Preparing for Christ's Return

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Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast , the go-to resource for women seeking to have a deeper understanding of the role alcohol plays in their lives , women who are looking to drink less or not at all for any reason . I am your host , christi Walker . I'm a wife , mom and a joy-filled Catholic , and I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach , and I am so glad you're here . Okay , I want to ask you something Are you ready for Christ's return , like if you saw Him descending from the sky on a cloud with power and glory ? Would you be ready ? Would you be ready to stand before him and say Lord , I am so glad to see you .

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I have been preparing for this moment . Well , I can honestly say that , while I would be so happy to see Jesus come and set things right , I actually have a lot of work to do still on myself , because I am known , just like St Peter , to take my eyes off him and focus on the things of this world , the things that are fleeting and that cause me to lose my peace . And , instead of staying the course , keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus and reaching my hand out to him and allowing him to guide me in the darkness , sometimes I just fall into that water of chaos . Yet here's the thing Time and time again in sacred scripture , you will notice that we are being warned to stay alert , to be watchful and be ready , because our king is coming , the lover of our soul is coming , the one who gave everything so that we could have the grace of spending eternity with him . Are we willing to do the same ? Are we willing to give everything for him ? It's so hard , right ? Well , in this episode , I'm going to reveal two simple things that you can do and that I am also committing to do , that will help incorporate Christ more fully into our lives , so that we can have less fear , less anxiety and instead have more peace and more joy . So , if that sounds good to you , keep listening .

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Now . As I mentioned earlier , throughout scripture we read about staying alert and being ready . Mark 13 , 33 through 37 tells us to be on guard and stay alert , because we don't know when the appointed coming of Christ will be . Only the Father knows that . None of us , not even the Son . And then 1 Corinthians , 16 , verses 13 and 14 , says that we must be watchful and alert and to stand firm in our faith , to be courageous , to be strong . 1 Peter , 5 , verses 8 through 9 warns us to be alert or watch , because our enemy , the devil , roams around like a lion looking to devour us , which is why we need to stand firm in faith and stay close to Christ , our Redeemer , our King , our Protector . Now , I know that all sounds well and good and you're probably wondering how the heck can I do that ? Now , maybe you know all that and it sounds great , but I'm sure you're wondering how the heck you can do that with all the crazy things going on in the world and maybe even within your own community and family . Well , I am happy to say that this week's gospel tells us how to do just that .

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As I'm recording this , we are looking forward to the beginning of advent and , as one of the deacons at my parish pointed out , as odd as it may seem for this to be the first reading to kick off advent , we can see how the church , in her infinite wisdom , would have chosen this reading . It comes from the Gospel of Luke , chapter 21 , verses 25 through 28 and 34 through 36 . I'm going to be reading from the USCCB website and I will also provide a link in my show notes . This week's gospel reading says Jesus said to his disciples . There will be signs in the sun , the moon and the stars , and on earth , nations will be in dismay , perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves . People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world , for the powers of the heavens will be shaken and then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory . But when these signs begin to happen , stand , erect , raise your heads because your redemption is at hand . Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life . And that day catch you by surprise , like a trap , for that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth . Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and stand firm before the Son of man .

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Now , almost every Monday evening , my husband and I , and sometimes our sons , go to what is called Adore and More at our parish . We pray as a group and then two people read the gospel reading for the coming Sunday , and then we discuss the readings and what came up for everyone . This event is always led by one of our deacons , and after we have discussed the readings . We spend about a half an hour adoring the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament . My husband and I have come to really love these times and we learn so much and it adds so much to our experience on Sunday because we see the gospel from a lot of different angles .

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So , as you might imagine , the first thing that stood out to me was the warning about not being alert due to partying , drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life . And I'm like heck , yeah , go Jesus . Tell them how alcohol and other comforts can keep us lukewarm and far from you or leave us numbed out so that we are not aware of the approaching enemy who is at the ready to devour our souls . Tell them , tell them how alcohol darkens our will and our intellect and it leaves us vulnerable and unprepared for your glorious return and it keeps us stuck and anxious , with our eyes on the world and not on you , who has overcome the world . But then I started listening to the other people who were chiming in and I noticed that they had a very different take . These people , who I admire so much for their faith and their devoutness and their love of the Lord , were saying things like reading this scripture sounds scary , and I mean I guess I have to agree with that , because it talks about people dying of fright and all these tribulations that we will see and actually are seeing and experiencing right now , and it doesn't sound pleasant at all . And when it talks about how that day will assault , assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth , well , just hearing that word assault can bring anxiety . And then of course , there is Jesus's warning that if we are not alert on that day it will catch us by surprise like a trap . In my Revised Standard Version Bible it used the word snare . So I get it .

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But as people talked about their fears and their suffering , the spirit was moving in me and I didn't feel any of that . I just didn't . And you know , maybe it's the old cheerleader in me or the coach energy bubbling up . But as I saw these words of our Lord , I saw them as a grace . He's telling us exactly what we need to do to get ready and I just couldn't hold my tongue . I had to speak out . I told the group that I could completely understand the fear , but I see Jesus in this moment Like I just had this vision of Jesus , as like an old football coach talking to his team and , like a gravelly voice , pumping up his team so that they will be ready for what is to come . And he's not saying look at all these things that are going to happen , good luck with that , no , no , he is saying that this stuff will come to pass and you will be tempted to be scared . You will be tempted to drown your worries in alcohol or other comforts or tune out with emotional eating , binging Netflix or doom scrolling . But don't do that . It is a trap meant to ensnare you and to leave you weak and fearful . Here's the thing you have the spirit within you . Up straight , stand up tall . Do not numb yourselves and darken your will and your intellect . Do not focus your gaze on the tribulations . Instead , keep your head up . Can you imagine yourself doing that right now ? Just for a moment , think about all the anxieties , fear and chaos that are plaguing you right now and then imagine yourself just standing up and seeing Jesus before you .

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My older boys , my twins they wrestle , not each other . They wrestle for school . I mean , sometimes they have to wrestle each other , but they are wrestlers , and one of the dads who knows a lot more about the sport of wrestling than I do is always cheering the boys on and encouraging them , and he says this phrase over and over and it sticks with me . I think about it often , but he says this phrase over and over . He yells it at the top of his lungs so that they can hear him Among the other yelling . There's literal chaos going on . There are multiple matches going on , there are coaches yelling , parents yelling , teammates yelling . It is just like the loudest , most chaotic and a little bit smelly place to be . But somehow these boys hear him and when they do , it just is like remarkable to see their transformation . He says head up , stand up . He just repeats it over and over Head up , stand up , head up , stand up . I have seen this so many times .

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My boys or one of their teammates just crumpled under the weight of their opponent with their face buried into the mat and then they hear the voice , a familiar voice , of one of their best friend's dads yelling head up , stand up . And it is remarkable . All of a sudden they gain this courage , they regain their strength and whether they end up winning the match or not , it doesn't really matter , because more often than not they somehow get their head up . They do stand up and disentangle themselves from their opponent , and before long they are looking him square in the eye . So , too , we must hear these words from our Lord in this reading Head up , stand up , stand erect , with your head up . That is what Jesus is saying . Where your head goes , your body will follow .

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Now here's one more very important thing that I want you to know . Just as my boys' coaches give them the tools they need to be successful and help them train and condition and offer them encouragement and instruction , our Lord does this for us . So I don't want you sitting there thinking , christi , I am not equipped , I can't do this . I don't have the strength Because you are . The Spirit of the Lord resides in you . By virtue of your baptism , you were given the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit to strengthen you , to fortify you , to help you see things not from a worldly perspective , but an eternal one . The Holy Spirit is your guide , your confident , your coach , the one who is nudging you and encouraging you . And if you can just tune out the noise and the chaos , the Holy Spirit does not speak on his own behalf . He speaks on behalf of our Lord with the prompting head up , stand up . You were made for this .

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Now , I promised way back in the beginning that I would share two simple things that you could do to incorporate Christ more fully into your life , so that you will have more peace , less fear and anxiety , oh , and more joy . What I didn't tell you is that it will also help cultivate virtue , which will work to root out the vice that you're struggling with . Cultivating virtue will replace that weed of vice with a fruit-bearing tree . Now I have to say that I didn't come up with these ideas . Actually , they were recommended to me by my spiritual director , and I will be implementing these practices beginning December 1st , and I hope you will join me or just start whenever it is that you are listening to this podcast .

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So what she recommended was having a rule of life , or crafting a rule of life , and what that is are three commitments that I can make to incorporate Christ into my life more fully can make to incorporate Christ into my life more fully . So , for example , for me , my three things are going to be one , to read scripture daily , either through Bible in a Year or the daily readings . The second one is to spend five to ten minutes in silence asking God what he wants me to know that day and writing it down . And the third is to pray the rosary daily and include all the intentions for others that I pray for . Your three things can be whatever you want them to be . I'm just giving you an example of what I've committed to doing , because these are things that I'm not always consistent with and that I know will be so beneficial in helping incorporate Christ more fully into my life . Now I pray throughout the day , especially with my family . We pray in the morning before everybody heads off to school , and everywhere you know , we pray at dinner together . We close our days with prayer . I do a morning offering , so it's not like I don't pray , but these three small commitments are going to help incorporate Christ even more fully into my life and help me stay alert and be watchful and be ready . These commitments are going to help me keep my head up and stand erect .

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The second thing that I am going to be doing that my spiritual director recommended , is to do a daily examine , but to do the daily examine with these three commitments in mind , and it makes doing the daily examine much more fruitful because you're actually you have a framework . A daily examine helps us recognize God's presence throughout the day , god's presence throughout the day , and then it also helps us identify areas where we need to grow spiritually . Maybe where we were lacking , did we turn to something else instead of God ? Did we consult an idol instead of God ? So that's why I think these two practices are going to be so powerful

Advent Preparation and Planning Inspiration

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I'm really looking forward to doing them myself and I hope that maybe you'll join me on this journey through Advent . I definitely want to make this a permanent practice for me , but definitely at the start of Advent . I just feel like this is something that is going to be so in line with the season , helping me kind of clear the clutter and calm the chaos so that I can keep my eyes focused on Christ , keep my head up and stand direct and keep my eyes on Christ instead of focusing on everything else that's going on and I know this time of year can be crazy with all the things , but it doesn't have to be . It can be calm . Okay , I promise .

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Now , if you need help with planning , go back and listen to my last episode , my previous episode to this one , where I talk about how to plan this . The way I talk about it is specifically for planning for events , but you can use this planning method for pretty much anything that you need to plan for and prepare for . Well , that does it for this episode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast . I hope you enjoyed this episode and I would invite you to share it with a friend , who might also get value from it as well , and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing . I am the Catholic sobriety coach , and if you would like to learn how to work with me or learn more about the coaching that I offer , visit my website , thecatholicsobrietycoachcom . Follow me on Instagram at the Catholic sobriety Coach . I look forward to speaking to you next time and remember I am here for you . I am praying for you .