On The Road To Perfection Beth and Kristofer Cowles

On The Road To Perfection

Episode 167: Walking In The Catholic Faith

Walking in the Catholic Faith is an important part of Being Perfect and Being On The Road To perfection.In this episode, we focus on that walk, and what it means. How do we start walking in the Catholic Faith? How do we keep doing it, and encourage others to do it? Are we all walking the same path?



The answer to that last question is "no." But the paths we are walking, if we are walking in the Catholic Faith, are our individual ways to heaven. And by walking in the Faith, we are continuing our formation in the faith and seeking what the Catholic Church teaches.



Hint: It's not about fundraising or whether we like the priest or not.



We discuss the other questions and more, in-depth. And give a pretty succinct answer to what it means to be walking in the Catholic Faith.



Some items on our site that will help while you are walking:

TWMWU: Perfection

TWMWU: He Was Made Perfect

Podcast Episode: Perfection - OTRTP0000

Podcast Episode: Family Prayer: What and How - OTRTP0008

Podcast Episode: God's Beauty - Episode 160

Podcast Episode: Being Perfect - Episode 165

Your suggestions, questions, and ideas for topics are what we need to keep providing great episodes. Email us or use the contact page to let us know what you would like us to talk about, or comment below to let us know if we picked a good topic this week.



 

On The Road To Perfection

Episode 166: Being On The Road To Perfection

We are called to be perfect, as we discussed last week. So, what does being on the road to perfection look like? If Jesus was "finished" and his ministry was "completed," as it means when He said, "It is done," by saying, "It is perfected" just before He died on the Cross, He must have walked a road to perfection. And so must we. In this episode we discuss that concept, in terms of what we are doing and how we respond to the call for our life. It's a simple concept, and a difficult task, but we have the example of Our Lord which, from the proper perspective, is not an impossible example to follow and exemplify.



How we endure the sufferings of life - how we take up our Cross - is paramount to walking on the road to perfection. Do we respond with faith, hope, and charity? Do we accept our cross that we must bear, or do we spend our entire life trying to change the cross - our being? Spending time understanding and discerning that the cross we must bear is there for our perfection, instead of deciding we are going to ignore it or refuse to acknowledge it, allows us to see more clearly the road to perfection for us.



Our being is who God created us to be. God does not make mistakes. If we are debilitated by a chronic illness, have permanent attractions that are contrary to marital procreation, are feeling trapped within a sex with which we do not identify, or any of a myriad of states of being, we have to discern the why so we can understand the being, and not spend our entire lives denying that which God has ordained. Instead, we should discern what He ordains us to DO with that being.



Are we so distracted by changing our being that we do not do what we should be doing? How many diseases are un-eradicated because talent that God gave someone was not realized as they were distracted by something they were changing about the being that God called them to be?



Kristofer provides explicit example about his own being on the road to perfection and the extreme cognitive dissonance he encountered in his early forties as he finally discerned his true being. A being that he did not like, fought against, and even told his family he hated it - but he DID like it because it is The Lord's will. Being on the road to perfection brings peace, and this episode covers how to do - and be - that!



Some items on our site that will help in Being On The Road To Perfection, or at least get you started:



Here is the Maxed Out Man interview that Kristofer gave and referenced.

TWMWU:Take Up Our Cross!(Opens in a new browser tab)

Podcast Episode: Perfection - Episode 0

Podcast Episode: Family Prayer: What and How - Episode 8

Podcast Episode: Family Prayer: Why - Episode 9

Podcast Episode: The Sign of the Cross - Episode 49

Podcast Episode: a class="LinkSuggestion__Link-sc-1gewdgc-4 cLBplk" href="https://holyownedandoperated.

On The Road To Perfection

Episode 165: Being Perfect

Being Perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect is a daunting idea! Starting from the beginning, when we first launched the podcast, we talk about Jesus' use of the word "perfect" in Matthew 5:48, its Greek etymology, and His use of the same word only one other place in His ministry - when He is dying on the Cross. Being Perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect is to be who we are supposed to be, just as God is Who He is supposed to be. So how do we BE perfect? Glad you asked. The answer is here!



We talk extensively about the peace and freedom that come with being perfect. Life is simpler, though probably not easier, when we are being who we are supposed to be. Going through life telling God who we are, instead of aligning our lives with His will, is a constant struggle. So, we break down what being perfect is for each of us, and how we can make that come about.



Kristofer gives a concrete example of his discernment of who he is supposed to be when he was in his early 40s. It is never too late!



Remember, being perfect is not doing perfect. Perfection in its doing is difficult, though only attainable if we are who we are supposed to be. The saints were perfected and perfected themselves throughout their lives - the perfect they were supposed to be - but it would be difficult to claim that they always did things perfectly. That's the nature of our fallen world and our fallen nature. The Church does not declare a person in Heaven immediately after death - we can presume there was still some purgation necessary!



Discernment of being who we are supposed to be is the only path to being perfect - we do not just fall into it and, in fact, get in our own way - and God's - if we are constantly telling God who we are supposed to be (or not even having that conversation with Him) instead of letting Him tell us who we are supposed to be...and following through with being that!



This episode is a summary of our teachings throughout the last three years, since we launched the podcast. Being perfect is a state of being, of course, and it is a way of life. God does not make mistakes, so the way we live our lives and who we are is what creates our imperfections. If that is the case, then we can also correct those and be perfect - be who we are supposed to be.



We use examples from our own lives that were mid-course corrections



Some items on our site that will help in exploring this topic, or at least get you started:

TWMWU:He Was Made Perfect(Opens in a new browser tab)

TWMWU:Perfection(Opens in a new browser tab)

Podcast Episode: Ordinary Time - Episode 46

Podcast Episode: Discerning God's Will - Part 1 - Episode 74

Podcast Episode: Discerning God's Will - Part 2 - Episode 75

Podcast Episode: Jesus In The Desert - Episode 85

Podcast Episode: a class="LinkSuggestion__Link-sc-1gewdgc-4 cLBplk" href="https://holyownedandoperated.com/god-the-father-episode-104/" target="_blank" rel="noopener...

On The Road To Perfection

Episode 164: God's Time Is Not Our Time

God's time is not our time. Well, duh! In this episode that is short on time - possibly our shortest episode ever - we discuss the intricacies of life complicated by our concept of timing and how our own blindness to the Plan of The Lord makes us impatient as He works for our good with His Goodness, Beauty, and Truth. When we do not think God is responding to our prayers, it does not mean He isn't involved and not doing things. When we are kids, we try to get God to do things, to fit him into our expectations. Do we still do that as adults? When we are non-believers, does some of that lack of faith come from not getting, having, or experiencing what we think should be happening?



God's Plan for us and His timing for us is better than ours, and we need the virtue of Patience to understand that. "Wait on The Lord," says the psalmist. (Ps. 27:14) The psalmist knows that God's timing is not our timing, and we need to allow it to be what it is: His.



We cannot fall into superstition, putting God into a box. Kristofer expresses his doubts about novenas because of his expectation of them, as well as his concerns about the Rosary. God's timing is not our timing, which means we cannot fall into the trap of the Prosperity Gospel or thinking we can bend God to our will with prayer.



We get stuck in the perspective of this physical life that we are living that we do not recognize that we are eternal beings - life does not end at death. Whatever constraints we put on The Lord are miniscule to the big picture of The Lord's.



Our timing is not our neighbor's timing, either, so we have no right to expect our time or timing to be paramount: God's time is not our time. If He is present, our timing does not matter.



Some items on our site that will help in exploring God's Time Is Not Our Time, or at least get you started:

TWMWU:Second Week of Advent - Prepare!

TWMWU:What Does Ephphatha Mean? Be Opened!

Article:We Are Here to Help

Podcast Episode:Ordinary Time - Episode 46

Podcast Episode: Prayer During Lent - Episode 83

Podcast Episode: Making Time For Prayer - Episode 146

Podcast Episode: God's Beauty - Episode 160

Your suggestions, questions, and ideas for topics are what we need to keep providing great episodes. Email us or use the contact page to let us know what you would like us to talk about, or comment below to let us know if we picked a good topic.

On The Road To Perfection

Episode 163: The Love Of Money

1 Timothy 6:10 is our source for this topic (not Proverbs, as we erroneously say!). We discuss the love of money in the context of the Mass reading recently about the rich young man asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. We look at the idea of a camel fitting through the eye of a needle more easily than a rich person might enter heaven, and explore what that actually means. Does God hate rich people? No. Does the Church tell us not to be rich? No. What if we are rich - does this story apply to us? Well, we are, and that depends...



Riches come in many forms. And they can cause vanity, pride, and a million other things that distract us from The Lord. If we are distracted by our riches - those things that make us feel rich, important, better than others, etc. - including the "right" group, even a youth group that's "cool", then those riches are exactly what Jesus is talking about.



Are we rich in our knowledge? Rich in our athletic ability? Rich in the number of friends we have?



These are all questions of wealth we need to see that apply to us when we hear this story of Jesus and the rich young man. The riches that distract us are no different than the riches of the rich young man - they can be distracting and can be what we gain our identity from. Our identity should always be in Jesus.



How many rich people did Jesus meet during His ministry? Many more than this encounter reveals. Jesus knows what distracts us from His Father, and this young man's distraction was his monetary wealth. For others it can be anything of a myriad of possibilities.



We are all rich in something? Are we humble enough to keep that from distracting us from The Lord, so that we, to, may inherit eternal life?



Some items on our site that will help in exploring the Love of Money, or at least get you started:

TWMWU: All Things are Possible For God

TWMWU: The Important Things

TWMWU: Complacency Kills

Article: Putting God to the Test of Higher “Education”

Article: What is Love?

Podcast Episode: God's Beauty - Episode 160

Your suggestions, questions, and ideas for topics are what we need to keep providing great episodes. Email us or use the contact page to let us know what you would like us to talk about, or comment below to let us know if we picked a good topic with The Love Of Money.

On The Road To Perfection

Episode 162: Relics

Instigated by a question from our oldest son, we dive into the macabre! Not really, but Kristofer has some issues with the idea of venerating body parts. Fortunately, Beth has the more reasoned approach that the Church has, and Kristofer winds up understanding, but not on-board. Relics are hard to understand, and the venerating of them is not a requirement to be Catholic. It's a practice that is encouraged if it will help an individual focus on Jesus. The saints are saints in large part because they point us to The Lord, and those relics are meant to help us do the same. We define relics and explain what veneration is in this episode.



We discuss our experience with relics, as well as the practices in our own community. which has two at two separate parishes. We share our experiences throughout the years and country when we've visited and experienced relics. We discuss the meaning behind "first class" and "second class" relics, and get into the comparison of religious approach to them and the historical approach to physical pieces of historical figures and items from their lives.



Relics can be useful, and they can be confusing. What is important is what matters to the individual and how they approach themto aid them in being closer to Jesus Christ. If you are still confused after this, feel free to blame Kristofer!



Some items on our site that will help in exploring Relics, or at least get you started:

TWMWU:Why Does the Catholic Church Have Saints - Episode 67

TWMWU: What Does Ephphatha Mean? Be Opened!

Podcast Episode:Saints - Episode 16

Podcast Episode:Our Saints - Episode 18

Podcast Episode:The Incarnation - Episode 72

Podcast Episode: All Saints Day - Episode 118

Podcast Episode: God's Beauty - Episode 160

Remember: Your suggestions, questions, and ideas for topics are what we need to keep providing great episodes. Email us or use the contact page to let us know what you would like us to talk about, or comment below to let us know if we picked a good topic with Relics.