{"id":39733,"date":"2013-05-18T10:00:48","date_gmt":"2013-05-18T15:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=39733"},"modified":"2013-05-19T11:21:16","modified_gmt":"2013-05-19T16:21:16","slug":"faith-is-love-in-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/05\/faith-is-love-in-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith is Love in Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"love-stripes\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Praise the Lord, I\u2019ve survived yet another year of college! It wasn\u2019t pretty. There was a lot of caffeine and a lot of hair pulling and a lot of wanting to drop out of school, but by the grace of God I survived. Unfortunately, this means that I am getting closer and closer to my imminent graduation when I will be forced to become a \u201creal person\u201d in the \u201creal world\u201d. Bleh.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what my future holds I drive myself crazy. What is my vocation in life? Do I like my major enough to do it for the rest of my working career? Who will I marry? Should I home school my future children? What if I\u2019m called to religious life? Which order will I be in? Will my Mother Superior like me? God, what are You doing with my life?!?!<\/p>\n

But lately, God\u2019s really been showing me how to trust in His perfect plan for me. He reminds me everyday that He loves me and only wants what\u2019s best for me, and that sometimes I just need to take a deep breath and live life moment by moment. My current vocation is to be a good student and a good leader in my campus ministry, so these are the things in which I should direct my efforts. Why ruin the present by worrying about the future, right? I have faith (or at least try to have faith) that God will lead me where I need to go.<\/p>\n

How to Love God More<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

As Christians and as Catholics, having faith in God is something that the secular world just doesn\u2019t understand. How can you trust in something that you can\u2019t see? Also, how do we do we practice this \u201cfaith in God\u201d? Well, honestly, like anything else, it takes a lot of practice.<\/p>\n

As Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta said, \u201cFaith is love in action\u201d. So logically, to have faith in God is to love Him. Easy enough, right? (Wrong.)<\/p>\n

So if having faith in God means that we should love Him, how exactly do we love God?<\/p>\n

One way is to truly fall in love with the Mass. Also, go to adoration. We as Catholics are blessed with the True Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. When we go to daily Mass and adoration, we are seeking out Jesus. We are seeking God\u2019s plan for us. Through these actions we are able to show God that we love Him. Through our love for Him, we are able to have faith in His plan. As a priest said at a retreat I went to recently, true love can\u2019t stand distance. This is evident in the sacrament of marriage when a husband and wife become one flesh. The same is true in our love for Jesus. If we are really in love with Him, then we should be looking for ways to always be with Him. He won\u2019t necessarily take away the burdens we\u2019ve been given, but He will give us peace in those burdens. Only trust in Jesus, not trust in ourselves or in other people, can take away whatever worries we may have.<\/p>\n

Another way is to become close to our beautiful Blessed Mother Mary. She loved Jesus more than anyone else. She was His mother after all, and there aren\u2019t many bonds stronger than that. She was the first disciple and she had undying faithfulness to God\u2019s plan. She\u2019ll bring us closer to her Son, Jesus. All we have to do is ask.<\/p>\n

Lastly, the best way we can show our love for God is by showing love to others. We are all made in His image, so by loving one another we directly love God. We can do this by helping a coworker out with a hard project which we aren\u2019t assigned, taking time out of our schedule to have lunch with a long lost friend or even something as simple as smiling at a stranger in the grocery store. It can be hard sometimes to love other people, especially when they hurt you, but we can unite the loving sacrifices we make for others with Jesus\u2019 ultimate sacrifice on the Cross. There is no greater love that we can have for God than to give up everything for Him.<\/p>\n

Love is a Call to Action<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

So in the spirit of Pentecost, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to have more faith in God. Also, challenge yourself to fall more deeply in love with God everyday.<\/p>\n

As Catholics, we are blessed to have so many ways to grow in our spirituality. As I mentioned before, adoration is one of those ways. Here\u2019s a list of parishes in Austin that host perpetual adoration:<\/p>\n

Sacred Heart
\n5909 Reicher Dr
\nAustin, TX 78723<\/p>\n

Emmaus
\n1718 Lohman’s Crossing Rd
\nAustin, TX 78734<\/p>\n

St. Louis King of France
\n7601 Burnet Rd
\nAustin, TX 78757<\/p>\n

St. Catherine of Sienna
\n4800 Convict Hill Rd
\nAustin, TX 78749<\/p>\n

San Jose
\n2435 Oak Crest
\nAustin, TX 78704-5317<\/p>\n

St. William Catholic Church
\n620 Round Rock W Dr
\nRound Rock, TX<\/p>\n

And if you have any advice for this young \u201ctrying-not-to-freak-out\u201d almost college senior, please post in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Praise the Lord, I\u2019ve survived yet another year of college! It wasn\u2019t pretty. There was a lot of caffeine and a lot of hair pulling and a lot of wanting to drop out of school, but by the grace of God I survived. Unfortunately, this means that I am getting closer and closer to my… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"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_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-39733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":158215,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/family-faith-and-the-fall-college-app-craze\/","url_meta":{"origin":39733,"position":0},"title":"Family, Faith and the Fall College App Craze","author":"Rachel","date":"October 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There are some big things happening right now in the world of the family in our culture. 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