 “Human beings are created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by means of this to save their souls” - Spiritual Exercises These are the words that St. Ignatius of Loyola chose to begin the first week of his famed Spiritual Exercises, where he sought to guide those who read it to be able to better discern what exactly God wanted them to do with their lives. This question--What does God want me to do with my life?— is one that Ignatius wrestled with a lot, but ultimately led to his encounter with Christ and to him becoming one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church. Iñigo de Loyola (later Ignatius) was born in 1491 in a small Basque town in Spain to a noble family. He grew up idolizing the chivalric figures of the Middle Ages, and dreamt of one day becoming a dashing military man with the prestige, wealth, and women that often came with that social status. This dream would later materialize; joining the army at 17, he began to chase after women, move up the nobility social ladder, and fight in battles, one of which would be the turning point of his life. Defending a fortress in Pamplona from a French attack, a cannonball ricocheted into his leg, severely injuring him and requiring multiple attempts to set the bone back in place (something that would leave one of his legs permanently shorter than the other, causing him to limp for the rest of his life). As he recovered in his castle, Iñigo began to read about the life of Christ and the lives of the saints, and was inspired by both. His dream life pulled out from under him, he realized that this life was leaving him empty and chasing after temporary glories and pleasures, while thinking about imitating the life of the saints left him feeling joyful and fulfilled. Now recovered, he decided to go on a journey to find out what exactly God wanted him to do, and that adventure, full of glories and struggles, would eventually lead him to begin what is now known as the Jesuit order with friends he made at the University of Paris. Moments of transition, whether it be finishing school, changing jobs, getting married, and so on, can often be stressful times. There can be a temptation to worry, despair, or seek to take control to prevent anything unknown from hurting us. I myself can relate to this as I come to a close in my time as an undergrad student, not knowing what the future holds for me. But the evil one tempts us with these because he knows transition moments can also be moments full of God’s grace. Moving out of an old way of living to a new one provides an opportunity to encounter God by asking him, perhaps for the first time, what he wants for us in our lives, and entering into that surrender, wherever it may take us. Ignatius became the saint he is partly because of that terrible wound, which crushed both his leg and lifelong dreams. But without it, he would not have been able to have that profound encounter with God that dramatically changed both his life and the history of the world. However, that surrender requires believing that God alone satisfies our deepest desires, and that by him and for him we were made. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it: “Only in God will he [man] find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for” (CCC 27). If God alone gives us the fulfilling happiness we are looking for, then it makes the most sense to do as he wills. Doing so not only makes us happy but also glorifies God, because when our will and the will of God are in sync, wonderful things always happen. Seasons of transition ought then not to be viewed with fear and trepidation, but instead welcomed as opportunities to get closer to God and to better understand what his will for our life is, always keeping in mind the words of our Lord, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete”.
0 Comments
 What does the story of Martha and Mary have to do with the 3rd commandment? When Jesus tells Martha “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things” (Lk. 10:41, NAB), it reminds me of how many of us live our lives and how useful it is to take a day of rest. Many of us are worried and anxious about a wide variety of things. These things could include work, money, politics or even family. We find that it is often difficult to pause, take a breath, and enjoy life without having to be worried or anxious. Luckily, Catholics around the world have a day of the week where we are encouraged to rest. How often do we actually rest on the sabbath? As a college student living in the Washington DC area, I witness firsthand the busyness of everyday life. Perpetual traffic on the capital beltway, sports, after school activities, networking, and dinner plans are all examples of things that constantly pull at my attention. In countries I’ve visited in Europe and Latin America, most places close on Sundays, encouraging real rest. In the U.S., everything stays open, making it even harder to slow down, even when we want to. In our culture, we confuse busyness with worth and productivity with purpose. This leads to many problems in our culture today such as anxiety and burnout. The Sabbath is a gift; it allows us to pause, slow down the pace of life for a day, and glorify God. Bishop Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington in his July 6th article writes “ When we keep the Sabbath holy and sanctify it to the rest God desires for us, we practice a leisure which is active and fruitful. The Lord’s Day is not simply a break from work but a time to lift our hearts to God in worship, to contemplate his goodness, and to rest in his love.” Perhaps this summer, when the sun is out and the weather is nice, we can take advantage of the excellent opportunity to go outside and rest. It gives us a much needed dose of vitamin D, allows us to rest the strain from our eyes from staring at screens and books for long periods of time, and a breath of fresh air. It also allows us to come into contact with God’s creation, which can be a powerful tool in prayer. The beauty of being surrounded by his creation aids us in prayer because true beauty is one of his attributes. In his article, Bishop Burbidge recommends praying the rosary or doing spiritual reading this summer. Both are excellent ideas. While they can be done just about anywhere, consider doing them outside, maybe in the shade or by the pool or a lake as a way to refresh yourself more thoroughly. I believe that if Martha devoted more time to leisure, she would not have been so anxious when she welcomed Jesus into her home. In conclusion, the story of Martha and Mary serves as a reminder of the importance of keeping holy the sabbath. Like Martha, many of us are caught up in the busyness and anxieties of daily life, often forgetting to pause and focus on what truly matters. The Third Commandment calls us to do just that—to set aside one day a week for rest, worship, and renewal. It’s not merely about avoiding work, but about reconnecting with God, ourselves, and the beauty of His creation. As Bishop Burbidge reminds us, true Sabbath rest is active, meaningful, and rooted in God’s love. This summer, let’s take this advice to heart: pray, reflect, enjoy nature, and truly rest. By doing so, we not only honor God’s commandment but also nourish our souls in a world that rarely slows down.
 I have often heard homilies and talks that recount people recognizing something different in Christians. Strangers or friends are drawn in by a sense of joy that can radiate from a Christian. This joy can puzzle or confuse people. We live in complicated times and we each carry our own struggles. Yet the message of Christianity is that our joy begins deep below the surface. Our joy is nothing less than Jesus Christ: God became man who suffered and died for our sins and rose again on the third day. Now, this all sounds nice, but I know it can be difficult to actually feel this joy in the midst of life. More than once when I’ve heard these homilies I’ve thought to myself, “Is that me? Do I feel and radiate that joy?” Mary Magdalene is, I think, a perfect friend and example to turn to when these questions arise. One of my favorite lines in the Bible comes from the account of her leaving the tomb after Jesus’ resurrection: Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples (Matthew 28:8). Mary had just barely buried Jesus and now she is hearing that he has returned. Even with her deep trust in him, I can imagine this was hard to believe and left her puzzling over what would come next. Yet she didn’t remain in the fear and confusion; she allowed herself the excitement of his resurrection too. As I was reflecting on Mary’s life, it occurred to me that this probably wasn’t the first time Jesus had left Mary feeling these juxtaposed emotions of fear and joy either. Our first introduction to Mary Magdalene is in Luke’s Gospel. As Jesus continues his public ministry we hear that he is accompanied by the twelve apostles “and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out” (Luke 8:2). The specifics of her healing are left to our imagination. However, I think we can safely assume that this interaction left her with ample amounts of fear and joy, with thoughts like, “I can’t believe I’m finally cured of this! But is it too good to be true? How do I live now?” Prior to encountering Jesus, Mary had very much lost her way. She would have grown up learning the psalms, aware of God’s deep care for her and the Jewish people, but one decision led to another and she was no longer living in that covenant of love. Today, in big and small ways, we can also find ourselves straying or getting pulled from the path of holiness. It is an unfortunate part of nature that in these moments we may feel like we’ve gone too far and there is no turning back. However, if we look to Mary Magdalene we see a woman who was able to receive Jesus’ healing love and overcome the obstacles that had been put in front of her. In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis said, “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Jesus joy is constantly born anew” (EG 1). Mary Magdalene was able to experience this joy because of the hope she had in Jesus. He had touched and changed her life, and her trust in him gave her confidence that he would continuously fulfil his promises. In our own lives, our Christian joy doesn’t mean that we have lived perfect lives or that we go through life with a constant cheery disposition. It means we are confident that despite our weaknesses and the setbacks we encounter, we too can always seek and hope in the good providence of our Lord. Whatever the shape or cause of our fear, there can always remain a joy that Jesus is with us in it. As Catechism 30 reminds us, “Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness.” Our joy is found in the knowledge that no matter what is happening within and around us, God always remains with us. AuthorErin Donn is a campus minister at an all-girls Catholic high school and lives in Washington, DC.
 "Remember that the Christian life is one of action; not of speech and daydreams. Let there be few words and many deeds, and let them be done well." – St Vincent Pallotti We are called to go forth, not wait for others to do it. St. Vincent Pallotti was clear about this through his understanding that all followers of Christ are also apostles. We are sent by Christ into a world in need of deeds of faith and charity. Growing in holiness is not easy, we need the grace of Christ, assistance of the Church, and willingness to strive to be a saint. Similar to the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), it does not matter when you begin working for the Lord. The important thing is that we do for him, that we live his mission to go forth proclaiming the Good News and being his healing presence to others. The owner of the vineyard, Jesus Christ, invites us to labor for him there. He tells us that he will give us “what is just” (Matthew 20:4). He offers us the opportunity for eternal life with him. St. Vincent Pallotti understood this well, not only for his own life, but for the lives of all. Some people talk a good talk or dream about doing something someday. Neither of these are what Christ is asking of us. He is asking for action and deeds on our part, not for ourselves, but for him. May the charity of Christ urge us on! In God, the Infinite Love, Fr. Frank
 Summertime is here and with the change in schedules and weather, people make plans for vacations or simply enjoy a more relaxed routine. Our family vacations over the years were full of outdoor adventures in the mountains or at the beach visiting our extended families. Wherever you choose to vacation – even if it’s a staycation in your hometown – can be a beautiful time full of spiritual refreshment. Years ago, when I was in the trenches with six kids aged 18 to newborn, I read a book called Sanity in the Summertime: The Complete Summer Survival Handbook for Moms by Claudia Arp and Linda Dillow. I adopted many of their great ideas and incorporated some of my own to bring more of the richness of our Catholic heritage into our family life. This time of refreshment is a wonderful time to renew your relationship with the Lord and to help those in your family to cultivate their individual faith life. I have compiled a list of the things that we incorporated into our vacation and summertime routines over the years. This list is just a beginning and the potential for summertime recreation is limitless based on your family’s personalities and interests.
The beauty of vacation time or a more relaxed summer schedule involves soaking up the blessings of the time and intentionally bringing Jesus into the season to enrich your faith life and discover the creative ways God is moving in our lives. He has given us everything. When we can slow down and change the pace and the environment for a little bit, we can see more clearly His love and provision for us. This clearer vision of our communion with God enables us to deepen our relationship with Him and to answer His call. Let this song be our mission in our vacationing: “Day by day, Day by day, O dear Lord Three things I pray: To see Thee more clearly, Love Thee more dearly, Follow Thee more nearly- Day by day” Lyrics by Robin Lamont *This blog is reposted and originally published June 29, 2021.*
  It’s hard to believe that the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary concluded this past week. Communities within the Church were keen to observe this occasion, such as the Knights of Columbus through their Pilgrim Icon Program. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is special in my own spiritual life, a devotion that I share with my best friend. I started this particular devotion when I was in seminary, studying to be a priest at a previous point in my life. The Sacred Heart is Jesus' invitation to return to the heart, to the center of who we are as a person. The heart is the core of our being, where we can encounter the divine love of Jesus. It is at the heart where Jesus was moved to compassion whenever he encountered those suffering and afflicted, as we hear in the gospels. In his last encyclical, Dilexis Nos (He Loved Us), Pope Francis reminded us that the heart is the pulse of humanity and we need to return to the heart in order to remember who we are: God’s beloved. “The heart of Christ is ‘ecstasy’, openness, gift and encounter. In that heart, we learn to relate to one another in wholesome and happy ways and to build up in this world God’s kingdom of love and justice. Our hearts, united with the heart of Christ, are capable of working this social miracle,” (no. 28). The Sacred Heart has a unifying effect when embraced. During the Jubilee of the 350th anniversary, my family welcomed the Sacred Heart of Jesus through a Sacred Heart Enthronement. I came across this beautiful tradition through the Sacred Heart Enthronement Network, a nonprofit based out of Columbus, OH that was established to help others live out and promote Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through their outreach apostolate, Welcome His Heart, individuals have the opportunity to fulfill that devotion through the home enthronement process. A home enthronement can be carried out in five easy steps:
My family chose to do a Sacred Heart Enthronement this past Sunday, June 22nd, on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This was a great occasion to commemorate the conclusion of the National Eucharistic Revival and the Jubilee of the 350th anniversary. There is a beautiful relationship between the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart, particularly through the First Friday Devotion where the faithful are invited to seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation, attend Mass, and receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month to make reparation to the Sacred Heart. As Pilgrims of Hope during this Jubilee Year of Hope, I invite you to consider welcoming the Sacred Heart of Jesus into your home. Make this beautiful tradition a part of your own family tradition. When Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary, he spoke of 12 promises to those who honor his sacred heart. Two of those promises include Jesus giving us the necessary graces for their state in life and giving us peace in our families. At a time when peace is desperately needed in our world, let us start with our families and welcome the Sacred Heart of Jesus into our home!
 June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and June 27th— the day after this blog post’s publication — is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was the Lord Himself who revealed the devotion of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in a series of visions between 1673-1675. There is much that can be said about the Sacred Heart, such as the details of its design, the twelve promises, and its rich theological background, which even precedes the visions given to St. Margaret Mary. The Sacred Heart, like all matters of our faith, is not meant to exist as an ethereal theological concept but must be appropriated as a way to encounter the infinite love of God. This heart, we hope, will replace ours so that we can love like God. We should consider some of the ways that God loves, which are the ways we aspire to love. The heart of Jesus is a heart that… 1. Sees the beloved for who they are I must admit, I’ve stolen this from my friend Katie Prejean-McGrady (or I should say that I have taken inspiration from!). At a recent conference, Katie gave a keynote in which she focused on the story of the Rich Young Man from the Gospel of Mark. She keyed in on the words, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him,” and those words have stuck with me in the weeks since. How many people are looking for meaning, for purpose, and to be recognized as good? As a college campus minister, I encounter many young people who are asking these same questions, who are seeking, as John Green often quotes, “to know and be known, to love and be loved.” The Sacred Heart, the same heart which beats within our Lord in this moment in Mark, is one that sees us and loves us. If we are to love like Christ, to do so with His heart, we must look with compassion at every person we encounter, listen to them, journey with them through their questions, and gaze upon them with the gaze of Christ which we have encountered in our own lives. 2. Doesn’t condemn The Sacred Heart is one not of judgment, but of great love. Jesus is very clear in his ministry in the gospels, condemnation is not his goal, but love. In John 3:17 we read, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” We are sinful people, and pride is often at the root of that sinfulness. We encounter people every day with whom we disagree, who are living in a way that perplexes us, and people who distress or frustrate us. But to love with a heart like God’s is not to condemn them, but to will their good. We are called to encounter those we meet, friend and “enemy” alike, with compassion, putting aside our preconceived notions and biases, and offering them a compassionate gaze that can, over time, open both of us to an encounter with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Just a few chapters after John 3, Jesus encounters the woman caught in adultery where the call to withhold condemnation meets its partner. 3. Calls the beloved higher In John 8, as Jesus encounters the woman caught in adultery and the crowd which wishes to stone her, Jesus disbands the crowd by saying, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” The crowd disperses and He says to the woman, “Has no one condemned you?” the woman replied, “No one, sir.” Jesus then responds, “Neither do I condemn you.” But he does not end there. Jesus finishes his statement with, “Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.” To love with the heart of God means seeing with eyes of compassion, it means not condemning the ones we love, but it also means calling our beloved higher! Jesus, whose love is perfect charity, is not permissive of anything that our broken hearts want, but is a love that always calls us higher. If we love like God, we should call those we love higher, not to meet us eye to eye, but to live a life of communion with God who is love and being itself! We cannot call people higher, though, if they do not trust that we love them, which requires us to accompany them patiently, seeing them with the compassion of Christ. As we close out the month of June, the month of the Sacred Heart, let us ask the Lord to cleanse our hearts and enlarge them so that we might be better vessels of his love. Let us live this love by looking at those we love for who they are with eyes of compassion, by not condemning, and by calling those we love higher. Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
 If you’re used to communicating with others via text message, then you’ve probably, at some point, received a message and interpreted it out of context. A curt reply with a period at the end could be misinterpreted as either passive aggressive or as an irritated response. This happens to me occasionally, and I always have to remember that without hearing a person’s message verbally, it can be difficult to understand what they’re really saying or implying. Maya Angelou’s quote rings true here: “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.” Our voices add a unique depth and fullness to our communications by revealing emotions, nuances, and subtle meanings more sharply than words alone can communicate. On this feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, I am struck by St. Augustine’s words from this morning's Office of Readings: “Today we remember that Zechariah’s ‘tongue is loosed because a voice is born.’” St. John the Baptist was born to be the final prophetic voice who proclaimed the Word made flesh. Like the Old Testament prophets, John foretells the coming of the Messiah and calls sinners to repentance with words that cut to the heart (Luke 3:1-29). But, unlike the Old Testament prophets, John identifies the Messiah for the first time in salvation history. John points Jesus out and encourages his followers to pursue him (John 1:29-37). He is confident that his cousin is the foretold Christ, and by his proclamation John fulfills the mission of all the prophets as he straddles the boundary of the Old and New Testament. John’s historical mission of giving voice to the Word is also our mission. At our baptism, we were anointed as a priest, prophet, and king. We share uniquely in Jesus’s ministry, and we are called to be lay prophets who proclaim the good news of repentance and redemption. We must, like John the Baptist, spend time coming to know the promises of the Messiah so that we can recognize Him when we see him. And when we see Him present in the sacraments, or when we encounter Him as we are accompanied by a spiritual mentor, or when we experience Him through the fullness of our prayer, we must point Him out for all to see. To fulfill our baptismal call to be prophets of the Gospel of Christ, we must give voice to our experiences of God. John’s words must be our words to the world, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” *This blog is reposted and was originally published June 23, 2020.* AuthorThomas Carani works at a parish in Austin, Texas. He received his B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies from The Catholic University of America. Thomas is also a graduate of the Echo Graduate Service Program at the University of Notre Dame, where he received his Master’s in Theology.
 “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:34-36) We hunger and thirst. This is true of all people, through all time. We need to be nourished: physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Sometimes we are keenly aware of our hunger. We may even know what we need to satisfy it – a meal, a conversation with a friend, a good book, or a moment in prayer. Other times we experience the ache of hunger, but can not necessarily name it as such, let alone pinpoint what it is we need. Underlying all of our earthly hungers is our deep longing for God. Ultimately it is God alone who can satisfy our hunger. The feast of Corpus Christi, or the Solemnity of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Jesus, is a celebration of our hunger being met. In the Eucharist, Jesus meets us intimately and personally. He gives his body, his very self, so that we might be close to him and be satisfied in him. And this total and complete giving is for us, for our strengthening and our sanctification. However, at times our experience of Jesus in the Eucharist can seem to fall short of this. We struggle to comprehend what it means that he is truly present in the Eucharistic elements–Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We forget that Jesus is the Bread of Life and really can satisfy us. We may miss the graces he is pouring out on us through his presence in the Eucharist. Whatever your experiences with the Eucharist may be, there are some practical ways we can continue to know and grow closer to Jesus in the Eucharist. Ask the Lord for Greater Eucharistic Faith and Devotion. While belief is a grace and gift of the Holy Spirit, “it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act.” (CCC 154) It is a profound act of faith simply to ask the Lord for a deeper devotion to the Eucharist. We can ask him to help us trust in his presence and to become more aware of his nourishing grace in the Eucharist. This humble disposition can help us be more receptive to the graces the Lord is pouring out on us when we receive the Blessed Sacrament at Mass and in the power of the Eucharist. Pray to Be Changed by the Eucharist. When we respond “Amen” before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ at Mass we are saying, “Yes, I believe this is truly Jesus’ body and blood.” Still, it can be easy to take this for granted or forget about the graces bestowed on us through the sacrament. You may consider offering a prayer before or after receiving Communion in which you call to mind the power in receiving Jesus’ presence sacramentally through the Eucharist. One of my favorite prayers to offer during this time is a private prayer the priest says before receiving the Eucharist himself. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who, by the will of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit, through your Death gave life to the world, free me by this, your most holy Body and Blood, from all my sins and from every evil; keep me always faithful to your commandments, and never let me be parted from you. (Roman Missal, Order of Mass, 131) Spend Time With the Lord in Eucharistic Adoration. Eucharistic adoration gives us a time to sit and be with Jesus. You can take time to exalt and adore him, or just speak with him from your heart. Spending time in quiet prayer can be difficult, but the Lord surely blesses the time we spend with him. I think this is summed up well in the book In Senu Jesu, When Heart Speaks to Heart: The Journal of a Priest at Prayer by A Benedictine Monk, which records words spoken by Jesus and Mary to an Irish Benedictine monk, when Jesus says, “This is what I want of you: time “wasted,” spent in My presence. Time given to Me for My sake.” Even just sitting in Jesus’ Eucharistic presence satisfies some of our longing for him. On this feast of Corpus Christi, let us return to the heart of our faith, which is Jesus’ own self given for us. Whether you are feeling far from or near to the Eucharist, let us reaffirm our plea, “Jesus, give us this bread always,” that we may always be satisfied through, with, and in Jesus. AuthorErin Donn is a campus minister at an all-girls Catholic high school and lives in Washington, DC.
 What does it mean to be called to revive? It means reviving faith! In a world where so many look away from faith and into trust of many things other than God, it means making God the center of our lives through our way of thinking and our actions. It means looking beyond self and seeing our neighbor as one in the image and likeness of God, even when that may be difficult or painful to do. It means believing, even when life becomes difficult and crosses are many. It means living the virtue of hope. Pope Leo XIV when he addressed young people of Chicago and the whole world put it this way: “So many people who suffer from different experiences of depression or sadness - they can discover that the love of God is truly healing, that it brings hope, and that actually, coming together as friends, as brothers and sisters, in community, in a parish, in an experience of living our faith together, we can find that the Lord’s grace, that the love of God can truly heal us, can give us the strength that we need, can be the source of that hope that we all need in our lives. To share that message of hope with one another - in outreach, in service, in looking for ways to make our world a better place - gives true life to all of us, and is a sign of hope for the whole world” (Video Message, June 14, 2025). When we live faith, and, more so, live together in a true community of faith, then we can be more fully present to one another in the sorrows and failures, joys and successes of life. Together we can move forward in revived faith that witnesses hope, and lives in love. May the charity of Christ urge us on! In God, the Infinite Love, Fr. Frank
 I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33) When you hear the word “law,” what comes to mind? I think of traffic laws. In Washington, DC, where I live, the city installed cameras to catch people running red lights. Then came the speeding tickets. Recently, they added cameras to stop signs. These traffic laws - created by our city leaders - are much different than the law of God written on our hearts. The Catholic teaching on conscience helps us understand where law is, how we access it, and what we do with it. “Conscience includes the perception of the principles of morality (synderesis)” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1780). The Catechism also teaches that conscience “is a judgement of reason.” (1778) Consequently, we are dealing with reason, perception, and “principles of morality,” when we exercise our conscience. Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that God’s law, what he called first principles, “were naturally known.” (Summa Theologica, Pt 1, Q 79, Article 12). As Jeremiah proclaimed, God’s law is written on our hearts. This law always leads towards the good. Some examples of God’s law would be “do good and avoid evil,” “I put before you life and death. Choose life,” and “no man is an island.” Human beings can see these moral laws as long as there is nothing wrong with their power of perception. When we look for God’s law, these first principles of the moral life, we are forming a natural habit, what Saint Thomas Aquinas called “synderesis.” The exercise of conscience, then, uses our power of reason to apply these first principles to a moral act - one we have done, are doing, or will do in the future. In our society, law is often utilitarian and conventional. Here in the United States of America, we drive on the right side of the road. In other countries, like England, they drive on the left. That is a convention. Traffic laws are used to regulate the flow of traffic - to assure the safety, and freedom - of all. But those laws - while prudent to follow - are not absolute. While I may get a speeding ticket for running a red light in the middle of the night when I took my son to the emergency room due to abdominal pain, I have not sinned. When, on the other hand, I choose my recreation over the needs of my family, I may have broken no law but may have committed a very serious - perhaps even a grave - sin. Thomas Aquinas provides a hierarchy of law beginning with Eternal Law, Natural Law, Human Law, and Divine Law. Eternal Law is only known to God but is the basis for Natural Law. From Natural Law, human beings create law for human flourishing and the common good. Divine Law are teachings and commandments God reveals through salvation history. Aquinas teaches that all human beings can understand “do good and avoid evil” since it is a moral axiom of natural law whereas the commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” is revealed by Jesus at the Last Supper. Which takes us back to our traffic laws. When we are exercising our conscience, we must turn toward the first principles that are already written on our hearts rather than the “law of the land.” There is not a moral equivalency between “do good and avoid evil” and breaking a human law. Indeed, some human laws must be broken because they are morally corrupt. Law in our country seems to be losing its moral footing. One political party creates a law that is then replaced by another political party. In so many cases, we are over regulated in our country and, in others, we are under regulated. As Catholics and Christians, we must sort through “the law of the land” and judge our compliance by the dictates of our conscience. C.S. Lewis, in one of his philosophical texts, The Abolition of Man, argues for an innate moral code that we, as a society, must teach our children to see how we misuse words to reduce our experiences to trivialities. In that text, he attempts to demonstrate how recognition and value of “first principles” are manifested in other cultures and religious traditions. Our Jewish ancestors also held to first principles and stressed the relational nature of law. Complying with law was not just a transactional relationship between the ruler and the subject; it was a way to build and enhance community. God wants our human flourishing. God has written on our hearts his moral law and has given us the power to see it, hear his voice, improve our reception of both, and to apply it to common and complicated moral challenges.
 They bought into the lie—that nothing had changed, that their dreams were stifled, that death prevailed. The locked doors reflected their locked hearts. Like anyone, they were afraid, inconsolable, at the point of despair. Save one—a virgin. She continues to model to us today what it means to live faith, what it looks like to be a disciple. The fear of the disciples in the upper room is understandable. They had abandoned the man whom they had left everything to follow for three years. The same man they had pledged to follow unto death had been tortured and killed as their backs were turned, as they cowered for their own lives. Their hopes of a restored Jewish kingdom, a glorious king from the line of David, freedom from Roman rule and the return of God’s presence to the Temple seemed to be nailed to a cross on Golgotha, laid in a tomb hewn from rock. They had yet to see God’s plan amidst the perceived failure. How could this be God’s plan? It was so unlike their own. Their fear is our own. It is the fear of unmet desires, of unworthiness, of death, of uncertainty, of perceived silence. Like the disciples, we often fail to see God’s plan in our lives. We look around in despair and sense that He is silent. We live the reality of death, confusion and suffering and say, “nothing good can come from this.” But as the disciples quickly realized, our ways are not God’s ways. Our wills are not yet one. Much stands in the way: selfishness, greed, egoism, materialism, pride. All changes with the coming of the Holy Spirit. What makes a law-abiding Jew abandon his persecution of Christians in favor of joining them and proclaiming the Christ to Jerusalem and Rome? What makes uneducated fisherman leaders of the universal Church and martyrs for the faith? What makes the son of a wealthy Italian merchant the begging founder of a religious order and a friend of the poor? What makes a cloistered nun in Lisieux a Doctor of the Church? What makes a German priest in Auschwitz volunteer to die in place of a father? What makes a modern day Italian mother and doctor offer her life for that of her child? The Advocate, the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who is the game changer for the Church—what will now set the disciples apart from the whole world and what continues to set Christians apart today. The Holy Spirit is the active agent of conversion in man, the third person of the Trinity who opens up the Scriptures and sets our hearts on fire. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to live our mission. The Holy Spirit, God’s love, is the difference between the fearful men in the upper room and the on-fire disciples of Christ preaching the Gospel and converting thousands in a single day. In the Gospel today, Jesus prays for his followers in the Garden of Gethsemane while also speaking directly to you and me. He prays for something seemingly impossible: “that they may all be one” as the Trinity is one. Christ speaks these words not to frustrate his followers but to call them to a perfection possible through God alone. He utters these precious words knowing he will be sending the Holy Spirit to enable man to do this. The goal is outward. This communion—the call to unity—must lead to mission: “that the world may know that you sent me and that you loved them.” God’s love is efficacious. It cannot be contained but must be proclaimed to the world. Only God could deign to give man so dignified and impossible a call. And only God could enable man to fulfill it. This high priestly prayer of Jesus (which encompasses John 15-17) is one of my favorite parts of Scripture. It is so imbued with Christ’s love for us. The purpose of the Incarnation is about to be revealed. Christ is living his last moments and wants to remind his followers, you and me, why he came: to reveal the Father, to invite man to eternity with Him and to assure man of his lovable-ness in the eyes of God. This love of God is meant to abide in us and reach out from our hearts to the hearts of others. This is only possible through the Eucharist, which physically is Christ’s love present in us and which is made possible through the Holy Spirit. God himself calls us, but God himself equips us…with Himself. It is astounding to what we are called: to holiness, divine love. This is the Christian destiny, but not our inclination. Like the disciples, so quickly do we turn inward. So quickly do we lock the door in fear. God calls us to sanctity, which can only be achieved after an experience of the fire of God’s love. We call this Pentecost, the same outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we receive in Baptism and Confirmation. The same outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we receive every Sunday in the form of the Eucharist. Are we being transformed by this grace or do we remain in the upper room? I challenge you to go back to your own story, your own moments of conversion. When did you fall in love with God? Have you? Only armed with the certainty of being loved will we be able to love others and live out the communion and mission Jesus calls us to. And so we call upon the Holy Spirit, the love of God Himself, who was breathed out upon the disciples at Pentecost in tongues of fire. We ask the Holy Spirit to breathe new life within us, within the Church. We ask the Holy Spirit to transform us with the fire of God’s love. This results in unlocked doors, an empty room. The disciples emerged, transfigured. Will you? *This post was originally published May 21, 2015* AuthorKate Flannery has a Master's degree in Leadership for the New Evangelization at the Augustine Institute in Denver.
 It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1779) Do you ever have that experience where you are trying to “catch up” with yourself? There are a lot of physical and psychological techniques we can use to calm ourselves down after a stressful day. Some people find exercise, or just going for a walk, helpful. It “clears the mind.” Others may do yoga. Still others may do some deep breathing or mindfulness practices. Others may just take a nap. These are all healthy ways to unwind that are good and much better than alcohol or drugs that dulls the mind and heart, masks the stress and fails to restore your strength. Nevertheless, these healthy means of unwinding still fall short of the requirement of conscience. I recall a time when I attended a NBA basketball game. The noise level was so high, I could not think. The “requirement of interiority is all the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflection, self-examination or introspection.” (1779). It took all the concentration I could muster just to make a decision about what I needed. I decided that I had to get out of the building. I told my companions, “I’m leaving.” I would not even wait for the elevator. I walked down four flights of steps as quickly as I could. Once outside, I texted my companions to reconnect with them, found a place to sit down, breathed, and waited. The decisions we make under stress, even after we have relaxed, are not an act of conscience because we have to be “present to ourselves” so we can “hear and follow the voice” of our conscience. Sometimes, when I begin to slow down and be present to myself, I am surprised at all the voices inside of me. Ann Garrido, in one of her reflections, suggested “occlumency” as a spiritual practice. This insight came to her during a retreat when she found it difficult to clear her mind of “all the voices.” It reminded her of Professor Dumbledore, who wanted to protect Harry Potter from Lord Voldemort’s “access to his head space.” In the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling, “Legilimency” was the magical ability to access someone’s thoughts; “Occlumency” was the protection. This level of self-awareness is also found in modern business practices when leaders and managers carefully examine the information they are using to make business decisions. What data is relevant to our problem or opportunity? What is the source of that information? Are we taking all the relevant data into account? Do we have any beliefs - any assumptions - that might influence our understanding of the data and the conclusions drawn from that data? Chris Argyris (1923-2013), considered by many as the “father of organizational learning,” developed the Ladder of Inference as a conceptual model to explain how people make decisions and form beliefs. This model is a series of questions to identify assumptions and test for bias. In order to “hear and follow the voice of conscience,” we need to be present to ourselves, free of other voices, mindful of our assumptions and suspicious about bias. Remember taking tests in school? You needed to focus on the questions before you. You drew from your own ability to recall, and apply, the knowledge you learned. The teacher was there, but mostly to assure that students were staying on task and not cheating. Interiority is like that but with a big difference. With conscience, the teacher is Jesus who is there with you. You still need to do the work, but he is there loving you, encouraging you, and helping you to see and hear clearly. Pope Francis blessed the church with an extended catechesis on discernment during his General Audiences from August 31, 2022 to January 4, 2023. During his catechesis on December 21, 2022, Pope Francis stressed our discernment - our interiority - is never done alone. We bring to our conscience the Word of God, the teachings of the Church, our relationship with Jesus, the saints, our friendship with God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the graces we have received through the sacraments and prayer. We need to be present to ourselves in order to be alone with God. It is his voice, her breath, their music we strain to hear. The more we access our conscience - to be totally present to the moral quality of acts we have done, a choice we must make, or future choices - the more aligned we will be with God’s truth, mercy, and love. We will be free to be completely alive as the image of God we were created to be. Try it today. Take an hour. Turn off your phone. Let go of all those distractions that pollute your thoughts. Don’t fight them. Just let them go. Take five deep breaths praying. “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me,” then, with the second breath, “Spirit of the Living God, melt me,” then “... mold me,” “... fill me,” and “... use me.” Start a conversation. “God, what good do you want me to do tomorrow?” Just listen. Lots of thoughts may emerge. Breathe. Ask the same question again. Some thoughts will fall away. Breathe. Ask the question again, and again, until you hear a still small voice whisper a word or two deep within your heart. The psalmist sang of the righteous; “the law of the LORD is his joy; and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2) The righteous are “right” with themselves, others, and God. The law of the Lord is his voice, his way, and it is the source of our joy and our companion “day and night.” May we, too, be so blessed.
 There are only a few people whom I look at in biblical history and identify with on an average-human-level. It can be hard to find personal connections to many saints and holy people for me. Some were ordinary and humble, but others were so extraordinary and left big shoes to fill. It can be challenging to wrap your head around their sanctity—I know it is for me. When I hear about St. Martha though, I think, “Yes, she’s my girl.” Martha had close friends and pesky siblings, and when important company came over, she was mad no one was helping as she cleaned and cooked herself into a tizzy. She was so human, so relatable. St. Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus were close friends of the Lord. We hear about them from Luke’s Gospel: As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “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. This is such a great passage. It shows the humanity of these average people. It contrasts Martha, the burdened preparer and host for the occasion, with Mary, the one who sat with and listened to their wise friend, Jesus. It is a chance for those of us who get frazzled to stop for a moment and listen to the Word of God. It is a chance for us to not only let Jesus into our homes, but also into our hearts as well. Martha is so relatable. In a later moment in John’s Gospel, we hear about Martha taking a completely different approach to the Lord’s arrival. This time, he is met with her sadness but also her faith. This is a big moment for Martha. She seems to have learned to trust and believe, and thus Christ’s arrival brings hope for her even after the death of her brother. She tells Jesus that if he had been here, Lazarus wouldn’t have died, but has hope and faith that everything will still be okay. Jesus responds, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” From this we hear St. Martha echo her own “fiat” with the words, “Yes, Lord.” This is when we see her inner beauty emerge. Her old self, prone to complaining and anxiety from hosting, has been replaced by faith. I find a lot of comfort knowing that St. Martha was imperfect and struggled—even when Jesus was in her home. Her feast day is July 29th, the day before my birthday, and I feel more connected to this saint than ever before. It wasn’t the first time that Jesus entered her home or that she listened to his words. It also probably was not the second or third time she had interacted with him, being close friends. But when the moment came for her to have hope in the Lord, she did. Patience and sitting with Christ, like her sister Mary did, might be another way to sainthood, but for Martha, her heart was not as ready to accept Him then. Her human imperfections kept her from that. Her path to sainthood was a journey comprised of moments of faith and trust, as we saw in her conversation with Jesus after Lazarus’ death. She shows us that, though we can’t always be perfect, our call to sanctity begins with the words, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe...” *This is a repost and was originally published July 29, 2021.*
 “With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made ‘restless’ by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity. Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk towards God and love one another.” – Pope Leo XIV, Homily for the Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate In the early days of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the Church sees a missionary, a unifier, and an advocate for the marginalized. He is a person with global experience, who also understands deeply and well both Church and society in North and South America. These traits and many others that we will see over time give us glimpses not only into him, but, more importantly of Christ. Steeped in the spirituality and traditions of the Augustinian Order, Pope Leo seems to want our hearts to rest in God, in the way of St. Augustine, but not rest from our loving care of others. As he shared in his first homily as Pope: “This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Savior. Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Mt 16:16). It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a Church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the Good News to all (cf. Lumen Gentium, 1).” Let us pray for our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV! May the charity of Christ urge us on! In God, the Infinite Love, Fr. Frank
|
Archives
April 2026
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
About |
Media |
© COPYRIGHT 2026 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED