The Blessed Sacrament is seen in a monstrance during Adoration at Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center in Bowling Green in the evening of June 11, 2025. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC

BY DR. JEFF ANDRINI, EVANGELIZATION & DISCIPLESHIP

Happy New Year! We are so blessed as Catholics that we have a way of life that works. Seriously, we know we can trust in God for everything and that as we look over our lives, we can see the hand of God leading and guiding our every step.

Have you ever been to a flea market? I worked at the Midwest’s largest flea market in St. Charles, Ill., and wow, the stuff you see from kitchen sinks to socks. This is a true story of man in California who went to a flea market. He purchased a stone the size of a baseball for $10. He was a rock collector and took it home to polish it. Turns out, what he bought for $10 was worth $6 million about 30 years ago. It was the world’s largest blue star sapphire at the time. What a tragedy! The poor guy selling rocks at a flea market could have retired right on the spot.

A greater tragedy is that many Catholics and former Catholics (if there is such a thing), never found a living relationship with God in the Catholic Church. Many have drifted away, because they did not realize where God was in their life and they may not have felt close to God. In fact, many active Catholics go to Mass, but cannot articulate a personal relationship with God.

God is closer to you than the air you breathe. God is present in our lives in so many ways and longs for us to experience his love and leading every minute of every day. While we move away from God as we allow sin to separate us, we can go to the sacrament of reconciliation and be absolved of our sins and brought back into right relationship.

Here’s the invitation: reflect and pray. Where is God in your life today? What do you need from the Lord? How do you see God working around you? As Americans, our greatest failure is our busyness. We keep going on the treadmill of life from one activity to the next. If we slow down, we may even feel guilty, but being human we must have time to rest, rejuvenate and pray.

Do not let prayer be another thing you do. Don’t just go to Mass or say your prayers and check the boxes. Rather, slow down, and, as is attributed to Native American philosophy, “let your soul catch up with your body.” Take some quiet time and listen to God. In the silence of our hearts God speaks.

I am going on retreat to the Cedars of Peace in Loretto, Kentucky, from Jan. 3-6, as a special time to listen – but every day I do my best to have time with the Lord. I invite you to do the same in 2026! If you are looking for a retreat, small group or adult faith formation opportunity, email me at [email protected].

Peace in Christ,

Jeff

Dr. Jeff Andrini is the director of the Office of Evangelization and Discipleship.

Originally printed in the January 2026 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.