Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

When you’re facing suffering, it’s very natural to ask why. However, if we suspend that question and instead ask ‘God, how can I love the most at this moment?’, you’ll get more answers than if you were to actually get the answer to your question. Today, Mike Gormley and Dave VanVickle give tips on how to suffer well and weather the storms of difficulties.

Snippet from the Show

Tips from Mike and Dave on How to Suffer Well:

• Remind yourself that everyone is fighting their own battle. Remembering that everyone is suffering in their own way can take your focus off yourself and shift your focus to others.
• Have a reason for your suffering. Offering up suffering keeps your focus strong and your faith big.
• Be bluntly honest with God. Bring your anger to the Lord and allow Him to change your heart.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Colossians 1:24)

And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10)

Quote from C.S. Lewis
God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.

Quote from Fr. Jacques Philippe
What really hurts is not so much suffering itself as the fear of suffering. If welcomed trustingly and peacefully, suffering makes us grow. It matures and trains us, purifies us, teaches us to love unselfishly, makes us poor in heart, humble, gentle, and compassionate toward our neighbor. Fear of suffering, on the other hand, hardens us in self-protective, defensive attitudes, and often leads us to make irrational choices with disastrous consequences.

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Does our sin cause suffering? Yes and no. Gomer and Dave explore the complex relationship between sin and suffering. They discuss the nuances of attributing suffering to sin, the role of divine justice, and how miracles fit into God's greater plan.

Snippet from the Show

We have to trust that in God's "no", there is something greater that is being done.

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The phrase “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” has become so synonymous with Protestant spirituality that many Catholics seem to think it’s not that important. This is a huge problem. Dave “The Cheddar” VanVickle and I talk about why having a personal relationship with Jesus is absolutely vital for Catholics.

It’s not about just having an emotional reaction, it’s about knowing the God we claim to love and allowing that intimacy to draw us ever deeper into the sacraments and mysteries of the Catholic Faith.

Snippet from the Show
“Having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ ignites and amplifies the sacramental reception of him.”

SHOWNOTES

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2558 - "Great is the mystery of the faith!" The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles' Creed (Part One) and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy (Part Two), so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father (Part Three). This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer.

THE SOUL OF THE APOSTOLATE - If I do not believe the active presence of Jesus is within me, and if I did not try to make this presence within me a vital reality, I would be depriving my interior life of Jesus. . When Jesus, in this manner, becomes my light, my ideal, my counsel, my support, my refuge, my strength, my healer, my consolation, my joy, my love, in a word, my life, I shall acquire all the virtues.

On Spiritual Perfection - The measure of a man’s love for God depends upon how deeply aware he is of God’s love for him.
St. Theresa of Avila - “Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.”

Pope St. John Paul II - “Conversion means accepting, by a personal decision, the saving sovereignty of Christ and becoming his disciple.”

Galatians 2:20 - “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

2 Timothy 4:7-8 - “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

St. John Paul II, speech to bishops of Southern Germany, Dec. 4, 1992 - “It is necessary to awaken again in believers a full relationship with Christ, mankind’s only Savior. Only from a personal relationship with Jesus can an effective evangelization develop.”

Pope Benedict, Deus Caritas Est 1 - "Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction."

Pope Benedict XVI, May 2004 - "Many people perceive Christianity as something institutional -- rather than as an encounter with Christ -- which explains why they don't see it as a source of joy."

John 15:15 - “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

Marriage Analogy: If a couple has a great friendship, but refuses intimacy. If a couple has intimacy, but refuses to have a close friendship. Catholics are the latter, Protestants are the former. Neither is healthy!

Five Practical Takeaways

1. Read: A book about the life of a saint (St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Augustine, etc.)
2. Intercession: Pray for someone whose love for Christ or his Church has grown cold.
3. Read: Read the Song of Songs
4. Community: Host a dinner, but not a potluck. Provide everything for them and ask nothing from them in return.
5. Reflection: Examination of a relationship you have

Resources
The 99 - now shipping!
Romans: The Gospel of Salvation

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Dave “Brother from the Blessed Mother” VanVickle is unfortunately not with us today. Just before Christmas, Dave’s wife was diagnosed with stage four cancer, so please storm heaven with your prayers for Amber VanVickle and their family!

Today is a short episode about the meaning of generosity in the Christian life. We don’t usually hear about generosity until tithing time, but generosity extends far beyond dollars. We need to practice generosity at all times, especially when it comes to our prayers and participation in the Church.

Snippet from the Show
Generosity is not God asking too much of us, it is God asking for a fraction of what he has already done for us.

SHOWNOTES
2 Corinthians 8:9 - For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Philippians 2: 5-8 - Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

• GoFundMe for the VanVickle family

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What is the role of parents in the faith formation of their kids? Dave " I Am the Weapon" VanVickle and I share five critical questions parents must answer when it comes to forming their kids them into lifelong disciples of Christ. Snippet from the Show Do you personally model the type of Catholic you want your child to be? Don't just tell them about God, show them what it looks like to follow Christ. We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your questions/comments Don't forget to text “EKSB” to 33-777 to get the shownotes right to your inbox! You can also find the full shownotes at www.ascensionpress.com/EveryKneeShallBow