whether I truly believed in it. That led to thinking about other things I say as a Catholic Christian.

Christian platitudes are defined as overused, cliche phrases meant to offer comfort or quick answers, but they often dismiss deep pain. We use them on ourselves and others – at least I know I do. Some examples are: Let go and let God; offer it up; just trust; prayer changes things; everything happens for a reason……….and the list goes on. I got to thinking about the “often dismiss deep pain” part of platitudes and realized there’s more to just believing what we say when we say them and it’s a part I’ve been missing all along, the feeling part. While it’s okay to “let go and let God” can we also just hold on to our situations long enough to allow ourselves to FEEL what we need to feel – the pain, the anger, the regret, the guilt, the lament – and THEN give it to God? When we are tempted to have an answer for someone who’s grieving or hurting, can we be ok with just being present to them and just hugging them, instead of trying to come up with an answer or trying to make them feel better when we know nothing will at the moment?

Sometimes I get so caught up in the “warrior” mentality that I don’t allow myself to feel whatever emotion is about to well up and I’m less empathic toward others. In that mindset, it’s so easy to deflect a responsibility to grow closer to God and neighbor. There’s a spirit of self-reliance instead of total dependence. This week let’s challenge ourselves to look deeper into the platitudes we often use. Are they helping us grow in deeper relationship with God and our neighbor? Sometimes what seems like a good thing can be holding us back from something better! Think total dependence and deeper union. Think humble servant instead of spiritual warrior. God bless you!

Stay in your lane! It all started last year at Steubenville’s Women’s Glory Conference when that phrase came to me. I never imagined that it would follow me for over a year but apparently I needed reminding. When the Spirit prompted me to ponder that phrase, I took it to mean stay focused, worry about yourself and stop meddling in other people’s “business.” Looking back, I get the sense that was only part of the message because the Spirit got creative. LOL! Let me explain.

Several months ago during mass I heard a homily that struck me – literally slapped me in the face and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since! Actually, I should say one word of the homily struck me because I don’t remember anything from the homily except this word – REMAIN! It was as if the whole world stood still after I heard that word and I can honestly say it has changed my life.

I don’t even know where to begin. Remain: remain still, remain at your job, remain with the projects you began, remain on the spiritual path set for you by God, remain hopeful, remain docile, remain obedient, remain still long enough to let God catch up, remain calm, remain faithful, remain open to the Holy Spirit – just to name a few. It goes without saying that this word touched every aspect of my life – my spiritual life, my personal life, my career. That one word literally changed everything. It changed how I currently approach life and it’s liberating.

All this to say – have you ever walked out of mass thinking to yourself: Nothing! I got nothing from that homily or I couldn’t understand that priest or something close to that? Maybe consider the fact that Jesus is the one speaking through that priest. I don’t know about you, but when I read some of the things Jesus said I find he’s difficult to understand too! But this word that came to me during the homily is proof that even one word gleaned from a homily can change your life. All you have to do is be open to receive it! God bless you!