The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - One Hour Can Change Everything!

Episode Date: January 27, 2023

Are you looking for ways to deal with the stress and busyness of every day life? Jeff shares some of the common struggles people face that can distract them from what is most important. He shares an idea for how to maintain peace and bring focus back to your relationship with the Lord. Snippet from the Show Focus on the good that God has done in your life. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kaven show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 307. One hour can change everything. Well, thanks for joining me again. I've been thinking about you. Just got back from Israel, actually. It was my 60th. Pilgrimage, 60th Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and every one of them is a retreat. It is a treat, and it's an opportunity to really go walk with Jesus, right? Where everything happened. It's a life-transforming experience. Well, I was thinking about a lot of different things over the last few days when I was in Israel,

and I wanted to share with you one of the things that was going on in my mind, and I actually put into practice, and I want to share it with you. First of all, before we get to that, if you do want the show notes, you know the drill. All you got to do is type my name, Jeff Kaven's one word, and send it to the number 3377. That's so biblical. 3377. Don't want you taking notes when you're driving, and probably not even when you're running. So we'll get them to you. Don't worry about it. Okay, so I was in Israel this last week, and I started thinking about the condition that a lot of people are in. And when they go on a retreat, you hear about it.

You hear people talking about how busy life has been and how stressful life has been and so forth. And they've got a lot of things on their mind. But a pilgrimage gives you an opportunity to kind of slow down and put things into perspective. and I was thinking about one discipline. It's dealing with an hour, and you probably are guessing a holy hour. It's kind of, but not really. It is, but not really. And I'll share that with you.

It's something you can do in one hour that I have found literally changes everything. If I'm all stressed and I'm all caught up in the cares of this world and, you know, thinking about the future and so forth, Emily will oftentimes tell me you need to go up and spend some time with the Lord. And I'm like, yeah, well, you need to too, you know, mature answer, right? What would Jesus say? Not, but I listened to her, and I end up going up to church, and everything changes. It's what you do in that hour that can make all the difference in the world.

So, life can be busy, life can be crazy. We live at the speed of thought oftentimes, buried in technology, so forth. And I want to just give you a number of situations that you could find yourself in right now. Maybe you are experiencing one of the following. And if you are, then the prescription or what I'm going to give you in the show today may just be the ticket that you're looking for to deal with the stress and to deal with all that's going on in your heart. Hey, all of us go through periods in our life that we could say is like a desert. You know, a year ago was so exciting

and things were happening and so forth. And all of a sudden, you find yourself in kind of a dry, arid place. And when we really look back on our life over the last year, so we can identify. We can identify attitudes and we can identify disciplines that got us into the situation that we're in. So let me list off a number of situations

that you could find yourself in. One is you're going 100 miles per hour life. It's the speed of thought. just, you're waking up and you're just going and going and going. And if you've got kids in sports and things like that, you know what I'm talking about. Life gets to be so busy. So number one, going at 100 miles an hour in life. Number two, we get caught in ruts where we compare ourselves to other people. And when we compare ourselves to other people, I'll tell you one thing we don't compare generally. That's virtue. That's holiness. Very seldom will someone start

comparing themselves you know and who's more patient that guy or me but typically when you start comparing yourself with other people be it at work or home well it's usually things it's things it's experiences it is accomplishments you know all of that type of stuff you start comparing yourself to others and and usually you kind of come out on the on the short end of it number three you find yourself constantly wanting more things want more things want more things Now, this is really, really something that a lot of Americans are entering into, particularly when it's so easy to just sign up for Amazon Prime. And anything that you want, you just buy it.

And it's at your house in a day or so. And there's something about this instant gratification that a lot of people get caught up. And it's like they look on their phone and the UPS dropped off a package. And they're thinking, oh, wow, you know. And it's kind of this instant reward thing. problem is you're created for more than instant rewards you're created for more than a UPS package a day you're created for a relationship not a package but a a relationship and that is with God and so this constant wanting and you know things and to occupy space and to bring

things into our home it can sap the life out of you it really can it's like a counterfeit sacrament. You know, it's just not going to deliver. Number four, you have an inordinate attraction to money. You think a lot about money. You know, you're thinking about money and who has money and this guy does, you don't, and you dream about the wings of the powerball. For a lot of people, the attraction of money really starts to guide and direct their life. After all, the scripture says that not money, but the love of money is the root of all evil. People do all kinds of stuff because of a love for money. Number five, you're losing your relationships. Yeah, because you're so focused on problems in our culture today. Your relationship with your spouse,

with your children seems to be dwindling. It's not as rich as it used to be. And you're feeling that and you're kind of longing for that relationship that you had at one time. But your time has taken up. Your heart is focused on things that don't really pay. focused on things that really don't feed your soul richly. And after a while, you start to feel kind of weak and bankrupt. And that's a problem. Number six, you worry about the future too much. And you can't live for today.

You can't occupy today because you're always thinking about tomorrow. Just prior to even coming here to share with you, I heard on the news that everyone's worried because they think that by the year 23, Social Security and Medicare will be driving. up and there won't be anything for you. And so we get caught up in that. Who's going to take care of me? I've always been counting on, you know, X amount of money coming from the government as a formula in my retirement if I get to retire. And so we get so occupied with the future. And if there's one theme that Jesus tries to bring out, you know, in his teaching, it's don't worry about tomorrow.

Don't worry about tomorrow. Focus today. on the relationship with the Lord. Don't fear. Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow has enough problems of itself. You focus on today, and God will provide for you today. So that's number, let's see, that's number seven. Nothing seems to be enough in terms of material things.

Now, I'm not talking about just the desire to shop on Amazon Prime. I'm saying that once we do get things in our life, the magic's gone. the person who's been dreaming about a car for a year got it and they're like okay what next you know what do they start fixating on next in their life and so when we try to fill our hearts with material things or experiences or alternative relationships other than the Lord you're going to always come up short always always you're going to come up short you really are and life without the Lord. Life in itself is hard enough, isn't it?

But life without the Lord? Wow. When you have an upside-down life like that where you start to look at things as that which is going to fill you and it's going to delight you and satisfy you, you're kind of caught. And number eight, oh, here's one, you're envious of others, and it's eating you alive. I've told you before that envy is different than jealousy. Jealousy in itself isn't necessarily sin.

I mean, you can say, well, I'm so jealous of, you got such a good marriage, I'm so jealous. You say it in that light way, that's not necessarily sin. But envy is always sin, and it's, in fact, it's one of the deadly sins. And the reason is is because envy is different than jealousy. And jealousy is, I want what you have. Envy is, I don't want you to have what you have. And the more you're blessed, the sadder I get. And so when your life is set up that way and you gauge your,

progress and you gauge the, you know, where you're going in life by what other people have or accomplish or do. Wow. You're in a trap. And according to the church's teaching, it's deadly. It's a deadly sin. And it will completely color your home and life in your home. Or here's number nine, the final one. This is the list I'm giving you if you are ticking off any of these things on the list. You're losing confidence. You're losing confidence in the pillars that have always been there. News, networks, maybe Hollywood, but maybe even the church. Maybe you're losing confidence. And you kind of wonder, who do we trust in these days? On the Old Testament, they said, don't put your trust in chariots or horses or gold or anything else. Put it in the

Lord, but many people are feeling discouraged. They're feeling discouraged. They want something to happen in their parish and they feel like they're the only ones. And they feel like they're not really going anywhere. So a number of these things, you know, maybe one, two, three, maybe all of them. You'd say I'm kind of struggling with all of those things. Well, I really believe that if you are, there is something that you can do that in one hour completely changes your perspective. It changes your outlook on life. It's like a one hour calibration period where you can spend some time with the Lord. And it's what you do in that hour that I want to talk about. And that's what makes the difference. And that's what I'm going to share with you right on the other side of this

break. You're listening, my friend, to the Jeff Kaven show. Hi, I'm Father Mark Toops. Do you ever feel like you're asking God for too much in your spiritual life? The truth is, you're probably asking for too little. And if you'd like some help this Lent, opening up your heart to God to allow him to bless you with all that he has for you, you should pick up the new Ascension Lent and Companion Year A. This coming Lent, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got. If you'd like some help to go deeper, you'll need to ask for more. and this is what this year's journal is designed to help you with.

Each day, you'll get a word to focus on, a reflection to help you pray, some scripture to meditate on, and a prompt to help you quiet down and listen to what God wants to say to you. And each week, we feature a piece of original artwork as well as an original online video to help you in your prayer. I want to encourage you to be bold this lent, to ask God for more. Go to ascensionpress.com and order your copy of the Ascension Linton Companion today. God bless you.

All right. We're talking now about the struggles that you may be going through. And members of your family are going through. You've tried self-help books. You've tried television. You've tried Pop Formators. And it's got to be more, you know. And your life is starting to go from peppermint bonbon to vanilla real quick.

and you're asking, what can I do? What can I do? Well, maybe that's the problem is doing. Maybe you've gone from a human being to a human doing, and it's not fulfilling in your life. Here's what I want to suggest. The answer to really turning your attitude around, the answer is in living a life of Thanksgiving, living a life of gratitude, an attitude. of gratitude, a life of praising God and thanking God. And when I say that, you might think to yourself, oh, man, really? Yeah, really. I'm not giving you just some kind of theology. What I'm giving you is really the answer.

And that is taking the focus off yourself, off of others, and focusing on the goodness of God and what God has done in your life. God has done amazing things in your life. Zechariah the prophet, chapter 4 verse 6, said, not by our own might or by our own power, but by his spirit. See, the pattern that is consistent in scripture is that when faced with difficulty or faced with a dry, arid time in your life like King David had, oftentimes, the people of God praise God.

They praise God. thanks to God, and everything begins to change. Everything begins to change at that point. And I have found this to be so true in my own life. I love what Psalm 106 says. I'll put these in the notes for you. Psalm 106, one and two, praise the Lord, oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, or his loving kindness is everlasting.

Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord? or can show forth all his praise. I love it. It's just so rich. It's so, so good. You know what G.K. Chesterton said one time, and I know that you've read probably some Chesterton books, and they call him the most quotable man in the modern world. He said something really insightful.

He said, the secret to happiness is gratitude. The secret to happiness is gratitude. if you've ever been around people who are filled with gratitude and thanks they're good people to be around but when you get around people that are selfish and and turned inward man they can become some of the most bitter selfish self-centered people and no one really wants to be around them and if you're that person no one's going to be anxious to be around you or me but thanking god and slowing down and taking notice of all that he has given you is the key we end every day in the Kaven's household with an examined prayer.

It's an Ignatian prayer. The examined prayer takes you through a few steps where you can look back on your day. But I'm going to suggest to you in just a moment here about this hour this week. I'm going to ask you to do something if you want to. I mean, nobody can make you do anything, but I'm saying if you want to join me, I'm going to do this myself this week. But every single day you can look back at the end of the day and you can look at how things went. And the Ignatian prayer, the examined prayer, it starts with count your blessings.

It starts with give God praise for what happened that day and all that you have received. You say, but Jeff, it was a lousy day. Oh, it might have been, but let's look for the good. Let's look for what God has blessed you with. And let's proclaim that first. Why first? Because the gift attaches you to the gift giver. The blessings attaches you to the one who blesses. And that is Lord. And it's amazing how the rest of your time and prayer in the evening, even if it's only five minutes, it can radically change. Now, here's what I am suggesting. It's going to be simple, but I'm going to challenge you to do it, especially if you felt like some of those things I mentioned at the top of the show. I'm going to suggest that sometime this week, sooner or better than later, you will take an hour. Go up to church. If your church has a, you know, adoration chapel, even if they don't. Go up to the church and I think it's good because you get out of your normal surroundings. Bring a little notebook, maybe a little Moleski notebook or an insight journal that Father Mike and I put together at Ascension, the Insight Journal. And go up there

with your pen, no books, nothing else, and just sit in the presence of the Lord and begin to write down everything you're thankful for. start with your family, start with your own life, your own circumstances. What are you grateful for? What are you thankful for? You say, Jeff, it just sounds like another kind of an exercise to do. No, no, it's called reality. It's called the life of a disciple.

It's called a healthy relationship with the creator. So you sit down and if it takes you 10, 15 minutes just to write everything down about your family. you can list it, you can write it in a paragraph if you want, whatever you want to do, but begin to record everything that you are thankful for, then turn to your job, your friends, and just start to list everything that you're thankful for. You say, I don't have a job, I don't have kids at home. Well, maybe if you have grandkids, maybe you're a retired priest, sister, religious, whatever your state of life, you can look at your life and begin just to,

to take notice of the good things. I could rattle off many things right now. Thank God I have a home. Thank God I have a family, a beautiful wife and children, grandchildren. Lord, I'm so thankful. I have a warm place in the winter in Minnesota. You'll be thankful. I have a car to get around.

I have in my study right here, Bibles and books, and I got a computer, and I'm so grateful that I can use this microphone. Same one, by the way, that Michael Jackson did the thriller on. It's a sure SM7B. Thankful, because I get to talk to you on it. And I can go on and on. My point is this.

If you will do this, my friend, you'll be surprised at how your perspective changes on that relationship with your sister, that envy at work, that constant needing to surf the Internet like you used to walk the malls. Your life can change. It's available to you today. The relationship is available to you today. And if G.K. Chesterton is right that the secret to happiness is gratitude. And we have a choice today.

Do we live with an attitude of gratitude? Or do we continue on in the track we're on? The catechism says in paragraph 1352, the whole community thus joins in the unending praise that the church in heaven, the angels and all the saints, sing to the thrice holy God. as a church get to join everybody else on Sunday and give thanks to God. But outside of Sunday, if you don't go to daily mass, I would encourage you to find some time to just give thanks to God. And really, it'll change your life. You remember that story? I'll put it in the

notes for you. Luke 17, the story of the 10 lepers. Remember that? They're walking, you know, Jesus was walking through town. These guys' lives, it's over with pretty much, as far socially and their jobs and, you know, going to a professional football game or something, they're not going to be able to do any of that. And Jesus comes by and they said, you know, heal us. And he healed all 10 of them. But what Jesus noticed was only one of them turned around, came back and said, thank you. The nine left with their attitudes unchanged.

So which one are you? Are you the one or are you one of the nine? let's check it out this last week which one were you were you the one or were you one of the nine what about today so far which one are you you know i got to answer that question too it's a good question which one are we because jesus has died for you he's given you eternal life he said he would not leave you he would provide for you he is a shepherd

he is a healer he is a king he is our best best friend in the entire world. He died for us. He will not leave us. Wow. Are we grateful? Or are we going to sit and focus on all these other things that are sapping us in our life? Thanksgiving. That's what Eucharist means. Thanksgiving. When Jesus was on earth, all the rabbis that, you know what they taught? They taught that when the Messiah comes, all sacrifices will cease except one. the toda offering. Toda in Hebrew means thanks. The only offering that will continue is the thank offering,

and that's what Eucharist means it is the thank offering. The offering of Thanksgiving. It's the heart of our faith. It's the heart of our community. Make it the heart of your day. Now, I'm going to pray for you this week. You pray for me too, because I'm going to do this myself, and I'm going to go up to church.

and I'm just going to spend an hour, and I'm just going to gush on God. And I hope you will join me. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, Jesus, I love you, and we all together, Lord, we love you, we want more of you, we want to see you. We know the truth that, Lord, we struggle, we wander, we drift. Help us, Lord, this week to refocus our life, to recalibrate our life on you rather than the things that are not returning life. We thank you for this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I love you, my friend. I really look forward to talking to you next week.