"I do what I am required to do... I go to Church on Sundays, I don't commit great sins... but I'm just not feeling it..."

You have the same calling as the saints: holiness.

Look back at the past week; consider how you spent that time. Ask yourself honestly if a fair and objective onlooker could ascertain from those days that you believe these following truths, for they are truths inherent in and inseparable from the faith you profess with your lips on Sunday:

• That your every thought, word, and deed will be recalled on the Last Day in the presence of all Creation in order to be judged by its love...(or do you think, speak, and act in ways you will not be proud of on That Day?)

• That God so highly regards your prayers and sacrifices that He has deigned to hinge, upon their being said and made, the very salvation of souls created by Him and for whom He died... (or do you spend little time in prayer, muster up little fervency in your heart during it, and put little effort into sacrifice?)

• That every interaction, no matter how mundane, you have with any soul will help to determine if he or she becomes “a creature you would now be strongly tempted to worship or else a horror and a corruption you could now see only in a nightmare.” ... (or do you prefer vain conversation, frivolous activities, and worldly endeavors to that which benefits eternity?)

• That if you are ashamed of Christ before men—embarrassed of, cowardly about, or indifferent to Him and His teachings—then He will be ashamed of you before His Father on Judgment Day... (or do you limit your conversation to the weather when you are with those who might not share your Faith in Christ?)

• That love is measured by sacrifice, and ever seeks to pour itself out without any expectation of repayment—and “at the evening of our lives, we will be judged on our love”... (or do you expect your bare-minimum following of the precepts to save you, living essentially a self-centered life?)

• That Our Lord takes any deed done to one of His children as done to Himself, and whenever we find ourselves in the presence of others, we are given the same opportunity to love Him, in them, just as Veronica or Simon had on the Way of the Cross?... (or do those around whom you live your daily life get treated by you as means to your own ends, as obstacles to your own goals, or as annoyances to be dealt with; instead of beloved children of God to be shown mercy, love, generosity, forgiveness, and compassion?)

• That the smallest sufferings of purgatory far exceed the worst possible in this world, and yet need not be endured if you now choose to pursue perfection... (or do you slothfully take no measures to examine your conscience so as to purge from your life anything that offends Our Lord?)

There are starving souls; starving physically and starving spiritually. Christ's very own presence dwells in each of them. How many personal enjoyments to which you have grown accustomed are you open to abandoning in order to serve them? They need you now. The women going in to have abortions need to see you on your knees outside the Planned Parenthoods. The forgotten elderly in nursing homes need your loving and prayerful presence as a consolation in their last days. The sick in hospitals need the channels of grace you can bring them as they endure suffering that they are tempted to think God has abandoned them during. The urban youth need good mentors as they are growing up in what more resembles pagan anarchy than Christian civilization. The men and women in prison need you to show them that they are loved; by you and by God, no matter what they have done and no matter what society says about them. Above all, billions of souls throughout the world need your prayers for their salvation, sanctification, peace, and safety. The list goes on, but the lesson is short: unless you are a rare soul, your life needs fewer vanities and more works of mercy.

You likely live within a short drive of a Church. Our Lord has given us Himself; Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity; invisibly but truly, literally, physically present in the Eucharist. How much are you willing to alter your daily routine in order to center it around receiving Him? How strong is your faith in the Real Presence and how important, in relation to that, do you deem your secular endeavors? The Mass is not a symbolic remembrance of Calvary; it is an actual presentation of it in its full reality. Your eyes see only a small sanctuary, but your being stands before the Paschal Mysteries no less so than did Our Lady 2,000 years ago. Arrive early, and until you leave (which ideally is no sooner than 15 minutes after receiving Holy Communion) comport yourself with the holy fear and reverence that befits standing in the Real Presence of the Almighty, stirring up fervent prayer of the heart as you cry out to God.

We live in a world of unprecedented sin, error, and corruption. How zealously do you fight this darkness; rooting out vigorously all vice, sin, imperfection, needless occasions of sin, bad influences (through bad media, harmful friendships, etc.) from your own life and from your family and household?

It is impossible to live an upright life with a mentality of compromise with the culture; for today's prevailing worldly culture is none other than the Culture of Death -- the Dictatorship of Relativism. You will have to be a sign of contradiction, and therefore you must examine your conscience critically if you find yourself failing to be so; blending in imperceptibly with secular friends, coworkers, and society at large; and allowing into your life without careful consideration the popular creations of modern culture. Never let this be the pride of a Pharisee; rather let it be the love of a mother even for her straying children.