Hiking Alone with God

My husband Al and I recently took a trip to Montana for a friend’s wedding. We made time to explore the bountiful beauty of the town of Big Sky and Yellowstone National Park along with some fly fishing expeditions and plenty of relaxing with friends amidst the backdrop of towering  and gorgeous mountains in every direction. We are both native Ohioans (flatlanders) so mountains move our hearts.

All of this was wonderful, but a highlight for me was an early afternoon hike up the mountain by our inn, all alone, with bear spray in hand. Bear sightings are common, and even occasional bear attacks, so I picked bear spray at the front desk of the inn where we were staying to have peace of mind on my hike (and I made sure I knew how to use it.) 

It felt amazing to hike up the mountain alone in the silence and in the majesty of nature. This was my prayer time that day so I talked to God and paused to listen as much as I could. The hike was straight up — no switchbacks on this trail — so it was challenging, and due to the altitude difference between Montana and Ohio, and the heat of the day, I had to pause to rest often — that really gave me a chance to take in the magnificence of my surroundings and to praise God for all of it.

I talked to God about having more appreciation for the little things — and to not miss what he wanted me to see on this hike — and in my daily life. The silence on the hike was a welcome respite with gentle interruptions by birds and the the babbling brooks I crossed often.

It felt freeing to carry so little — only water and bear spray — I thought of the disciples who were told to take nothing for the journey, “no extra tunic.” I also thought of Mathew Kelly’s well-known phrase ‘carefree timelessness’ and how blessed I felt to take off into nature with God in this way, without time constraints. 

I paused to take in the wild flowers, give thanks that my waterproof boots were truly waterproof as I splashed through the water. I was thankful for the shade of the pines to rest, the amazing views down the mountain (a sweet reward), for the tree that lent me a walking stick and for the variety of wildflowers that painted the landscape..

I’d been listening to Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux on the Hallow app and I was reminded that not every flower in the field can be a rose — how boring that would be — the variety that God creates has a purpose in his divine plan.

St. Therese said, “I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would no longer be enamored with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our Lord's living garden.”

I gave thanks for the “Lord’s living garden” — the many friends (some of who are like family to us) who were with us in Montana and for those who couldn’t be with us. I asked God to bless and watch over each one of them by name and to bring them closer to Him. There is sadness in my heart for those who do not currently know God so I asked God to guide me in helping bring them to Him, if that be his holy will. A friend passed into eternal life just before our trip and I prayed for him and his family as they were preparing for his funeral.

I gave thanks to God that my physical body had the ability to hike, and was reminded how good it felt to sweat and feel my leg muscles working after lots of sitting on airplanes. I was thankful for the gift of faith, to be alive here and now to witness the overturning of Roe vs. Wade that will save so many precious lives, for a joyful heart, and for the glorious mountain views.

I continued my conversation with God basking in the landscape he created. I talked to him about some new ministry work ahead and repeated, “speak Lord, your servant is listening” as I tend to talk more than I listen — even though I know that listening is the most important part. God responded in His gentle way and I felt peace being with him in this precious time. Being alone with him was just what I needed that day after some very busy days. It actually felt much like how I feel when i leave the Adoration Chapel after a Holy Hour.

As rain clouds moved in, I turned back for the inn and made a mental note to pop a raincoat in my bag on the next hike as Montana weather changes in a minute. I made it home before the rain, and thankfully there were no bear sightings. I was filled up with God and ready to rejoin family and friends for more adventures, refreshed and renewed, from my hike alone with God.

An Eternal Perspective on Time

How we spend our time is so important and pausing to look at our activities and evaluating how what those activities are and how they help us to fruitful, balanced and available to serve God and others is a worthy endeavor.

I did this recently and realized that I could gain almost 5 morning hours per week if I combined my two exercise groups at an earlier hour. I often feel time-crunched in the mornings, not having enough prayer time, and I had to be willing to give up own training time and exercise along with my students to gain this time. So far it has been wonderful to have more time to pray and be more available to serve my family and ministries. It has also been fun and humbling to train alongside my students.

Evaluating how we spend our time and asking the Holy Spirit to guide us in how we use our time can be important in our walk with Jesus. Having a more ‘eternal perspective’ on time can help us see it as a treasure and to seek to be good stewards of our time to better serve God and the people he places in our lives.

Sometimes looking at our time this way leads us to adjust our schedules to permit ourselves to have more unscheduled time to spend with God and our family and friends. Other times, and in different seasons of our lives, we may feel called to spend more time in more formal ways, such as joining a weekly bible study group, going on a  week- or month-long retreat or volunteering to lead or assist a ministry.

I often hear people say they don’t have time in their week to both exercise and pray — especially if they are working full-time and/or raising a young family. Sometimes adjusting our expectations can help us to fit both in to strengthen us both physically and spiritually. We might consider walking and praying or stretching and praying a few minutes in the morning. Maybe we are praying in the car on the way to work and again at night. Maybe it’s spending more time in prayer and exercising on the days we have more time and less on those days we are busy serving others (serving is prayer!) 

I would say that my prayer life and physical life are constantly changing due to the ebbs and flows of the various activities, family and work commitments. Praying and asking the Holy Spirit to guide me can often yield surprisingly results — I have found that I can sometimes fit in way more than I ever thought possible on the days when i truly turn my schedule over to God. Even when I’m busier than I like to be, I try to look at it as “my cup is full ” and consider it a blessing — with the hope and prayer of returning to more balance in the future. 

Every now and then, God calls us to do big and hard things in our lives that may move our time into an uncomfortable zone, such as when we care for a sick family member, prepare to move, change jobs, train for a marathon, go back to school, write a book, manage our own illness or infirmity, and so on. These can be beautiful and holy times in our lives, filled with extraordinary grace and spiritual growth when we approach these activities with an eternal perspective.

There is much wisdom in scripture about using our time well. From Ephesians 5:15-17, “So, then, be careful how you live. Do not be unwise but wise, making the best use of your time because the times are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

We reach in Colossians 4:5, “Behave wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of your time.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 challenges us to have an eternal perspective on time, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

In praying about this and reflecting on how to have a more eternal perspective about time, the word that came into my heart was ‘fruitfulness’ and many questions to consider … Is how I am spending my time helping me to be a better daughter of God, wife, mother, family member, friend and evangelist? How can I refresh and renew my body and soul to be my best for others? Am I honoring the Sabbath and keeping it a time of simplicity, rest and refreshment with family and friends? Are the activities that I pursue helping me to learn, grow and play in holy and healthy ways? Is there good fruit being produced from the varied activities in my life?

The saints also give us an eternal perspective on time. 

St. Gerard Magellan said, “Consider the shortness of time, the length of eternity and reflect how everything here below comes to an end and passes by. Of what use is it to lean upon that which cannot give support?”

Blessed Charles de Foucault said, “The best used hour in our lives is that in which we love Jesus the most.”

Let us give thanks for the gift of time to develop into the person God created us to be.

Building a Strong Spiritual Core

One of the most important things we can do to increase physical strength and to prevent injury is to develop a strong core. We refer to the core as the entire torso — front, back and sides. When we learn to brace the core and engage our muscles more fully in our movements, we get stronger and this helps prevent other joints from overdoing it. When we aren’t using our core properly, back, shoulder, knee and other joint issues can develop because they overcompensate for our core weakness.

I was thinking about how we can build a strong core in the spiritual life. First, we are called to be faithful to the Sunday Eucharist. We are strengthened by the Eucharist in a supernatural way. We know this from John 6:53 when Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Receiving the Eucharist is essential to becoming fully alive in Christ; it is at the core of who we are as Catholics who believe in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

St. Ignatius of Antioch said, “I hunger for the bread of God, the flesh of Jesus Christ ...; I long to drink of his blood, the gift of unending love.”

Having a daily prayer life is also a must for a strong spiritual core. This can include reading and reflecting on scripture, the Mass readings and gospel, praying the prayers of the Church, personal meditative prayer and so on. Daily prayer helps us develop a relationship with Jesus, learn how God is calling us and helps us to grow in holiness. We are called to love the Father, Son and Holy Spirit more than any person or thing in our earthly lives and we can’t do that if we don’t get to know the Trinity through prayer.

St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi said, “Prayer ought to be humble, fervent, resigned, persevering, and accompanied with great reverence. One should consider that he stands in the presence of a God, and speaks with a Lord before whom the angels tremble from awe and fear.”

In physical training, having a strong core allows us to move, lift, bend, run, walk, reach, and carry things in daily life with more ability to do so with grace and ease. 

In the spiritual life, when we receive the Eucharist and pray regularly, we are trained and more ready to serve others with grace and ease when God calls us to do so. That strong core allows us to have confidence in our strength and ability to give love to others from the love that we’ve received. Our commitment to the Eucharist and to a prayer life helps God equip us to, for example, bring Jesus to others, to be a comfort to those who are suffering, and encourage those who have lost hope.

If we feel called by God, and our vocation allows, we can do even more to grow closer to Jesus. We can continue to strengthen our spiritual core, for example, by going on retreats, attending Catholic conferences, reading good spiritual books and giving our time and talent to organizations who can benefit from our God-given gifts and talents. We can also do the ‘hidden’ little things in daily life, such as making a meal for someone, praying for them or remaining silent rather than having the last word.

In my experience, there is no containing a Catholic who has a strong spiritual core; they are ready to rock the world with their love for God and their desire to bring others to him. I pray that this describes both you and me!

May Prayer Be Like Breathing

In strength training we use a specific method of breathing that enables us to brace our core to keep our organs and spine safe during heavy lifts. We breath in through our nose to fill the diaphragm and exhale through our mouths to calm the nervous system.

Learning to use the proper method and timing of breathing is key to lifting weights safely.

I do the same thing when I settle down to pray. I breath in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and exhale all the things of the world — the distractions, the concerns, the situations I can’t control. Maybe you do the same. It is a wonderful way to start prayer time as it helps clear the mind and settle the body calm state so we can pray wholeheartedly.

I also like to compare prayer to breathing. As we seek to spend more time in prayer throughout the day, we may find that prayer begins to naturally rise from our hearts almost continually throughout the day without thought or effort — much like breathing — at least that is what I desire.

St. Paul tells us to ‘pray without ceasing’ and I don’t think he was referring to hands folded and head down all day, but that in all circumstances we have an awareness and connection to Father, Son and Holy Spirit who is with us, and in us, in all that we think, say and do.

How wonderful when words of praise and thanksgiving to God bubble up from our hearts in moments of joy. In hard times, we move seamlessly into fervent prayer for assistance. In ordinary moments that overwhelm the senses, as in a beautiful sunset, a peaceful walk, an inspiring book, or carefree timelessness with family and friends — we can’t help but whisper words of love to our creator for these gifts.

Some might refer to these prayerful exclamations as ‘breath prayers’ — as they rise from us as naturally as a breath in various circumstances. A few such prayers for me are, “Give me patience Lord,” “Hail Mary, full of grace,” “Thank you God,” “Come Holy Spirit” and “Jesus, I trust in you.” Being more aware of God’s presence and conversing with him throughout the day, asking and listening, inviting him into our temporal affairs, big and small, can unite us more fully to him, and hopefully over time, we become more like him.

St. Teresa of Avila said, “Prayer is being on terms of friendship with God frequently conversing in secret with Him who, we know, loves us.”

Breath is associated with ‘God in us’ throughout Scripture in many beautiful ways and reminds us of our call to rely on God in all things. A few examples … In Job 33:4, “… the breath of the almighty God keeps me alive.” In Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath give praise the Lord!” In Acts 17:25, “Rather it is he who gives life and breath and everything.”

Pope Francis links praise of God with breathing. “Praise is the ‘breath’ which gives us life, because it is intimacy with God … an intimacy that grows through daily praise. No one can live without breathing. It is the same with the Christian life. And with praise and worship. What do we do when we pray? We ask things of God, we give thanks …”

Let us give thanks to God for every breath and may prayers of praise and thanksgiving rise naturally from our hearts nearly as often as breathing.

Use It or Lose It

In strength training, we are aware that when we stop physical training for an extended period, our muscles begin to change. Our muscles atrophy or lose conditioning if we don’t use them. “Use it or lose it’ is often what we say jokingly, but that keeps us going day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year. Some of the athletes I’ve had the privilege of working with have been training in our group for 10 years — and thankfully, we don’t see an end in sight!

If you’ve been reading this column for a while you know that the Holy Spirit inspires me to make comparisons between the physical life and the spiritual life. In this case, use it or lose it applies to the spiritual life as well — if we don’t pray and stay committed to a daily relationship with Jesus, we can begin to lose our zeal and fall away from practicing our faith and, for example, little-by-little, start to pray less, miss Mass, avoid the Sacrament of Reconciliation and become more self-focused.

The atrophy can begin almost invisibly, but the evil one takes great delight in any inkling of spiritual atrophy and will tempt and cajole us to move it along  more fully and swiftly.

It is important to note that ‘use it or lose it’ does not refer to losing God’s love — that can’t happen even if we walk away from him forever — as he never gives up on us or stops loving us. However, we can begin to lose our zeal and fervor for him if we don’t practice our faith and seek to stay close to him with a consistent spiritual life. 

Maintaining holy and healthy habits of prayer, reading scripture, attending Adoration, frequenting Holy Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation are key ways to ‘train’ and be strengthened to stay close to Jesus.

My husband and I often travel in March and i always think that I will have more time to pray and go to daily Mass when I’m on vacation, but maintaining those habits is definitely a challenge when I’m not in my home routine. Since we traveled during Lent this year, I was particularly determined to keep my habits of morning prayer, daily Mass and exercise. That really was the best part of the day — and being able to pray and read scripture and spiritual books outdoors in nature was very special indeed.

In this life we are called to be beacons of light and to flex our spiritual muscles in all areas of our lives — each in our own way by forming good spiritual habits that open our hearts to hearing God’s voice and responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We are called to freely and frequently share the gifts and talents God has so generously poured into us.

Pope Francis said this about our life in God, “The great gift of life is the first gift we have received. Sometimes we risk forgetting about this, as if we were the masters of our existence while instead we are radically dependent. In fact, it is a source of great joy to hear that at every age in life, in every situation, in every social condition, we are and remain sons and daughters.”

May we, as beloved sons and daughters of God, be faithful to and ‘use’ our good spiritual habits to grow in holiness so that we don’t ‘lose’ the gift of our fervor and desire to love and serve God and his people.

Prayer Over Worry

Admittedly, I exercise as much for my mental health as for my physical health. Many of my students say the same thing. Moving our bodies and lifting heavy things brings us joy and the mental focus that is required means we’re not thinking our to-do lists, temporal concerns or worries — at least for a little while. Endorphins are released and we feel good afterward  — refreshed and renewed and ready to tackle the day.

As much as I enjoy the benefits of exercise, it doesn’t come close to the benefits of relying on God through prayer and the sacraments to help me navigate the concerns and challenges of daily life.

As a woman of faith, I try not to allow myself to worry. Jesus calls us to cast our cares upon him and I try to do so, but I am still a work in progress. Some of us may be more naturally prone to worry due to a melancholic temperament. Some of us are naturally more carefree and perhaps less inclined to ruminate over problems. I would say that I’m somewhere I’m the middle, but overall I’m learning not to overthink or worry about difficult situations and interactions with people that I can’t change, past, present or future. A wise priest once told me that if you stay in the present, it’s a lot harder to worry as worries most often take us into the past and the future.

We know that worry isn’t holy and healthy. Worry doesn’t solve our problems and often affects our ability to pray and hear God’s voice, sleep well, be kind to those around us and so on. Sadly, our worries can escalate into more serious fear and anxiety which can impact us and our families on the emotional, physical and spiritual levels.

In Philippians 4:6-7, St. Paul said, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

We truly need to ‘guard’ our hearts and minds from things that steal our peace, and that of course is different for each of us. Is it news, media or politics? Is if family or work situations? Is it times when we’ve made or mistake or fallen short? We can heed St. Paul’s call to give thanks for everything, good and bad, because it is permitted by God and he will bring good out of it and/or strengthen us to bear it.

Trusting that God cares about even our smallest worries, and giving God more freedom to work in our hearts, can move us out of the destructive behaviors of worry, fear and anxiety — and allow us to be strengthened by his grace and able to move forward with Christian joy in the midst of difficulties.

St. Francis de Sales said, “Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.”

I am drawn to the word ‘imaginings’ in the St. Francis de Sales quote. Isn’t is true that we often let our imaginations run wild with what-if scenarios of all the things that could go wrong? If we really trust that God loves us and cares about every aspect of our lives, we can run to him like little children and talk to him candidly, lovingly, heart-to-heart. We can give him all of it with confidence and trust that he will respond.

If we replace our worry time with Jesus time, loving him and letting him love us, we might make real change in how we address our problems and live our lives with more grace and ease — even in the midst of life’s challenges.

St. Mary MacKillop said, “We must often feel weary and tired yet God brings us through all these things.”

As Catholic Christians, we are called to choose God over worry. I think that’s why one of my favorite scripture passages is Matthew 11:29-30, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

May we seek to be true prayer warriors, instead of worriers, giving all of our troubles to Jesus.

Refresh and Renew

It is both holy and health to attend the Columbus Catholic Women’s and Men’s conferences as it is an opportunity to refresh and renew, both body and soul. 

The Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference is Sat., Feb. 19th, 2022 and the Columbus Catholic Men’s Conference is Feb. 26th, 2022. Registration is open now: www.columbuscatholicwomen.com and https://www.catholicmensministry.com/catholicmensconference.

Conference participants are invited to share in Holy Mass, Adoration, Reconciliation and enjoy beautiful music and fellowship with thousands of women / men at all ages and stages of life and in their faith. 

This year, I have been blessed to help register vendors and religious sisters for the vendor hall at the Women’s Conference. So many organizations, businesses and religious communities are joining us again this year to share their mission— it is so important because Jesus works through them and through every means to reach us so that we know his great love for us.

A couple of years ago, I invited a friend to the conference and we arrived very early in the morning because I was a vendor. She was able to walk around on her own and visit with vendors before the crowds arrived. She loved that time to learn the missions of so many caring organizations, share her story and be inspired by the varied missions. She said this was a powerful part of her day at the conference and she was so grateful for it.

I look forward to the conference every year to see how Jesus will surprise me. Our last Conference was in 2020 (pre-Covid) and it was my first year to help distribute communion. I was overwhelmed with joy, to the point of tears, watching 3,500 women walk forward to receive Holy Communion. It filled my heart with so much hope to see how many women had set aside a day to be with Jesus and with their sisters in Christ to love, learn and be inspired.

Another powerful part of the conference are the inspiring national speakers. A friend recently reminded me about the importance of talks at conferences as the words and gifts of the speaker can open our hearts to Jesus, heal wounds, inspire us, move us in new directions and make us more open to how Jesus desires to work in our lives. Sometimes I take notes furiously while listening to speakers and other times I feel prompted to rest at the feet of Jesus and be fed by the speaker’s inspired words.

Prayer teams are a recent addition to the women’s conference and they move around the conference throughout the day and will gladly stop and pray with you and for you.

Each year we encourage women and men to invite a friend or family member to join them at the conference. It doesn’t matter how active one is in their faith. All are welcome — Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, Religious sisters, those who practice or don’t practice their faith, students, parents, singles and the elderly. All have a place at the table with Jesus. It is truly a day to come and be welcomed and loved by Jesus and by your sisters in Christ. 

It is the hope of the conference planning team that you be refreshed and renewed by God’s great love for at the annual conference.

Please take a moment right now and ask the Holy Spirit who you should invite to join you at the conference. That personal invitation can be life-changing for you and for them. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “Do not wait for leaders, do it alone, person to person.” May we courageously respond to this call with action!