March 28, 2026 BEST LENT EVER Reflection

Day 39

All Reflections

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Transcript

This video was brought to you by.

The Dynamic Catholic Ambassadors Club. You're awesome.

Okay. And then go.

Surrender is.

Fruitful.

Timely.

Possible.

Overflowing.

Let God surprise you.

Welcome back to Best Lent Ever. Today I want to talk to you about the 19th Maxim. The 19th Maxim is I actively listen to others to understand their needs before responding or offering help. I actively listen to others to understand their needs before responding or offering to help. Very often, someone's talking about something. They're sharing a problem. They're only two sentence in, and we're thinking about the solution we're going to tell them about rather than really listening to them, allowing them to speak, to finish, and then asking thoughtful questions. "What about this?" And, "Did I hear you right when you said that?" And allowing them to speak so that you can understand, as best you can, what's going on in this person's life before responding or offering help. It's a beautiful, beautiful passage here that says, "Listening is a sacred act of humility." Listening is a sacred act of humility. It requires setting aside our own assumptions, distractions, and desire to speak so we can give our full attention to the person before us in this moment. Listening is a sacred act of humility. It's essential to relationships. It's essential to unity. But we don't necessarily think to ourselves, "Gee, I want to become a really good listener." And yet, we should. You want to have great relationships, you want to be a great parent, you want to have a great marriage, you want to be a great leader at work, become a really, really good listener. Think about, "Okay. How can I become a better listener this year than I was last year?" At the end of the day, you look back on the conversations that have taken place throughout the day and pick one and sort of take a look at it. Examine it. Look at it like you would if it was something you were studying at work, maybe even, and say, "Okay. How did it go? Was I a good listener?" Give yourself a score between 1 and 10. You can't use number 7. Something we do here, ask people to give themselves a score between 1 and 10. Most people give themselves a 7 in most things. So we say, "Give yourself a score between 1 and 10. You can't use seven." Look back on a conversation. Give yourself a score between 1 and 10. You can't use seven, and say, "All right. Okay. I was a 6," or, "I was a 4," or whatever. And ask yourself, "How can I be a better listener in that situation? Was I patient? Was I impatient? Was I in too much of a hurry to move on from the conversation or too much of a hurry to respond to what the person was saying?" And then the next day, you go into conversations differently. The 19th Maxim, I actively listen to others to understand their needs before responding or offering help. I love the opening lines of this chapter. It says, "The unsurrendered life is a miserable way to live." Think about that. It's bold, it's direct, it's blunt. It's true. The unsurrended life is a miserable way to live. It's true. And so to the extent that our lives are unsurrendered, we will be miserable. I say it again, to the extent that our lives are unsurrendered, we will be miserable. That paragraph goes on to say, "Are you unhappy? Reflect. What situation are you refusing to surrender to God? How are you being selfish? What obstacles have you placed between yourself and God? Are you unhappy? What situation are you refusing to surrender to God?

We've all got one, right? We've all got a situation or a circumstance or a part of our lives or a part of our hearts. We are refusing to surrender it to God. And it's bringing unhappiness into our lives. It's bringing misery into our lives. And then we spread that unhappiness and misery with other people. I hope you've enjoyed our mini journey of surrender.

Of course, surrender is a lifelong journey. And we hope the resources, the way of surrender, seasons of surrender, the surrender assessment, and other resources the surrender project is producing will help you in your lifelong journey of surrender. Surrender is essential to the Christian life. Essential, not optional, essential. And so as you continue to journey with Jesus, as you continue to commune with God in your daily life, think about the concept of surrender and how surrendered are you to the God who is goodness, who did create us, and who wants good things for us. If you haven't taken the assessment, take the assessment. It will change your life. I promise you that. It will change your life. God bless you. Have a great day. Remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

God of miracles, wonders, and grace.

I thank you for all the good you have done in my life.

For the miracles I recognize, and the many graces I so often overlook.

I open my heart completely to you today.

Inviting you to completely inhabit my soul.

So that through me—

Others may encounter your love.

Your mercy.

Your compassion.

Your kindness.

And your staggering generosity. Amen.