Do You Believe?

I have seen it everywhere, in small churches, big churches, city churches, rural churches. Catholics bored or daydreaming at Mass

Often I am guilty of that myself, thinking of what’s for lunch, my to-dos, upcoming work projects, etc.  We complain that we get nothing out of Mass, yet what do we put in? Do our actions at Mass show that we truly believe Jesus is present with us in the Holy Sacrifice? Why don’t we see more miracles in our own lives?

In the Easter season, many of our readings come from the Acts of the Apostles. Throughout the early Church, God was active healing and converting many souls through the Apostles.

Yet our churches often don’t look like the Acts of the Apostles but rather like the people whom Jesus saw when he came back to Nazareth.

“So [Jesus] was not able to perform any mighty deeds there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.” (Mark 6:5-6)

With much faith God can do, much yet with little faith, God can do little. In Western culture, we live in a time of little faith. We go through the motions at Mass and wonder why we don’t encounter God. God is not out of our reach, we simply need to turn him, overcome our doubts and choose to believe. Here’s a few ways to do this.

Ask for faith – When struggling to believe, pray to God and ask him to increase your faith. Don’t be afraid to admit to God that your faith is weak, he wants to strengthen it. One of my favorite prayers is “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief”

Read the Lives of the Saints – Throughout time, God has worked many wonders through the Saints, who generously followed him. Their stories remind us that God wants to act in our lives and will do so if we let him.

Memorize Scripture verses about faith and repeat them often – Often, we are bombarded by a world of cynicism, negativity and disbelief. We expect things to fall apart and so they do. Instead let us combat these negative thoughts of the evil one with the words of our Lord. When tempted to disbelieve, speak the truth found in God’s holy word.

I believe that I shall see goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13).

Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8)

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13)

Every week in the Creed each of one us says, “I believe in God”. Let us put this belief into action and see how God can change the world through us.

P.S. Here’s a reminder of the Healing Power of the Eucharist.

Bob Waruszewski

Bob Waruszewski

Bob Waruszewski is a cradle Catholic from Pittsburgh, PA. He graduated from St. Vincent College with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics. Currently he works in the energy industry in the Pittsburgh and is enjoying life as a married man and father to his one year old daughter. He enjoys hiking, reading a good book and competing on the athletic field.

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2 thoughts on “Do You Believe?”

  1. Another thing to do is make our distraction the subject of our prayers. We can train ourselves to ask God to help us be attentive when distractions come our way.

    Also, spending time in adoration works wonders. Trying to adore Him for an hour on Sunday isn’t enough. Even if we can’t get to a church for some time with Jesus, we can spend 15 minutes several times each week asking to be united with Christ, sitting in His presence, and end with a spiritual communion.

    1. Bob Waruszewski

      I agree, bringing our distractions to God is a great idea. Adoration as well is a blessing, it’s amazing what a little silence with our Lord can do to help us give us peace and clarity!

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