An Authentic Relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ The most powerful devotion is with the Lord Jesus Christ himself. According to John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." The best way to develop an authentic relationship with Jesus is by surrendering your life into his service. You can start today by making Jesus the Lord over every aspect of your life. All you need to do is surrender the lordship of your life to Jesus. Next, start asking questions about the purpose and direction of your life and spend time in silence meditating on his answers. The process of asking the Lord questions about your life and meditating on the answers is described in the Catechism in sections 2705 through 2724. It is through the three-part process of Surrender, Listening and Obedience that we can enter into an authentic relationship with the Blessed Trinity and accomplish the Father's will for our lives. If you have never surrendered your life into the Lord’s service, take a minute right now and give him your full obedience. Surrender the direction and purpose of your life into his hands. Take a minute right now to thank the Lord for calling you out of the darkness and into the light. According to Romans 8:14, "All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." You have been called to serve as an Ambassador for Christ. According to the Catechism in section 783, you have been assigned the responsibility of priest, prophet, and king. You have been commissioned to go forth and make disciples of all nations.

Unhealthy Devotions Devoid of the Lord Jesus Christ An unhealthy devotion is when we try to force, bribe or manipulate God into doing whatever we want. Unhealthy devotions are centered on the promise of obtaining special powers, graces, blessing and insight in an attempt to get what we want. Authentic prayer is when we commune with the Blessed Trinity to discern God's will for our lives and to align our will with God's will. A healthy devotion should reflect the example of the Lord's Prayer which says, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Another example of an unhealthy devotion would be the promise to publish Saint Jude prayer results. Most of these advertisements appear in the classified section of the church bulletin for the purpose of inciting others to pray to spiritual entities other than God. Instead of helping Catholics surrender their lives to Jesus and develop an authentic relationship with the Blessed Trinity through Surrender, Listening and Obedience, the promise to publish only offers an alluring quick-fix solution in an attempt to get anything we want. Another example of an unhealthy devotion would be praying the Rosary for the purpose of invoking supernatural powers from the Blessed Mother. A good example of this comes from the apparition site at Bayside, New York, where thousands of Catholics prayed the Rosary in hopes of invoking supernatural signs and wonders. Although Bayside, New York, is famous for the supernatural phenomena that occurred, the decree of "Constat De Non Supernaturalitate" indicates that the spectacular signs and wonders were not coming from God.