Has your faith taken a back seat to teacher meetings, sports practices or homework? You’re not alone! It happens to the best of us when the busy back-to-school season rolls in … and it’s just when we were counting on more time to ourselves with the kids back in school!

I’ve got 5 tips on CatholicLane.com on simple ways you can move faith back up to the top of the list!

Read my article

If you want to become holy, be a saint, remain steadfast in your Christian faith, you’ve got to get to know Jesus. I struggled with this early on in my conversion. I felt like I did not know Jesus, that He did not want to know me (why would He want to know lowly ol’ me?) and I was, in fact, intimated by him. I pictured Jesus overthrowing the money-changers’ tables and some of the harsher statements he made. So I was distant.

But soon I realized that if I was going to be a saint — or strive to be — I’d better get to know Jesus!

Here are 10 ways I found that helped me draw closer and truly develop a personal relationship with Jesus, something I believe is crucial to true Christian conversion:

1. Receive Jesus – Tops on the list of ways to grow closer to Jesus has to be receiving him in the form of the Eucharist. This is a special gift enjoyed by Catholics, whose priests transform ordinary bread and wine into the living God by repeating Jesus’ words at the last supper. When we receive Jesus, we meet Him in the flesh and we literally carry Him with us out into the world. Receive Jesus as often as you can!
2. Read the Gospels over and over – This tip I attribute to author Matthew Kelly, but it’s a key one. A wonderful way to get to know Jesus better is to read about him and the main place we can do that is through the Gospels. Read them over and over, a little each day, letting Jesus’ words and actions sink in. Kelly, in his book Rediscover Jesus, recommends imagining yourself as different people in the stories to place yourself in the context of what is happening.
3. Spend time in adoration – In addition to receiving the Eucharist, we can also be in Jesus’ presence by simply being in the presence of the Eucharist. Try to visit your church’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel (where you can always find Jesus in the Eucharist identified by the red candle burning outside the door) or during Adoration where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed versus locked away. Read, pray, write or just sit in the quiet presence of Jesus. Many experience vocational callings and other insights during adoration.
4. Encounter Him in Reconciliation – Did you know when you go to Reconciliation, you are in the presence of Jesus? Jesus is present in the priest, no matter which priest you see. In Reconciliation, he pours out his mercy upon us, forgiving our sins and giving us graces to help us from sinning again and to grow in holiness. Other than the Eucharist, it’s one of the few places you can encounter Jesus. Go and go often!
5. Choose a stage of Jesus’ life you can relate to – If you’re like me and struggled feeling close to the Jesus in the Gospels, consider Jesus at a more vulnerable time of life. St. Therese of Liseiux developed a devotion to the infant Jesus. Can you picture Jesus as a tiny baby, cooing in his mother’s arms, nestled close to Mary’s heart? Start there. Talk to the Baby Jesus or Jesus as a youth, working with his father as a carpenter.
6. Talk to Jesus – How can you really get to know anyone without talking to them regularly? You can read about them, but is that the same as really knowing them? Develop the HABIT of talking to Jesus all day long. Thank Him for the beautiful day, the blue skies and birds singing — for every good thing that happens during your day. Ask for help when you have a decision to make — big or small. Tell Him when you are frustrated, stressed, happy or joyful. He wants you to talk to Him!
7. Read Jesus Calling – It can be hard, of course, when the person you’re trying to get to know doesn’t talk back to you — in words, at least. I’ve found Jesus Calling, and the version for kids, to be a great way for me and my kids to grow closer to Jesus. The book is a daily reflection where the author puts all of Jesus’ teachings into words, as if He were talking directly to you. It’s helps us, in all our humanness, to hear His words as if they were spoken directly to us.
8. Read Rediscover Jesus – Author Matthew Kelly of Dynamic Catholic has written a new book with the aim of helping Christians — and all people — develop a personal relationship with Jesus. He does a wonderful job of considering Jesus’ teachings and the example He left us to help us understand how we can live as He desired in the context of our modern society.
9. Pray the Rosary – Of course, we associate the rosary with Mary, because she’s the one who gave us the prayer, asked us to pray it and it’s filled with Hail Marys. But the Rosary is really about Jesus. If you pray the rosary daily — or as often as you can — you will be meditating day in and day out on the life of Jesus. Each day is a different set of “mysteries” or events in Jesus’ life to meditate upon as you say the prayers of the rosary. You’ll find new insights pour in as you contemplate these events over and over every time you pray the rosary.
10. Read The Diary of St. Faustina and the Flame of Love (free copy here) – These two books, which are approved by the Catholic Church as communications of Jesus, present a more personal voice of Jesus and can help you relate better to Him. Two passages I bring to mind often while looking at the Cross are His request that Elizabeth Kindelmann call him “my most adorable Jesus” and his request that she imagine herself “nestled close to his merciful heart.” I can certainly picture myself there.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of how to get to know Jesus! Please share what has worked for you and what a difference it has made in your life to have a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior.

I continue to see that specific posts consistently have the most readers, so I thought I would compile a list of some of the most popular topics I’ve written about.

Please enjoy the following Top 10 Most Popular Posts on Catholic Newbie listed in order of popularity:

1. 10 Things I Wish all Non-Catholic Christians Knew about Catholicism
2. How to Start a Conversation about Catholicism Anywhere
3. 13 Things to Do After RCIA to Keep Your Faith on Fire
4. Tweet These Companies that Support Planned Parenthood
5. 11 Ways to Work the Rosary into Your Busy Day
6. The 1 Thing I Wish All RCIA Candidates Knew About Confession
7. My Conversion Story
8. The Spiritual Riches of Catholicism: From Prayer Groups to Spiritual Bouquets
9. 5 Must-Dos for the RCIA Candidate
10. My First Reconciliation Through RCIA

Thanks to all of you for continuing to give these posts life by sharing them on your favorite social networks and via email, parish newsletters and beyond!

As I enter into my third year as a Catholic, one of the issues I’ve yet to find peace with is my “stuff” and whether I’m truly living the Catholic life as Jesus wanted while sitting in a nice house in a suburban neighborhood with plenty of food to eat, enough money to clothe my family and indulging in Starbucks Frappuccinos more than I should. I think of Mother Teresa and how far away I am…

Today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 19: 16-22) about the young man who asked Jesus how he could gain eternal life drives the point home even further. Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give them to the poor and the young man went away sad because he had so many “things.” This also turned out to be the discussion last night at my women’s Christ Renews His Parish meeting. Clearly, God has something to say to me — and possibly you since you are reading this post — on this topic ;-).

Over the weekend, while reading our local diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Moment, I had a “light bulb” Catholic moment about “stuff.” They write that Pope Francis said that the problem isn’t the having of money, but rather when money “owns” us and when we place our own desire for money and wealth over the welfare of others.

They went on to give a great metaphor, saying: “We have to surrender the title to all that we have and all that we are. God holds the title, but still allows us to live in the house.” Lightbulb on!

This is precisely what I agreed to do when going through Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary two years ago. I agreed, and still verbalize this daily, to give Mary the right to “all my goods — both spiritual and physical.” I am giving her charge of all my “stuff” and agreeing that I will accept whatever goods she agrees for me and my family to have — whether much, enough or little. And I’m here to tell you that Mary has been very generous, though she has asked us to do without at times, as well.

This also speaks to a past article I wrote asking the question: Are Catholic bishops living too lavishly? 

It seems to me there are several “tests” you could give or questions you could ask yourself to see if indeed money “owns” you, as Pope Francis said, and if it is more of an “idol” to you:

• Are you able to easily let go of things, even sentimental things, realizing you cannot take these items with you to heaven? A friend from my CRHP group told us last night how when her father was at the end of his life, she and her siblings were shocked at how his “stuff” fit in 1 shoebox. We truly can’t take it with us!
• Do you help people financially when they come to you in need or you see them in need?
• Do you contribute something financially to the causes you believe in? Are these line items at the top of your budget to come out first?
• Do you have just one or two of each thing you truly need or do you have a stockpile of sheets, shoes or purses, for example?
• Do you mostly buy things out of need or mostly for pleasure?
• If you had to, could you live the simple life of a monk or nun in one room with only the basics — without being an ogre ;-)? 

The young man in the Gospel did not have the right attitude toward money because he went away sad to lose his “stuff,” rather than being open to what Jesus asked him to do with it.

I think the bottom line here, which was a revelation to me, is that it’s OK to have nice things and to have money. Instead, it’s more about your attitude toward it and truly relinquishing your right to these things and giving them to God for his distribution. If money controls you, you are a slave to it. If God controls it, you are simply doing God’s will.

Thoughts?