Fully Alive
Making use of our psychological expertise we offer Catholic insights into a variety of topics which help the individual to become fully alive.
...Let me explain. It is often difficult to maintain a state of happiness and grace the whole day. Happiness deterrents include traffic, screaming children, bills to be paid, deadlines at work, and the constant struggles of living as a Catholic in today’s culture. You would think that these would rob us of our joy. However, joy isn’t necessarily influenced by the constant state of flux in our lives. Christ offers us joy, just as He has from the beginning of human’s existence...
...When we become distracted and our minds are preoccupied with the future, it can be very helpful to bring ourselves back to the present, which is where God’s grace is! The future is not yet, and God gives us the graces we need when we need them, and not a moment before. When we think too much about the future we cannot appreciate the present, which is all we really have. The future, when it arrives, will become our present, and if we do not learn to orient ourselves better to the present moment, the future will never arrive. We will end up spending most of our time and energy directed toward something that does not exist and perpetually miss out on what God is trying to give us right now. ..
...During their sorrowful journey, Jesus himself approaches and begins to walk with the two. The Risen Lord is intuitively aware of their negative beliefs of course, but before admonishing them, he asks them to expound further about their distressed state. What follows is arguably the longest continual one-way dialog anyone has with Jesus in the Gospels (Luke 24: 18-24). It appears Jesus is simply allowing them to get grief, frustration, and hopelessness out of their system. Nevertheless, Jesus knew that catharsis alone was not enough to transform these sojourners. He understood that only by firmly calling them out on their irrational and unsubstantiated beliefs could progress be made....
...One of the reasons that therapy has an open-ended timeline is because it is specifically tailored to each individual. There are many approaches and techniques used by therapists that apply broadly to certain conditions, such as anxiety or marital problems. However, the application of those approaches and techniques will vary from person to person or couple to couple. Research has shown that no matter what theory or technique a therapist uses, the primary mechanism of healing is the relationship between a therapist and client. Developing a relationship takes time. And that means that therapy takes time.
...The good news is, YES! Our Lord himself gave us a step-by-step approach to holiness when he said, “If anyone wants to become my follower, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). These words of Jesus have resounded in the hearts of men and women for 2,000 years. They present to us a practical, concrete path to becoming a follower of Jesus. Many believe they lay down a lifelong project of spiritual growth divided into three practical steps...
