The Empowered Catholic Podcast

The question for goals is: What is the harvest that you want? Goals are all about the Law of the Farm: you plan, you prepare the field by removing rocks and tilling, you plant, you water, you do the right things in the right season, and finally you harvest. Goals engage the law of the farm by creating the plan & engaging the process. There is SCIENCE to this; there is also ART. You make a lot of decisions along the way that changes the process or influence the outcome.

Goals are so helpful in keeping us moving! It's easy for inertia to grab us with the result that we go in circles or dig into our rut deeper.

Join us as we share tips and traps for setting goals.

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"Why Goals?" Because the rest of your life matters. Grab that mindset. Often we are merely coping. Striving to do what is necessary and carve out a little "life" in between. When we believe that the rest of our life matters in terms of what we live, do, say, and be - we have a different outlook. The people around us need us to show up at our best. The culture around us needs the Christian perspective and service; the life-giving, loving, and supportive presence that justifies being called the salt of the earth or the yeast in the dough.

How do you think and feel when you truly think that the rest of your life matters? If you're 50 years old, you could easily end up living another 30 years. Think about what you've accomplished, and what you've left undone, for the past 30 years. What does another 30 years mean? To you? To God? To those around you? To the culture around you?

It's midlife, baby! Time to dig in and dig out. We think an important angle to the rest of your life is to think about what it means to be a member of the kingdom of God. Working it all out with your Creator is quite the process, right? Here's a suggestion: think in terms of opportunities.

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"Why can't I achieve this goal?" There are a lot of reasons. For example, we don't always set the right goals. And when we set them, we don't always have a clear sense of what it will actually be like to achieve them. Also, we have a bunch of unspoken goals that we're already working on consciously and unconsciously, and those can take priority without us even realizing it. So we may not even appreciate that we're already working on many goals.

Think about what's your approach to achieving a goal. If you're like most of us, you've got a goal in mind, you sketch out the steps, and then you're thinking, "OK, here's the next thing to do. Here's the first step, and I'm gonna just get started." You might throw in a couple, "I got this."

That's the instinctive go-to plan: to use some willpower, maybe with some affirmation thrown in there. Often it hasn't worked out for us… New Year's resolutions, anyone??

I think we don't appreciate that we when think of "goals" we think about the external process to goal achievement, namely, I decide on the goal, and then I think about what I need to do to get there. And then I "motivate" myself to take action. Make a list of the steps, get pumped up, and get going.

The internal has to come first. That's why we talk about unconscious goals in this episode. See ya there!

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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 forever 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 the 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. His listeners would immediately know that's like being a citizen of Rome.

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 would call on the emperor to send in backup.

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

We can think we're just putting in our time, being "good" so we can get to heaven. That's a beautiful idea that we get from Greek pagans. Not a Christian idea. Nope.

We are the agents of King Jesus and work so that his Father's will is done here, as it is in heaven. Then God will come to be with His people. Now we see that imperfectly. Later, it will come about in fullness.

We can forget we are agents of Heaven and try to do "good" without reference to the kingdom. For instance, we might perform acts of charity without bringing the gospel. Works of mercy are valuable however activism without the rest of the gospel is merely a stop-gap solution.

Also, for instance, we can passively be "good" in the hopes that, somehow, we will perform the other roles of our heavenly citizenship, like bringing the Kingdom of Heaven's culture, law, language (of love), customs, (restorative) power, and all of its many facets.

A temple is a particular place where heaven and earth are joined. We see the temple in creation, the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the temple of Jerusalem, in Jesus, in his people, and in our bodies where the Spirit rests.

More in the podcast, I only got some of this in here (Curtis). Thanks for dropping in! Send us an email with your thoughts, questions, or impressions!

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John is determined to show how the Shekinah has returned in an unexpected way: in the person of Jesus. Then who, when, where, and how of its return is shocking. There could be no messiah without addressing the Temple question. The Messiah would restore the temple. Period. No restored temple, no messiah. The Temple was central to Jewish thought, history, practice, mindset - to everything. If the messiah did not restore the Shekinah, which is the glorious presence of God, there was no messiah. Scripture was very clear on this point. Ezekiel 43 has a beautiful passage describing the return of the Shekinah.

It behooves us to pay attention.

God created a cosmos like a temple and there He had a place to dwell, with humanity. God then saw creation descend into chaos and misery and, as Adam and Eve were banished, He also withdrew the glory of His presence, perhaps because He no longer had a suitable place to come to rest / to dwell / to pitch His tent.

He created the Jewish tribe as a place to dwell. With the tent of meeting, tabernacle, and then Temple, he dwelt among them. The people were fickle and He could no longer dwell among them, and He withdrew. Finally, he sent His only son.

God put a lot of work and planning into creating the Temple as His place to dwell. What does that mean? What does it mean about our relation to God? To Jesus? To the Holy Spirit? What does it mean as individuals and as a people?

The Seven Signs of the Return of the Shekinah

Read the miracle at the wedding feast of Cana. John explicitly says that's the first sign. As John's story progresses, he increasingly reveals more and more of the glory of God that Jesus manifests. When Jesus does healing for the nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum, John's gospel explicitly names it as the second sign. After that, John leaves the signs to be observed by the readers.

The further signs three through six are: There's the paralytic at the pool; the loaves and fishes; healing the man blind from birth; and Lazarus. Each progressively reveals more glory.

The Seventh Sign

What is the seventh sign of the increased revelation of glory? The sign greater than Lazarus' resurrection? What would you pick?

I would pick the resurrection. Max glory, I would say. Can't top that!

That's not what John's gospel picked. John picked the crucifixion as the summit of the return of the Shekinah.

We know this because Jesus' last words were: It is finished. These words invoke God's words when he rested on the seventh day of creation, and signal that Jesus is kicking off the new creation right then and there. The resurrection is testimony to the crucifixion and inauguration of the new reality in the new creation.

Max glory: Crucifixion. The Shekinah has appeared and been revealed. Ecce homo.

What does this mean?

Ecce Homo

We think it is crucial to view the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the context of the story they tell about themselves through their words, deeds, and revelations.

Theological formulae about atonement and the Trinity are indispensable but ultimately reveal very little. I've heard a bunch of atonement theories. Heard a bunch of questions asked and answered. That's fine and even necessary. But it gives little light. These kinds of formulae and explanations perhaps obscure as much as they reveal.

How is it that the crucifixion is the final sign of the full revelation of God's glory returning to His people?

What's in the story, the narrative, that John provides us that gives us answers?

Many books could be written in response!

It seems to me (Curtis) that, if the crucifixion is the final sign of the return of the Shekinah then one thing that God is telling us is that his glory is revealed when He shares and meets us in our suffering.

His story always involves Him coming to find a place to dwell among us, all throughout the history of humanity.

There is so much suffering here. Only God could sort all of this out. He meets us in the midst of it all. He is bringing His presence, His gaze, and His hope.

The New Creation

Looking ahead to the upper room, considering that the crucifixion marks the start of a new creation - and thinking about the Genesis story of breathing life into humanity…what does it mean in John 20 when Jesus breathes on them?

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Most of our listeners know that using the covenant "lens" is a powerful organizing principle for reading Scripture. It helps explain what's happening and creates insights for us today. The Temple "lens" is a similar powerful organizing principle. There are some surprises there, at least for me (Curtis). I knew Jesus referred to himself as a temple but somehow that slid past me because, well, that old Jerusalem temple isn't around anymore and its role was replaced. Or maybe I heard growing up that "your body is a temple" that shalt not (fill in the blank) and it seemed like routine moralizing. zzzz

The "new creation" theme also runs strongly through the Old and New Testaments, with the gospel of John opening with a blatant evocation of creation "in the beginning." New creation and temple are related themes since, as you know from the previous episode 41, the original new creation of the cosmos was described in Genesis as a cosmic temple for God.

In Exodus, themes of the temple and new creation are running strong. The tabernacle and meeting tent evoke the temple. And God is making a new creation in the form of the Jewish tribe that has become His special place to dwell.

This brings us to the Shekinah, the majestic presence of God. The Shekinah left the temple in a heart-breaking scene in Ezekiel 10. What is the people of God without the presence of God? The Exile follows with untold hardship.

By the time of the first century AD, the temple had been rebuilt and then built out by Herod. Nobody believed, however, that the Shekinah had returned. Nobody.

There was hope, however. Ezekiel 43 predicted Shekinah's return. The Jewish people did a great job of sustaining hope through many long, dark years.

It did so in a shocking way.

One of the goals of the gospel of John is to shift Jewish temple theology and place it squarely in the person of Jesus. He is the temple, the image in the temple, the offering, and the priest.

John's narrative carefully includes this theme of the glory of God being unveiled in Jesus and the Spirit resting in Jesus. (You remember from Episode 41 what it means when God is "resting," right?)

We continue this series next week to try to understand what it all means.

In the meantime, as you read the New Testament, look for places where the Spirit comes to rest on someone (that's temple language) or the glory of God is revealed (that's the Shekinah). We are working mostly out of John's gospel, so mostly read that one!

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The creation account in Genesis is not understood by modern people. We've pretty much missed every important point in it. We have read all of our modern preconceptions into it, wondered why it makes little sense, and then created pointless controversies about why it is so. Listen to the podcast to grasp what Genesis is actually all about.

God Resting Doesn't Mean Watching the Superbowl, with snacks

We can look at how the words of Genesis are used in other places in Scripture. We can also look at other creation stories to see what THEY are talking about so we can get a grip on the mindset and assumptions the listeners of these ancient stories had.

Here's one ancient mindset: gods come to earth to dwell in temples. What they do there is "rest." When a god was resting in his or her temple, she was busy ruling the region. In modern terms, we might say "the spirit rested upon him and he prophesied" meaning the spirit took up residence and started making things happen.

When God "rested" on the seventh day, it means He was taking up residence. He was assuming control of the operations. He was on the job, doing the things that He does.

It's as if you moved from one home to the next. After you pack, ship, unpack, arrange, turn on utilities, hook up the water and internet… THEN you "rest." Because you're operations; You are good to go.

God rests in a Temple

Here's another thing the ancients understood: gods rest in temples. It's what they do!

When the ancients read an account of all the things that happened in the first six days, they would think "Sounds about right, but so what?" Then they would hear "God rested" there in creation. Suddenly the ancient prelightbulbs would go off, "aha!" You are describing six days to make a temple for God to rest in. And that cosmic temple is… Earth.

Wow.

There's more but you have to listen because we have to post the episode now and I can't be writing more stuff. Find out what God put in his temple and the no-way so what about that!

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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Gratitude has its ins and outs! Karen discusses how gratitude shows up in our lives, points to a couple of pitfalls, and shares some tips. We are grateful for you, our listeners, and invite you to join the discussion at The Catholic Midlife podcast.

What a great question! How should you relate to your emotions, indeed? We paint a picture for you in this episode, which wraps up our Surprising Mind season. We also share 10 common, erroneous myths about emotions and talk about how we have synergy or overlap with certain healing ministries.

Painting A Picture for relating to your emotions

Think of a Catholic man or woman in midlife, which you probably are. And, in this person's life, her dad passed away several years ago. She's had some time to grieve and heal.

And today there's something coming up like a birthday or an anniversary. She's sad because her dad's not there to celebrate with her. She is sad.

That's a present moment, an emotional experience, and of course, she might be sad and might weep or be downcast for a time. She might think about her dad and process through the experience of the emotion.

That's an example of a healthy way for your emotions to show up.

Now, let's go further and say that she has baggage that she hasn't released, like an emotional block or some kind of limiting belief. As she thinks about missing her dad, a bunch of other thoughts and emotions also arise: "my dad wasn't there for me, he wasn't a very good dad. I have a lot of hurts. I feel abandoned." And all that stuff comes up when she is experiencing the sadness.

That's the past coming to invade your present emotional experience. That's baggage.

If and when she releases and lets go of all that baggage, then she can enter into the present moment, an emotional experience that's natural, healthy, and without added stress and darkness.

That's the kind of experience that also creates false beliefs like, "nobody's gonna be there to help me. I've gotta do it all on my own, all the time."

In terms of the relationship, she might just think," Yeah, I've got baggage, and I always will. That's just how it is."

You can do the work to get rid of your baggage. So you can feel better about life. So you don't walk around unloading it on others, or letting it come out sideways. So your spiritual life can take deeper root in the other areas of your life. So you can have interior peace and freedom.

Ten Untrue Myths About Emotions

1. Working with the emotions means suppressing them.
2. Having strong feelings means I'm out of control.
3. It's wrong or inauthentic to shift my emotions.
4. My emotions speak the absolute truth.
5. Some emotions are stupid.
6. Emotions happen for no reason.
7. It's better to be rational than emotional.
8. I am my emotions.
9. I should put on a mask and not show others how I feel.
10. If I feel like doing something, then that must be the right decision for me.
11. I should feel like everyone else is feeling.

We had a lot of fun talking about these myths. Karen found a buzzer. Kind of a weak goose buzzer, but she had fun giving them the buzzer.

There are 10 myths plus a bonus myth. Ha!

Which of these myths do you find yourself buying into from time to time?

"Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer." -Padre Pio

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

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