Transcript
The Eucharist is glorious, life-giving, wonderful, patient, dynamic. We are people of the Eucharist.
When I was 15 years old, I had a great spiritual mentor. I don't know how my life would have unfolded if I hadn't met him, but it's difficult to imagine that life would have been anywhere near as fruitful or rewarding as it has been. He encouraged me to read the gospels. He taught me how to pray. He showed me how to care for the poor and visit the lonely. He encouraged me to read great spiritual books. He watched without judgment as I foolishly wrestled with God. He listened patiently to my questions, doubts, excuses, and resistance.
And perhaps most of all, perhaps most of all, he encouraged me to honor these sacred truths that were emerging in my soul. Something is missing, there is more to life, and you do have more to offer. One of the fruits of this friendship was a moment of clarity so piercing that it has defined my life. I was walking home from meeting with him one day when everything we had been discussing for months came together in a single clarifying thought. Some moments are holy, some moments are unholy, and our choices can guide a moment in either direction. It was a rare moment of clarity in a chaotic and confusing world. It was a moment of intense joy.
Everything good in my life has been connected to that moment. And all the pain and disappointment I have caused myself and others has been the result of abandoning the wisdom that was revealed to me in that moment. In that moment, I realized what was possible. In that moment, I learned to collaborate with God and create holy moments. It was a moment of grace like none other. And I have spent my life trying to help other people discover that same clarity and joy. It is the only way I know to express my gratitude for the infinite blessings that moment brought to my life.
Now it's your turn. This is your moment, the moment when you realize that despite what your life has been up until now, and regardless of anything you have done in the past, what matters most is what you do next. It's time for your life to make sense. Once we discover that some moments are holy, some moments unholy, and our choices can guide a moment in either direction, life finally begins to make sense. This is no small thing. Most people in the modern secular world cannot make sense of their own lives. The culture has exiled them from God, religion, and spirituality. So, each day is a frustrated attempt to put together a jigsaw puzzle of life without crucial pieces.
And the more disconnected from God our lives become, the more meaningless life becomes. Holy moments inject divine meaning and purpose into every moment of our lives. Meaning is crucial to our health and happiness. We cannot thrive as human beings without it. And we cannot live a meaningful life by filling our life with trivial things and meaningless activities. Holy moments solve the meaninglessness of our lives. Now, let us explore exactly how our choices can guide a moment, for this is the essence of collaborating with God to create holy moments. The crucial question is, what is a holy moment? A holy moment is a single moment in which you open yourself to God. You make yourself available to Him. You set aside personal preference and self-interest, and for one moment, you do what you prayerfully believe God is calling you to do. These holy moments, these tiny collaborations with God, unleash the pure, unmitigated joy that I first experienced walking home that afternoon when I was 15, the same pure, unmitigated joy that is about to flood every corner of your being.
So, begin today. One of the beautiful things about this idea is that you can implement it immediately. You don't need to study it for years. No special qualifications are necessary. You are equipped right now to collaborate with God and create holy moments. You know everything you need to know right now to begin activating holy moments in your life. And here's the beautiful thing. If you can collaborate with God today to create one holy moment, you can create two tomorrow and four the next day and eight the day after that. There is no limit to the number of holy moments you can participate in. Holiness is possible. Life all comes down to the moment of decision. Learn to master the moment of decision. We all make choices. That's the easy part. The hard thing about choices is living with them. If I could give you only one piece of advice, it would be this. Make choices that are easy to live with. Make choices you can look back on lovingly, like you do upon the best of times with the best of friends. It's time to start filling your life with holy moments. Holy moments are choices with powerful and positive consequences. Holy moments are choices that are easy to live with. If you glance back at your life, the choices you find hardest to live with were unholy moments.
Our decisions quite literally shape our lives. We make the future with our choices. The beautiful thing about choices is you have more to make. Choices got you here. Wherever here is right now in your life, choices got you here. But if you don't like here, all you need to do is start making different choices. Your choices have power. If someone had an incredible power and used it for evil, that would be a horrible thing. But what about if someone had an incredible power and didn't use it for good? There's something tragic and wrong about that too, isn't there? That someone is you. You possess an incredible power. You can choose what is good and holy, or you can choose what is unholy and destructive. Your choices have power. So let me ask you, what are you going to do with the rest of your life? More of the same? Continue to distract yourself with meaningless nonsense? Focus on what you can get, keep dreaming about a change you know you will never make? Or are you finally, once and for all, ready to do something about the nagging dissatisfaction in your soul? If you are ready for a change, it only takes a handful of holy moments to flood your soul with joy and show you a new and exciting vision of the rest of your life. It only takes a handful of holy moments to completely shift the momentum of your life. So don't let your past rob you of your future. You are more than the worst thing that has ever happened to you. You are more than the worst thing you have ever done. God is never more than one choice away. It only takes one holy moment to shift the momentum of your life in the right direction.
As we've been making this journey, have you been wondering how you'll live out this consecration for the rest of your life? Let me help you out. One holy moment at a time. That's what we're called to. One holy moment at a time. Trust, surrender, believe, receive. Create a holy moment right now, become a member of the International Society of the Eucharist. We'll send you a free copy of 33 Days Eucharistic Glory. A copy of the children's version, a copy of the limited-edition journal, which includes an amazing Holy Week retreat. Click the button below and join today. Have a great day. And remember, be bold, be Catholic. We are people of the Eucharist.
Jesus, I believe
That you are truly present.
In the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.
Every day, I long
For more of you.
I love you above all things.
And I desire to receive you into my soul.
Since I cannot receive you sacramentally at this moment
I invite you to come and dwell in my heart.
May this spiritual Communion
Increase my desire
For the Eucharist.
You are the healer of my soul.
Take the blindness from my eyes.
The deafness from my ears.
The darkness from my mind.
And the hardness from my heart.
Fill me with the grace, wisdom
And courage.
To do your will in all things.
My Lord and my God.
Draw me close to you.
Nearer than ever before.
Amen.
Consecrate America.
To the Eucharist.
Bye bye.
Have a good day.
Have a great day!
Have a great day.
Yeah! Come on.
Have a great day!
Hey, Isabelle. One simple way to be mindful of God's presence in the world is to know where the nearest tabernacle is. So while we've got a couple of minutes, I thought we might work on your geography a little.
Sounds good, Dad. You're always coming up with something.
If I was at latitude of 37.75 and longitude of -80.47, where would the nearest tabernacle be then?
St. Catherine of Siena, West Virginia.