The Catholic Parishes of Holy Trinity & St. Michael in Kewaskum shared a note from their pastor in the Aug. 23 bulletin.

The Rev. Jacob Strand recounted the times in our lives when we experience pivotal moments.

“We generally react to such intense moments in two different ways,” Strand said. “Either we seek to control them or we surrender them to God.”

When we try to control our lives too closely, we will see that we are left with panic and stress.

“This is because we are trying to control something that is in fact out of our control,” Strand said.

Control can be addicting and can actually lead us away from God as we try to provide for ourselves from our own strength.

“Living our lives with faith in God’s providence gives us a supernatural freedom from the spiritual paralysis caused by the limitations of a worldly perspective of life," Fr. Strand said. "Faith opens our perspective to see beyond this life and this world."