Micropraying, the future of prayer..

We live in a fast moving, frantic and busy world. Our generation has smaller attention spans than our parents and grandparents. We lose concentration and get lost easily. It's hard to find time to pray so I've been practicing a new type of prayer. Microprayer. Twitter is a microblog, people love it because it is quick and easy. A quick thought can be sent out into the world without need for expansion and effort. Blogging can be a laborious process, having something to say, the time to write and publish it. In the same way praying can be difficult.

A priest once told me after confession that I should start everyday with the prayer:

'Jesus I know that nobody loves me more than you love me, please help me to be the best that I can be today'

It's simple. quick and easy. It's also very effective, I go out the door knowing I can face whatever is thrown at me. I am armoured and ready to go. When we're down, when we're in a rut, when we're upset it feels like we are in a hole. Sometimes it's a hole of loneliness, grief or despair. It is very hard to have a conversation with God in these times, we feel numb, unable to gather any cohesive thoughts. We distance ourselves from God because we don't have the energy to pray.

We want to be happy, full of joy, feel on top of the world. So we can praise the Lord and give thanks for all that is good. We want to smile, skip and infect others with our faith and love of God. But how can we get out of our holes and on top of the world. We need to ask God.

When you don't have the time or the energy we just need to say a Microprayer,

'Lord please bless and protect me, help me get through the day'

'Jesus I know nobody can love me more than you love me, please help me be the best I can be today.'

'Spirit please grant me the gift of wisdom so I can say the words God wants others to hear'

'Mother Mary thank you for your help, I love you, need you and dedicate my life to you'

Microprayers can be said while having a wash, walking to the bus, driving to work, making a drink, during the adverts on TV, lying in bed. They are so quick and easy I find myself praying more now that I ever have.

Try it this week, start saying your Microprayer's and I promise you will start praying more and be full of the joy of God. Your blessings will be abundant and you will be full of the Holy Spirit.


May God bless and protect you all.

YCM

What does God want?..

There's an old saying that you don't know what you've got until it's gone. I feel this applies to all aspects of life and the lesson is we should try not to take anything for granted. My faith seems to come in waves, externally I'm always involved and will never shy away from what I believe. But internally there are times I feel distance from God, not intentionally it just happens. Like all relationships we have in life our relationship with God is not always growing at a constant rate there will inevitably be ups and downs.

The best thing about periods of distance in a relationship is the rediscovery of how important the relationship is to you. I recently attended a talk on how knowing what God wants for us and releasing his will is the essence of being holy. The simple test being that if we want what is the same as what God wants for us then our God's will and our will become ones.

This made me realise that to live my life as a practicing Catholic I don't need to walk around preaching or trying to convert everyone I meet. To be holy my aim is to live my life the way that God wants me to live it. With the help of my friends and with guidance from others I can become a holy person. To do this I must consider God's will whenever I make a decision. At first this might sound difficult but I think with practice I should be able to live my life as God wants me to. We've all heard of the saying 'What Would Jesus Do?', I am going to develop my own relationship with God by thinking 'What Does God Want?' whenever I have a decision to make.

May God bless you all with his abundant love

YCM

Why does God let bad things happen...

There is pain, suffering and unfairness in the world. Sometimes people use this fact to disprove the existence of God. This may sound like an old and childish argument but it is actually one of the main reasons people stop practicing their faith. People who come face to face with suffering can take their anger out on God. If God loves us why are so many people dying in the world, or in constant pain due to a terminal disease. Even the most devout Catholics will ask why God didn't prevent the death of a loved one, or why he lets a loved one suffer.

God loves us so much and made us in His image, God loves us so much He sent His son to die for us, God loves us so much He gave us free will. God does not control everything we do in our lives, he gives us support when we ask. God does not make our decisions for us, He guides us when we are lost. God does not prevent bad things happening, He gives mercy and comfort to those who are suffering.

Bad things happen because we live in a world of bad people but at the same time good things happen because we live in a world of good people. To focus on the negative aspects of our lives is to ignore all the wonderful things that we have been given. There is evil present in our world, evil forces that manifest themselves in addiction, vanity, selfishness, lack of compassion, envy and all manner of negative traits. God will help us to rid ourselves of this evilness if we ask Him, but the only person we have complete control over is ourselves. If we want a better world, we need to be better people. If we want peace, we need to live peacefully. If we want a world of goodness, we need to be good people.

Most of the time those who blame God for bad things are those who have already turned their back on God. They cut Him out of their lives and then ask why he abandons them. They say they don't need His help, and they ask why they are alone. They leave a hole where God should be in their lives and search for ways to fill it with sin, they become bad people and ask why bad things happen. The only way to true goodness, true peace, true joy in the world we live is to give our lives to God. Jesus made this perfectly clear and gave us the simplest and most powerful commandment:

'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind'
Matthew 22:37

My final thought on this point is how do you know that God isn't stopping disasters every second? How do we know what our lives would be like if He abandoned us the same way we abandon Him? We are the lucky ones, we are the chosen ones, our lives are full of Love. Let us praise God and the Holy Trinity for saving us.

This weeks blog was inspired by a discussion I had at a prayer group. Our planned speaker wasn't able to attend so instead we all wrote a discussion point that we were struggling with ourselves such as 'Should priests be allowed to marry?' or 'Why is it important to abstain from meat on Fridays?' and then put them all in a hat and pulled a couple out. It was a fantastic meeting and along with being inspired by others it also made me examine more closely my own faith. Some of the topics were controversial and these led to really good, interesting and sometimes heated discussions. I would highly recommend this exercise as it helps concrete personal belief to openly discuss our faith.

May God bless you all and stop bad things happening ;)

YCM

Judgement..

We are all guilty of judging people, intentionally or subconsciously. Sometimes we act on our judgements, sometimes we change our behaviour towards people who do not fit into a mould we are comfortable with.

We ourselves are judged, on our appearance, our beliefs, our ethnicity, our social abilities, our wealth or lack of wealth. Being judged isn't nice, and being attacked is even worse. As Catholics we are an easy target, there are many people who disagree with the church and its teachings, people who do not like the fundamental beliefs or our religion and take pleasure is undermining it whenever possible. We have to try not to be intimidated by this, I always try to show my faith to those around, with rosary beads, religious bracelets, pin badges or abstaining from meat on Fridays. We can't repress our own beliefs for the opinion of the few, I get into many discussions started by people noticing my badges or asking why I'm not eating meat. These discussions help my own faith to grow and sometimes give the inquisitor something to think about.

One thing we should try not to do however is automatically assume all atheists are bad people. This goes totally against what Christ teaches. We are all Gods children and we should not form our opinions based on another's beliefs just as we hate being judged for our own. I try to treat everyone equally regardless of their faith, gender or nationality. I'm not always successful but I would not be a true Christian if I wasn't giving everyone to same respect.

I tried an exercise recently that helped me to curb my own judgmental side, I went out of my way to have a conversation with someone who had previously annoyed me with an anti-religious sentiment. I did not do this to start a debate, I did not do this to try and alter this persons views, I did it to prove to myself I can still have a genuine friendship with someone even though our fundamental beliefs are different.

Another example is Richard Dawkins. He is an anti-religious, critical and condeming person. But he is also intelligent, witty and probably a really nice man. He isn't evil, he isn't a vicious dictator, he is simply an academic with an opinion that he shares with others. We can debate with people and have differing opinions but we should not criticise others based purely on their beliefs. Not all my friends are Catholic but I do not favour those that are over others. I would hope my friends know I respect them all on individual merit, sometimes some of them will disagree with that but I will always try my best to be fair.

Judgement should be left to God Almighty, we should not try to inflict our own human karma or wish anybody harm based on their opinions. God made all of us and God does not make mistakes. He knows us all inside out and is especially fond of each and every one of us. We should always concentrate on what we can change.. ourselves:

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?"

Matthew 7:1-4

May God bless you all and send his spirit upon you

YCM

Passion Poem...

 

Passion

On the floor beneath the heavens, our Saviour cries in pain,

Calling to His father, calling out his name,

Tempted by the devil who slithered out of a hole,

Agony in His body, agony in His soul.

‘Father please save me, take my pain I pray,

Father please have mercy, take this cup away.

We can bring these souls to heaven in another way,

I’ll spread your name worldwide, starting from today.’

The sky was dark around Him, the trees themselves were still

‘Then let it be done Father, according to your will.’

With the fear within Him, God’s child began to cry,

To save the souls of the living, Jesus Christ must die.

The guards would come to get him, the traitor would succeed,

For 30 pieces of silver, Judas has done his deed.

His disciples were close at hand, but his disciples were asleep.

He said ‘Your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak.’

The elders of the Jews, took Him to be tried,

His followers were useless, Peter thrice denied.

Pilate put it to the people, who shall we crucify?

The crowd chanted Jesus, Jesus Christ must die!

Disfigured from His beating, blood matted in His hair,

Barely able to stand, He was given His cross to bear.

Falling every step, whipped to keep His pace,

Kind Veronica came to Him, wiping blood from His face.

Watching her son suffer, with the rest stood His mother,

He couldn’t go on any further, He needed the help of another.

Who would dare help Him, the guards they had to choose,

It was reluctant Simon of Cyrene, who supported the King of the Jews.

They reached the place of death, where thousands before had died,

The path before Him had ended, he was to be crucified.

Stretching out his hands, the nails they went straight through,

Jesus said, ‘Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do’.

Suffering on the cross, dying with common thieves,

On the floor below Him, His mother Mary grieved.

Giving up His spirit, bowing His blood stained head,

Darkness fell across the land, Jesus Christ was dead.

His disciple and mother waited, contemplating words spoken,

Now watched His side being pierced, while criminals legs were broken.

The child that God himself created, conceived within her womb,

Now taken down, wrapped in cloth, and rested in a tomb.

His disciples now scared of the Jews, the Romans they also feared

Afraid of persecution, His disciples disappeared.

All who were frightened, retreated to the upper room,

It was the women who discovered, Jesus had risen from the tomb.

Jesus appeared to all of them, to put any doubts to rest,

Filling those who heard his words, with love and happiness.

Persecuted here on earth, now sitting on His throne,

The stone that the builders rejected, became the corner stone.

Let’s use Christ as our example of how perfect we can be,

God sent His only son, He came to set us free.

All of mankind’s sins, he promises to forgive.

Our Saviour died on the cross, so the rest of us can live!

YCM

Flame 2012...

This week I went to the Flame Congress at Wembley Arena with 8,500 other young people. The size of the event alone was enough to inspire any young catholic and make them realise we are not alone in their faith. The music and production was fantastic and got everyone on their feet. The highlight for me was the inspirational testimonies given by so many believers.


There was a heavy emphasis on sport and although there are some shared values I felt that some speakers were afraid to mention God, even in front of 8,500 young Catholics, which just shows how anti-faith our country is becoming that people are afraid of persecution in every environment. This made the testimonies by Stef Reid and Debbie Floor even more amazing. Stef Reid spoke about her tragic accident when she was young and how it opened her up to ask God what his plan is for her. She is now a paralympic world record holder and a great hope for the British team this summer. She invited all of us present to ask God what his plan is for us and reminded us that our God is a mighty God, even when we can't see the bigger picture he can and we have to put our trust in him. It really helped me to put my life into Gods hands and not stress about the future, God knew us before we were born and we know he will look after us so we have no need to worry. Matthew tells us in Chapter 6, Verses 33-34:

'Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.'

The Mizen families emotional testimony was a great example of how a belief in the power of the Holy Spirit can help you through even the most tragic events in life. This was very well complimented by a group of young people from Gorton, Manchester who are using music to motivate young people and keep them out of trouble. Using their talents for positive results and not negative.

MC David Wells spoke very well, he told us that our generation is too quickly judged, God doesn't produce rubbish, we aren't useless, we aren't lazy, we aren't forgotten, we aren't unloved. His words were very powerful, then he proved that we can always achieve our goals by fulfilling his ambition of taking part in a Glee medley.

Sr Catherine Golum was infectious in her love for Jesus, she was a champion speed skater for America before she was called to live a life for God. The crowd were whipped into a frenzy by her words and it led to a spontaneous chant of JESUS, JESUS, JESUS by all 8,500 present.

It was a fantastic day that left all who attended feeling full of the joy of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Brilliant event organised very well by the team behind the scenes. May god bless you all with his abundant love.


YCM

Crisis of faith..

Having beliefs is hard, very hard. It's very easy to see why we try to surround ourselves with people who have much in common with us. I was speaking to someone recently who has moved to the area to study, he asked where he could meet young catholics. I recommended a few local events and groups and it made me think about his logic. Its much easier to be around people who agree with us, but does it strengthen or diminish our faith. Should I go away and live in a community detached from the world or shout bible verses in the street?

I'm attending Flame in London this weekend and I know before opening my mouth that most of the people I talk to will be Catholics, the fact they are attending a conference means they are active within their faith on some level. This will most probably fill me with the joy of the holy spirit and top up my faith and help me to be strong. If my life was like that all the time it would not give me the chance to live my life through adversity. I've recently had a few heated discussions with an atheist friend, I work with non-believers and after posting on a channel 4 page about Saints I received many replies questioning my religion. I didn't create my church, I'm don't decide it's teachings, but because I'm a Catholic I get attacked for my beliefs. It's much easier to follow the crowd, nod and agree your way through life without confrontation. But I don't, I stand up for my beliefs, I protect the teachings of my church and I'm criticized for my opinions. It can feel very lonely and can make you start to look at your own beliefs through the eyes of those that criticize. We have to live our life like Jesus even when we can't feel His love. That's why I started this post with John 3:16, a verse that is overused because of it's power but can help each one of us when we need strength.

But if life was easy all the time then I wouldn't need Jesus, if everyone agreed with me then I could not be as much of a witness to my faith. Everyone who is strong in their beliefs is open for attack, that includes all religions and atheists. But it is very draining to think you are alone, to have your fundamentals challenged constantly, we need topping up, we need support from our peers.

My faith is strong because I share my life with believers, but it is stronger because I live my faith surrounded by non-believers. Only then can Jesus see we are true to Him and doing what we can to spread his love.

YCM

Can you be a good Catholic without attending mass?

My initial response to this question is no! I've met a couple of baptised catholics recently who say they lead good lives but do not have time for mass in their lives. Believers who are not willing to commit time to attending mass on a Sunday. I can totally understand why, mass can be very boring to those who do not feel God in their lives. If you are not asking to be moved by the holy spirit you are sitting in a large room with people reciting age old prayers. It why atheists can't understand why anyone would submit themselves to the control of a Church and be restricted by its rules. If you are outside looking in then catholicism is restrictive, but when you are inside looking out it is one of the most liberating experiences you can have.

I think that you can be a good person without going to mass, people of all backgrounds and religions can be good people, great people. Loving, humble and generous people. But Holy Mass must be at the center of your faith if you want to practice catholicism. I used to believe a practicing catholic was someone who went to mass every Sunday. I now believe this is the absolute minimum that is expected and that if you do not actively participate in your faith in some form on a daily basis then you are not growing and living your life for Christ. When you do start the give more to your faith you will be showered with blessings and feel the power of God through the Holy Spirit. Once this relationship starts to grow you will wonder how you ever lived your life without faith.

If you want to be a good catholic you must center your life around prayer, charity, fasting and Jesus Christ made present the world over ever second through the miracle of Holy Mass.

God Bless

YCM

For lent I'm giving up...

I am bored of the number of people asking me what I'm giving up or telling me what they are doing for lent. It's great that people are embracing lent but I just feel bragging about how hard the next 6 weeks is going to be just isn't the right way to show faith.

The gospel on Ash Wednesday made it quite clear that those who shout about their good deeds and complain about hardships have already received their rewards in the eyes of God. We need to carry on as normal when we fast, keep silent when struggling with our self denial and pray to God privately. I feel it is important to make sacrifices during lent to prepare for the celebration of Easter. We should deny ourselves something that causes us joy. We should be truly selfless, giving up cake to loose weight is not an act for God it is a selfish act for our own vanity. I personally will not be shouting my lenten resolutioions from the nearest rooftop as they are only for God.

I also think we should take this attitude to help us make the right choices in life. To do selfless deeds for God and not for instant gratification, to make the right decision even when its the difficult option and not feel hard done by. Lets not give to receive, lets give our lives and our love to everyone and not expect any rewards except those that are awaiting us in heaven.

YCM

Love thy neighbor...

Recently I've been very conscious of how I can share my faith with others. I've wanted to talk about my faith and beliefs in the vain hope others might listen and be inspired. What I found was that people put up barriers or attacked my words, challenged my faith and the church. I argued and alienated and did very little good when trying to be an evangelise.

When discussing this with a friend he said that my mission should not be to convert, if I want to be a good Christian and live like Christ there is a very simple instruction that Christ Himself gave us. A quote I used in my first blog and have almost ignored since:

Matthew 22:36-40

 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

My friend cited the example of Mother Theresa, she did not spend her life in the slums to convert those around her, she spent her time there to love others. We are fools to think we can go around preaching the gospel on a daily basis and covert all we meet. Some will never convert, some will never change, the greatest impact we can make on their lives is to love them. Love everyone we meet and others will see our example, this will do much more than any preaching could accomplish.


Preaching can make hypocrites out of us, we are all sinners and when we sin we are humbled by God. We need to beg for forgiveness, love Him with all our heart and love those around us. This is the greatest way we can make a difference in this world and the next.


YCM

Sex, alcohol and evangelising...

I recently went out with a few people and ended up at a friends house. After a few drinks the topic of conversation somehow fell on sex before marriage. As a practicing Catholic this is something I am against but I was in the minority among this particular group of friends. It resulted in a heated discussion between me and a close Catholic friend. I believe the reason he was so passionate on the matter is because he has recently got a girlfriend. His argument was as his girlfriend was on the pill for medical reasons and the bible teachings are full of contradictions then he does not have any feelings of guilt towards the matter. My arguments were that the churches teachings are very clear on the matter, the argument against the teachings of the bible is an anti-christian argument and not an excuse to pick and choose which parts of the faith we follow and just because is girlfriend is on the contraceptive pill for medical reasons it does not justify premarital sex. Premarital sex is not about getting pregnant otherwise family planning could be used before marriage but it isn't. I told him his arguments were rubbish and he was trying to pick and choose which parts of his faith to follow to justify the inconveniences he was encountering. Our discussion got very heated and only ended when I left to go home, I felt uneasy afterwards about the discussion and I felt my faith had been attacked by those in the room.


The next day I was proud that I had stood up for my beliefs as I have often remained silent in the past to avoid awkward questioning regarding my religion. But afterwards I realized that during the events that took place that took place that evening I had lacked the most important quality when trying to discuss matters of faith.. humility. By trying to defend my faith I had actually questioned my friends faith and alienated myself from all those present. I had not been a good disciple and if anyone in the room was considering learning more about the church then my rant on anti-catholic premarital sex was not going to convince them sign up.


I hope I have learnt from my mistakes and I wish to build on the passion that I demonstrated but in a much more productive way. I wanted to get across the fact my girlfriend and I receive many blessings through our devotion to our faith by respecting the rules of the church and following its teachings as closely as possible. I wanted to explain that we aren't perfect and we are all sinners but that just because we sin doesn't mean we can't strive to live our lives according to the word of God. I wanted to encourage those present to see that people who go to mass do not consider themselves better than others, we are all the same but practicing Catholics are just trying to improve themselves in the eyes of God. I wanted to explain why I personally did not think it was beneficial to pick and chose which parts of the churches teachings we want to follow but as long as we strive to follow them as closely as possible then God's infinite love shown through the death of his only son Jesus will always be with us.

I wanted to get across all these things but I didn't... I just acted like an idiot. I pray to God that along with the words to inspire others I am also blessed with the essential characteristic to compliment it... humility.

YCM

Giving time to Jesus..

One thing I think a lot of us struggle with is finding time for our faith. Life just seems to get in the way. This week I’ve been thinking about how much time I spend on different aspects of my life in an average week:

Sleeping	60 Hours
Working	50 Hours
Uni work	20 Hours
Eating	10 Hours
Laptop/Phone	10 Hours
Football	5 Hours
Reading	5 Hours
Praying/Mass	2 Hours

Try filling out a similar table and see what your results are.

So on paper I spend just over 1% is devoted to my faith. But I don’t feel that is a fair reflection. The point of this exercise is to say it is impossible for God to compete for time in our everyday lives. I can’t be expected to come in from work and spend 9 hours doing the rosary to make up for it. Obviously it is possible to dedicate more time to Jesus, we can join prayer groups, go to mass more than once a week or spend more time in quiet reflection. But the most effective way to ensure we are witnesses to our faith is to make sure we live our lives through Christ in everything we do and offer our lives to God.

This is easier said than done, it’s unrealistic we are all going to rush out and start Evangelizing to everyone we meet or walk down the high street reciting the bible. We need to make small, realistic aims to try and strengthen our faith one step at a time. As it is said in the Gospel of Luke those of us who can be trusted in small matters will be trusted with much more.

Looking at my list I spend a majority of my time at work, am I making the most of this time spiritually? My aim is to try and have more open and honest discussions regarding my faith with my colleagues. This is a scary prospect and one I doubt will come easily. By concentrating on this difficult but achievable task I believe I can increase my love of Jesus and develop the ability to talk openly about my faith. To help me do this I will pray for the gift of words, not to preach to others but to try and explain to them how much my faith means to me and how good it makes me feel. It is unlikely I am going to convert someone while sat at my desk but if I can plant a seed or change someone’s perspective of faith then it’ll be worth it.

Why not make a table of your week and think about how you can strengthen your relationship with God and give yourself an achievable task.

YCM

In the beginning..

I don't really believe in new years resolutions, people like to convince themselves they will change their negative traits only to be disappointed if they fail and feel even worse. However I do think it is always good to have goals and take stock and look at our lives occasionally and see how we can do better. This year for example I've started a blog. I want to share my thoughts and experiences with like-minded people. I would like to help others and be helped through the difficulties in our lives and also share the joy of life.

I have one simple aim in this world and that is to live like Christ. I take great blessings and happiness from my faith and we should try and tell as many people as possible how good God can be to each and every one of us if we learn how to ask for his love. We should be an example of how great humans can be by putting their entire lives into the hands of Jesus. This simple aim is an incredibly difficult ideal but by having a focus it helps to deal with everything that life throws at us. We will be persecuted as Christians, we will be attacked for being different, we will be abused for having faith. But this is nothing unexpected, Christ was persecuted, the apostles were attacked, all disciples of Jesus suffer abuse. God will give us the strength we need to deal with the hardships in life and reward us a thousand times more with peace, security and love when we stay true to the name of his only son Jesus.

My new years resolution is to try and develop a greater relationship with God the father, Jesus his only son and the Holy Spirit. My goal is to love all those I meet the same way that I am loved by God. This is not an aim for 2012, this is not a diet or a fad that will be forgotten about by February. This is my core, this is who I am, this is the path God chose for me. Please pray that I may be true to myself when faced with temptation, that I may love those who hate me, that I may inspire others to live theirs lives through Jesus Christ.

YCM