As we begin our annual renewal of the Stewardship Way of Life, the first question we have to consider is: How do you see? How do you see the world around you, your life, the meaning of it all?

Faith isn’t an imposition on our real life. It is the only way to live a life where the newness we seek can be given.

Why is an increase of faith so important? I believe in God. I am a Catholic. Why is the need for more faith so important?

There is a great urgency in Christ’s words. And he isn’t trying to shame us or guilt us. But he is trying to provoke a real and urgent response.

Yeah, maybe we’re not off in some distant land committing awful sins. Yeah, maybe we are just doing what everyone else in our community is doing. But maybe we are in just as bad a spot anyway.

Jesus isn’t trying to draw a crowd. He isn’t trying to win a popularity contest. He wants disciples, not fans.

Humility is not some weird meekness, and it’s not self-deprecation. Humility is embracing the truth of who you are. And who you truly are may not be as clear to you as you think.

Following Jesus and entering the “narrow gate” does not happen by accident. What can we do to follow him?

We are not called to try to do incredible things every day, but to do little things with great love. These little “acts of sabotage” are precisely the method which will bring down the Enemy.

The hardest part of Christianity? Definitely the waiting. But the waiting is the key to it all. We wait for the Father to provide what we are incapable of providing ourselves.