Christ is in our midst, but how little do we recognize Him? The most Holy Spirit walks with us, but how rarely do we allow Him to take us by hand? In the Gospel according to St. John, Jesus repeatedly says, "Come and see!" In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke explains that "Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles" (2:43). The work of God and the work of the people of God are on display. Look! Do what they do! Do not give yourself over the treachery, maliciousness, deception, degradation, humiliation, and every manner of foul behavior rampant in this world. Don't get ensnared by the promises of the evil one, for his bloody and ruinous scent will rain down upon you. Wash and be clean. Allow Christ to make you whiter than snow. The light of Christ will reign in all of eternity and through the people who live in His Transfiguring brightness now. Make a choice. Participate in the heavenly promise now. You can do this if you take a moment to stop, breathe, taste, touch, smell and see. Behold His wonders! #Evil #StLuketheEvangelist #StJohntheEvangelist #HolySpirit

Work is good. It sustains our living condition. It disciplines us. It makes us responsible. It allows us to be productive. It can offer us opportunities for creativity too. At the same time, there is a growing problem with work in our modern culture. Work is becoming an idol. If wages are too low, you have to work more and more hours, which turns your time card into a type of idol where pleasing the boss to get more hours becomes the center of your life. If wages are too high, the money itself becomes an idol, turning your workplace into a home-away-from-home. This also can happen in your house. The constant need to run errands, to make note of what's going on in your neighbor's house or apartment, to take care of yards, to fix, to remodel and to constantly improve everything around you is taking you away from the Lord. Are churches immune from this? No way. Here, I do not mean the repetitive tasks of operations and maintenance. Rather, I am referring to the board discussions, the committee meetings, and the constant buzz of gathering, and moving objects around, and talking incessantly about 'what's next'. The point here is that very often the work we're engaging in has nothing to do with God or getting closer to God. And it so very often has nothing to do with helping people to grow into deeper and deeper union with God. Thus, in order to know what is truly, divinely productive, we need to ask whom it is we are working for: ourselves? Others? God? Matthew tells us this in 21:28-31: "‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'" Those who people who seek to the do the will of God and work at it their entire lives are the ones who will also see the kingdom of God! #Work #Worship #StMatthew #Discernment #continualprayer

The end of summer and the beginning of fall. Changes in the weather and a new school year. Stricter focus at work and a preparation for the holidays. September brings many changes to the cycles of life. But much of the deeper meaning of those changes gets lost in the rhythms of our culture. This is one way the ecclesiastical calendar can help us. It renews in September so that we can re-focus on God's cycles. The combinations of death and new life set before us at this time of year can bring us deeper understanding of His plan not only for humanity in general, but also for our individual lives as well. As it is written in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace." So whatever you are thinking or worrying about at this time in your life, remember to give yourself over to God by living His rhythms, not yours or the culture's. This will give you far greater peace because you will be living in synergy with God. Rest in His grace. Don't fight it. #Anxiety #SacredScripture #Stillness #Healing

Taking on the job as a member of a parish pastoral council or board is not one to be taken lightly. You were picked neither to be a sycophant for the parish priest nor to line your pockets with the praises and the dignities of such an office. You were given this office by God to function as a type of elder who is responsible, in a lesser way, to shepherd the Church. Employing 1 Titus 6-9 here, you must be "above reproach as God's steward not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid grain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled..." In other words, your job is a sacred duty in the Church. Take it seriously. Treat your priest with respect. Get him help when he needs it. Do your part to lead the people of the Church to Christ. Watch your own household. Make sure it is not filled with the evil one. Give your life over to prayer. Give the bishop an honest assessment of the work being done or not done there. Be humble. Be vigilant. Be not afraid! #ParishLife #continualprayer

Pray for your bishops in this most terrible age. Not only do they need your support, but your love and sometimes your chastisement as well. They are tasked with overseeing geographic locations, populations and institutions that are far wider, larger and more complicated than was ever envisioned by Sacred Scripture. Nonetheless, they were still given their post by God. Like all of us, they have to contend with what they were given. Still, it bears repeating that they cannot rest upon the prayers and successes they experienced during some other time in their lives. They must contend with the evil one daily, watching whether he has crawled into their own souls, into the souls of their priests, or among the laity who need the guidance of real shepherds. Acts 20:28-32 explains this perfectly. "Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified." St. Luke is warning them to be diligent. They will be tempted even more than the rest of us. So they must take care of their own spiritual lives, even before all of the administrative and liturgical needs. Bishops: you have our prayers and support. But please become aware of what's really going on in your dioceses and show your priests what it means to give their blood for the Church and its people, as Christ gave His blood. Be shepherds! #StLuketheEvangelist #Bishops #Priesthood #continualprayer #PrayerAgainstEvil

There is an evil in our days that strikes at the heart of Christ, His Most Holy Mother, and all the people of God. When priests are truly sick, they desperately need prayers, anointing, and in some cases, exorcisms. That is why it falls upon the shoulders of the elders of parishes, in conjunction with other, healthier priests, and the bishops, to reach out - and in some cases, demand - that a priest seek psychological and spiritual help. James 5:14-20 makes this clear. "Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." Priests in our day are wandering from the truth. The people must rise up and demand that they get help. Priests must rise up and demand that bishops get help. This sacred duty - this caring for people's spiritual lives and their salvation - requires healthy minds, bodies and spirits. Even though we must be patient, merciful and loving to priests, we must also not pretend when they need help. Thriving in God is everyone's job. Go to confession and get to work! #Priesthood #Anointing #prayer #Confession

Why do some priests turn their back on God? Why do they ignore the flocks they were given to tend? Why do they hurt people? Why do bishops ignore what is happening in their dioceses? For some, these questions are apocryphal. For others, there's no point in asking or answering them because they believe that the churches are inherently corrupt. For a third group, these questions and the actions behind them are simply a recognition that people are sinful and that there never will be a perfect diaconal, presbyteral, or episcopal class. As is almost always the case, though, the answer to all of this lies along a different plane. On top of the lack of healthy, properly-informed, mature discernment taking place at all levels of society and the church, there is a far more dangerous and deceptive course that has gripped us in the modern era. If you look at seminary training, continuing education for priests and deacons (when they exist), and programs for lay spiritual development: there is a dearth of serious teaching in time-tested meditative techniques that ACTUALLY bring people to a new understanding of God, self and others. Keep in mind that this not a jejune call to pray away all things practically and concretely destructive. But this is an earnest reflection on the shocking lack of the one thing that should mark are churches everywhere: deep prayer. Churches get fixated on the administrative, financial, ministerial, and social aspects of church life instead of teaching people how to be in deeper union with God. Even in monasteries where liturgical practice is expected and encouraged multiple times per day, these services can give the participant the sense that 'prayer is done for the day' and I don't have to find time for the prayer that comes from silence. Priests will continue to demean, destroy and degrade their people everywhere unless they learn how to seek union with God. Period. #silence #Discernment #Priesthood #MeditativePrayer

Change comes to us. Maybe a relationship breaks down or you start a new one. Maybe you lose a job or find a new one. Maybe your prayer life has stalled or it's become comfortably prolific. No matter what the change is - even if it seems like a positive step - it can be hard to deal with when you're in the throes of it. Sometimes it's like your standing in front of a wall of fire. That's when it becomes most important to shut out all the noise. Take time to breathe, be silent, and pray. Let God envelop you, not the issues surrounding you; but God Himself, who is always there but that you hadn't taken into account in a very long time. In those moments, decide to die to your former self and the new person emerge. Let God lead you. "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again" (John 10:17). Breathe... let the Holy Spirit in. Then you will be ready to walk through that wall of fire. The future is yours... in God. #Anxiety #anger #Stillness #prayer #HolySpirit

We cannot imagine what it was like for the Apostles to witness, walk, learn, and listen to Jesus in person. The shear presence of His Divinity must have been overwhelming, both as a great and glorious wonder to behold, and as a terrifying reminder of the dread judgment to come. What we forget, though, is that God is all around us in the world today, too; and not in some metaphorical or abstract sense. The Holy Spirit of God is around us and in us. If we could only learn to live in a more silent way, we could hear and see God more. Here I am not talking merely about keeping more quiet by talking less and listening to less media. What I am talking about here is the state of being where one is at rest in his or her internal - and also eternal - self. It's that place inside of you - the Greeks call it the nous -- where you remember that God created you and thus, He is a part of you no matter how you try to get away from Him. It's that place inside of you where you know you are connected to others in a way that you cannot explain. Then you re-discover that God made all people, and that means you are connected to everyone else as brothers and sisters in Christ. It's that place inside of you that knows you are meant for more. It's that place inside of you that makes it possible to know the Holy Spirit intimately, making you re-discover that you were meant to be a sanctified person, a being of divine stature. Seek silence because you know Holiness is near you. Seek silence because you want to participate in the Holy Presence of God. Seek silence because you want to know how life could be different if you let yourself go and lived like God meant for you to live... in complete synergy with Him as a holy being. #silence #HolySpirit #holiness #Nous #luminousdarkness #JesusChrist

When you've been in prayer for a long while, especially if it lasts for days and days, the world can seem peculiar. That's not necessarily because you've become arrogant or prideful in prayer, but because you realize how much the fixates on itself, instead of God. To be Christian, truly Christian, means that you will want to learn how to think more like God than yourself and certainly more than others. It means that you will want to live more like Him. In fact, you want to live in Him. Remember what St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:2-12: "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. "Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. "But, as it is written -- ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’ -- these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God." Do not seek the wisdom that the world offers. Seek the Spirit of God that you have received! #StPaul #Wisdom #theosis #MysticalTheology #SacredScripture

Pray. Then, act. This is what the Apostles taught us. We don't make it easy for ourselves or others to take the path that God wants for us individually and collectively. That is why the Apostles learned to lift up their hearts and minds to God, not only in worship, but in personal deliverance. They knew that the only way through the tough times is by making Godly decisions. The only way to make Godly decisions is by discernment. And the only way to discern is to be certain in faith. "As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily" (Acts 16:4-5). Pray. Put away your fear. Discern. Act. Teach. Help others discern. Pray. Your life will be healthier. Your brothers and sisters in Christ will be healthier. Your churches will be healthier. Follow God. #prayer #Discernment #Anxiety #Fear #Decisions #StLuketheEvangelist

As you deepen your life of prayer and become more aware of God's presence in your life, sometimes you will find that the joy and happiness you experience becomes a type of pride. This is a different type of pride that wells up because you feel 'accomplished in prayer'; excited that you may have had 'visions of angels or saints'; confident that 'God is close to you'; or that you have the ability to 'teach others how to do what you've done'. While it's never wrong to be positive about the fact that you have new awareness of God; can quantify that your prayer times are more consistent; can reflect on meditations that bring you to a deeper place; it is never right to believe that you've done this work on your own or that you've achieved some type of enlightened state. Always, always, always remind yourself that God is doing 99% of the work. And acknowledge that the 1% of the work you're doing to be closer to Him is such an enormous task that it will take a lifetime to master it. That's why it's so important to pray MORE today, serve MORE people this week, confess MORE every month, and humble yourself MORE at every moment of your life. This is how you will re-train your thoughts and behaviors to be more open to God's action in your life. The more you experience Him, the more you must find time for silence and stillness. God is holy. God is one. May we want to be in Him as much as He wants to be in us. #Pride #Sin #prayer #Work