This is my first time writing a letter to Holy Cross graduating 8th<\/sup>\u00a0graders, since I arrived in 2018. Since I have walked with you for five years, including the two years of Covid, I believe I can now speak to you as a spiritual father and leave you here some counsels that I hope you will not just read, but integrate into your lives, and your souls.<\/p>\n Perseverance<\/strong><\/p>\n +\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When I was a college student, my father sent me by mail a simple card during the week of final exams and papers. He wrote, \u201cKeep your nose to the grindstone!\u201d That is another way of saying, \u201cStay focused and don\u2019t give up!\u201d Everyone knows that striving for excellence in any area of life is hard work, and that the flesh is weak on its own. We easily fall into distractions. For example, how many times when you were studying, did you stop to check your phone for messages, or glance at your social media feed, or simply watch videos? This is so easy to do, right?<\/p>\n If you are to become the young men and women God intends you to be, you will need a good measure of stick-to-it-ness, focus, perseverance, discipline, and the *will power<\/strong>* to fight and work hard toward your goals. Here\u2019s a fact: you cannot attain to these qualities on your own\u2014you will need *grace<\/strong>*! Grace is the \u201clife of God\u201d you receive from the sacraments, the Word of God, prayer, obedience to the Holy Spirit, purity of heart, and acts of charity. The more grace you have, the more spiritual powers and capacities you will have. That is a fact of the spiritual life.<\/p>\n *Live* Your Faith\u2026or Live an Empty Life<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0+<\/strong><\/p>\n If you believe in Jesus Christ and the Word of God, then you believe that \u201cGod is love\u201d (1 Jn 4:16). Therefore, Love (God) is commanding you\u2014not proposing or merely inviting you in the 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0Commandment\u2014but commanding you to be with Him and the Body of Christ on Sundays. So, follow the logic: if you choose\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0to do so\u2014my young brother and sister\u2014then you are\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0in communion with Love; you are\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0living your faith; you are\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0receiving grace; and you will\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0be sustained by the Life who is Christ.<\/p>\n I know this might sound strong\u2014but I write this from a place of love\u2014love for God, for souls, and, here, love for *you<\/strong>*. I have lived life and served enough souls to know what I am writing you is true. If you walk away from the demands and commands of Love, then one day you will find yourself, at best, only superficially \u201chappy\u201d and lacking true inner joy; or, more likely, empty, bored, and a man or woman who is less than you ought to be; or, at worst, anxious, addicted, depressed and stuck. I invite you to read this letter when you are 30 years old, and let me know if what I am writing is true or not.<\/p>\n I am giving you these counsels from the experience of working many years with your older brothers and sisters in the Lord: high school students, college students, young adults and adults. I have watched very closely what happens to souls when they live lives based on their own gifts, talents, desires, passions, pursuits and goals; and, in doing so, they leave behind the *practice<\/strong>* of the faith. It is sad.<\/p>\n Later in life when they wake up to this reality, many find that it is not easy to \u201cmake up\u201d for the lost years. Like the Prodigal Son, they \u201cwake up to their senses\u201d and start to \u201ccome back\u201d and \u201creturn to God,\u201d and, if they are sincere in repentance, they will always find His merciful embrace and forgiveness; but the process of \u201creversion\u201d or \u201cre-conversion\u201d for the Prodigal Son had only just begun when he went home; and this process is often a long road of great struggle\u2026but it does not have to be this way.<\/p>\n I implore you\u2014even if only one or two of you read this and make the decision to continue\u00a0practicing and living<\/strong>\u00a0the faith, I thank the Lord\u2014for the good of your soul, your life, your future\u2014I urge you:\u00a0live<\/strong>\u00a0the faith now, after graduation, and\u00a0consistently\u2026<\/strong>until you die.<\/p>\n Keep \u201cshowing up<\/strong>\u201d with an\u00a0open heart<\/strong>\u00a0to Jesus Christ\u2014and you will find out very soon just how deep, consistent, life-giving, soul-altering, gift-bestowing, and destiny-transforming is the Love of Jesus Christ and His unfathomable graces that He will pour into the souls of those who love Him. Trust these words.<\/p>\n As your spiritual father, I write these words with peace because I know they are true. My deepest desires for you are: principally, your salvation in eternal life; and, secondly, that you become young men and women who give glory to God by living lives that are \u201cfully alive,\u201d so that your \u201cjoy may be complete.\u201d The *only<\/strong>*\u00a0Way<\/strong>\u00a0to achieve these life and eternal life goals, my young brother and sister, is to conform your life\u00a0completely<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0totally<\/strong>\u00a0the person of\u00a0Jesus Christ and His Gospel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Please do not hesitate to reach out anytime, for any need whatsoever. We are here for you!<\/p>\n I love you in Christ, and I will keep you in my prayers.<\/p>\n Sincerely in the Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,<\/p>\n Fr. Vincent Druding<\/p>\n The Bronx, NY<\/p>\n June 7, 2023 Dear Holy Cross Class of 2023, Peace and Good! Well, you made it! I know you are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-62052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"9\/11](\"https:\/\/www.cny.org\/uploads\/original\/1315407081_7f1b.jpg\")
Do *not<\/strong>* stop practicing your faith when you leave here!\u00a0Living your faith\u00a0<\/strong>means more than making the sign of the cross and asking for a few things from God in the morning and evening. It means reading the Gospel and literally putting it into practice\u2014living<\/strong>\u00a0the Word of God. It also means\u2014showing up! Have you heard the phrase, \u201c90% of life is showing up\u201d? Well, the same is true with faith. If you don\u2019t show up to church on Sundays (for those who physically are able to get there)\u2014you are\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0living your faith.<\/p>\n