40 Days for Love

Everyone,

Our efforts in the 40 Days for Love video contest did NOT pay off this time around, though I suspect because of our developments throughout the Lenten season, the information provided is somewhat different from today. God is definitely at work throughout this process, and I’m praying for good fortune in the coming weeks and months.

It is a humbling process, but we need all the help we can get to win the People’s Choice Award for the Goodness Reigns Contest! So please follow this link and VOTE for “The Best!”

http://goodnessreigns.com/vote/2013-share-the-story-contest/40-days-for-love/

This film was created in response to my impending trip to World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro as well as a desire to see this movement spread with the $1000 prize money to go toward the mission work. However, I believe that is because we are not ready for this movement to fully expand, or maybe…God isn’t ready for it. I honestly don’t know at this point, and I have to fully trust in Him to see us through this long and uncertain time. Regardless though, we are hoping to see a growth in our following so that as we pray these devotionals each year, we will see 40 Days for Love get as strong as our pro-LIFE partners! But we can only hope.

I also want to take this time to let you all know where I personally stand in all of this. As I near my college graduation from WKU, I have decided firmly to apply for the seminary, and if God wills it, I will be attending St. Meinrad Seminary for the Diocese of Owensboro this Fall. As I put my life and my trust fully in God’s hands, not only for the sake of this movement but for everything God has put so strongly on my heart, I ask for your constant prayers and support. I hope to continue the 40 Days for Love devotionals while I’m in the seminary, though I suspect while I discern God’s plan for my life, if this movement is meant to expand, it will have to go without my direct influence. If not, then we shall see where God takes all this in the coming years.

Please remember again to VOTE for the People’s Choice Award, and I will keep you updated as the next campaign approaches.

For Love!

John Sohl

Everyone,

Today is a day for the books. God has done amazing things in 40 days, and He will continue to bless us in the comings days and weeks. Holy Week is upon us, and the greatest sacrifice of Love is here at last! I will be prayerfully discerning the future of this campaign as time progresses, as I near my own college graduation. But for now, let us finish up our time together as we prepare for the Passion of our Lord.

Our final lesson of Love is Filial, that same love that started it all. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain said to Able, and Christ fulfilled that Love (and all other loves) with His submission to the Father’s will. We have been in this campaign since the beginning, and we will continue to hold each other accountable in prayer! This is the Angelic Warfare Confraternity in one of its most visible forms. This is the pro-LOVE movement at its finest.

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Everyone,

I cannot believe we are almost at the end of our campaign, but it’s true. Today is Day 39, and also the day before Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. Please use today’s devotional as preparation for the upcoming week, and please…reflect over your time during this Lenten campaign. Please pray for a stronger campaign in the future, and don’t forget what we’ve learned together during this time!

Today’s lesson is Eros, the love of the beautiful. This is the ultimate problem with the world, the manipulation and destruction of the beautiful. We need to hold fast to the truth, to never let go of what God has intended for us, and despite future persecution, protect the hearts of ALL those we encounter in this life.

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Everyone,

Today, I am sitting in a hotel with the WKU Theatre Department and our trip to the Louisville Humana Festival. And you would not believe the providence of being within a BLOCK of Louisville’s Abortion Clinic. It speaks volumes to the attack on the love between parent and child that is happening every day right next door. But, the Festival itself will still be a great experience, as I will be immersed in the theatre world for an entire weekend! Ignoring the stereotypes of the theatre world, I think it means something to be spending the final days of this campaign in unfamiliar territory.

But, that’s the way of the world, and it is our job to proclaim a love that is inviting, friendly, non-judgmental, and above all…natural. Please pray for me as I go through these final few days of this campaign, and we shall see what God has in store for all of us who are striving for holiness during this Lenten Season. Holy Week is almost here! Keep up the good work…and please pray for the babies and mothers who will be making such a difficult decision Saturday morning.

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Everyone,

The campaigns we try to lead often force us to do something different in our lives, to show others that it’s possible to love one another in unconditional and authentic ways. We can best the culture of death by give life to all those around us, and what better way to do that than through our genuine encounters we all share with one another each day?

Today’s lesson of love focuses on Agape, the sacrifice that Christ made for us out of a pure and eternal desire for us to be with Him forever. Through our prayers and fasting, through our daily outreach efforts, through peaceful vigil at locations that need our loving attention, and best of all, through educational development, we can make a difference in the lives of our families and friends.

For me, as a broadcast journalist, this sort of work is almost a dream come true. As I near my own graduation from Western Kentucky University, I often wonder where God is leading me in all this! I certainly desire to tell stories, and today’s testimony is somewhat different, for it describes the exact mentality that I wish the media would broadcast every day!

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Everyone,

I can’t stress how important it is to stay committed to a life of chastity! Don’t just talk about it. Don’t just learn about it. Start living it, and that doesn’t mean just through your marriage or relationship or even personal life. Start living out the virtue of chastity with every single person. That means give your time, it means give your heart, mind, soul, and strength to every person you can as much as you can!

Theology of the Body is at the core of that great calling. We have four tiers to this campaign, and we will courageously develop them as these weeks and months pass. Educational Development though is perhaps one of the central themes to what will make 40 Days for Love a living, breathing, entity that can truly make an impact in your community. It’s still in the early stages of that, but that does not mean we can’t take advantage of the time we still have in this campaign and the rest of this semester to be there in every sense of the word, with the people we love most in our communities.

Our love today was Filial, the call to brotherhood, and just as Christopher West talked about tonight in St. Thomas Aquinas’ study session, we cannot use each other for lust or self-gratification if we ever want to have the ability to love one another authentically.

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Everyone,

Our work in the 40 Days for Love campaign is nearing its end yes, but the implications will continue to reverberate for many weeks to come! Chastity and fulfillment is at the root of our pursuits, and so long as we continue to allow the Holy Spirit to work, this campaign will continue to grow into a living, breathing entity akin to the 40 Days for LIFE! But again, as always, it rests upon our shoulders to carry it forward, to give it life through our relationship with Christ Jesus and His own Holy Family!

And St. Joseph is the very man whom we can turn to in order to strengthen our concept of Chastity! As we pray for the intercession of the saints to help us fight this battle of the flesh, help us recall the man who never spoke a word in the Gospels, who through tremendous faith, fathered the Son of God here on Earth!

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Everyone,

What a powerful morning wake up it was here in Bowling Green! The storms shook the world, and when I didn’t want to wake up so early to get caught up with school before my first class back from Spring Break, BOOM! The loudest and closest lightning strike hit right next to the house! God certainly knows how to speak clearly to us, and it reminds me succinctly of our testimony from yesterday’s devotional, albeit sent out later than usual.

Our lesson of Storge today may just remind us of the storms we’ve experienced with our parents or children throughout our lives. For those of us at St. Thomas Aquinas, this is the first time in our lives we’ve been outside our home, having just escaped the stormiest time of adolescence. But regardless of where we are in life, we must remember to hold true to the commandments of God, allow His love to overcome us and give in to the beautiful freedom that comes with it!

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I name this reflection after a song titled “God in Austria”. I thought of the song atop Pinnacle Mountain and it seemed to perfectly reflect the trip. Hence God in Arkansas.

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I will tell you that several times throughout the week I was lit on fire by God. I saw his power and it brought me to my knees. I am in awe. I have been seduced, completely unable to fend for myself. I felt his love. It was a pure love. For His love was not sexual this week and did not seek to use me nor I Him. He desperately wanted the best for me and tried so hard to pull me into His light. It is so strange from anything I know. OH I lack words. It’s like a force of good is acting all around me and I so desire to become a part of it. My body fights it, for it is strange. I don’t understand. But it is so necessary, so addicting. I could scream. And then I stop myself. I attempt to escape to control my thoughts and let Him speak. No wait, one more job to do. He fills me with love and restlessness. I want to go and share the love. I look around. Where did everyone go? I beat a nail into a wall. Let us build a culture of Love and a culture of Life and secure homes for Earl and Bernadine and Ella.

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Everyone,

I tell you now that hearing Pope Francis’ simplicity is beyond words. Every day offers a new surprise and hope for the love of God to shine forth more profoundly in today’s world, and so long as we continue to pray, I do believe He will hear us and answer us in an unmistakable way.

Today’s lesson of love focuses on Agape, the sacrifice of Christ and the same love He calls us to embody every day. It is also the most difficult and sometimes painful love because it requires something more than instinctive and emotional attachment. Agape love is an act of the will! As we continue our sojourn through the rest of this campaign, I ask you to focus on fasting even more particularly than before. See today as an opportunity for rediscover, and do not be afraid of what Christ prompts you to give up for Him. Remember, He will never abandon the righteous and fervent minded in their prayers.

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