Month: January 2021

Categories
Meditation

Don’t Say THIS Prayer

TRANSCRIPT:

So, this is the worst prayer you can ever pray: the Litany of Humility. So, I prayed this prayer because I’m trying to work on pride, which is the root of all sins, and the other day, I had a significant Zoom meeting scheduled with a business prospect. I always take my time to make sure I’m in place, I’m prepared, I’ve done my research, my lighting is decent, sometimes I even try and brush my hair, that sort of thing. And moments before the Zoom call began, there was a fire right here on my desk. What had happened was the little space heater that I have here in my basement office that I use when it’s particularly cold outside caught fire. And so as my Zoom call began, you know, when they let you into that waiting room on a Zoom call? Right as that happened, there was smoke wafting up in front of the camera, and I could see the fire right in front of me.

And of course, I had no option but to try and deal with it right there on camera. That was how I began that call. And as embarrassing as that was, as difficult as that was, that was only just the beginning. Because as I kind of tried to explain to my prospective client what was happening, I heard what sounded like a waterfall in my office. And the truth is that there was, in fact, a waterfall in my office. There was a plumbing catastrophe with my aquaponics system. I have a great big fish tank, and the water from the fish tank is pumped into a container where we grow spinach and lettuce and thyme and basil and those kinds of things, and then the water recycles between the plants and the fish. That all sounds really good, and for the last three years it’s worked fantastically. Until that day.

Somehow, the drainage pipe had clogged up, and the water, instead of flowing back to the fish, was just- it was a waterfall right onto the floor of the basement. That was how I started out the most significant meeting of the week. And so I took that as a message from Our Lord that I need to maybe not take myself so seriously, trust in Him some more, and embrace this whole idea of humiliation, because that was pretty embarrassing.

Categories
Meditation

To See Ourselves as We Are

Categories
Meditation

What Are You Zealous About?

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi there. I’ve been thinking a lot about the political drama and anguish that’s been happening in our country these last several months now and thinking about the riots that were taking place in the capitol. And not just that, but the hundreds of thousands- perhaps millions- of people who have shown up at political rallies in recent months and how much enthusiasm they have, how much passion there is, how they will make great sacrifices, drive long distances, spend money, all of these things over politics.

And politics is important. Let’s face it: It’s the business of the people. And some of the issues facing our country are really dramatic, perhaps the most important that have happened in 150 years. And yet, when I talk to people about religion or when I go to church, I find not even a fraction of the enthusiasm for the Faith and the spiritual life and the development of the conscience and the study of the Scriptures. And even in my own family and among my friends, I find this zeal for politics that is not present in the spiritual life.

And I’m not attempting to judge all of the people who care about politics- I certainly am a political follower myself. But really, it’s a question that I’m now asking myself, whether my every moment of concern about the things of the world- whether it’s politics, whether it’s sports, whatever it might be that’s happening- are those things properly ordered to my eternal good? Do I have the same passion and enthusiasm for the things in my spiritual life that I’m in total control over as I do those things in the temporal world that I have no control over? It’s a question that I’m really thinking about, and I hope this meditation is helpful for you, too.

Categories
Meditation

It’s Time For Me to Decrease

TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, gentlemen. I’ve been reading St. John the Baptist’s words lately- like maybe you have this time of year- and how he talked about the need for him to decrease so that Christ could increase. And you know, it occurred to me that this is not just a catchy saying about John the Baptist, he’s not virtue signaling. This is actually a way of life, and it’s one that we are all called to adopt. Our abandonment of our attachment to things of this world, and that includes our own thoughts and our own feelings to the extent that they’re not perfectly in alignment with the will of God.

So, I must grow smaller in my thoughts, in my words, in my prayers, in my conscious thinking about things, my recollection, my memories, my goals, and my planning for the rest of my life. There needs to be less of me in all of that. In fact, I serve as the primary obstacle to grace in my own life. So, in every possible way, I’m obliged to try and grow smaller, to decrease, because just like when you put something- an object- inside of a box or a can, that object takes up space by its very existence. It’s precluding something else from occupying that space. It’s hard to think about for those of us who have probably spent our entire lives saying, “I want to do this. I want to achieve this. I want to accomplish this. I want to be like this when I grow up. I want to be known for this. I want to have children. I want to have grandchildren. I want to be a good husband.”

Well, sometimes those things are properly ordered, but oftentimes they’re not or at least they’re ordered to a lesser good than what God desires for us. I’m committed to trying to live anew, like John the Baptist talked about, becoming lesser so that God can become greater. And by that method, I have the hope of reaching eternal life.

Categories
Meditation

A Gunman In Church

TRANSCRIPT:

Recently here in Nashville, we had a bombing on Christmas day. In fact, you may have heard something about that- a suicide bomb, basically. We still don’t know exactly why. But that bombing took down a lot of communications, and it also put people on edge. They wondered, “Is this the beginning of a round of violence? Is this the beginning of another series of people showing up at churches, and opening fire on people while they’re praying?” And consequently, we’ve had a lot of people start open carrying at church. We’ve had people, of course, concealed carrying.

And as I was at adoration, I was thinking about what would happen if I was there at adoration- oftentimes there’s just two or three of us- and someone broke in and started firing? And I could see myself ducking down for the ground, maybe doing a low crawl to try and get out of there, maybe having to stand up and run for the nearest exit to try to get away from the gunman. And I thought about that. Why would I run? I would be running just on instinct to save my life, to avoid death.

And yet, it occurred to me that most of us- certainly myself- don’t take that same approach to sin. I don’t flee from sin as if it was my life on the line, and yet, it is my life on the line, right? Even that single venial sin starts to form a foundation for other venial sins and eventually for those mortal sins that can destroy the soul.

And that image of running from the gunman in church but failing to flee the near occasion of sin- whether it’s having an extra drink at the end of the night, whether it’s having seconds at the dinner table, whether it’s failing to give of my excess to those who are in need, or failing to live up to the highest plan that God has for me in my life as a husband and father- I’m shirking my responsibilities. I’m fleeing, but not from sin. And that image really stuck with me. It’s given me a lot to think about, and so I wanted to share it with you today. I hope that it’s profoundly beneficial for you as well. God bless.