Many Catholic parents go to great lengths to ensure their children are baptized, and they must make similar efforts to see that their children are confirmed, Pope Francis said. Without confirmation, he said, young people will remain "halfway" on the path of Christian maturity and membership in the church. Confirmation "unites us more solidly to Christ. It completes our bond with the church," Pope Francis said Jan. 29 at his weekly general audience. The sacrament "gives us the special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith, to confess the name of Christ and to never be ashamed of his cross," the pope said. Confirmation solidifies and increases the grace given at baptism, "which is why it's important to make sure our children and young people receive this sacrament. We all make sure that our children are baptized, which is good, but perhaps we're not quite so diligent in making sure they are confirmed."

Catholic Extension is encouraging young filmmakers to celebrate an "Extension Day" of their own choosing and to film the encounters as part of a video contest sponsored by Catholic Extension. The contest is called "Make Some Noise!" and will award multiple prizes of up to $1,000 for the ministry of the winner's choice and the opportunity to have the winning videos seen by Pope Francis. Extension Day is meant to be a day dedicated to extending the gifts of the Catholic faith through acts of prayer, service or philanthropy. And, because Catholic Extension's mission is to build the church in areas where challenges are great and resources are scarce, part of the intent is that acts extend beyond the typical boundaries of a parish or youth group or similar organization. Videos submitted for the contest should be less than two minutes long, explain the activity chosen for Extension Day, and complete the sentence: "Our Extension Day is extending the church's presence by ..." Videos do not need to be polished; they can be recorded on whatever is available.

Do you have strife in your life? Do you know how to identify it? Most of the time, we are so busy doing the destruction in our lives, the Devil can smile and move on to the next person. In the world we live in, it is very easy to focus on the negative. The humanists have focused their attention on a finely honed message. If you disagree with their political ideology, you are a racist or bigot. If you respond in a Christian manner by pointing out why the decisions they are making are destructive, you are unkind, judgmental, or worse yet, not tolerant. But the tolerance argument is only to be used by them. If you hold a belief that is counter to humanist, you are intolerant. They ignore that they are being intolerant of your opinion. It is a frustrating time to be a Christian in the U.S. Our president is a great example of a humanist who is using his position to advance his ideology. So we have supreme court justices who are also left-learning and intolerant of anything that is grounded in religion. Philippians 4:6 tells us to "pray and ask God for everything you need." Is it really that simple? The short answer is yes. Delving into the subject more deeply, we come to realize that it is about our relationship with God. Jesus came to earth to model what is expected of us. Jesus did not make a move without discussing His plans with God. We can find Jesus at prayer, very publicly, when the big events of the Bible were about to happen. But we must also assume that Jesus was in prayer throughout His life. He urges us over and over again to pray to the Father. He shows us the way. Looking at the life of Jesus, we know that He faced many obstacles. His preaching was very different from what people had been hearing from their leaders. He came to change the way that we live our lives. His message was always about allowing God to work in and through us rather than asking God for frivolous things. So as we revisit the original thought in this post, how are you trying to remove the strife in your life? Maybe the answer is not to remove it but perhaps to use it to make the world a better place. It is difficult to talk about God to other people because we are worried about their reaction to us. We worry that they may not want to be around us. As Christians, why would we want to be around people who make us feel bad about ourselves. It is the primary tool of humanists to shroud their remarks in terms of guilt. They bully us to be quiet or withdraw by putting things into the terms of worldliness. The life of a Christian is tough but the reward is greater. So the strife in your life may be coming from people who are making you feel guilty about your beliefs. Reject that notion and turn the tables on they. Show them that you are confident in your faith and ask God to bless your tongue. Being slow to respond so that you can allow God to use you will create a life of happiness. Your strife will begin to disappear. The Devil will lose his grip on you. Make a resolution to think about God more. Resolve to pay more attention to your relationship with God. Ask those in your faith community to pray for your relationship. Become a warrior for God!

Changing the world means that we must take a positive step each and every day. We cannot relent. We cannot rest. We must prevail. God provides us the perfect road map in the Bible so don't tell me that you don't know how to do this. Go to your Bible and begin to read. Let it rest in your heart. Let it echo in your mind. Immerse yourself in the words. When you are finished reading, put it down, close your eyes and listen to God. He will talk to you but you have to be still and listen. Block out the white noise of the world and listen to your Father God. There is no one like our God. Don't even try to put human qualities on Him. Don't think that He reacts like your spouse, brother, cousin, friend, co-worker. God is not a person. God is not like us but we should want to be like Him. He is so loving and He forgives us over and over again. He has an abundant love that is consoling and healing. He is! When you are feeling hurt, shout His name. When you are feeling happy, shout His name. When you are sad, depressed, mad, shout His name. When you are gleeful, satisfied, peaceful, shout His name. Be in conversation with your Father God. He longs to hear from you. He wants to talk with you. He is so proud of you. God created us and he thinks we are His beautiful creation. That is important to remember when someone tries to tell you otherwise. Use this fact when you hear someone trying to impose their negativity on their fellow man, woman, girl or boy. That is the positive step I am trying to take each day. I am trying to stem the tide on negative, hurtful comments. I am trying to stand in the gap when someone tries to bring another person down through hurtful comments or even "joking" remarks. It is my one small step. I will take it every day, God willing. Are you ready to be a world changer?

In order to deepen my knowledge of the Bible and the teaching of Jesus Christ, I plan on using a reading from the Good Book until I learn it. I not only want to memorize it but implement it into my life. I am starting with the second reading from the Mass on December 29. It is from St. Paul's letter to the Colossians (3:12-17). "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience,forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Easy right? Now you know I am jesting. This will be a great challenge and will help me grow spiritually as well. Happy New Year to you and yours!