SEARCH // Finding: Me

This past Sunday, we finished our SEARCH series by exploring what it means to find our identity in Jesus. It can be so easy for us to try to find our identity in what we do or what others think of us. These wells easily run dry and leave us feeling empty and insignificant.

Jesus offers us a surprising alternative: in order to find ourselves, we first need to find and follow Him. The challenge comes when Jesus calls His followers to die for His sake. While shocking, the good news is that, although it can be difficult to let our dreams and plans die in order to make space for Jesus, when we choose to die with Him, we will also rise with Him in His resurrection!

This new life gives us an untouchable interior freedom to be who we were made to be from the very beginning. If we choose to lay down our lives for Jesus, then the Holy Spirit will have room to move and work wonders in the world around us.

Quotes & Scripture

“Life grows by being given away, and weakens in isolation and comfort. Indeed those who enjoy life most are those who leave security on the shore and become excited by the mission of communicating life to others.” - Pope Francis

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. - Matthew 16:24-25

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 4:14-17

Don't let the things we say at Church stay at Church!! Use these questions to comfortably bring Jesus into your everyday conversations with friends, family, and even those you might not know very well (yet!).

• How would you finish the following sentence? “I am ____________”

• Who does the culture of the world tell us we are?

• What do you live for?

• Is there anything/ anyone that you would die for?

• How can we begin to find our identity in Jesus?

• What does it mean to die “for Jesus’s sake?”

• What does a “life in Christ” look like?

Jesus' greatest gift of love to us is the Eucharist. In fact, it is more than just a gift. It is also the Gift-Giver: Jesus gives us Himself every single time we receive the Eucharist.

Come by every week to revisit the Youth Mass Homily!! This past Sunday, Fr. Edwin preached on the shocking reality of the Cross, why Jesus laid down His life as King of the Universe, and how we are called to respond to Him in our daily lives. Listen now!

This week, find space to worship Jesus in service to others. One way we can die to ourselves for the sake of Jesus is by loving, serving, and forgiving others, especially when it is inconvenient for us to serve them. As you spend time with family over Thanksgiving, keep your heart open for opportunities to love and serve the people that Jesus has surrounded you with.