What Gets Measured Gets Done

As I continue to grow in my faith, I always strive to make as many holy improvements as possible. I began my journey into the Catholic faith a little over five years ago, and life has never been the same. The once alcoholic, vulgar, and impure man that I was no longer exists. There was a renewal and a rebirth through Jesus Christ.  I was now sober, cleaner in my words, and improving on my purity regularly. I've seen the same transformation happen in so many who have joined the Catholic faith, but like all good things, these transformations in holiness are not perfect, and they didn't happen overnight. If you haven't guessed from the name "Data Trust Mission," I'm a numbers guy. I will tell you that in 2021 and 2022 I was still swearing terribly - about 40 to 50 times a day on average. At the beginning of 2023, I resolved to fix this in the Lenten season. That year, I cut my swearing down from an average of 40 swears a day to an average of just 20 swears a day. I came a long way but still had a ways to go. In 2024, I doubled down in the next Lenten season. I cut my swearing from an average of 20 swears a day to 10. I continued the tradition this year, and I am down to an average of 5.41 swear words per day. So how was I able to do this? The first answer is of course prayer, meditation, and discernment. But in all honesty, I tracked my daily progress in an Excel spreadsheet. Each day I would enter my number of swear words at the end of the day. I would resolve to improve upon my performance in the days that followed. Had I not measured my progress, I strongly doubt I would have seen the progress that I see today. Because I measured my progress, I was able to continually improve, with a lot of help from God of course! I'm not going to ask you if you believe in faith alone for salvation, or faith and works for salvation, but I will ask you this; do you believe that I live a holier life, allowing the holy spirit to work through me more effectively because my swearing is greatly reduced? I would of course answer "yes" to this question. When it comes to our salvation, there is an ongoing debate about faith vs works. The official stance of the Catholic Church is quite clear but often misunderstood. We believe that salvation comes by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But there's a bit more to it than that. Our faith must be a "living faith," meaning that we have to work on so many things to maintain it and properly demonstrate it. This is part of the reason why we see this statement in James Chapter 2, verses 14 through 17: "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." Isn't it interesting that our ministry has placed this piece of scripture at the top of our food distribution page? In fact, our food delivery apparatus relies on careful measures and calculations to work, otherwise we would not be able to effectively provide meals to all 423 counties of the Appalachian Region. With 2025 drawing to a close, I am so excited to get started with our new year of food distribution. It is a measured work that is part of that "living faith” I mentioned before. The beauty in measuring things to make spiritual progress is that it can be universally applied. Men, do you struggle with impure thoughts or pornography? Measure it and then pray for the resolve to improve and improve until the sin is fully mitigated. Do you struggle with swearing as well? Just follow the formula! Maybe you have instances of road rage, or struggle with judging others heavily. Keep a count of these incidents and resolve with the help of Christ to improve upon them. Remember - living faith. Track your progress. Strive to be more holy every day. Again, I used to be a vulgar and impure alcoholic. Now I am coordinating the delivery of 15,000 to 20,000 meals throughout Appalachia. And it has brought me so much joy. And that joy will be one of the many fruits of your works in your living faith. What got measured most assuredly got done. God Bless, and have a happy new year!