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This topic has been on my heart lately. What we believe does not determine reality. What society believes does not determine reality. Truth is truth. It's not my truth or your truth. It's just the truth. My beliefs do not determine reality. TRUTH determines reality. And how do we find that truth? God. God Himself is Truth. Therefore, what God teaches is Truth. That means: -God created the world. - God is three persons in one. - Humans are both body and soul; physical and spiritual. - God became man in Jesus Christ, died and rose from the dead to save us from our sins, and ascended back to Heaven where He reigns with God the Father. - Mary is the Mother of God. -Jesus founded one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church to continue His mission here on earth, and He desires for all His people to be united in it. - The Pope is the visible leader of Christ's Church here on earth. - Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist. - Purgatory is real - Faith and works sanctify us, not one or the other. - Abortion is wrong, contraception is wrong, pornography is wrong, and sex is sacred and to be reserved for marriage. - Men and women are different. - God intended the Priesthood to be only for men. - War is wrong and to be avoided. - All approved forms of the Mass are valid and beautiful. (TLM, Novus Ordo, Eastern Rites, etc.) - Everything that the Catholic Church teaches and professes to be true IS THE TRUTH. It does not matter what you and I don't like, whether we're Catholic or non-Catholic. Our beliefs and feelings do not determine reality. God does. And He has made it EXTREMELY clear, through His Word, and through Sacred Tradition, what the Truth is. Our job is to pursue that Truth and then live it out to the best of our abilities. When we die and receive our particular judgment from God and go to Heaven (or Purgatory and then Heaven) or Hell, what we believed will not matter. All that will matter is what is . We will be judged on how we lived, how we loved, and we will be judged by God's standards. And yes, He will judge us with the heart and love of our merciful Father who wants nothing but the best for His children, but He will judge us by the standards of Truth. Not our truth; not our feelings. His Truth. The Truth.* (Please read my side note about this at the bottom of the post!) What we believe does not determine what is. We do not have that power. Only God does. And so, I ask you, what will you believe? Will you believe the Truth? Will you make Truth the reality that you live by, choosing to live life in joy and peace, no matter what the rest of the world chooses? Or will you make something else, someone else's ideas your truth? *Even if one has not heard or understood the Truth, they will still be judged by the standards of Truth. However, God knows the hearts and souls of each person, and if someone truly practiced and lived out the beliefs that they thought were good, true, and beautiful, our Lord knows their hearts and would judge them accordingly, but they would first be made aware of the Truth that God teaches and would have to choose whether to accept or reject it, thus choosing Heaven or Hell.

In addition to being a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as we walk with Jesus, preparing our hearts to commemorate His death on the cross, Lent is also a season of conversion. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops writes, "We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully." (Read the full article here.) Most of us have heard of conversion in the sense of people becoming Catholic through the RCIA process (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). Most people who convert to Catholicism come into the Church at the Easter Vigil Mass and receive the sacraments, some for the first time and some returning to full communion with the Church after having been away for a long time or only being Baptized and not having received the other sacraments. There are so many amazing Catholics who have come into the Church from other religions- or from no religions at all! I know some amazing people who have come into the Church- some even as teenagers- and are now fantastic practicing Catholics. Lent brings the conversion of our new Brothers and Sisters into focus, giving all of us who are already Catholic a fantastic example of conversion. "Wait, what?" you may be thinking, "I've been Catholic my entire life... why do I need conversion?" Every single person in the entire world needs conversion. As Catholics, we are called to constant interior conversion. The Catechism says, “The first work of the Holy Spirit is conversion. Moved by grace, man turns towards God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high.”(CCC 1989) Conversion is a constant reordering of our hearts and lives towards God- exactly what we're called to do during the season of Lent! How do we do this? How do we cultivate an attitude- a lifestyle- of conversion? For most of us, conversion begins with a "mountain-top" moment. A moment where we, like the apostles in today's Gospel, are given an encounter with Jesus in all His splendor and glory. For me, this moment took place first at my Confirmation and then was strengthened at my first Steubenville Youth Conference. This is a moment where we are "set on fire" for our faith! What has been the conversion moment in your life? Can't think of one? Aren't on fire for your faith yet? Go to a Catholic Church. Sit with Jesus. Give your life to Him. Trust me, if you are only open, He will do amazing things. After this initial moment of conversion, we "come back down the mountain" and have to go back to our normal lives. Our conversion does not stop there! We can cultivate an attitude and a lifestyle of conversion by constantly taking advantage of the graces the Lord sends us to help form us into saints. These would include taking advantage of the sacraments, particularly receiving the Eucharist and going to Confession; developing a prayer routine; performing works of charity and service (such as the ones we're doing during the Catholic Teen Life Lenten Journey! ); finding friends or groups who can encourage you and who you can encourage them in your journeys of faith; studying the Bible and reading spiritual books; and much, much more. Each of these opportunities to grow in our faith, particularly taking advantage of the sacraments, gives us the graces necessary to cultivate a lifestyle of conversion, turn away from sin, and be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls us to "metanoia!"- repent and believe! That is what true conversion is all about. We are called to constantly repent and believe in the Gospel not only in the Lenten season but all the time. Let's ask our Lord to cultivate a spirit of conversion in our hearts during this Lenten season, and to help us sustain it throughout our entire lives, persevering in the faith until our Lord helps us through the final stage of conversion and guides us to our Heavenly home.

We frequently speak of mercy in our churches and in Catholic Media. But what is mercy? Mercy is, as St. Thomas Aquinas put it, "the compassion in our hearts for another person's misery, a compassion which drives us to do what we can to help him. " Jesus told St. Faustina*, I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor : the first–by deed, the second–by word, the third–by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for me (Diary 742). Mercy by deed can be practiced by completing the Spiritual and Corporal works of mercy. These are: Corporal Works of Mercy: To feed the hungry. To give water to the thirsty. To clothe the naked. To shelter the homeless. To visit the sick. To visit the imprisoned, or ransom the captive. To bury the dead. Spiritual Works of Mercy: To instruct the ignorant. To counsel the doubtful. To admonish the sinners. To bear patiently those who wrong us. To forgive offenses. To comfort the afflicted. To pray for the living and the dead. (Some of the spiritual works of mercy are accomplished by word and prayer as well!) We can practice mercy by word by forgiving and comforting others in their time of need, by affirming their goodness by what we say, by not gossiping or lying, and by being gentle and loving in our speech. We practice mercy by prayer by praying for others. This is the broadest and most effective type of mercy because we can ask God can use other people to go places where we can't and show mercy to those who we will never even meet! We can even pray for mercy for the entire world. One of the best ways to do this is through the Divine Mercy Chaplet, in which we pray to God the Father to have mercy on us and on the whole world. (Learn how to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet) Our Lord said that when we show mercy by word, deed, or prayer, we show "unquestionable proof of love for (him)." Our Lord is so unloved by so many people. When He revealed His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, He said, "Behold the heart which loves so much and yet is so little loved." When we show mercy to others, we console His wounded heart. He told St. Faustina, My daughter, do not tire of proclaiming My mercy. In this way you will refresh this Heart of Mine, which burns with a flame of pity for sinners.... The loss of each soul plunges Me into mortal sadness. You always console Me when you pray for sinners (Diary, 1521 and 1397). Those of you who are taking part in the Catholic Teen Life Lenten Journey are showing mercy every day during this Lenten season! By completing an act of service by either prayer, word, or deed, by praying, fasting, and giving alms, you are showing mercy to others and consoling Jesus!! That is absolutely amazing to think about. We are showing Jesus the "unquestionable proof" of our love for Him by showing mercy. In doing this throughout our Lenten journey (and hopefully continuing it afterward, too!) we will have mercy on our Lord's wounded heart, and on the entire world. And, to make it even better, Our Lord tells us we, too, if we are merciful, will be shown mercy!! (Matthew 5:7) We lose nothing and gain everything by being merciful. ❤ *Haven't heard of St. Faustina or the message of mercy? Read more about it here! It is private revelation, so we don't HAVE to believe it (like we do public revelation, which ended after the death of the last apostle) but it has been approved by the Church as worthy of belief. Some of the people who promote it can be a bit over the top with end times theories and prophecies, but the Divine Mercy message itself is amazing. I love it SO MUCH and can't recommend it enough. This post is a part of the Catholic Teen Life Lenten Journey .