The Empowered Catholic Podcast

Christ is born to be King! He IS King, now. Merry Christmas! That makes us agents of the New Creation because Christ has already started the New Creation. Paul talks about this a lot. God wants to dwell with man and will bring heaven down to earth and they will exist together in the new creation; think of the New Jerusalem descending in Revelations. Christ, he says, is the "first fruits" of the new creation. He's the first to be resurrected, to show us the way. He's sent the spirit to us, and we, too have the "first fruits" of the new creation.

Creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for… creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. -Romans 8:19-24

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. -Isaiah 65:17-18

All of creation is groaning, awaiting its deliverance! We suffer with Christ and with the world, which is God's kingdom, just as Christ suffers with us and with all creation. We are Christ's children and heirs; we enter into his suffering and are glorified with him.

You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. -Romans 8:15-17

We have a vocation of being the people of God. It has personal and communal consequences. As Paul says, Jesus is king of the whole world. In heaven and earth he reigns. And when we're in Christ, we're fellow heirs to the kingdom. We're celebrating the new creation. We're celebrating that we are part of the new creation. We are agents of the new creation, and we anticipate the new creation right now in the present age as we wait and hope for the new heavens and the new earth.

Always God hears the "groaning." God is victorious. God acts, and we are anchored in the hope and glory that is there for us, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. No principalities, powers, rulers of the world - whatever it is, nothing can separate us.

Merry Christmas season!

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You are a citizen of Heaven - did you know that? Paul wrote that in Philippians 3. What does that mean about my situation? Paul's listeners in Philippi would have instantly connected that idea to being a citizen of Rome because having Roman citizenship was so important. Philippi was a colony. Roman citizens there were agents and emissaries of Roman culture, law, language, customs, and power. Roman citizens living in Philippi weren't interested in leaving Philippi and going to Rome if things got dicey. They could call on the emperor to send in back-up.

John's gospel, which is our focus this season, explains that Jesus has already started his kingdom on Earth. You are a citizen of that kingdom. That makes you an agent and emissary of the Kingdom of Heaven's culture, law, language, customs, power, and all of it. Citizens living on planet Earth aren't interested in leaving Earth just so they can go to Heaven. God will bring Heaven down to Earth in the end times. That's a process that's already started. Jesus inaugurated it. He rose again as the first member of that blended new creation of Heaven and Earth. We will follow him.

Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. - Philippians 3:20

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Happy Advent, my friends. We are getting ready to re-celebrate that first Christmas. Sometimes I get the impression that people think Jesus came to earth so that we could go to heaven. But if you think about salvation history, it runs in the other direction. It's always God wanting to come and dwell in his creation with his people. God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. God was present in the desert in the signs during Exodus, dwelt at the tent of meeting, was present in the Tabernacle, and was present in the temple of Jerusalem. That's the Shekhinah. That's the glory of God that the book of Ezekiel describes so dramatically coming in with an overwhelming presence and then tragically leaving. For the first-century Jewish people waiting for the Messiah to return, restoring the glory of God to the temple in Jerusalem was critical. They expected that the Messiah couldn't be the Jewish Messiah if there was no restoration of the glory of God, the Shekinah, to the Temple of Jerusalem.

The Gospel of John carefully explains that the glory of God returned to the Temple with the Messiah Jesus. You just have to know that the theme is there so you can see it. Listen to this episode so you can see this theme and why it matters so much.

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There's a theme that you may not be aware of that runs through the entirety of scripture from the distantly ancient text of Genesis to the merely ancient text of Revelation. You've heard of this idea but may not be aware of how it is an organizing principle for understanding Scripture. It's a theme explicitly present in the ancient books of Genesis and Exodus and throughout the New Testament - it's one that the writers were very intentional about but one that our modern minds simply bloop over because we don't have the right lens, or I could say cultural framework.

We were amazed when this theme popped up in Genesis, it's the theme of TEMPLE in God's creation and that's what we discussed last week in episode 94. A temple is a place where God dwells with man: it's a place where the heaven and earth that He created overlap. Throughout all of salvation history, as shown in Scripture, God keeps coming to Earth to dwell with man in Creation. In the Garden, in the desert at the tent of meeting, and in the Tabernacle.

As we approach Christmas we think about what it means for the temple to be in the person of Jesus. What does that mean to see him as the new temple?

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The creation account in Genesis is not understood by modern people. It's very unlikely that you have ever heard a correct account of what it means. As modern people, we have pretty much missed every important point in it. We have read all of our modern preconceptions into it and created pointless controversies about it. Listen to the podcast if you want to know what the creation story in Genesis is actually all about.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day, he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. -Genesis 2:2-3

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Reframing is the art of looking at a situation, thought, or belief and finding a different perspective that is also TRUE and MORE HELPFUL. We often lock in on the first interpretation of a situation that comes to us. But we can usually step back and see there are OTHER things that are also true about a situation and these other things can give us a different approach. A new approach that will focus on our agency or shifting our thoughts and emotions to a condition where we can more easily respond. For example, we might fail at a test or on a project and think "I'm terrible" or "I am no good at this subject or task". With reframing you might end up saying to yourself "I can learn to study more effectively," or "I had a difficult lesson and look forward to learning from it and avoiding similar fiascoes in the future." Contrast a reframe with empty positive talk, avoidance, or just shrugging it off, or just sucking it up.

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Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9350.

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We have an excellent and very doable language challenge for you this week! We discuss E-Prime, which is a way of using English without any forms of the verb "to be". That means without any words like these: is, be, been, were, is, am, was, will be, am, are. We think there is one situation where avoiding the "is" and "am" serves you particularly well. We ask you to listen to that situation and reframe your is and am. E-Prime is an intriguing idea and certainly has its advocates. Check it out!

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Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9250.

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Your unconscious mind is always listening to what you have to say and will work to make things turn out the way you say. Do you like achievement? Accomplishing things? Improving? Then using positivity in your language is a big help for you! LISTEN to yourself this week. You might be surprised by what you hear. We discuss the possibilities and some limitations of being positive. Get your rational optimist glasses on and prime your brain with sweet, clean, positive speech and emotion for the win! The people around you will say THANK YOU!

Resources:

Robert B.Cialdini, Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

Curtis one-line summary: Lots of fun research. Mostly about the psychology of sales and persuasion.

Sean Achor, The Happiness Advantage

Curtis one line summary: Positivity is a winner for achievement. The advantages of rational optimism, positive speech, and positive emotion. Mostly directed to business.

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Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

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"Hey, Mom, I'm moving back home!" What do we need to think about if and when that conversation starts? Our first thoughts may be to ask ourselves: How can I help? A better question might be: Is this course of action helping my young adult child move to independence? Create an agreement with your young adult before they move in. Agree WHEN they are leaving and what they need to happen for them to leave. Everybody will have some boundaries: start to figure those out. Think in terms of collaborating and getting buy-in, or at least a mutual understanding.

Resources:

Doing Life with Your Young Adult Children, Jim Burns

How To Really Love Your Adult Child, Jim Chapman and Ross Campbell, MD

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Email or text us:

Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

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How can you be HEARD? How can you HELP when they don't want to hear you? If you want her to hear you, then you must hear her first. Do you want him to see your perspective? You must see his perspective first. Being SEEN and HEARD is important to any relationship that has depth and vitality. When you are speaking with your young adults, and pretty much anyone, DO THIS: be on the lookout for how you validate them. When they know YOU understand their perspective, and it's a perspective that makes sense, then they will be more open to seeing your perspective. When she's telling you what she's thinking, feeling, and experiencing… then it's your turn to explain to HER why it's understandable that she's thinking, feeling, and experiencing that. Validation is about showing that, "Hey, considering your experiences, your perspective on life, what you've been through, and your values, it makes sense that you are thinking/feeling that way."

Listen to the podcast to understand what the skill of "validation" is all about. Look for an opportunity to practice this skill in every conversation. The results will surprise you!

Send a text to us at The Catholic Midlife podcast with your thoughts as you listen: 612-208-9150.

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