Roots and Fruits

The First Battle

Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/] --- The First Battle As followers of Christ, there are a lot of battles to fight. But for all of us, the first battle is within ourselves. We can't give what we don't have. We can't share a faith we don't practice. We can't lead others to holiness when we aren't striving for it ourselves. We can't bring others to truth if we aren't pursuing it. We can't bring others to God when we don't know Him. To positively impact the world around us, we have to start with ourselves. That's not selfish — it's just necessary. So what does that battle require? Time alone with God. Self-reflection. An honest look at our own weaknesses and tendencies. Silence. Solitude. Time to process everything we're constantly taking in. Solid ground to return to when the inner battles get hard.  That is daily prayer. Let us pray. Lord, give us the discipline to fight the first battle — the one within us. Draw us to prayer, to silence, to You. In Jesus' name. Amen. Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us. Get full access to The Victor's Crown at www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Abba

Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/] --- Abba The fallen human heart sees God as an adversary. Even as adults, we can act like teenagers — convinced our Father is out of touch, no fun, making rules for the sake of rules. We keep Him at arm's length. We resist Him. We go our own way. But at the core of that problem — and its solution — is how we see God as Father. Scripture is clear about the relationship we actually have: "You received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, 'Abba, Father!' The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (Romans 8:15-16) And St. John marvels at it: "See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God." (1 John 3:1) What a gift. Not a distant authority to be managed or avoided — but a Father who has claimed us as His own. That relationship should stir something in us. A desire to live close to Him. To please Him. And in our trials, to turn to His infinite goodness rather than away from it — to let Him shelter us in our littleness. The question is whether we actually live that way. Is your prayer the prayer of a child devoted to his Father? Let us pray. Heavenly Father, help us to see You as You truly are — not as an adversary, but as a loving Father who has claimed us as His own. Draw us close to You today. In Jesus' name. Amen. Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us. Get full access to The Victor's Crown at www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

For Others

Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/] --- For Others "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:12-13) This is our task on earth. And it's our path to Heaven. We can be so caught up in our own lives that we start to think salvation works like rescuing ourselves from a sinking ship — single-handedly, alone, through sheer effort. But that's not the message of the Gospel. God is love. He made us out of love, and He made us to love. Christ Himself tells us there is no greater love than this: to give yourself for others. It's in giving that we receive. It's in losing our lives that we save them. It's not about us. It's in shifting our gaze toward others — in becoming men and women for others — that we find our way home. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, give us eyes to see: to see the people around us, to see You in them, to see what needs to be done, and give us the strength to act on it. In Jesus' name. Amen. Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us. Get full access to The Victor's Crown at www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Arm Yourself

Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/] --- Arm Yourself For us lay folks, there's a balancing act we have to walk.  We're called to detach from the very world we spend our days in, turning toward the higher things God has to offer. And as much as we might want to spend our days in silent prayer, that's not always our calling.  But that doesn't mean we can't take a page from the book of those who do. "If priests and religious have an obligation to meditate on the great truths of our holy religion in order to live up to their vocation worthily, the same obligation, then, is just as much incumbent upon the laity — because of the fact that every day they meet with spiritual dangers which might make them lose their souls. Therefore they should arm themselves with the frequent meditation on the life, virtues and sufferings of Our Blessed Lord — which are so beautifully contained in the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary." — St. Louis de Montfort We are in spiritual danger every day. St. Peter puts it plainly: "Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) We face a constant barrage. But we are not without a weapon. Learn the Rosary. Pray it. Meditate on the life of Christ and Our Lady. Turn your focus from the physical world to what God is offering us — now, and in eternity. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, help us to turn to You for strength, for grace, for everything we need to live our vocation and follow You. In Jesus' name. Amen. Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us. Get full access to The Victor's Crown at www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Roots and Fruits

Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/] --- Roots and Fruit In striving for holiness, we have to balance what you might call the interior life and the exterior life. Faith and works. The contemplative and the active. The interior life is the foundation. Without it, nothing else holds. When we neglect prayer and place all our energy in exterior activity, the spiritual life begins to dry up. Faith and love for God have to come first — everything else is built on top of that. And it's from that foundation that our works flow. As St. James tells us, "Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:17) The interior life was never meant to stay interior. Whatever fruits grow there are meant to be brought into the world — shared, offered, given away. We're not called to hide them behind the walls of our souls. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them." (Matthew 7:18-20) Let us pray. Heavenly Father, You have a plan for our lives. You have planted us where You will. Help us to bear fruit as You will. In Jesus' name, Amen. Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us. Get full access to The Victor's Crown at www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe [https://www.thevictorscrown.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]