In this Sunday's gospel reading, John the Baptist tells us that we must produce good fruit.  Speaking to the pharisees, he says that "Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  This warning applies to us even now - perhaps especially now.

Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in a modern first-world country are so blessed.  We have lives of comfort and convenience that are unmatched in all of history.  Yet, even in the midst of our comfort, we must be vigilant.  Our Lord promises us that we will be judged by our fruit.  Yet, how are we to know what our fruit is?

I think it's important to step back and really identify what the true impact of our choices are.  In this episode, I attempt to help you identify what your fruits are, and what the results of your choices really mean.  Next episode I'll discuss how to improve those fruits.

In the previous episode I discussed the importance of sleep.  In this episode, I discuss the other side of rest.  When God rested on the seventh day, he wasn't sleeping.  What type of rest are we supposed to find?  I suggest that this is something deeper - and it requires a connection with God.  Modern science agrees with our need for rest; it can improve the rest of our lives.

In this episode I give 6 steps to finding meaningful rest.  Real rest isn't just watching 2 hours of TV before bed - often that can actually be draining.  Real rest leaves us with more energy and more enthusiasm for life.  It's an essential to living life to the fullest.  I tell the story of my discovery of real rest while hunting.

Today's world is crazy and busy from sunup to sundown.  As pressure mounts to get more and more things done, it seems impossible not to simply work longer.  Aside from the ever-increasing demands of work, keeping up with the house and the family only seems to get harder.  We know we don't want to work longer - but what choice do we have?

In this episode I discuss the reasons why we simply cannot afford to cut back on sleep.  Not only does sleep deprivation actually decrease our net productivity, there are a lot of other consequences as well.  Our overall health, our relationships, and even our happiness are at risk.  Getting the proper sleep, however, can make all these things better.  It's worth the effort!

Our Lord wants nothing less than every bit of ourselves, every piece.  Are we willing to truly let go?  Do we even know how?  It's not easy, the world and the devil conspire together to fill our heads with the notion that we must have what we think we need.  Something things, some relationships, surely must be "non-negotiable," even compared to our religious life, no?

In this episode I want you to explore the Abandonment prayer and see if it will fit into your life.  It is not an easy prayer - far from it.  In order to help live out this Christian abandonment that we are all called to, I give 6 practical steps to really identify and let go of our attachments.  Letting go doesn't mean we lose them, instead we simply recognize the truth - they were never truly ours.  Everything is the Lords.  The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

Self-sufficiency is on of the biggest deceptions of our age.  We are so confident in our technological progress that we fail to realize our continued dependence on God.  Without this realization, we close ourselves off to his critical help.  Nothing works without God - we simply seem to have forgotten that.

In this episode I explore 5 ways that we are all ultimately still very dependent upon the almighty.  I invite you to consider these reasons as a deeper motivation to give thanks to the Lord with your first and last breath each day.

This is part 2 of a 3-part series exploring abandonment to the Lord.  In the first episode (#47) I talked about abandoning your sense of Justice, through the process of forgiveness.  This episode I encourage you to abandon your sense of self-sufficiency.  In the final part I'll encourage you to completely drop your nets and abandon all that you have to our Lord and Savior.

There are few things I struggle with more than forgiveness.  It's one thing when someone accidentally drops a chair on your toe - that's understandable (but annoying!)  It's quite another thing when someone deliberately insults and ridicules you in public.  Yet, we are called to forgive the latter much more strongly than the former.

If this sounds difficult to you (and as I share my story, it was difficult for me in the recent occurrence as well), then it may help to get some advice.  In my struggles to forgive my recent injury, I needed some help.  In this episode, I offer that help.  There are 4 steps that were helpful for me to forgive this recent incident.  We all have offenses that we don't want to forgive.  I encourage everyone to consider these 4 reasons, and to forgive.

It can be very intimidating to actually consider starting something new that is as intricate and involved as hunting.  No 30 minute podcast can fully prepare someone for that experience, but my goal is to help give you some big picture perspective on what it will require.  With good preparation and especially a good guide, you can make an easy transition.

The most important steps of starting hunting are to find a good guide and pack well.  I cover these two topics at length, and then discuss several other important tips.  If you get the basics down, you will enable yourself to have a great hunting experience that will help you to find all the benefits I discussed in the previous episode.  Good luck and get out there!

Hunting may not be the most politically correct activity, but I argue that it is one of the best.  It combines all the greatest of things - nature, hiking, camping, guns, and hope for some amazing meat.  Furthermore, it creates the space and opportunity to really encounter God in a meaningful and significant way.

In this episode I give you 6 reasons why you should consider hunting.  You don't need to spend a lot of money, and you don't need to become a hunting fanatic who covers their vehicle with hunting-related bumper stickers.  There is room for modern 1st-world man to gently step into hunting.  Any good hunter will be glad to help you ease into the activity.  I encourage you to listen and consider if this activity makes sense for you.

There is little I fear more about the future of parenting than the topic of sexuality when my girls reach teenage years.  Yet, short of the faith itself, I know of little that is more important to discuss.  The sexual choices that people make during teenage and college years have long-last affects into the rest of their lives.  For parents with kids in or about to go into college, I really recommend the book Unprotected by psychiatrist Miriam Grossman who worked in an on-campus health care clinic at UCLA.

Last episode we had a fantastic interview with Jason Everts who discussed the new Ascension Press program YOU (read more at Ascensionpress.com).  I think that this program is amazing, and to help those parents (like myself) who are still terrified to talk about sex, I put together in this episode 6 reasons why it is so important to have this conversation, open the dialogue, and really use a program like YOU.

Many people know the name Jason Evert.  Today, in a special treat, he joins us on the Catholic Commute!  He will discuss a brand new DVD study called YOU: Life, Love, and the Theology of the Body.  This is an amazing new program published by Ascension Press that is an absolute gem for discussing sexual issues with your teenager.  The program covers nearly every facet from the meaning of the sexes to the value of chastity to the correct views on current sexual topics.  You can watch the trailer for this study in youtube. 

In this interview, Jason gives us some really great advice as well as his perspective on the program.  I ask Jason some tough questions, and he really challenges us all to grow and live our potential as outlined in the Theology of the Body.  To read more about this program, head over to Ascensionpress.com.

If you want to read more about the work done by Jason and his wife Crystalina, you can find it at their website, chastityproject.com.  One final great resource that Jason recommends for parents with much younger kids is tobet.org.