Successful Catholics stay close to the Eucharist. The Eucharist is both reality and symbol for successful Catholics. without the eucharist in their lives, these Catholics feel impoverished, isolated, and empty…

Successful Catholics are members of a faith community. Successful Catholics know that they need the company of others on their life’s journey toward God. They need a home for the spirit . . . These are people who want to hear the family stories of their ancestors and pass those stories along. They have an innate sense that they are in a long line of Catholics, stretching back to Christ and extending far beyond the limits of their imagination.

Successful Catholics rely on their conscience and good judgment—but never alone. Vatican II told Catholics that individual consciences are the supreme arbiter of their actions. Of course, there are rules and regulations, doctrine and dogma, but ultimately nothing ranked above that mysterious thing called a conscience. Successful Catholics have accepted that awesome challenge, and when they are confronted by the many moral decisions they have to make each day, they realize that they carry within themselves the ability to make good decisions. But successful Catholics are not so arrogant or so undiscerning to think that their conscience can be exercised in a vacuum. They are formed by Catholic doctrine and dogma but not strangled by the myriad rules and regulations. Different situations call for different responses, and they are ready to interpret, even right on the spot, what decision they must make and what direction they must take.

Successful Catholics regularly do things that call them out of themselves. It may be working in a soup kitchen, serving as a eucharistic minister, visiting a hospital, being a big brother or big sister, taking care of that crotchety aunt, or simply giving up a seat on a bus when they are dog tired, but successful catholics are people who absolutely must do things that call them out of themselves…. They realize that Catholicism without practical application withers like an unwatered plant. Good works, simple or great, are what refreshes the Catholic faith, illustrates its practical application, and gives a person that deep, abiding sense that they are called to not only know or talk about but practice Christ’s way in their daily life.

Successful Catholics live in the moment, recognizing daily opportunities for holiness. In these dizzying times, Catholics from time to time are tempted to retreat to the comforting shelter of the old church — to have such surety in unsure times!— or to plunge blindly into the exhilarating open meadows of the new — what promise, what possibilities!

Successful Catholics always remember that God is merciful and forgiving Yes, successful Catholics feel God’s finger on thier backs, urging them on to perfection. But as much as successful Catholics feel God’s not-always-gentle urgings, they feel God’s mercy and pardon even more…

Successful Catholics believe in prayer and pray regularly. The prayer lives of successful Catholics present a rich smorgasbord of spirituality. But whatever their method or approach, successful Catholics consider prayer absolutely crucial to their moral well-being… Prayer, to the successful Catholic, is so necessary that its lack creates an almost chemical imbalance. Without prayer it is hard to make decisions, see what is important or passing, be able to savor life’s triumphs and weather its failures with that Catholic equanimity we all hope to achieve. It is difficult to be able to do those actions that call us outside ourselves and to avoid walking down those roads that lead to predictable dead ends. For the successful Catholic, prayer is seldom a magnificent paean to the divine. It is part plea, part conversation, part acknowledgment of the Almighty; it is a way of saying thanks.

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