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Marian Apparitions with Mary Pyper. "Procrastination is a habit. Why do we feel overwhelmed? We need a purpose in our lives. Live the messages." Sunday evening May 26, 2024 https://radiomaria.us
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Marian Apparitions with Mary Pyper. "Procrastination is a habit. Why do we feel overwhelmed? We need a purpose in our lives. Live the messages." Sunday evening May 26, 2024 https://radiomaria.us
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Marian Apparitions with Mary Pyper. "Procrastination is a habit. Why do we feel overwhelmed? We need a purpose in our lives. Live the messages." Sunday evening May 26, 2024 https://radiomaria.us
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The speaker discusses the issue of procrastination and how it can hinder our spiritual growth. They emphasize the importance of not delaying the things that God inspires us to do and the need to prioritize our spiritual life. They mention the messages from the Blessed Mother and the importance of living out those messages. The speaker also talks about the battle between Satan and God over marriage and the family, and encourages listeners to strengthen their families and marriages. They highlight the need to resist distractions and not take a vacation from our faith. The speaker concludes by urging listeners to do something beautiful for God and not to procrastinate in their spiritual life. Белая ночь Белая ночь will we do it? That's the big question, right? If you're like me, sometimes we procrastinate. Even when we know what good times, what the goodness of the Lord wants to be expressed through us that day, we wake up with all kinds of great ideas about, you know, I'll be able to do this and call this person or write this beautiful letter to this person to encourage them, I can do this and this and this, and we have all these great things that stretch before us and then we start our day and instantly all those great thoughts, those inspirations of the Holy Spirit, of our guardian angel, well, they get put on hold. And today we're going to talk about procrastination and how it can really hurt us. You know, many of us, we don't do anything about it. We procrastinate about doing something about our procrastination. That's very common, especially today when people feel so overwhelmed, you know, overwhelmed with all that is out there that is just going on, maybe not even in their personal life but in the world. And so what does that do that paralyzes us? Well, the good Lord wants us to move forward. This is the, well, the time of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes upon us and inspires us with so many things. Remember, the book of Acts, that's what it's named in the Bible, are all of the great things that the Holy Spirit animated the apostles to do and to start the church and to make sure that it was on the right track and to keep it growing and being the body of Christ here on earth, a means of sanctifying souls, a means of refuge for so many, just really a whole new way of life. That's why they called it The Way. And so today we're going to talk about what is keeping us from doing the things that we feel inspired to do with God and maybe even things that we need to take care of in our own life so that we can grow in holiness, that we can grow closer to the Lord. Everybody talks about, well, I need to start praying more, but they just know that's on their to-do list. They just, when I have time I'll do it or I'll do it at the end of the day. So we're going to kind of try to change our mindset. Our minds are set on the world right now and it's summertime, so we've got a little bit more ease to the daily life, sometimes more hectic because the kids are out of school, so you know, always rushing from one activity to another, but we do have the ability to slow things down, to take, well, to pause life so that we can really say, are we on the right path? Are we on the path of holiness to heaven? And if we're not, what can we do to correct our GPS, our spiritual GPS, so that everything that we do, our intention is to honor and glorify the Lord and that we actually do the things that he is inspiring us to do. And so our Blessed Mother, well, here's a quote from her, from Medjugorje, Dear Children, I am calling you for years through these messages that I am giving you. For years I am calling you and exhorting you to a deep spiritual life. Read the messages I am giving you every day and transform them into life. So here she's kind of saying, I've been doing this for years, and it's over 40 years now, she has been giving us sometimes the same messages over and over again, which means we haven't started to live those messages. Have we been living the gospel? You know, that's what she's calling us back to. She is the mother of the church, and she was there with the apostles when the church was started. And she was there, as you can imagine, to guide them, to give her wisdom, and to help them to do the things that seemed impossible, but really are possible, because with God all things are possible. So we need that encouragement, that reminder, and that's why, once again, the Lord has sent his mother to us to help form us on the way to holiness. And that is our vocation. Every one of us, that is our vocation. And throughout the ages, our Blessed Mother has appeared in many places all over the world. And so, this is a problem that is happening all over the world. It's part of our human nature, but it's also part of the tricks of the devil. You know, if he can get us to delay things that the Lord wants us to do, many times that delay, it's still the act of the thing that we're supposed to do still has benefit, still brings grace, maybe conversion, but if we had done it right away when we were inspired to do it, or doing it the way that we were inspired, well, it carries much greater grace with it and is much more effective. And so, I sometimes kid myself that the Blessed Mother already knows that I'm a procrastinator, so she kind of built that into her request, the inspiration. But I don't want her to have to do that. I really want to just do what she wants me to do. I am her handmaid, and there are so many things that you can do in a day that we sometimes talk ourselves out of, and that's why I love St. Mother Teresa. She always talks about, do something beautiful for God. So, I want you to take a minute right now to think, what is something beautiful that you can do for God right now in this particular day? Seize the day, my friends. That's what we need to do. We've been hearing lots of strange things on the news from different prophets, different visionaries, different guardian angels, the Blessed Mother, St. Michael, many of the angels and saints are now appearing in all kinds of messages, and we need to discern, but if you just step back for a moment and you look at everything, you're like, oh, wow, heaven is really trying to get our attention. So are we allowing them to get our attention? I'm not talking about having to spend hours reading spiritual books or all the different latest messages from different visionaries. What I'm talking about is, are we allowing the voice of God to enter into our life, and are we doing the things that the Lord is asking us to do? Many times, my friends, it's not these huge, amazing, miraculous things that impact the whole world. It's making a difference where you are, especially in your family. We know, without a doubt, that Satan is definitely attacking all the families, and as I've told you many times here, because it is so important to repeat over and over again, a Blessed Mother came to Lucia of Fatima later in her life, and Lucia told us that our Blessed Mother revealed that the final battle between Satan and God will be over marriage and the family. So right there, just knowing that, what can you do to strengthen your family, to strengthen your marriage? It might not be things that you want to do, because there's always that selfishness, and a lot of times, that's what plays into our procrastination, and the devil knows that, right? So we have to put on the armor of God, and we need to be prepared so that no matter what happens, we complete the things that we know we are called to do, that we know will help not only make our life better, but our family better, our kids more loving, knowing God, bringing God into everyday life, especially when you have them at home during the summer. You have more time to spend. Everybody goes on vacation and things like that. Are you visiting nearby shrines and nearby churches, just stopping in randomly even, and saying, wow, that looks like a beautiful church. Let's go in and say hi to Jesus, and spending five minutes with your kids. It doesn't have to be a mass. It doesn't have to be all these different things, but boy, would that be beautiful to build in a daily mass when you're on vacation. And yes, we can't take vacation from our Catholic faith. We can't take vacation from Sunday mass. We can't take vacation from praying. These are all things that are tricks of the devil, and he just loves it, right? Because he thinks, you know, wow, I've got that soul. Well, let's grab our soul back from that, from any distractions that have come and that have caused us to delay. Can you imagine if the Apostles decided that they were going to take time off from starting the church, and maybe St. Paul decided, well, I'm not going to go over there because I'm pretty tired, and I've been in prison, and I've been beaten, and things like that. No, we have to persevere because our time grows short. We never know how much time we're going to have, so we need to do something beautiful for God now. And that was Mother Teresa's enduring invitation, and a challenge to all of us and to the world. And you know, just like Our Blessed Mother's messages, it's not an abstract invitation, but it's a deeply personal and intimate one. Our Blessed Mother tells the visionaries in many different places and different times that these messages are for the world, but first they are for you to live those messages. And so, there is so much happening in the world, my friends, and so much happening within our own hearts, minds, and souls. All this makes it easy to lose sight of what matters most, and get absorbed in what matters least, and put off doing the things that we need to do. And that means going to monthly confessions. And sometimes it's easy to procrastinate when you don't want to do something, right? And so, that's why we have to really help ourselves. You know, there are different steps, and we'll talk about that later, real solutions to really help us. But procrastination is a habit of avoiding urgent tasks despite negative consequences. When people procrastinate, they often delay priorities and instead focus on less important, more enjoyable, simpler tasks instead, especially in the summer. So contrary to popular belief, procrastination is more than just laziness or poor time management. Laziness does play into it, and maybe that's our overriding final conclusion when we decide not to do something. But really, if we go to the root of it, we're trying to avoid an urgent task, even knowing the negative consequences. So let's apply that to the spiritual life, if we might. So what's an urgent task? Well, an urgent task is going to Mass on Sunday, every day as possible. An urgent task is to pray every day. An urgent task is to take care of your family every day and to do it well and to do it with great love. There's a famous quote that really stuck with me during my early mom years, and I took it to heart. It says, love pours a glass of milk, or duty pours a glass of milk. That's our duty as a mother, to feed our children and to get them nourishment and to clothe them and all that type. But love stirs in a little chocolate syrup. I'm a big chocolate person, so that really stuck with me. So simple things that can really make life beautiful and meaningful. I have five boys and I didn't have to really do a very good presentation of dinner. I just pretty much put things out on the counter during the summer. We'd grill out and things and they would just come through and it was like locusts that came through and ate everything in sight. This is really great, mom, you know, and they were done in five seconds. Well, that was good and fine until I started to think about that and to pray about it, my friends. How can we live our life, especially in the summer, more fully, more joyfully, and more for God? So that's when that little phrase came onto my radar screen. And so duty was to make sure the kids had healthy meals and they were fed and there was rhythm to their summer life because well, during the school, the school day takes up most of the time. But during the summer, it can get pretty wasteful as far as time goes. And I mean just doing things that are counterproductive even, you know, sleeping until noon and things like that. A few days are fine, but you know, you waste half the day. And so bringing a self-control and order to their day so that there was a rhythm to it And that's the rhythm of life, the rhythm of God, and including prayer in that rhythm, including not sleep, but not oversleep, right? So that vice of laziness kind of creeps in or gluttony because you eat way too much and things like that. And so putting that order into their life was very important, but doing it in a way that still made it fun and, you know, including their faith to make it fun for them. And Vacation Bible School is always a big thing. When they got older, they not just came to participate, but they became volunteers and leaders. And so just growing them in their faith no matter what stage of life they were in and showing them how to be a servant and how to bring goodness into the life of others, especially the goodness of God. And so these are the things that during the summer we have a chance to do that during the regular year, many times, especially with kids, we don't have that opportunity. But even if your kids are grown and things like that, we need to put that rhythm of goodness into our life, the rhythm of God. So let's say you're empty nesters and you have a tendency to procrastinate and put off doing things around the house and you just turn on Netflix because you're tired from a day at work or even your retirement and you're not really being very productive. And that's okay some of the time, but we need meaning and purpose in our life. And that's the way we are made in the image and likeness of God, a God who creates, a God who has order, a God who is always bringing goodness into the lives of others. And so we have these opportunities, especially in the summer, and I hope that it carries over throughout your year because once you establish this rhythm of goodness, the rhythm of God into your life, it carries over no matter what happens because you've now established a good habit that's a virtue and that goodness carries over into your busier times of life, especially during holidays and things like that, where now you're already putting God first. When you're thinking of Christmas or Easter or any holiday, you're thinking, how can I bring out the goodness of God in this holiday for my family and my extended family, my friends and those around me? So it's getting into this habit, this great virtue of putting God first in your life, which that's one of the commandments, the first commandment, right? He's the Lord our God, and we can't put anything before him. We can't put making money. We can't put doing sports. We can't do let's go golfing instead of doing math on Sunday. I'm too tired now. I meant to go to that later math, but now after playing sports or golf or paying the debt or whatever it might be, now I'm too tired to go to math and the kids are all cranky and everything else. Do it anyway, right? So one of the biggest things you can do to fight procrastination and to turn your life to God is to do it now. So if something pops into your mind, say, why don't you really pray for that person? Then pray right then and there. Stop what you're doing. Do it now. Three little words that can change your life. It has worked tremendously in my own life of procrastination. Do it now. You'll be surprised. Sometimes you think, well, I only have a minute or I only have five minutes. I can't really do everything that needs to be done that I know to put order in my life or to put God in my life. But a one minute prayer to God or five minutes with your family, talking about all the blessings that you have, all these kind of things, and even taking that two minutes as you're at that stoplight waiting instead of scrolling through your cell phone or listening to what's on the radio, unless you're listening to Radio Maria, then take those two minutes to say hello to the Lord and to thank Him for a blessing and say, what more can I do for you, Lord? What good can I do for you today? That was St. Philip Neri to all the young people in Rome. In his lifetime, that's what he did. He had established an oratory in the middle of Rome where people could come, the young people, and they could enjoy their faith. They could build their life of faith and they could spread it to others. When he would go in the morning, he would walk in with a huge smile and always full of joy, joyfully living. That was Philip Neri. He would look at all the young people and say, what good will we do today for the good Lord? Many things were very much like that as well. So we have a job to do. We have a mission and that mission brings purpose and fulfillment into our life, but only if we start to do the mission. That's why our Blessed Mother said this. I am calling you for years through these messages that I am giving you. For years I am calling you and exhorting you to a deep spiritual life. Read the messages I am giving you every day and transform them into life. That's the key. We need to read the gospel every day. We need to hear the messages of Medjugorje. There's actually a book called Day by Day with Medjugorje and it is wonderful. It has a part of a message, sometimes a whole message or sometimes part of it that has to do with the rhythm of the year, the liturgical year, and then it has a short little theological and we are talking like a paragraph and then a practical application and an example, a real life example of how that message can be lived. If you do that every day, it really did transform my life. Now that I am talking about it, I think I need to get back into it because it forced me, taking five minutes in the beginning of the day, to really focus on a part of the message of the Blessed Mother. Her messages are the messages of the church, to fast, to pray, to do penance, to go to confession, to go to Holy Mass, to live the Holy Mass, and to live the messages. When we live the messages, that means our life is changed. It's transformed. It's transformed into a godly life and that's what we need my friends. We need more godly people walking around on this earth, spreading life and joy and goodness of the Lord and reestablishing his presence in our part of the world, in our families. Are you praying before and after meals? Are you praying together before you go to bed? Are you praying in the morning? Are you leaving messages? I go to work now and so I leave. My husband is very nice. He always leaves me a note when he leaves before me for work, you know, just, I love you and I'm thinking of you today. Have a great day. You'll do great on your show. Things like that. Right? And so it's very encouraging, you know. He's interested in me and he knows that it's Wednesday and I have my Radio Maria program and so I started doing that to my boys when I would have to leave before they would get up and it would always be an encouragement or a quote from the Bible or whatever, you know, Holy Spirit inspired me. What do they need to hear? What kind of encouragement or what kind of things do they need to do today to establish that order since I won't be there with them? So seize the day my friends. We do not know if we have tomorrow but we do have right now. And while we are here and we are here on this earth, we are here to glorify God. And so how will we glorify Him today? And even if you're doing good things, you know, and maybe you're volunteering or donating things, you know, are you adding God into that equation? I mean, not just through your mind, you know, where you say, well, I'm going to clean up this closet and I'm going to donate it so that St. Vincent de Paul, so that people who don't have these things can use them. But are we, as we're going through those items, are we, you know, are we thanking God? You know, like an old picture that maybe your kid drew five years ago, you know, are you thanking Him? And are you, you know, kind of thinking about that time when they were a little bit littler and the different things that were going on in your life then? Those are moments of blessing, you know, good and bad. And sometimes, you know, it might be a stage of their life where things were more complicated and maybe a little more tumultuous, but, you know, thank the Lord, you know, they've come out of that now or they're on a different path that you had not seen before. You know, a favorite sweater, especially a Christmas sweater or something like that, that you're handing down to others, you know, to bring that love from your family to that family. There's so many ways that we can glorify the Lord. I was, I remember last year when I was varnishing my front door, I was inspired to just start praying for all those who will come in, knock on my door, and that I would be able to give them the hospitality that would glorify the Lord, and that they would always find a warm place to be, a place where they felt accepted and loved, and that all evil, this door would stop all evil from entering it. And so, as I started thinking those thoughts, more and more came to me, and by the time I was finished varnishing it, it took about two, two and a half hours, you know, it looked beautiful, and I started to think that there's no way it could really look that good, except that as I was varnishing that door, all that goodness of God, all those graces were flowing into that, and now it seemed more beautiful than just the door that had been, you know, made better because it needed it, right? That's where I started from, but the Lord inspired me to use that time in not just kind of daydreaming or singing songs and things like that, but really, you know, pour those blessings and blessing the home through those different things that I was doing, including even just, you know, painting or varnishing your door. So do you see, I guess what I'm trying to say is that we need to live life joyfully for the Lord, and so it brought a sense of accomplishment, of purpose, and of blessing. You know, before I wasn't feeling too blessed that I had to redo that door, but after I was done, it's something that has stuck with me, and when I open that door, it still is with me, right? So I greet everybody a little more warmly. I invite them into the house of the Lord, you know, and just all the different Bible quotes that went through my mind, as for me and my household, we will follow the Lord. So those are blessings that you are praying over your home and all those that enter and all your family, and so these are little things that we can do that will make a huge difference so that we can transform these blessings, that we can transform them into life, and life, as Mother Teresa said, love them back to life, so a life that is full of love, that's full of joy, that's full of perseverance in times of tragedy, in times of trouble, and who knows what lies ahead for each of us, more blessings, maybe blessings in disguise. So Mother Teresa, she's an icon of goodness, and she's one of the most beloved people in history, and how did she become so much to so many people? One by one, she said, right? When people said, this is impossible for you to help all these people, and she didn't listen, right? Because if she had looked at it, she would have thought, this is impossible, because there's just so many. What can one person do? Well, she found out what one person could do, or the world found out what one person can do, with the grace of God and following the mission of the Lord, and not procrastinating, not putting off what we can do today to tomorrow, and we saw that one by one, as she picked up the dying people in the poorest of the poor sections of not only her country in India, but as she went around even to the United States, picking people up out of the gutter, showing them the love of God, and as many of those dying in her arms would say, for once in my entire life, I feel loved, and that, my friends, is what it's all about. The Holy Spirit will inspire us, and He will act through us, and in us, and with us, to bring the love of God to all those that we need. When we come back, we'll talk about what causes procrastination and seven real solutions so that we can tackle this problem and turn procrastination, well, to turn it upside down into the goodness of God. This is Mary Piper with Marian Apparitions. We'll be back right after this song. It's living by the Spirit that is part of the Spirit's need. Living in wisdom, understanding what we need. Counsel and knowledge, and a fear of the Lord. With healing and power, all your gifts and more. All your gifts and more. And come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts in the faithful light of God. Of the fire of your love. Then pour your Spirit with rebirth and renew the face of the earth with the light from above. For the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace. Gentleness, patience, and generosity. Kindness and faith and life that's pure. Give us strength to live our faith and always endure. Always endure. Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts in the faithful light of God. Of the fire of your love. Then pour your Spirit with rebirth and renew the face of the earth with the light from above. For you and your love are risen. As a church to fulfill her mission, fill the city with comfort and peace and counsel of God. Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts in the faithful light of God. Of the fire of your love. Then pour your Spirit with rebirth and renew the face of the earth with the light from above. Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts in the faithful light of God. Of the fire of your love. Then pour your Spirit with rebirth and renew the face of the earth with the light from above. Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts in the faithful light of God. Of the fire of your love. Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts in the faithful light of God. Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts in the faithful light of God. Of the fire of your love. You're listening to Radio Maria, a Christian voice in your home. We now return to Marian Apparitions with Mary Piper. Welcome back everyone. Did that inspire you? And I mean we need to keep saying that. Come Holy Spirit, come Holy Spirit. You know, and to renew us with the fire of your love. That's, you know, it's June and it's the devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus. And so it's the month that we devote, hopefully everyone around the world, devotes time to consoling the heart of Jesus, loving the heart of Jesus, and imitating the heart of Jesus. On fire with love. That's what he shows us, right? It's on fire for love of us. And yet it's encircled with crown of thorns. Those are thorns that we are still putting into his heart today. And we know that it is, that it wounds our dear Lord very much because our Blessed Mother has appeared numerous times and more and more recently crying and not just tears of water or oil but tears of blood of all the blaspheming of the Lord, all of the ingratitude and all the evil in the world that people are doing. And so are we putting off consoling the heart of Jesus? Did we even know that June is the month to honor the sacred heart of Jesus? These are things that we need to do and we need to know because when we put off knowing our faith, when we put off praying, when we put off doing the things that are necessary, I mean, we're talking about essential things, right? The bare essentials, not all the other stuff above and beyond. Well, then we become complacent and lukewarm. And procrastination, well, that's part of the disaster that happens. That's the consequence of procrastination, right? We become lukewarm. Sometimes we put off everything and we never do get around. When, you know, I often think of the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So we have great intentions. We should do this. I should do that. Sometimes, of course, we don't want to become overly busy, but if you're inspired with five different things, pick one and carry through. And you will notice that it does an amazing job of strengthening you and to say, okay, I did that one thing and I did it right away. And because I did that, you know, take time to really, well, to see how you feel, to see the goodness that you've done right then and there to fulfill something and to offer it up to God. Don't forget that last step, right? Do it with the intention of glorifying God. Even like if it's washing the dishes. Like our Blessed Mother, you know, she had that hidden life. And the Lord Jesus himself, the hidden life, 30 years, you know, of hidden family life. So washing the dishes was a big part of it. And Mother Teresa, what did she always say? We shouldn't always wash the dishes just because they're dirty. We should wash them because we love the person who will eat off of them next. So when I heard that quote, as you can see, I've been very influenced by all the great things that Mother Teresa has pointed out of ways of thinking. Our mind is set on a certain worldly pattern of duty, but when we take the mindset of heaven, of these great saints, that they've been able to, through their many different quotes, influence us and help us to change how our mind is set, not on the world, but even on heaven when we are performing our worldly duties. And so, you know, that changed washing dishes, which I hate to do, and made it so much more meaningful and purposeful and actually full of love, if you can even think of that. You know, washing dirty dishes, thinking about all the wonderful children you have, even if they're not so wonderful right now. But, you know, that God has entrusted those people to you. Those little people who will become big people. Those eternal souls have entrusted you. What a great thing, right? And I would even start to see, as I thought about what Mother Teresa said, I would be able to thank the Lord that I had clean water to wash those dishes, that we had clean water to drink, and that we had it come right into the sink by turning on the faucet instead of having to go down to a river and maybe have contaminated water or have to use the same water over and over again because there's just not any water available. So, it really helps, as you just start down that road, you know, the Lord takes it and the Holy Spirit brings it to a fullness. And it starts right there where you are, at that sink. But it ended up, for me, praying for all the people, especially all the mothers who yearn to give their kids clean, fresh water, you know, and there's none available. You know, and that helps me to conserve that water and to really, you know, utilize it to its fullest. And so, you know, that's what the Lord does. When we turn to Him, a simple task like washing dishes can turn into a prayer of thanksgiving, gratitude, imploring for help for those who do not have clean water, who don't even have dishes to wash. They don't even have dishes. They don't have food. They're at a garbage dump getting their food and eating it as they go. So, you know, we are so blessed, and yet we take so many of those blessings for granted. We have become lukewarm, and we don't recognize the presence and the blessings of God all around us. And so this is a way that we can take back all those things that the Lord had intended us to do, to know and to love, all those things all around us every day that we take for granted. That's a consequence of procrastination, believe it or not, because we put off, I don't have time to think about that right now. I don't have time to pray. I don't have time to, especially to pray for those that I don't even know across the world and things like that. It only takes a moment, and it comes from your heart when you let the Lord enter into your life. So, you know, if you're finding that right now time seems to be flying by or ignoring you even, perhaps it's because you're not engaged enough with the Lord, that can always happen. You have to move as best you can, of course, to experience the possibilities that God has designed for you and you alone. You have to turn the corner to see what's around us. And when you do, you might be surprised that the Lord has amazing things in store for you. Look at all the apostles. They could have never guessed as they were hiding on that terrible, terrible Friday as they knew that the Lord had been taken and was being crucified. Only John stood there with our Blessed Mother. Everyone else ran and hid. They had no idea, and they were filled with fear. They were filled with the horror of what was happening and doubting everything. And so when the Blessed Mother gathered them around and said, let's go pray, you know, she knew that she was guiding them to the Lord and that he would take away their fear. He would take away them being paralyzed from hiding, from questioning and doubting all the things that her son had given them. And so it's the same here. Our Blessed Mother is our mother. She will teach us how to pray. She will teach us and lead us right into the heart of her son. And when that happens, when we turn that corner that we're kind of afraid to do because we're not sure what lies ahead, we will see what's around it. We will see with the eyes of the Lord, and we will see even if it's not a very good thing that we encounter around the corner, maybe a hardship, maybe a trial, maybe something very terrible, we will be able to see the goodness of God in that, that he will make a greater good out of anything. So life doesn't bring you what you don't need or earn. So we need to tend to what it brings us. We need to see the opportunity. Mother Teresa, sometimes when her nuns would come to her and say, Mother, we have a problem, she would say, No, we have an opportunity. And then she would listen and pray. What is the opportunity you're giving us? St. Paul, you know, he was beaten and thrown into jail over and over again. What was the opportunity in that? Well, the opportunity to suffer for those who were beating him and to pray for their conversion, but also an opportunity to reach all those who were in prison, all those that were hopeless, all of those who were despairing because they were in prison. And these were not prisons like we have today. These were, you know, where they would probably die. And so he saw that as, well, as his mission field. And so he saw the opportunity to bring God into their lives. And even the jailer and his family converted when St. Paul did not escape when he was given that opportunity from the earthquake opening the doors of the jail. And he stayed. And the jailers, you know, couldn't believe it. And so he came to know Jesus Christ. And he and his whole family were converted and baptized. So life is full of surprises and opportunities where we would never think that they would be. But if we stay with the Lord, we will see those opportunities. And maybe sometimes we just have to pray a little harder and listen a little harder about what is the opportunity here. Show me, Lord. And then when he shows us, we need to act. What if Paul had said, well, I'm bruised and they've beaten me and I'm full of wounds, and so I'm going to wait to heal for several days before I start to, you know, talk to everybody here in the prison about the Lord. No, he dove right in, right? And, you know, Paul is a good example because he was persecuting the Christians. And, of course, he had a spectacular conversion. He knocked off his horse with a blinding light and hearing the Lord, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Well, he was blind for three days. And so he had some time to really think about what had happened, examine his life, and to realize he had to make that decision. Am I going to continue to persecute Christ now that I know the truth? Or am I going to turn my life to him and give my life to him, to give it all? And so he, of course, decided to give it all to the Lord and to run the good race, to fulfill the mission the Lord had for him. He had no idea what lay ahead. And he knew it was an uphill climb, right? Because who would trust him? He was hunting down Christians and killing them. And so, you know, it took a lot of faith, but it also took that perseverance and to fight the urge or the propensity to procrastinate. You know, he was doing so much. It could have been very easy for him to just say, well, okay, I'm only going to do nine of the things the Lord is telling me and not do that other thing. It's too hard. Or I don't like doing that kind of thing. Many of the great saints were the same way. There's a darkness that comes, and if we let it linger in our souls and we don't dispel it with prayer or the Holy Spirit or calling on our guardian angels to help us, then that darkness grows and it becomes even darker and it starts to leave a shadow over everything. You know, it's just like you have a beautiful summer day and the sun is out and you have the puffy little white clouds and it's like, wow, this is beautiful. It's perfect. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, and sometimes it's just you turn around from looking one direction and you turn around and you look in the other direction and all of a sudden you see those heavy clouds coming in full of rain and the wind starts to blow. And before you know it, in some cases, severe weather has kind of snuck up on you and then you're stuck in that darkness. You know, maybe the lights go out, you lose electricity and you weren't prepared with your candles because you didn't see it coming. And so that darkness kind of lingered over us and sometimes we feel like we have a black cloud that follows us around when things aren't going right. But how do we dispel that? We have to take action. We can't procrastinate because when we do, well, that darkness becomes darker and darker and sometimes it's even harder because we don't want to do the things that we have to do to lift that veil of darkness. So sometimes things fall right into our laps and life is good and other times that little cloud becomes a big dark cloud and it comes and shadows over our hearts and our minds and it can be a very dark time for us or those that we love. And so we can't procrastinate. When we see that the darkness is gathering, the gloom, we need to dispel it and we have to reach for the gift that God is giving us. We have to see the opportunities to act, to turn everything around and we have to feel like we're helping the world to revolve around the sun. And what I mean by that is we have to collect His grace, right? When we're revolving around the sun, the light of the world, then we collect that light, we collect His grace and then we have to act on it. And then when we do, then that light flows through us into the lives of others. But when we put things off, when we procrastinate, we're not only wasting time, but we're making, well, we're kind of entering into that land and that path of coming into lawfulness, right? That's a cardinal sin because it is so damaging to the spirit and against what God wants to give us. So in some ways we are actually not only not fulfilling the plan He has for us, but we're working against that plan or we're throwing it out the window and we're ignoring it. So summer is the prime time to get in motion, to do the things we know that we've been putting off, especially in our spiritual life. And that doesn't mean we have to rush. Often we need to take our time and consider things. That's not procrastinating. That's different. Remember, our Blessed Mother always pondered things in her heart. So frequently we must wait until we have more guidance and information from the Holy Spirit. So don't rush it. Take time to listen. And as you are taking time to listen, you're praying and you're focusing on the Lord. And that's what He wants. Just like Paul, he made him wait three days of darkness before he restored his sight so that he could ponder what had happened to him, so he could confidently move out and make his decision to move and to do the things the Lord was asking him to do. But when we remain in that state of inertia, out of fear, well, then we're stuck in the past. We're stuck and frozen in time. And that's very frustrating for us. So that's why we need to move and we need to move with the Holy Spirit, with the help of our guardian angels who are always helping us. So we might ask, why do we procrastinate? Many things come to mind, of course. We're lazy, exhausted, we lack motivation. And sometimes we just kind of... well, our temperament and our character, sometimes that plays into it as well. However, we must believe that any of those reasons, doesn't matter what it is, what the root cause is, but we have to believe that with the help of the Lord, we can turn it around. And so the definitive culprit of all these different things, the lack of motivation, laziness, exhaustion, is fear. And right now, there's a lot of fear out there. And we've just come through two years of fear. Fear-mongering, you know, fear, fear, fear. That's what everybody wanted, you know, us to be fearful. And so when we're fearful, we don't act. And that's what we need to think, we need to realize. Fear holds us back and it disguises itself in so many ways. And my dad used to say, they're laughing out of fear. And I didn't know what that meant, but sometimes we get so paralyzed and we don't know what to say or what to do with that fear. We become, we just laugh. And we don't realize that we're laughing out of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of what looks like is coming our way. And instead, we need to turn to the Lord and to help him to set us back in motion so that we have that momentum to easily move forward, to do the things that he wishes us to do, to be that dynamic Catholic, as Matthew Kelly says. And the four signs of a dynamic Catholic which will help you get you out of this procrastination is prayer, study, generosity, and evangelization. So 15 minutes, as Ollie says, 15 minutes a day in each of these areas will help move you forward on the path to holiness. And not only that, but the conversion of those around you and those that God brings to you. So prayer for 15 minutes, study, study your faith for 15 minutes, read the Bible, read an interpretation, maybe a homily of a great saint. Generosity, give of yourself in a new way for 15 minutes. Clean out a closet for 15 minutes. Donate those things. Give things laying around that people admire. Say, here, would you like that? When they compliment you on something. I really love that sweater. As Saint Francis did, right? Give them the sweater off your back, the cloak off your back even. You might be surprised at how unexpected generosity can really bring joy to you, but also help others to realize their degree or lack of generosity. And then to evangelize. The best thing we can do in our pure, true mission in life, my friends, is to evangelize. And that's why our Blessed Mother says that we need to live the messages. We need to live the gospel. We need to tell others about it. To live it and then to tell others. Because so many times, as Mother Teresa, we knew that she did it for God. Everything that she did. But sometimes in this world, people just think that you're a good person. But they don't realize who you're doing it for. And so we need to tell them. My mom said that she lived in a very poor place as she was growing up. Her mom and dad had come from Croatia and immigrated here. Her dad had died when she was three. So a family of eight kids and a mother who doesn't speak any English. And so, you know, they did everything they could to survive. And they lived probably about a yard away from train tracks. And they were, as they called them, hobos. That's what we used to call them, hobos. But they were people who would ride the rails, who had no food. And they would come knock on their back door. And no matter how poor they were, how little they had, she would always be able to put together a little plate of food. And she would give it to one of the kids. And she says here, now go feed Jesus. She said, you know, that changed my life. And I remember that even as a three-year-old that we were to feed Jesus the poor among us. And I saw that lived out in all of her siblings because they knew what it was like to be poor. And even out of the poorest of the poor, they were able to give some food, a blanket or a piece of clothing, something, even though they had little. And the Lord would always bring something else into their life to replace it if it was a great need. So my friends, we are blessed to live in the United States, to have all the things that we have around us. But we are also called and sent to bring that blessing to others around us. So I challenge you this week and all summer, change your mindset. Set your mind on the things of the Lord. Pray, sacrifice. It's a summer of sacrifice, but that doesn't mean that we have to, as the gospel said today, you know, don't put on sackcloth and ashes and look gloomy and look really, you know, unkept. But, you know, put a smile on your face. Make yourself look good, even if you are fasting and praying, which I hope you are, because our Blessed Mother asked everybody on Friday and Wednesday to fast and pray for the conversion of sinners. So with that, my friends, take it to heart and put it into action. This is Mary Piper with Marian Apparitions. Until next week, God bless.
