The cool thing about pursuing your dream is the amazing doors it opens up.
This year I signed at least six clients (two renewed contracts so far) and met with lots of inspiring small Catholic business owners.
I’ve been featured on a couple podcasts, interviewed for a diocesan newspaper, and even had an article published (as a cover story) for one of my dream publications.
Freelancing has given me and my family more financial and scheduling freedom which has led to less stress.
I’m even trending towards being able to cut back hours at my main job by the end of the year.
Dreams Take Time to Take Root
The seeds were planted back in 2015. Well, maybe even further back in 1996 when I wrote silly stories about my orange stuffed animal named Snap on my mom’s typewriter.
Grateful for all those in my network (Catholic and writing) who have helped encourage, support, or teacher me valuable insights about my industry.
Special shout-out to my wife, parents, and siblings who have encouraged me along the way.
And finally, most importantly, thankful for God for giving me the opportunities and strength to carry on and craft my writing skills.
It’s a pretty awesome name! Right?? 🙂🎶🎵🔥🔥😆😆🦁🦁🙏This might be one of the most fun words! 🙂😆😆😆One of the most persistent pray-ers. 🙏🙏🙏I was also simultaneously thinking about writing this post and how I was going to phrase it while I was doing the other chores. It helps that I have ADHD and energy typically courses through me like a raging river in the mornings. 🙂🙂This is a Daniel-heavy Catholic Meme Monday— blame the Bible in a Year for it. LolPunny!! 😆😆😆Meme of the year candidate. 😆😆😆 💦 into 🍷not 🎃 juiceImage credit: Thy Geekdom Come (follow on Facebook). 🙂I busted out laughing with this one. 😆😆😆✨😇One of the best Venn diagrams I’ve ever seen. 😆😆😆😆Be like Saint Francis of Assisi. 🙏🙏🙏Let’s end with some laughs and 🎵🎶 references. 😆
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Father Richard Libby via phone call on August 23rd, 2023. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
Today’s topic is sacramentals and Catholic saints and devotions attached to them. I had the pleasure of interviewing Father Richard Libby about his experience with sacramentals and how they impacted his spiritual life.
Thank you for meeting with me again Father Libby. 🙂
Happy to talk with you Matthew!
What’s a sacramental?
An object that leads us to greater devotion. Items like the Rosary, the scapular, and the medal. They are intended to stir up our devotion.
Has your mindset towards sacramentals change much since you were ordained a priest?
There wasn’t much of a change in my attitude over the sacramentals since becoming a priest. But I have seen more and more how sacramentals are instruments to help us our journey. I have developed a new appreciation.
What sacramentals have you used during your priesthood most often?
The Rosary and the Brown Scapular. I’m also developing a greater appreciation of the Saint Benedict Medal and the Holy Face Medal.
Holy water is a sacramental and some people don’t see it as a sacramental. I like to do the rite of sprinkling once a month at my parish. I enjoy having it in the Epiphany Blessing. Holy Water is recommended in blessings such as the investiture of the Brown Scapular.
Describe a bit of your spirituality.
I was a devotee of the Brown Scapular. Since becoming a priest, I have have the opportunity to visit a Carmelite hermitage and developed friendships with them.
Which Catholic saint has had the biggest impact on your spiritual life?
The Blessed Virgin Mary and Her Rosary. I try to make it a point to pray it daily. While it’s not a required devotion, it’s such a part of our life it’s hard to imagine a Catholic without a rosary.
The three popes (John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis) I know the best in my lifetime have had a notable devotion to Mary.
John Paul II had a year of the Rosary during his pontificate. JPII wrote a document on the Rosary. He was influenced by Saint Louis de Montfort. Perhaps there is no more noteworthy child of Mary, in recent history, than John Paul II.
Benedict XVI’s devotion was a bit more reserved than JPII’s. However, he did dedicate his Pontificate to Mary, so there’s no question the Blessed Virgin Mary was influential on his papacy.
Pope Francis goes to the Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome anytime he goes on a major trip.
Any last words of advice, for new Catholic converts in terms of beginning or learning about a sacramental and devotion.
Meet with your parish priest and ask them for guidance. They should be able to connect you with resources about sacramentals.
Thank you for your time, Father Richard! It was great chatting with you.
You’re welcome! Great talking with you too.
About Father Richard Libby:
Father Richard Libby is a priest of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, where he serves as pastor of St. Helena Parish and as the chancellor of the diocese. In his free time, he enjoys reading, writing poems and short stories, and birdwatching.
😆😆😆Lifegoals is to make it to daily Mass— daily. 🎵 Happy Birthday Dear Methuselah!! 🎶😳 😆 🙏A photo from a couple years back but the shenanigan sentiment is still the same. 😆😆😆🐱🙏😆🙏🙏🙏Adam tries to negotiate for the perfect spouse. Lol😆😆😆 What is (Sega) Genesis? 😆🙂🙏🍩“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” —John 20:29😆😆😆Too funny!! 😆🙂Jesus is the Bread of Life. 🍞🍷♥️🙏
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
😆😆😆Hair is power! Lol😆😆God can hear our prayer even when we can’t articulate it. 🙏The Mass Mindset. ☝️Looks accurate! 😆🙏🍞🍞🍞🍞🐟🐟 x🙏= ♾️Anthony, something is lost and must be found. 🙏😆😆😆🙏🙏🙏Happy Belated Feast to Saint Dominic. 📿 🙏 🌹A meme for Catholic spelling nerds! 😆🙂I might be in trouble too with things posts…lol
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
😆😆🧄🍞😆😆😆God is sometimes sassy. 😆Relics are biblical. 🙏Saint Peter wanted his camping badge. 😆🙂I had a “Catholic Caption This” meme and this was the winning caption. 😆🙂🙏My favorite animal! 🦆🦫Beautiful sign of God’s mercy. 🙏♥️Are you a coal, diamond or something in-between? Theology matters! A belated Saint Ignatius meme. 🙂🙏Yep!!
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
Are you struggling to relaunch your business after a challenging year? Here’s the proven strategy I used to reconnect with my customers and successfully get my business thriving again.
Use this strategy ⤵️
The What:
📬 Send them personalized postcards— in a digital world, paper will stand out
💬 Send personalized DMs to check in with them (don’t sell anything off the bat…that’s spammy/salesy)
Post consistently on social media about your products/services:
🔶 Be valuable (educational/entertaining depending on your brand voice) about it at least 80%.
🔷 The other 20% you can mention th products/services you offer but frame it from the problem you solve
✍️Publish regularly on your blog to help provide insights about your industry for your audience.
The When:
Reach out to your customers (works for prospects too) at natural checkpoints.
Holidays, weekends, end of the week, liturgical feast days (my clients are Catholic small business owners 🙂).
For example:
“Hi (insert first name)! Hope you are having a blessed Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.”
OR
“Hope you had a blessed Feast of the Most Holy Trinity (insert first name)! Here’s a funny meme I made for the occasion and thought you might like it”
At around 90 days before your relaunch start to be more overt in your messaging about the products/services you provide (thank you Stacked Marketer Holiday Marketing Guide for this tip!.
If you try to promote your work any sooner from a cold hiatus then your customers are going to notice and be turned off by the experience.
