I’m so glad you’re here!

“How can I serve God?”

In my opinion, this is an equally beautiful and scary question. Beautiful because this is what we were made for—to use our lives to serve Him. Scary because there can be a lot of pressure put on our answers to this question. 

When I began to discover the depth and richness of my Catholic faith, when I got a mere glimpse of who He is and the beauty of His church, I had a natural desire to do “big things” for Him. This desire is good and true, but I found that putting all the emphasis on the “big things” can actually hinder us from doing anything at all. We can spend so much time seeking things that may be defined as “big” in the eyes of the world that we neglect the seemingly small, but truly big things surrounding us, the things that God views as big. I hope as a church, as a community of believers, we can redefine what doing great things for God means. 

I questioned the meaning of “big things” and wondered, what if doing big things for God actually means being faithful in the little things? What if success is not what the world has told me, but actually obedience to Him? God does not see with our eyes. He loves simple things. The things I consider small, He sees as big. No act of love, no extension of mercy or grace, no moment of thanksgiving or praise is too small to Him. In recognition of this, I’m learning that all of the “small things” have been the big things all along.

With that being said, this blog is my answer to the beautiful and scary question I posed earlier. I finally decided to say “yes” to God about something I thought was too small. I always felt that He gave me the gift of expressing my heart best through words. So, I invite you into my conversations with Jesus and I pray they inspire you toward those seemingly small acceptances of surrender. 

Why “Live Eternal”? Because every person was made for eternity. In a culture that caves to darkness, is silently submerged in the shame of sin, held in the grip of the enemy’s lies, Christians are called to be reflection’s of the Son’s light, to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). John Paul II proclaimed that “Truth is the deepest need of the human spirit” and that “the desire to see Jesus dwells deep in the heart of each man and each woman.” Jesus is the truth we long for, but the enemy tries to disguise and satiate our deepest desire with worldly things. Thus, I named this venture “Live Eternal” because “Christian” is not just a mere label or title, it is a life lived in truth, which is a life lived in Christ. Even more, Christianity is not a mere ideal, it is the reality of salvation and freedom from sin, and the promise of new life.

I am inspired by the words of Saint John Paul II in Crossing the Threshold of Hope where he questioned the meaning of eternal life. He answered his proposed question by saying,

“It is happiness that comes from union with God...As  the fullness of Good, God is the fullness of life. Life is in him and from Him. This is life that has no limits in time or space. It is ‘eternal life,’ participation in the life of God Himself, which comes about in the eternal communion of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The dogma of the Holy Trinity expresses the truth about the intimate life of God and invites us to receive that life. In Jesus Christ man is called to such a participation and led toward it...”

To “Live Eternal” it is to live in communion with God. Even more, the phrase “Live Eternal” is a call to action—a reminder that through Jesus Christ we have access to the Father, that the veil is torn, that we have the unfathomable gift of living in communion with Him. Saint Peter writes, “He has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature…” “Live Eternal” is a reminder that because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we do not have to wait to partake in eternity, rather we can be partakers of the divine nature here on Earth. We get a foretaste of Heaven at the mass, in adoration and consumption of the Eucharist, in the communion of saints, in prayer and in community with our brothers and sisters.

So, my message is this: there is power in Christ and He wants each one of His children to claim it. Not only claim it inside church walls, but to claim it in every area and action of your life—in our homes, at work, with your friends, with the cashier at the grocery store, with the homeless man on the street corner and every person and place in between. How can we serve God? With our lives. In a world that is in constant battle of life vs. death, I challenge us to “Live Eternal”—namely, live in accordance with the riches and promises of Christ, live in hope and live in light. As JP II reminds us, “We can never forget that God ‘wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth’” (1 Tim 2:4). If there’s one thing I know for sure it’s that Jesus wants to use the example of your life to bring them there. You’ll be surprised how he can use our smallest acts of faith for His biggest testimonies.