How to Live a More Faith-Filled 2017
Life seems to be a little more overwhelming every day. Your job, spouse, children, home, yard, vehicle, pets…everything and everyone want a little more of your time. Trying to balance your career, extracurricular activities, and household chores leaves very little time to rush to church on Sunday, much less contemplate your faith. Give yourself a New Year’s resolution that will make you feel better about your life: the gift of faith. Living a more faith-filled life will calm many of your worries and positively affect your outlook. The Diocese of Orlando welcomes its parishioners to live a more faith-filled life by attending church, enrolling your children in a faith-based private school in Polk County, and reading the information below.
- Catholic students are constantly reminded of the love God has for his children and how we should share that love. This rule applies to adults as well as children. When we take the time to understand others instead of jumping to conclusions about how their actions are purposefully wronging us, we begin to fully comprehend life. All people are faulted, and sometimes the actions of others seem to be negatively directed toward us. Stepping into their shoes, though, we can see that they do not mean to wrong us. Once you understand the actions of others, it is much easier to forgive them and move on.
- Daily prayers keep you in touch with God, fill your heart with gladness, and only take a few minutes. Pray for a minute before you are out of bed, thank God before meals, and say prayers at night with your children. In ten minutes’ time, you can find dozens of people and things you are thankful to have in your life.
- In addition to daily prayer, take the time to attend church. Although not traditionally thought of as “me time,” church allows us to take time to be in the presence of God. Take a few moments to de-stress and become more in-touch with your faith during church.
- One of our greatest fears is the fear of death. When Christians truly believe that Jesus died on the cross to forgive our mortal sins and his death opens the door to eternal life, the idea of death is no longer as frightening. Giving up this fear will relieve our minds and spirits of a troubling future.
- Catholic students in Polk County are taught the seven cardinal sins: gluttony, lust, sloth, pride, anger, envy, and covetousness. Of these, all involve temptation. It is difficult to not eat the last cookie or to utter the final biting word in an argument. Avoid temptation by letting go of anger, keeping your house and body clean, and by understanding that what God has given you may not be as new or as expensive as what your neighbor has, but you can still be much happier if you look at what you have through the eyes of someone who has much less.
Be a positive role model for your children. Open your heart and you will find it will be filled with the happiness of those around you. Kindness and smiles are catching, and by living a faith-filled life, you will find the happiness you feel reflected in the way others treat you. The Diocese of Orlando welcomes you to join in the celebration of Mass to learn how faith can relieve your stress and anxiety. Read the blogs on our website, call 407-246-4800 for Mass times, and learn how an education at a private school in Polk county will give your child a faith-based education to help counter today’s fast-paced, stressful world.