Lay Life in a Year

52 Reflections on JPII's vision for the Laity

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Read Past Reflections

Week 44 – Family, Hope, and A Little Wink

My dad was the youngest of seven, so our family celebrations were raucous. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and even random neighbors piled up around the dinner table, and everyone talked—loudly . As the youngest with the smallest voice, I often felt overlooked. The...

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Week 43 – Evangelizing Ourselves: The Key To Loving God

Going on a mission trip is deeply impactful. I remember years ago, when I was much younger, my home parish took a trip to Eastern Kentucky to serve the poor. It was eye opening in ways that I could have never anticipated. Yet, while the trip changed me, it didn’t...

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Week 42 – The Missing Piece to Passing on the Faith

There have been times when I’ve tried so hard to share my faith but felt like I was missing something. I wasn’t sure where I was going wrong until I had a conversation with my older sister. She helped me see that I wanted to follow God, but I wasn’t giving it my all—I...

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Week 41 – This Is The Moment for Re-Evangelization!

Pope Benedict XVI tells a story about a clown who runs into a village, crying out that the circus is on fire. He jumps, shouts, and pleads for help—but the more he yells, the more they laugh. They can’t see beyond his costume, so they ignore him. Then comes the punch...

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Week 40 – Every Disciple Is Called By Name

This week I want to do something a little different. We’ve talked A LOT about being called. We’ve said that the laity is called to: the universal call to holiness evangelize and sanctify the secular participate in our parish and help build up the Church But if we...

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Week 39 – The Mission of the Church

I think we've all been there—sitting through a homily when the "mission appeal" part comes up. Our minds drift, we hear the familiar phrases—“mission,” “help the poor,” “time, talent, treasure,” “spread the faith…” —and yet sometimes, it feels like the message gets...

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Week 38 – How to Respond to a Divided World

Division is something that seems to grow more each day. Nations, families, and relationships seem to be falling apart. In my own life, I have struggled to find something to hold on to. In weathering the storm, I often find myself grasping for anything to keep me...

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Week 37- A Response to Busyness

In a meeting with my pastor about our parish, he said: “If we don’t fix things, the bishop will close this parish. We have to get more young families engaged.”  Caught off guard and growing in concern, I asked him what activities the parish was currently doing....

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Week 36 – An Unexpected Discovery from 1979

When I was a kid, my dad was obsessed with one particular VHS tape—it was like some secret treasure from the past. He held it out with a grin and said, “Now I’ll show you what basketball is supposed to look like.”  It was the 1979 NCAA championship game—Larry Bird vs....

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