peace

When we align our will with God’s, we experience freedom.

Jesus continues to call out those Pharisees who follow their own will and put themselves in places of honor instead of God, and then one of the scholars of the law interjects: “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”

Jesus did not soften his words or hold back. He went right at the scholar and convicted him as well, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them” (Lk 11;45-46).

Jesus is clear about his mission, about what the kingdom of God is not and what it is. Jesus is shining a light on the practices of those Pharisees and the scholars of the law that are not fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. I believe that there were those who were. Yet, for those he challenged, he did so in the hope that they would see the darkness that was blinding them. Unfortunately, unlike Bartimaeus (see Mk 10:46-52) who knew that he was blind and wanted to see, this was not true for many whom Jesus confronted.

How about us? Are we aware of our blind spots? Are we willing to allow Jesus to shine his light and love in our direction? Will we cover our eyes because the light is too bright and withdraw further into the shadows, or will we remain still and allow our eyes time to adjust so that the brightness of the Mystery of God will reveal to us that which has kept us bound? Will we justify or rationalize our behavior or will we be transparent, repent, believe in the Gospel, and walk further into the light and the embrace of Jesus? Will we stand in the brilliance of God’s love and truth and let the fire of his love burn away all that is not of him?

Let us resist the path of those Pharisees and scholars of the Law who imposed heavy burdens without being willing to help others along the way. It is important for us to know the Catechism, the Bible, Canon Law, participate in the sacraments, and be people of prayer and service. The purpose of each of these pursuits are not for themselves along though. We do so that we will come to know Jesus and the love he shares with the Father who is the Holy Spirit. We have been created for nothing less than to participate in the very love of God, to become divine through our participation in the life of Jesus. This love and relationship with God increases when we confess our sins, are forgiven, and then having received God’s mercy, share what we have received with others.

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. In fact, his interpretation and expansion of the law was much more demanding than the Pharisees or the scribes. The difference was and continues to be, that, Jesus meets us where we are and loves us where we are. He does not lower the bar but raises it. He wants us to realize that we can only follow God’s law with him. Without Jesus we won’t be able to even come close. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing, but with him, all things are possible.

In admitting our weakness and revealing to Jesus our poverty, he then gives us the strength mature, for he is our “rock and salvation” (Psalm 62:2-23). He is the solid foundation upon which we can stand and build. “The whole aim of any person who is beginning prayer – and don’t forget this because it’s very important – should be that he work and prepare himself with determination and every possible effort to bring his will in conformity to God’s will” (St. Teresa of Avila).

In aligning our will with Jesus, we are empowered to fulfill the prescriptions and practices that God has commanded, not for God’s sake but for ours! God’s prescriptions that we receive in the Old and the New Testaments are not to restrict but to free us from our slavery to sin.

In identifying and renouncing our sins, we will experience freedom from the false truths, diversions, distractions, and attachments that the enemy has been poisoning us with. Through daily reading, meditating, and praying upon God’s law and putting them into practice we become like a tree planted near a fresh running stream that will never wither and fade. Our roots will run deep and continue to receive nourishment and sustenance we were created for: the eternal spring of the Holy Spirit which purifies and heals us.

Jesus beckons us to come out from the shadows and into the radiance of his light. As we experience his love and mercy, he encourages us to continue to move out of our comfort zones, attachments, and slavery which is paralyzing us. Jesus calls us to experience freedom. When we trust him and walk with him, our souls will experience the rest that it is starving for, the peace that we yearn for, and the love we have been created for.

Photo: As each sun sets, may we repent from our sins and die to our false selves, so that we may rise the next day with the light of Jesus in our hearts!

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, October 15, 2025

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Luke 11:27-28).

Jesus is not discounting his mother nor putting her down in any way by his response. Especially because Mary is the exemplar of not just someone who, but one who other than he, consistently heard the word of God and observed it. Probably even before but the earliest record of this we have is Mary saying, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your will” (cf. Luke 1:38). She was instrumental in collaborating with God’s will to bring about the salvation of the world in her willingness to bear his only Son.

The wonderful gift of what Jesus said is also an invitation to all of us. If we ever felt at some point that we never fit in somewhere, if we did not quite belong, or we didn’t measure up to someone’s or our own expectations, we need no longer feel that way. Jesus is inviting us to have a seat at the table. And the good news is that there is unlimited seating! If we feel anxious or out of sorts, are discerning a heavy decision and feel paralyzed, dealing with a relational conflict and not sure how to respond, the Holy Spirit provides a way.

All we have to do is hear the word of God and observe it. Simple as that. And yet there is so much keeping us busy, distracted, and diverted from spending time reading, meditating, and praying with God’s word. We might look at the Bible as just another book because there is so much that is more enticing, inviting, and engaging. What God has made us for though is not merely finite but infinite pursuits, to seek the things of heaven. 

The Bible, initially in his youth, did not offer much to St. Augustine. After many years though seeking and indulging in the things of the world, even the pursuit of truth, and still feeling empty, he found great solace in reading the Bible which only increased when he “transcended the literal sense.” The literal sense being that which he read and understood with his mind and reason. In allowing himself time to ponder, the Holy Spirit touched him in the depth of his soul and “enabled him to find at last the answer to his deep inner restlessness and his thirst for truth” (Pope Benedict, General Audience, January 9, 2008).

We too are restless and tired existing in a world that entices us with so many other voices and attractions. Yet, the daily discipline of reading and praying with the Bible provides peace and rest for our souls like nothing else can. Slowly and gently our intimacy with God grows when open up our Bible each day. When we not only read the words, but also meditate and pray with them, we transcend the literal and experience God’s living stream flowing in our veins. We are refreshed and renewed. 

Photo:  One of my joys each day is to spend time in God’s word, and share from my own pondering. Picture of today’s Gospel reading from The Word on Fire: The Gospels.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, October 11, 2025

 

Let us choose the better part, slow down to receive, and reflect the light of Jesus.

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Lk 10:41-42).

My wife, JoAnn, and I used to have more than a few spirited discussions on this Gospel passage each time that it arose because, at first reading, it appears that Jesus does not show any empathy or regard for Martha’s gift of hospitality nor for all the work that she is doing. All the men are sitting around listening to Jesus, and Mary… she is doing the same, and who is left to do all the work? Martha.

Blessed to serve as a permanent deacon for ten years, I saw my own, as well as other deacon’s wives, carry extra weight and burdens in support on the home front to allow their husbands the time to serve, many of us who also still held full time jobs. Not only deacon’s wives, this reality is also true for many wives who are full-time homemakers, run in-home businesses, or carry a job outside the home, as well as care for the children, overseeing the bills, the day to day grind, and so find themselves at times, feeling under-appreciated, undervalued, and not respected for all they do.

Husbands can do a better job of being present, more patient, respectful, and attentive to their wives and be more of an equal partner on the journey. For those married as well as single, the point Jesus is making, that he makes throughout the Gospels is to put God first, then family, work, and our unique vocation. The expression of that is going to be different for each station in life. There will be more time constraints for parents of infants. No matter how little time we may have, we must pray daily, we must be still and sit at the feet of Jesus. As we do so, we will find that the time we did not think we have, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit will be properly ordered.

This prelude acknowledges the reality of how much we juggle in every age. There is much to do and much to be done. Jesus was not disregarding Martha’s hospitality. Especially in the Gospel of Luke, there are many instances in which Jesus empowers women so far beyond the cultural reality of his time. We read this as we do any biblical account from our twenty-first-century mindset. Contextually, the men sitting at the teacher’s feet in a different room, the women cooking, and most times eating separately were commonplace for those in the ancient near east of the first century AD. Mary was the only person out of step with the times.

The interpretive key to understanding this account is what Jesus said. He pointed out that Martha was “anxious and worried about many things.” Mary could have been one of those worries, and not so much that Mary wasn’t helping in the kitchen, but because she was breaking the social norm of sitting with the men. When Martha calls Jesus to redirect Mary, she probably expects him to support her plea. Yet, Jesus acknowledges that: “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:42).

Mary, sitting and having her primary focus on Jesus was the posture of a disciple. Jesus was not only allowing her to do so, he was commending her for doing so. I can visualize Martha being taken aback at first, but then slowly feeling the muscles in her face relax as the lightbulb went on. We don’t know, but could she in that moment have experienced that peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding, and the anxiety and worry left her? Feeling the peace, instead fear in approaching Jesus as Mary had done, did Martha then take her apron off, throw it to the side, and sit down next to her sister and also become his disciple?

There is biblical evidence that beyond the Twelve, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, were Jesus’ friends. When Jesus came four days after the death of Lazarus, as soon as Martha heard Jesus was outside, she, not Mary, came immediately out to Jesus, and in that exchange, it was Martha who made the claim that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (cf Jn 11:27). Would she have had this insight, the same as Peter, if she was still holding a grudge from this encounter?

Our modern reaction and push back to this Martha and Mary account in Luke may not so much be a reflection on Jesus but how poorly men have treated women over the generations and how poorly women continue to be treated even today. No matter their ages, young, old, and everywhere in between, women are human beings created in the image and likeness of God. No one has the right to abuse, demean, disparage, devalue, or exploit any woman. Women are to be appreciated, heard, respected, cherished, and valued.

God has given each of us gifts to participate in his Father’s plan. May we resist the temptation to fear coming close to Jesus and taking time out to sit at his feet, to engage in mental maelstroms, to be “anxious and worried about many things.” Instead, when we experience the beginning tremors of any stress or strain, instead, be still and rest in Jesus’ presence as Mary, and hopefully Martha, did.

In this way, any anxiety will begin to dissipate as we experience feeling safe in his presence and experience Jesus’ love. Doing so will help us to better know Jesus, his voice, and his teaching, know and follow his will, love others as he loves us, and live our lives respecting, encouraging, and supporting one another with the gifts and guidance that God has given us.

One woman who may have learned the Martha and Mary account well was Lydia. Luke and Paul encounter her and some other women in the city of Philippi. When Paul preached, Lydia, “listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.” She then asked to be baptized with her household, and then invited them into her home (cf Acts 16:11-15). She listened and pondered God first, then acted.

When we choose the better part of sitting at Jesus’ feet before making a decision, we can experience less chaos and more of his peace and guidance. Instead of living in a perpetual state of chronic stress and anxiety, we can instead choose to breathe, rest, receive and abide in God’s love. Then from that place of stillness, like Mary and Lydia, and I believe Martha, instead of reacting, we can make a choice based on God’s guidance.

Photo: Mary, Jesus’ mother, was the premier disciple for she “pondered” the mysteries she experienced with Jesus “in her heart” (Luke 2:19) and “heard the word of God and observed it” (Luke 11:28). She also chose the better part and so like the moon that reflects the light of the sun, Mary reflects the light of her Son. Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 7, 2025

We can choose reaction and revenge or understanding and forgiveness.

“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village (Lk 9:54-56).

James and John’s request of Jesus ought to be recognizable to many, if not all of us. How many times when feeling slighted or disrespected do we want to act in kind or offer some retribution to our perceived offender? Many times, we don’t even think, we just react overtly back or we engage in our own tumultuous internal maelstrom.

Jesus rebuked James and John’s request immediately and moved on. He did not allow the rejection of the Samaritans to deter his course for even one second. Jesus had his face firmly set. His time was approaching and to Jerusalem he was headed. Also, he knew there would be a time for the Samaritans to believe. That time was not yet.

Our starting point in putting this gospel into practice is to decide that Jesus has chosen the better course. Seeking revenge is not the way. Not looking left or right, but keeping our eyes fixed on the will of God is the way to proceed. If we can agree with that as our starting point, then we can seek to understand what Jesus can teach us when encountering others.

First, our approach to others extending unkind behavior toward us is to be one of understanding. We are all dealing with a lot, and much of what others are dealing with are unknown to us. If we approach another’s unkind or disrespectful action from a place of understanding instead of seeking revenge, we will have a better chance of not reacting in kind and also possibly being able to help another to get in touch and reveal something they are struggling with. St. Ignatius’ counsel to give the other person the benefit of the doubt is a solid practice.

Often a negative response may come from misunderstandings. In giving the person the benefit of the doubt to explain their understanding of what happened in a given situation, helps to de-escalate the situation instead of adding fuel to the fire . We are not mind-readers and we also are not the best of communicators so resisting jumping to rash conclusions is a better course of action.

Along with being understanding and giving someone the benefit of the doubt, is to receive other’s action with humility. Maybe, we have done something to cause hurt toward another, intentionally or unintentionally. By taking a moment to pause, we can assess if we have done something to instigate the action we are receiving. Taking responsibility for that which we have done and apologizing for it, we create a better bridge for reconciliation.

We are responsible for our thoughts, words, and actions. We cannot dictate or change the behaviors of others nor are we to be doormats for another’s abuse nor take on their stuff either. We are to approach conflicts and obstacles with patience, understanding, a willingness to bring clarity, to give the benefit of the doubt, and humility for acknowledging what we have done and what we have failed to do. If another is not willing to hear reason after multiple attempts or closed, we move on.

We pray for and respect the dignity of the person whether we agree or disagree with the outcome while holding them accountable at the same time. Jesus is very clear that we are to love, meaning that we are to will each other’s good. That means putting the prayer he taught us, the Our Father into practice: We need to be willing to forgive.

None of these steps are easy. Human relationships are difficult in the best of scenarios, but still well worth the effort. None of us are perfect. When we do our best to follow these principles as well as other practices not mentioned to work toward reconciliation and build relationships, our conflicts will become moments of grace. Conflicts will become opportunities that help us to grow closer together rather than further apart. Inviting Jesus into the conflict is the most important step, for he can help us to see others from his infinite perspective instead of our limited perspective.

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Photo: Spending time in quiet and prayer, especially in reading the book of God’s creation, helps us to slow down so that when we return to our interactions with people again, we can begin more peacefully.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, September 30, 2025

When we allow God to love us, we can love as well, even our enemies.

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28).

If we thought the beatitudes and the woes that we experienced yesterday was a challenge, today, Jesus takes things up a notch higher. The Prince of Peace is inviting us to walk along the path to peace. The peace that Jesus invites us to engage in is not just an absence of violence but a peace that is grounded in mutual respect and unity. No matter where we might look, there are very few examples or models for us to see this Gospel being put into practice. We instead see a consistent engagement in rhetoric, language, and outright hostility that promotes dehumanization, division, contempt, hatred, and vileness. These voices not only rise in our secular and political discourse but also there is a growing din within the Church as well.

Jesus is also leading us away from the temptation to swing the pendulum the other way, such that what we think, say, and do has the substance of milk toast. We become so careful not to offend that we don’t share our ideas or what we truly believe to avoid conflict. Staying away from hot button issues and the taboos of talking religion and politics is not a way to bring about peaceful coexistence nor solve important issues.

Neither an overly aggressive nor a bland tolerance of engagement is what Jesus is presenting in today’s Gospel. Jesus is inviting us to allow ourselves to be healed and transformed from the survival mentality of fight or flight or paralyzed by trauma. To move beyond our primal, reactive instincts, we need to feel safe. By breathing and allowing ourselves to be loved by God through meditation on his word and listening to him and his guidance in silence each day, we can begin to as we started yesterday, to move beyond placing anyone and anything else before God. As we grow in relationship with God, he becomes our rock foundation.

With God as our foundation, we can begin to open up to the reality of what Jesus offers in today’s Gospel. Who of us would agree to love our enemies, those who hate, curse, and mistreat us? Jesus is calling us to love one another as he loves each and every one of us. This love is more than the emotional or sentimental surface level of love we are used to. Jesus calls us to a higher love, to have a sincere intent to will the good of each other, even and especially when we feel or think there is nothing to like about a person. This is how we can love even an enemy, by willing their good, wanting the best for them, which also is best for us.

If we want to see a change in our divisive and polarized time this 9/11, we need to begin with ourselves, receive the message of Jesus, and begin, little by little to put his teachings into practice. We need to encounter one another, one person at a time, sit down, talk, and listen, and love one another. Easy, no, possible, yes, when we allow God to open our hearts and minds to the love God wants to share with each of us. As we breathe, receive, rest, and abide in his love there is a better chance we can love one another.

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Photo: Praying for our country that we can turn away from violence and embrace the love of God.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, September 11, 2025

Spending consistent time alone with God will help us to get to know Him.

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God (Lk 6:12).

In the midst of a busy ministry, Jesus spent time alone with God in prayer. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus often did so before making important decisions, as in today’s reading that recorded the choosing of his Apostles. Prayer is an important, foundational principle to experiencing and knowing God as well as discerning his will for living a fully human life.

The Mystery of God is not a problem to be solved. In our language today, we often use mystery and problem interchangeably, as, “I lost my keys, it is such a mystery.” Strictly speaking, the loss of keys is a problem that can be solved. We can backtrack our steps, and through a process of elimination, the problem becomes smaller until we solve the whereabouts of the missing keys. We cannot solve or prove God exists as if he is a problem to be solved. This is because God is not a being, not even the supreme being. God is a mystery that transcends any finite dimension of reality. We have nothing to measure him by, no point of reference, we cannot prove his existence, nor can we solve him as we would a problem.

God is so beyond our finite minds, and yet, we can come to know God intimately. Even though he is transcendent, beyond our reach and comprehension, Augustine let us know that he is at the same time closer to us than we are to ourselves. We are only capable of knowing God because he created us with the capacity to do so. We come to know God through his invitation, and as we enter into the mystery of his reality through developing a relationship with him, we come to know him.

God does not become smaller because he is infinite, always beyond. His mystery is luminous as if we were in a completely dark room and someone turned on and shined a flashlight into our eyes. We wince from its brightness, yet in time, our eyes adjust and we eventually are able to see what was beyond our ability apart from the light. Jesus wants us to experience and embrace the mystery of the radiance and warmth of his Father’s light and love.

Jesus called each apostle by name. He calls us by name too and invites us to pray with him as he prayed when he walked this earth. Prayer is the most important thing that we can do every day and our prayer begins to mature when we move away from only saying words and directing those words toward a Person. We move away from knowing about God, having an idea, philosophical or theological approach with God, and come to sit with him.

Why not pray everyday and often? One reason is because the devil and his minions know how important and imperative praying is. Praying with God and coming to know him is the last thing the enemy wants us to do and he will distract, divert, tempt, and lead us to do anything but pray. If we resist and make the time for prayer, he will tempt us to keep our time of prayer superficial, speaking words, but not directing them to a Person or quieting our minds and allowing ourselves to be still and listen to God’s voice.

“To know God as the person He really is, it requires being alone with Him frequently. Without actual time spent with God, there is a danger that we will never come to know Him as his own person” (Sattler, 28). St. Mother Teresa also encouraged her sisters in the same way asking, “Do you really know the living Jesus, not through books, but by being with him in your heart” (Sattler, 20)?

Sometimes we resist being still and quiet with God because our minds are so full of everything but God, maybe because we are afraid of aspects of ourselves that we would rather not see or admit. God sees the fullness of who we are and loves us there. He wants to help, but will not do so uninvited. Our relationship with Jesus grows when we invite him into our pain, our sins, and our fears, as well as our aspirations and our dreams.

Be not afraid to make friends with silence. In the silence, we will face our mental maelstroms, yet as we breathe more intentionally and call on Jesus’ name, we will begin to feel safer, slow down, and our minds will begin to quiet. Then we can begin an honest conversation with God, speaking and listening, sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly, and allowing God to love us there. That is when our prayer begins.

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Photo: Evening walk with Jesus

Sattler, Fr. Wayne. Remain in Me and I in You: Relating to God as a Person not an Idea. Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute, 2025.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, September 9, 2025

God only wants to love us and give us rest and peace.

“You have searched me and you know me Lord… Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence where can I flee? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, you are present there… You have searched me and you know me Lord” (From Responsorial Psalm 139:7-8).

God knows us through and through. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And yet, we hide from him. We seek to do things on our own, even while in the same breath we say we believe in him. For most of us, it is because deep down we are listening to the father of lies and we really don’t trust our loving God and Father. We choose not from freedom as much as from our reactions based in those lies that are fueled by the wounds we have inflicted and received by living in a fallen world.

The path out of the darkness of distraction, diversion, and doubt is lit by the light of Jesus. We are invited to trust him even when our instinct is to resist the light. We judge ourselves and project that judgment on God. We listen the liar who condemns, shames us, and accuses us, and then for a good dose adds, God will not forgive us or I will keep committing the same sins over and over again so why bother? What will God think of me if I reveal this to him?

God loves us to the very depths of our being, more than we can ever imagine. We do not need to be afraid of his reaction to even our most egregious sin, because he already knows! “You have searched me and you know me Lord.” God even loves us in the very act of our committing sin. The issue is, we don’t experience his love when we choose something else over him. We don’t experience his love when we don’t come to him for forgiveness. We don’t experience his love when he forgives us and we don’t forgive ourselves.

We experience his love when we repent. When we turn away from our sin and turn back to God. We may turn away from our sins out of guilt, but turning away or white knuckling with our will power alone is why we continue to fall for the same temptations. We need to turn away from the sin and turn to Jesus and allow ourselves to experience God’s love. Then filled with his love, we can resist the temptations awaiting us.

God has searched us to our very core, he knows the worst about us and loves us anyway. We can stop running and burying ourselves in busyness, distractions, diversions, false promises, and disordered affections, and instead allow ourselves, even if for only a few minutes today, to trust Jesus who is holding out his hand to lead us to a place of peace and rest. A peace and rest nothing in the world can give.

Photo: Moments of quiet, like a sunset walk can help us to slow down enough to experience God’s love for us. (University of St. Mary of the Lake)

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Press pause and breathe for a while.

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing” (Mt 23:27-28).

How many of us spend an inordinate amount of time regarding physical externals? Washing, makeup, the right clothes, the correct scents, teeth whitening, plucking, nipping, and tucking. How about time spent exercising through gym memberships, home exercise equipment, physical trainers, sports, stretching, running, or cycling. How about time spent towards a career through education, updating, professional learning, seminars, webinars, and networking. There are other categories that I can add, and the point is that there is not anything necessarily wrong with any of the above when they are properly ordered and each is in a healthy balance.

Yet, if external activities are all we are investing our time and energy in, then Jesus has a point. We may “appear beautiful on the outside” with great looks, a body that doesn’t quit, and a career to die for, but what is going on inside? Are we empty, unfulfilled, achieving goal after goal, yet feeling adrift or hollowed out? Do we have all the right social skills and etiquette down, know the right things to say in public, we have friends in the hundreds or thousands on our social media accounts, yet we feel alone and not a part of anything meaningful?

Worse yet, do we go to Church, say the right prayers, are active in ministry, tithe, are members of boards, involved in the community, and doing some great works of charity, but when the door is closed, and no one is looking… what kind of “hypocrisy and evil doing” are we up to? It is easy to rest in a false sense of security while Jesus chews out the Pharisees, right now, yet, do Jesus’ words have an effect on us if we allow his light to shine also on the imperfections and shadow sides of us as well.

We can spend our time whitewashing the outside, projecting a perfect image, while chasing the finite and material pursuits alone, which will more than likely leave us still feeling anxious, restless, unsatisfied, and worn out. Maintaining and protecting a false image on any level is exhausting. Instead, we can take a good look at the time we invest, where we focus our energies, examine our conscience, and assess the health of our relationship with God, family,  significant friendships, our vocation instead of occupation, and our service to those within and beyond our intimate circle.

Instead of expending energy maintaining a perfect persona, we will do better to be in touch with our weaknesses, our faults, and wounds, so we can resist defending or rationalizing them and seek healing, reconciliation, and transformation. By doing so, we may be more accepting, patient, understanding, and forgiving of others because we will come to realize that we are not all that perfect and we come to accept that the world does not revolve around us.

The path lit by Jesus will reveal our imperfections and sins and also will help us to distinguish between apparent goods and what is authentic and truly good. When we can step off the treadmill of chronic stress, come to a stop and breathe, and press pause, we will begin to experience the peace and love of God. We can rest in just being, just being ourselves and be ok with that.

Photo: Some quiet time with Jesus.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, August 26, 2025

“Holiness is standing in the fire of self-knowledge and letting it burn” – Fr. William Sattler

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing” (Luke 12:49)!

This fire that Jesus has come to set is the purifying fire of God’s love which will be manifested brilliantly at the feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit will come like tongues of fire to land upon and transform the apostles. But before that time, there will be a baptism in fire, the passion, suffering, crucifixion and death of Jesus. As he did in the baptism of water he submitted to with John to join in solidarity with us in our human sinfulness, in the crucifixion, he is baptized with fire. Jesus took upon himself the worst fallen humanity had to offer, betrayal, injustice, violence, indifference, scapegoating, mob rule, indignity, inhumanness, and God forsakenness itself.

Impure metals, like gold and silver are placed in a crucible to be heated. The metals become liquified so that the dross, the impurities, will burn off and the metals are purified. The cleansing waters of baptism and the confirming fire of the Holy Spirit purifies and transforms us as well. Yet that is not enough. It is through our daily lives that this purification will continue. That is why Jesus continues: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Lk 12:51).

Interesting words offered by the Prince of Peace. He has come to set fire on the earth and to establish division. What Jesus is sharing is that to be his disciples, God must be first in our lives. We are to love God with all our hearts, souls, strength, and minds and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to love in that order. When we love God first then all our loves will burn away as they are apparent goods, and those that remain will be properly ordered.

Putting God first will cause division because there will be those who are not willing to do so, even within the same family. Others might have different ideas of what it means to put God first. We can learn from Jeremiah and Jesus that putting God first has a cost, even if that meant all would turn on them.

Jeremiah followed God’s call to be a prophet. This did not exactly turn out to be a peaceful vocation. As is presented in our first reading, Jeremiah was persecuted for sharing the word of God with his own people of faith. They refused to repent and return to God and they refused to listen as the impending destructive power of the Babylonian army was storming upon them and about to be unleashed. Surrender was not in their vocabulary, to the Babylonians, and unfortunately, neither to God.

They refused to listen to God through Jeremiah and instead the princes received permission from the king to throw “him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah” (Jeremiah 38:6). Jeremiah was left sinking in the mud, and left for dead. It was only through the compassion of the appeal of the court official, Ebed-melech, that Jeremiah was pulled up to safety before he starved to death.

We can see not only Jeremiah’s faithfulness in the face of extreme opposition, but in this account we can also see a foretaste of Jesus. He was also persecuted by his own people and left for dead. There would be no Ebed-melech to come to his aide. Jesus died a humiliating and horrific death on the cross descended into the realm of the dead. Like Jeremiah, he went down. And like Jeremiah, he would be raised up. Jesus conquered death and rose through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Both Jeremiah and Jesus, in following the will of God, advocated for repentance and transformation, they sought to bring unity and peace, and yet for those who refused to receive their message and follow them, they were signs of division, demoralization, and ruin. Both followed God in the line of prophetic tradition, which announced that before there will be true reconciliation and peace, before the promised return and unification of the scattered Twelve Tribes of Israel, there will be a time of tribulation, a time of cleansing. For Jesus, there could be no resurrection until he went to the Cross.

How can we live our lives with the faithfulness of Jeremiah and Jesus? We can’t, on our own, alone. If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we need to be people of prayer. We need to daily turn our hearts and minds to God in prayer. “There is nothing more important that we will ever do than pray. That is why the devil hates prayer and tries to chase you away from any prayer” (Sattler).

The devil’s greatest weapon against us is distraction. If we are even willing and able to hear the call of the Holy Spirit inviting us to pray, our first response may be, I don’t have the time. And when we do, the next challenge will be resisting the myriad distractions, diversions, and temptations that the enemy will hurl at us to lead us away from even a minute of prayer.

“This restless being wants to pray. Can he do it? Only if he steps out of the stream  of restlessness and composes himself… No sooner has he started to pray than, conjured up by his inner unrest, all sorts of other things clamor for attention… prayer seems a sheer waste of time, and he fritters it away with useless activities. To recollect oneself means to overcome this deception which springs from unrest and to become still; to free oneself of everything which is irrelevant, and to hold oneself at the disposal of God, who alone matters now” (Guardini, 12).

The beauty of the temptations of the devil is that he is revealing to us exactly what God wants us to see. Our weakness, wounds, sins, attachments, disordered affections, and anything that is diverting us from keeping our face on Jesus. The same face that Peter held fast to when he walked on the water, and then sank when he allowed the distractions of the wind and the waves to look away. We continue to behold the gaze of Jesus when we are vigilant and consistent with praying daily and growing in our prayer so that we also pray in our activity and our challenges.

“Holiness is standing in the fire of self-knowledge and letting it burn” (Sattler). We are called to be still and identify our wounds, distractions, and temptations so that we can hear more clearly to identify whose voices we are listening to. When we are willing to enter into the crucible of the Holy Spirit and allow ourselves to be purified by the fire of his love, no matter what the devil throws our way, we can stand tall. When we resist running, trust in Jesus’ love for us, and remain, all that is not of God will be burned away.

The peace, stability, and unity that we seek comes by taking up our cross daily and walking with Jesus. When we are tempted in any way, let us turn to Jesus immediately. In this way, temptations and diversions will not lead to moments of sin, but will be invitations to receive God’s grace. When we do fall, we simply repent, turn away from the sin, turn back to God, learn from the experience, pick up our cross, and begin again.

With each step we will find healing, forgiveness, and courage. The fear, anxiety, and insecurities will become less, we will heal, as long as we remain in the presence of God’s purifying love and let him burn. We will slowly come to know God’s will for our lives and that is the meaning and fulfillment we all seek.  Jesus has blazed the trail before us. As we remain faithful to prayer, trust and follow him, he will continue to empower and strengthen us that we may continue to walk on as his disciples.

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Photo: Water and fire are powerful signs of the love of the Holy Spirit’s transformative power in the Bible.

Quotes from Fr. William Sattler received from his interview with Matthew Leonard on his podcast, The Art of Catholic on his YouTube channel.

Guardini, Romano. The Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer. Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, 1985.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, August 17, 2025

When we make time to be silent, we will receive the greatest of treasures.

Jesus said to his disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Mt 13:44).

God is hiding in plain sight, in our midst, and present to all of us. God’s kingdom is a wonderful treasure just waiting to be found. God’s eternal love and grace is ever reaching out to us. Our soul hungers, yearns, and seeks for that love, whether we know it or not. It is when we seek satisfaction, filling this deepest of our desires in material and finite pursuits alone, that we miss what is present right before us. When we sin, create idols, seek the allure of apparent goods, we block our access to the very union we seek, then we are not satisfied and our desire increases all the more. We can attempt to keep filling that hunger with more or different apparent and material goods and yet, we will continue to feel empty and unfulfilled. God acts in the everyday events of our lives, but we limit being aware of those experiences by waving them off as mere coincidences. Each time we do so, we miss the opportunity the great treasure Jesus offers.

The saints and the mystics are those who have found this great treasure, they have experienced his love, forgiveness, and mercy. They have encountered the living God in the mundane events of their lives and given all to be immersed in his communion. They “are amplifiers of every person’s more hidden life of faith, hope, and love. Their lives help us to hear the interior whispers and see the faint flickers of divine truth and love in ourselves and others. The Christian mystics point the way to fully authentic human life by illustrating what it means to be a human being, what life means: eternal union (which begins here) with the God of love” (Egan 1996, ix-xx).

Like metal detectors that some people walk the beaches with to find a hidden treasure, the Holy Spirit invites us to enter into silence. It is in silence that we will find our truest gift, God who yearns to speak to us in the silence of our hearts. Setting aside time to be still will help us to hear his whisperings in those moments of silence and when we hear and follow through on his promptings, we will begin to hear him in our daily activities.

Opening our hearts and minds to recognize those faint stirrings will help us to recognize God’s ongoing presence. We can also experience Christ by reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating on his Word, as well as the lives of the saints, who are willing to offer us their treasure maps: St Francis of Assisi, St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, St Therese of Lisieux, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and St Mother Teresa. Each have experienced and are urging us on to experience the rich encounter of the God of Jesus Christ.

In spending time regularly in silence with the Holy Spirit, we encounter and receive the love of God and come to realize that we are not human doings but human beings. We can let go of the weight of the stress and strain we have been carrying, of having to process anything, and instead be still and rest in God’s loving embrace. St. Theresa of Avila wrote that, “We always hear about what a good thing prayer is; our constitutions oblige us to spend many hours in prayer. Yet, only what we ourselves can do in prayer is explained to us; little is explained about what the Lord does in a soul, I mean about the supernatural” (Sattler, 135). Spend some time today allowing God to do – so that you can be!

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Photo: Came upon this family during an evening Rosary walk on the campus of St. Mary of the Lake.

Egan, Harvey D. An Anthology of Christian Mysticism, Second Edition. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1996.

Sattler, Wayne. And You Will Find Rest. What God Does in Prayer. Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute, 2024.

Link for the Mass Readings for, Wednesday, July 28, 2021