“I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Paul in the first reading…He is writing to his friends the Corinthians once again…Paul compares being a practicing Catholic to an athlete…Many of us know who have participated in sports that in order to be good at a sport, one must train…The same goes for being a practicing Catholic…..First point right off the bat…Notice the word “practice”?…This word implies a few things….One, we are not perfect, so we need to practice….And two, all athletes before a game must practice…And so must we as Catholics…We have to put in the time…..Daily Rosary, Weekly Fasting, Monthly Sacramental Confession, Receive the Blessed Sacrament Weekly at Mass (At the minimum - If you can - Go to Mass everyday), Sit before the Lord in Eucharistic Adoration Weekly, Read Scripture Daily, Read Holy and Religious Books…Why do we have to do those things? Because we are not the source of grace…God is and therefore we must “prepare the vessel” of our soul to receive the “wine” of God’s grace…..Just like an athlete…A practicing Catholic must “put in the time”…....He must practice!.....As the saying goes in athletic circles…”No pain no gain”…..So it is with being a Catholic…There is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday!

“Every athlete exercises discipline in every way…..They do it to win a perishable crown….I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified”

If we pay close attention at Holy Mass to the words of the priest we will hear this phrase spoken…”O Lord, from whom all good things come: grant to us your humble servants”……In order to receive these “good things”…We must make ourselves available to them…We can not give what we do not possess!…..Far too many Christians put the “cart before the horse”…..They try to “give” what frankly they do have…….Before we can properly serve others we first must develop our interior life through prayer and the Sacraments…Without those “tools”…We will not "bear fruit that will last"

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit”

Mother Teresa was asked by the press once while she was alive…What is your secret?…Her answer….”I pray”…And stepping back and thinking about her answer....It is really that simple!………People today, especially mainstream Americans in corporate jobs throw around this phrase a lot…”Thoughts and Prayers”….They say this with little understanding about what true prayer really is……They say this without understanding just how transformative a mature Catholic prayer life really can be……How a deep prayer life can impact a person, a family, a community and the world…Mother Teresa understood that very clearly…That is why her life deeply impacted the world - She made a difference!…It was not necessary what she did or who she was…It was the fact that what Mother Teresa did was fueled by her interior life, which came from Prayer, Fasting and the Sacraments…This is what we as “practicing” Catholics must do in order to make an impact…No matter how “gifted” we may be…All of us are limited…However, God is unlimited - Never forget that!…And just like St Paul tells us today at Mass….He compares Catholics to athletes…And we all know that any athlete who does not “practice” does not “win the game”

“I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified”