Jesus desires for you to find true and lasting happiness, both in your life today and in your eternal life to come. The Devotional is designed to help you grow in happiness in 15 minutes a day or less by praying the Daily Gospel Devotions. The Devotional also includes a number of additional resources to help you grow in holiness and happiness.
Discovering Jesus’ promise of true and lasting happiness
God’s deepest desire is that every man might choose to receive the true and lasting happiness Jesus Christ promises in His Gospel, which might be called the “Gospel of Happiness.” While every man pursues and can often experience pleasures and happiness in the world, many men experience periods of unhappiness and the relentless pursuit of happiness never ends.
In the Incarnation, Jesus promises that every man can share in His true and lasting happiness and lays down His life so that every man might be saved, and ultimately be drawn into the eternal happiness of Heaven by being with the Almighty Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and all the Angels and Saints, forever.
Using the Devotional to pursue happiness
The Devotional has been carefully designed to incorporate all the essential Catholic habits which lead to holiness and happiness in a systematic way. By building the “master-habit” of consistently committing to spend 15 minutes a day praying the Daily Devotions, every Catholic man can draw closer to God, become a better Catholic man who more fully loves and serves God and others, and find the true and lasting happiness Jesus promises.
By building the “master-habit” of praying the Daily Gospel Devotions, you can:
- Meet, know, and love Jesus more, by learning about His Divinity, Humanity and Mission in a deep and broad way and receive His peace and joy; each year, you will meditate upon Jesus’ entire life and teachings by studying all four Gospels.
- Grow in your relationship with the Almighty Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit through the daily prayers which are built into the Devotions; by remaining close to God, you will be strengthened and comforted to endure the unavoidable stresses and sorrows of life and be protected against the relentless attacks of Satan.
- Become a better Catholic Son and Catholic Father by learning and practicing the habits of Catholic manhood, which can help you build more loving relationships with your family and grow in friendship with many others.
- Make progress each day to grow in happiness by learning and practicing the fullness of the Catholic faith; over a year, you will have meditated upon hundreds of topics which span the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church.
- Pray with the universal Church through the Gospels from the daily Mass for every day of the year; be inspired to draw even closer to God by attending Mass more frequently and adore Jesus Christ in regular Holy Hours of Adoration.
- Be drawn into deeper relationship with Our Lady, St. Joseph, the Apostles, and all the Saints and Angels through the regular prayers included in the Daily Devotions.
- Learn and be inspired to frequently receive the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of the Eucharist through regular reminders.
- More successfully engage in the Spiritual Combat to battle against sin and vice by praying each day to grow in Virtue and to receive the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit; each month, you will automatically pray to grow in all the Virtues and pray to receive all the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit.
- Be regularly inspired to practice the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and to volunteer in your parish and diocese to serve others.
- Be frequently inspired to gather together and grow in unity and fraternity with your priest, deacon and other Catholic men in your parish.
- Based on your own personal needs, pursue deeper knowledge and practice of all the essential elements of the Catholic faith through the many topics covered in the website.
Praying the Daily Devotions to grow in happiness
Every Catholic man, no matter where he is in his faith life, can grow in holiness and happiness by praying the Daily Devotions each day. Here’s how you can get started in praying the Daily Devotions:
- Find the Daily Devotion by going to Today’s Devotional or in the Calendar of Daily Gospel Devotions.
- Look up the daily Gospel passage in your bible.
- Begin in prayer by making the Sign of the Cross, praying the Our Father and Hail Mary, thanking God for some of your blessings, confessing your sins to God and saying you are sorry, and asking for God’s mercy.
- Meditate upon the daily Gospel and make notes if you are moved to do so.
- Meditate upon the Daily Devotion and make notes if you are moved to do so. Pray the prayers out loud (Pray section).
- Present your other petitions to God for yourself and others.
- Rest in the presence of God and listen to what God wants to say to you.
- End with the Sign of the Cross.
Going further
The Every Catholic Man website offers a comprehensive set of tools to help a man grow in holiness and happiness by becoming a better Catholic Son and Catholic Father on the ascent towards Sainthood and Heaven. Pray, asking God to guide you to areas that He wants you to consider and then browse the website.