Thomas Smith

Faith on the move

Thomas Smith — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:39:12 +0000

I recently did a “Faith on the Move” interview with Lisa Hendey for her new website www.catholictourist.com. It’s about the meaning of pilgrimage, travel and faith. Check her site out and subscribe to her posts, she’s worth the read. I hope you enjoy:

Faith on the Move: Thomas Smith

June 10, 2013 by Lisa M. Hendey

Today, we debut a brand new feature at CatholicTourist.com — “Faith on the Move”. We’ll spotlight a new sojourner each week, sharing their tips, memories, and spiritual insights. I had an incredibly difficult time naming this feature, so I called in my fellow journeyers at Facebook for a naming contest. 40+ suggestions later, I was even more confused! So I’m going for now with one of the most simple, Faith on the Move. I hope to share in this space the stories of many different types of travelers, including “staycationers” and armchair travelers. Some of our interviews will feature business travelers, some will feature campers, some will even spotlight married couples and families.

Today, we share a conversation with Thomas Smith, an amazing author, speaker and evangelist, who spends much of his life on the road sharing the good news of the Gospel. I know you’ll enjoy hearing Thomas’ insights on travel, faith, and turning any journey into a pilgrimage.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

I was born a 6th generation Mormon, and later was a Protestant minister who was received into the Catholic Church in 1996. I’m a repeat guest on EWTN and Catholic radio as well as a parish mission and conference speaker. I co-authored “Revelation: The Kingdom Yet to Come” with Jeff Cavins, and I’m an international presenter for the Great Adventure Bible Timeline. Currently, I am writing and will be filming a new ten-part series on the Prophets. I was an adjunct professor at the St. Francis School of Theology in Denver, and is the former Director of the Denver Catholic Biblical School and the Denver Catechetical School. I now live on a 500-acre family ranch in southeastern Idaho, it’s my personal retreat, and base of operations for my apostolate.

How often do you travel?

I’m on the road between 160-180 days a year.

Is the majority of your travel for business, pleasure, spiritual enrichment, or “all of the above”?

Most of my travel is ministry related, but I build in two “vacations” a year, typically lead one pilgrimage a year, and love to camp locally in Idaho/Wyoming/Montana with my family.

Where are some of your favorite destinations?

I have favorites based on some different factors. I love Singapore b/c it is so compact (one of the world’s last remaining city-states), modern and multi-cultural and has a very vibrant Catholic parish there that I’ve had the joy of working with for the last 3-4 years. In terms of natural beauty, Catholic culture, and people I am in love with the Philippines (I would love to retire there). It is stunningly beautiful, especially Mindanao, home to some wonderful and exotic fruits we never see in the states, and the people are wonderful. I have a foundation that provides bible study materials to needy parishes and groups in the Philippines, so I’ve created some lasting friendships there. I will be heading back there in February 2014 to train seminarians. catechists and laity on the Word of God.

As far as pilgrimages go, my heart is in the Holy Land. I’ve lead seven pilgrimages there, and spent some time studying in Israel. It changes the way you hear the Gospels, and feeds your imagination with wonderful images for reflection and prayer. Finally, I’m an Idaho boy at heart, and my state is one of the most beautiful for raw natural beauty. The Sawtooth Mountains and Redfish Lake are some of my favorite camping spots here, and I’m only a few hours from Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, both places I never tire of visiting.

How is travel a spiritual experience for you? How do you turn any travel opportunity into a pilgrimage?

Blessed John Paul II said that each one of us is a “homo viator”, a human being on a journey. That journey is both external and interior. I have a simple travel prayer that I pray not only daily on pilgrimages but in my apostolate work as well, “Lord, help me to see Jesus and to be Jesus.” In some ways, that is the essence of the journey for me. When I can do each of those (even marginally well), a simple trip to the local bank can also feed my interior journey to Christ, if I keep him in my vision, words and deeds wherever I am.

Have you ever had a “travel nightmare”? How did your faith help you through the experience?

More at http://catholictourist.com/wrd/faith-on-the-move-thomas-smith/

Faith is love in action

Thomas Smith — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 03:45:46 +0000

You do right when you offer faith to God; you do right when you offer works. But if you separate the two, then you do wrong. For faith without works is dead; and lack of charity in action murders faith, just as Cain murdered Abel, so that God cannot respect your offering.—St. Bernard
Paul reminds us that “faith works through love” (Galatians 5:6), and even great works done for God (whether it’s miracles or martyrdom), have no value apart from love (1 Cor 13:3). God, the supreme object of our faith, is love, and we show our faith in our loving acts.

One of the first things God convicted me of when I came to faith in Christ was the hatred that I had harbored for my stepfather. He was an abusive alcoholic, and I felt my loathing was justified because of the way he treated my family. As I grew in Christ, it became crystal clear to me that my lack of love was inconsistent with my faith and, in fact, threatening it.

I remember saying to God, “I can’t love my stepdad” and hearing the Lord say in response, “I know, but I can love him through you.” My prayer became, “God, change my heart to beat in unison with your Sacred Heart.”

It was an act of faith to believe his love could heal my broken, dark heart. It didn’t happen overnight, but I was able to forgive my stepdad and love him in concrete ways. After he was diagnosed with emphysema, I spent his last days caring for him, literally loving him to death. Through this experience, not only was my heart healed and enlarged, but my faith in God’s power and love increased exponentially.

Action Step
What is one tangible way you can exercise your faith in an expression of love, mercy, or forgiveness this week?
http://thecatholicyearoffaith.com/faith-is-love-in-action/

And having done all to stand…stand therefore! (Ephesians 6:13)

Thomas Smith — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:10:54 +0000

Today’s saint Athanasius, “the champion of orthodoxy” was exiled three times by general councils or synods dominated by Arian bishops, twice by order of the Emperor. He was slandered, condemned by a false council, tried and acquitted of various absurd charges. In fact, Constantine and his successors considered Athanasius a trouble-maker.

But Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman called him ‘a principal instrument after the Apostles by which the sacred truths of Christianity have been secured and conveyed to the world’. Newman wrote “The body of bishops failed in their confession of the Faith…They spoke variously, one against another; there was nothing, after Nicea, of firm, unvarying, consistent testimony, for nearly sixty years. There was untrustworthy Councils, unfaithful bishops; there was weakness, fear of consequences, misguidance, delusion, hallucination, endless, hopelessness, extending into nearly every corner of the Catholic Church. The comparatively few who remained faithful were discredited and driven into exile; the rest were either deceivers or were deceived.”

Sometimes, and more frequently, standing up for the Truth about God, the human person, marriage, and life, means standing alone. Lord Jesus, by your powerful grace and thru the intercession of St. Athanasius, give us courage, strength, and perseverance to stand firm in faith (Ephesians 6:13).

For more on Newman and St. Athanasius, see http://www.newmanreader.org/works/athanasius/original/

St Joseph: the Laborer, the Craftsman, the Artist

Thomas Smith — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:19:21 +0000

Today, as I was reflecting on St. Joseph the Worker, I recalled a quote, “He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.” I think we can all agree that the most important “work” that Joseph ever accepted (in union with the protection of the Holy Family) was the shaping of the human soul of his adopted son Jesus. God saw in the heart of the man Joseph, a father that would “build” a son, helping him to “grow in wisdom, and stature, and favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). Today’s saint undertook his noble work with the strength of a laborer, the skill of a craftsman, and the joy and care of an artist.

Let us join God in his work within us, that through the intercession of St. Joseph, Christ may be formed and fashioned in our souls and revealed to the world in our words and deeds.

Living the Beatitudes in the Year of Faith

Thomas Smith — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:19:24 +0000

I’m excited to announce that my new, FREE online 10-part series on Living the Beatitudes is ready to go! You can sign up here http://thecatholicyearoffaith.com/beatitudes

Mother of Jesus and Mother to us All

Thomas Smith — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:56:03 +0000

Happy Feast of the Annunciation! I am so grateful that Mary said Yes! Though still a mystery, she was saying yes to be the Mother of the body of Jesus AND the Mother of the Body of Christ- all of us! What a fruitful Mother! In 2005, Pope Francis (then cardinal) washed the feet of new and expectant mothers and said “Some of you are holding your babies in your arms. Others of you are carrying them in your womb. All of you are women who have chosen life. I, as a priest, am going to repeat the act of Jesus, and carry out a concrete act of service for women who have said yes to life. In washing your feet, I am washing those of all mothers, and of my mother, who felt me in her womb.” Thank every Mom and Dad you meet today for saying Yes to Life!

The Moment of a Lifetime

Thomas Smith — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 16:26:25 +0000

[Thomas] said to them, ‘Unless I … place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.’ Eight days later, his disciples were again assembled in the house, and Thomas was with them … Jesus came and stood among them, and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side … ‘ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and My God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.’—John 20:24-29

The Apostle Thomas is my patron, and quite frankly, I think he gets a bad rap. He is regularly labeled as “doubting Thomas” because of his inability to trust the witness of his fellow apostles that they had seen the resurrected Lord. (Of course, none of the grieving apostles had believed the earlier testimony of Mary Magdalene, either (see Mark 16:10-11).

Though Thomas struggled to believe in the Resurrection the first moment he’d heard of it, he spent the rest of his life trusting in the Lord and leading thousands of others to faith in Christ. He died a martyr for his witness of the resurrected Lord. Catholics in India still celebrate a liturgy attributed to him.

No one deserves to be remembered exclusively by the one moment their faith flagged or failed. Jesus models the proper response. He sought out Thomas not to upbraid the apostle, but to meet him in his weakness, gently guiding his hand into the wounds of love. Thomas responded with the most explicit confession of Jesus’s divinity in the Gospels, “My Lord and my God!”

The story of St. Thomas’ restoration gives us hope and the final beatitude from Christ, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” (John 20:29).

Action Step

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief” (Mk 9:24). Help me to encourage and strengthen those whose faith is failing, especially during times of grief or loss.

For more reflections like this, sign up for Ascension Press’s Year of Faith series – Faith in Action here

Welcoming the Year of Faith with Hope and Love

Thomas Smith — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:30:38 +0000

Open Wide the Doors of Faith!

During the Year of Faith, the Church invites us to grow in our personal faith, and to understand better the content of our faith, particularly the Universal Catechism of the Catholic Church, so that we might clearly and confidently share it with the world.

Thomas has created individual presentations as well as parish missions and full retreats using the themes from the year’s inaugural document Porta Fide and Rome’s suggestions for celebrating this exciting year.

Invite Thomas Smith help guide your parish community, staff, or group through the riches of our faith during this special year of grace.

My new 3-session parish mission Discovering the Beatitudes as Pathways to the Kingdom has been enthusiastically received from the hundreds who have already experienced the profound invitation of these eight gifts. Friend Bishop Ricken has also recommended the Beatitudes as one of the 10 ways we can live the Year of Faith http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-150.cfm

Check out my Year of Faith topics here: http://gen215.org/talks/

Holy Land 2012 – A Journey w/Jesus & Mary

Thomas Smith — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:31:13 +0000

I’m excited to announce that I have partnered with friends Fr. Mike Gaitley (author & director of the Association of the Marian Helpers) and uber-evangelist Kelly Wahlquist (Assistant Director of the Evangelization and Development Office for Parish Evangelization for the Association) to co-lead a special Marian-focused Holy Land Pilgrimage this September 5-14th, 2012.

Fr. Mike’s two books (Consoling the Heart of Jesus and 33 Days to Morning Glory) have been life-changing for me , so I am especially excited for him to share his spiritual insights in the Holy Land, and Kelly is one of the most passionate Catholic women and evangelists I know. We will enjoy daily Mass with Fr. Mike, pray the Rosary at the locations of the Mysteries, and I’ll be opening up the Scriptures “on location” spanning from Caesarea Philippi in the north to the fortress of Masada in the south, and all the significant cities in between including Capernaum, Caesarea Maritime, Cana, Nazareth, Ein Kherem, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and more.

The pilgrimage will also help support the awesome work of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception who spread devotion to Divine Mercy around the world. Our pilgrimage will begin at JFK, so we can reach out to as many people nationally as possible. Space is limited, so prayerfully consider signing up soon.

See the flyer below for details and itinerary. Please don’t hesitate to contact me through the contact page on the website with additional questions you may have, and consider sharing this with friends and family members who may be interested in joining us!

Click -> PILGRIMAGE FLYER

Consecration means Transformation

Thomas Smith — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:09:56 +0000

On the Feast of the Annunciation this Monday, over 1,000 people across the U.S. will be consecrating themselves to the Blessed Mother using the new curriculum from Hearts Afire Parish Programs based on Fr. Michael Gaitley’s latest book “33 Days to Morning Glory.” You can learn more about it here www.allheartsafire.org . I am excited to be part of this new initiative and re-consecrating myself to our Lady again (you can never say “Yes” to Jesus through Mary too often). I made my first consecration back in 1999, and “33 Days to Morning Glory” has re-invigorated my passion and understanding about this very important spiritual act. I see it echoed in so much of what we do in our Catholic lives and liturgy.

Recently in the Mass, during the Offertory, I watched two mothers bringing up the bread and wine to the priest and had a little epiphany: “This is exactly what our Lady does for us! Like these beautiful Catholic moms, our Mother brings all of our offerings to her Son Jesus, the High Priest.” In a way similar to the Presentation in the Temple (Luke 2:22-40), Mary also brings us to the place of worship and sacrifice.

As Mass continued, our priest prayed, “make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration that they may become the Body and Blood of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ.” Another epiphany! In the New Covenant and Christ, consecration means more than simply being set apart for God, in a fuller sense, it means being transformed into Christ! In the Mass, the ordinary bread and wine will become the bread of life and our spiritual drink – Jesus Christ himself. In Marian consecration, we are being set apart for service AND are being transformed into Christ! (Romans 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 John 3:2). And like the Eucharist, we are transformed to be shared. The world is looking and longing to see Jesus. May this upcoming consecration, help them to meet Him in us!