{"id":272493,"date":"2016-07-19T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/?p=272493"},"modified":"2016-07-19T09:32:03","modified_gmt":"2016-07-19T14:32:03","slug":"review-7-habits-define-catholic-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/review-7-habits-define-catholic-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith in Action (Review: 7 Habits That Define Our Catholic Identity)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/atxcath-7habits-550x366.jpg?resize=550%2C366\" alt=\"7 Habits That Define Our Catholic Identity, from a webinar by Bert Ghezzi, at ATXCatholic.com\" width=\"550\" height=\"366\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-272494\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I wasn&#8217;t raised Catholic, but I&#8217;m not a convert, either. My mom&#8217;s side of the family is Catholic, so I was baptized as a baby and received my other sacraments of initiation on the usual timeline. I never say that I was raised Catholic, though. We didn&#8217;t go to church, not even for Christmas or Easter. That just wasn&#8217;t what we did. Now that I live as a Catholic (with God&#8217;s help), and I see my friends raising their young children, I&#8217;m starting to understand what it might have been like to be raised Catholic. I hope to raise my own Catholic family with my future husband someday, but in the meantime, I just work on me.<\/p>\n<p>Now, how to <em>live<\/em> as a Catholic: that is something I can do. I have maintained a delightful relationship with <a href=\"http:\/\/avemariapress.com\">Ave Maria Press<\/a> (AMP) as a book reviewer for several years, but I also enjoy their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.avemariapress.com\/webinars\/parish\/\">Professional Development Webinar series<\/a>. The name is a little misleading; you don&#8217;t have to be working (or even volunteering) in ministry to participate in the webinars. AMP even records each webinar and posts them on YouTube for later viewing! Out of my desire for a little spiritual growth (and the desire to clear out my backlog of videos to watch), I recently viewed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=eGgTp5pqHZ4\">&#8220;7 Habits That Define Our Catholic Identity,&#8221;<\/a> given by Bert Ghezzi. If you don&#8217;t even have the hour to watch, here&#8217;s my summary and a few analytical thoughts.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"630\" height=\"355\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eGgTp5pqHZ4?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>First, the major takeaway. The seven habits are:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Develop a personal relationship with Jesus.<\/li>\n<li>Celebrate the sacraments.<\/li>\n<li>Observe the liturgical seasons.<\/li>\n<li>Pray and read Scripture daily.<\/li>\n<li>Participate in your parish.<\/li>\n<li>Share your faith.<\/li>\n<li>Participate in Catholic social justice.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know if Ghezzi intended to list them in that order, but that seems like a pretty good order of importance to me! That&#8217;s not to say that any of them are worthless, but if you&#8217;re going to start building just one Catholic habit, I say start with Jesus. As Ghezzi notes, it is possible to have been raised Catholic yet never really feel the presence of God. If you don&#8217;t know where to start, just ask. Ask Jesus to make himself known to you. Ask God to fill up your heart. He wants to love you, and he gives you the faith you need to believe in him. Ask for help to put that faith to work.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding sacraments, Ghezzi clarifies that we are supposed to be participating in them, not just watching. The priest is not putting on a show. We&#8217;re not the audience. Listen, sing, and pray. Offer your <a href=\"http:\/\/apostleshipofprayer.org\/daily-offering-prayers\/\">prayers, works, joys, and sufferings<\/a> on the altar at Mass. As the liturgical seasons pass by, make a big outward change in your life, too. Advent and Lent aren&#8217;t the only time for special resolutions. How can you make Advent the beginning of your year (which, liturgically speaking, it already is)? What can you resolve to do for every week of Ordinary Time?<\/p>\n<p>What parish do you go to? If you bounce around, where would you turn in a crisis? That&#8217;s your parish. Invest in it. Make friends. Pray for your parish, even if you don&#8217;t have the time or ability to do anything else. I have a long commute, so I pray the rosary as I drive home each day. Once a month, I pray for my parish&#8217;s pastor and associate pastor, their health and intentions, and the intentions of the parish. They need the prayer; I need the prayer.<\/p>\n<p>So much has already been said about prayer, Scripture, evangelization, and social justice. I won&#8217;t spill more e-ink on it here except to second Ghezzi&#8217;s recommendation of &#8220;friendship evangelization.&#8221; People aren&#8217;t projects, and you can&#8217;t convert anyone. (God does that.) What you can do is make a friend. Meet people&#8217;s genuine needs without counting the cost. Let the light of Christ shine through you in silence, and pray for an opportunity to speak up. Then, when you get the chance, share Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Living as a Catholic only ends when your life ends. How do you live out what you believe?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I wasn&#8217;t raised Catholic, but I&#8217;m not a convert, either. My mom&#8217;s side of the family is Catholic, so I was baptized as a baby and received my other sacraments of initiation on the usual timeline. I never say that I was raised Catholic, though. We didn&#8217;t go to church, not even for Christmas or&#8230;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/review-7-habits-define-catholic-identity\/\">[Read&nbsp;More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90,87],"tags":[2941,2573,276,2217,116,1660,2477],"class_list":{"0":"post-272493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-faith-blog","7":"category-reviews","8":"tag-catholic-videos","9":"tag-daily-life","10":"tag-identity","11":"tag-life-advice","12":"tag-reviews-2","13":"tag-spiritual-life","14":"tag-videos","15":"entry","16":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":116031,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/05\/a-response-to-should-children-make-up-their-own-minds-about-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":272493,"position":0},"title":"A Response to &#8220;Should Children Make Up Their Own Minds About Religion?&#8221;","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"May 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I did not grow up in church. That surprises people who have only known me as an involved Catholic, but it's true. My mom's side is the Catholic side of the family, and they're only occasional churchgoers. My dad's side is mostly non-churchgoing, and they're not Catholic. When I go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Should Children Make Up Their Own Minds About Religion? A Reponse at AustinCNM.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/acnm_childrenreligion.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":145339,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/review-arriving-at-amen\/","url_meta":{"origin":272493,"position":1},"title":"Mathing Up the Faith (Review: &#8220;Arriving at Amen&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"September 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I love a good conversion story. I've made a few attempts at writing my own, but I have never found quite the right angle of approach. It's not the struggle to find something other than God in which to place my happiness, like it was for Jen Fulwiler. It's not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Review of \"Arriving at Amen,\" by Leah Libresco, at AustinCNM.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/bossfight_womanjump-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/bossfight_womanjump-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/bossfight_womanjump-550x367.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":325318,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/can-we-be-catholic-and-american-archbishop-chaput-tocqueville-notre-dame\/","url_meta":{"origin":272493,"position":2},"title":"Can We Be Catholic and American? (A Response to Archbishop Chaput&#8217;s Bishop&#8217;s Symposium Talk)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"November 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Author's note: As commenter DanC kindly pointed out, I had my Chaput speeches mixed up. The post below has been corrected from its originally published version to refer to the correct context and original text. I apologize for any confusion I caused. I spent a while learning how to teach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"flag-pixabay","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/flag-pixabay-550x289.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/flag-pixabay-550x289.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/flag-pixabay-550x289.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":189665,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/review-into-the-breach\/","url_meta":{"origin":272493,"position":3},"title":"A Clarion Call to Catholic Men (Review: &#8220;Into the Breach&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"December 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Although I am not a man, nor am I married to one, I greatly enjoy reading about Catholic men's spirituality. I'm blessed to have so many examples of strong, outwardly faithful men in my life. Honestly, one of my favorite things is hearing my male friends talk about their personal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\"I am hereby exhorting you to step into the breach to do the work of Christ's soldiers in the world today.\" \u2014Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/acnm_intothebreach.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":148179,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/formed-org-review-how-this-website-can-aid-your-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":272493,"position":4},"title":"Formed.org Review: How This Website Can Aid Your Faith","author":"Matthew Hartwick","date":"September 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently I had the honor to try out a new subscription service at formed.org, that my parish has chosen to participate in. I have been using it for a week now, and I would like to\u00a0share my review. Let me start by saying that this service is just beginning so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Catholicism","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/catholicsim-web-image-675x400-321x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":306897,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/10\/weapons-scripture-tradition-review-dual-wielding\/","url_meta":{"origin":272493,"position":5},"title":"Your Weapons Are Scripture and Tradition (Review: &#8220;Dual Wielding&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"October 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've discovered a new kind of Catholic nerdery! I like books and learning and grammar and trivia, so I've long considered myself a nerd with personality. When I came back to the Church just over a decade ago, I found it only natural to become a Catholic nerd, too. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A review of Dual Wielding at ATX Catholic.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atxcatholicdualwielding-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atxcatholicdualwielding-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atxcatholicdualwielding-550x367.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}