"By your patience you will save your souls." Jesus's words highlight the importance of patience in the Christian life. Patience is the ability to suffer well. Suffering well entails freely embracing suffering which cannot or should not be avoided. The deepest truth about patience is its connection to charity, to love. "Love is patient. ... Love endures all things." To love God, others, and ourselves rightly, we must learn to practice patience with God, with others, and also with ourselves. https...
Nov 13, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 43
The martyrdom of the seven sons and their mother in the second book of Maccabees helps us to reflect on our own relationship with God. All martyrs and saints detest sin so much that they would rather die than offend God in a serious way. Their trust and hope in God's providence and in eternal life strengthens their resolve against sin. God is worth living for and dying for. This is exactly how God loves us. On the Cross Jesus showed the "greatest love" when he "laid down his life for his friends...
Nov 06, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 42
All Souls Day is a special occasion to pray for all the faithful departed, especially for those closest to us. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Nov 02, 2022•11 min•Season 3Ep. 41
Our call to holiness is clearly revealed in the New Testament. St. Peter tells us, "as he who called you is holy, be holy in all your conduct." This is clearly a call to action. At the same time, however, we must realize that holiness is more something done to us-- and in us--than something done by us. "To be filled with the fullness of God", as St. Paul puts it, is a divine initiative. This takes great courage and trust on our part, because to be filled with God is also to die once and again to...
Oct 30, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 40
First in a series of classes on Christian ethics. In this class we discuss ethics in general and then focus on the difference that Christ makes to ethics. Ethical concerns are universal to all men and women. The difference between good and bad living, good and bad choices, is something that we all have to face and reckon with. Christ offers abundant light and new possibilities for our ethical life. In Christ the ability to be truly good is made available to all. He offers a satisfying explanatio...
Oct 28, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 39
In the face of a great personal tragedy, Jesus insists to the synagogue official Jairus that he replace his fear with trust. To hope is to be convinced that God is greater than any problem in our life. Hope also transforms our expectations for happiness. It moves us to place our greatest desires in God and in heaven, rather than in anything in this earthly life. By practicing Christian hope, especially during the most difficult times, we free ourselves to love and help the world in a more truthf...
Oct 23, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 38
Jesus's parable of the widow and the unjust judge teaches us to pray with persistence and intensity. While always confident that God our Father hears and answers our prayers, we are called to exercise this confidence by patient perseverance in our petitions. "Prayer works." This is a fundamental Gospel truth. Prayer is powerful and others depend on our prayers of intercession for them. Prayer of petition brings us closer to God, by reminding us of our status as his creatures and children. https:...
Oct 16, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 37
Jesus's healing encounter with the ten lepers helps us reflect on mercy and grace. Like the lepers with their disease, only a miracle can help us overcome our sinfulness. Each conversion is a real miracle, including our own conversions. Grace is a gift. Gifts are not earned, but humbly asked for. In the month of the Rosary, we can be more aware of all of the mercy we ask for whenever we pray the Rosary well. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Oct 09, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 36
Opus Dei , the Work of God, was founded by St. Josemaria on October 2nd, 1928. The universal call to holiness, clearly expressed in the New Testament and tirelessly preached by St. Josemaria, was first experienced by him personally as a young man. This loving call is eternal and intimately connected to our identity and mission in life. By responding to this call we turn the "ordinary prose" of our everyday life into "heroic verse." Our work and life thus becomes a true "Work of God." https://com...
Oct 01, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 35
The Samaritan woman's meeting Jesus at the well is a model for our own encounter with Him in prayer. He thirsts for our prayer and understands our human condition. He offers us "the Gift of God" and entices us with talk of living water. Sincerity about our sinfulness, our lack of trust, is necessary to have him as our savior, to receive all that he offers. Once healed we, like the woman at the well, can move from shame to shameless proclamation of Christ. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Sep 25, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 34
Matthew's response to his vocation demonstrates a great deal of trust in Jesus. His Gospel emphasizes Jesus's deep appreciation of faith and his disappointment at its absence. Trust in Jesus should be absolute, lending a great certainty to our faith in his Church and in all of his teachings. "Faith is the evidence of things unseen." This means that at times we will have to trust more in Jesus than in the evidence of our own senses or the apparent evidence of our own judgment. https://comeawaybyy...
Sep 20, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Christ's Triumph on the Cross defeated sin and death. It was a triumph of love over selfishness. This victory needs to be repeated in our own lives, in our own carrying of the Cross. Sin and selfishness have to be defeated in us and this entails the acceptance of suffering and sacrifice; in a word the acceptance of the Cross. Suffering is inevitable in life, but whether it is redemptive and sanctifying or futile and permanent is truly up to us. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Sep 14, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 32
The Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a cause of Christian joy and wonder. Our Lady's birth reminds us of the historical reality of our faith. Mary was and is a real woman who lived a normal human life just like ours. Through her, in her, our God became man to redeem us. Her birth precedes and enables his infant birth. In our own way, God can be born once again in us. This happens when we imitate Mary's humility and obedient love. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Sep 08, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 31
The infinite transcendence of God is a challenge to our faith and love. Jesus uses shocking language to teach us just how radically different our love for God should be compared with all of our other loves. Developing a more adequate love for God first requires believing in his radical transcendence and his primacy. It also requires the humility to admit that we do not yet love him as he deserves. From this faith and humility, we can move to improve the quality of our love for God: with prayer, ...
Sep 04, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Jesus continually calls us to an alert vigilance. He does this to make us aware of the great opportunities of love and service that fill our ordinary lives. At the beginning of a new school year, it is good to foster an eager alertness in our souls, an excitement for the work that lies ahead of us. If we find ourselves dull and without energy, we can start by asking Jesus for more strength, more enthusiasm. If our lethargy persists, we can pray and practice a greater love of interior struggle as...
Aug 28, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Jesus tells us to pray to have the strength "to stand before the Son of Man." When we die we will be judged by God. This is a hard truth but also a truth that saves us. If we ask God for the courage to see ourselves as we really are now, we will be prepared for our death and God's judgment. Reliance on God's grace, fostering sincerity with ourselves and others, living charity, and regularly examining our conscience are all ways to avoid self-deception and to prepare for our definitive meeting wi...
Aug 21, 2022•32 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Originally published 8/15/2020. The Assumption of Our Lady is one of God's wonderful works. It provides an opportunity for us to increase our faith in God and to contemplate our Lady's presence with her Son in heaven. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Aug 15, 2022•27 min•Season 3Ep. 37
Jesus promises his disciples a joy "that no one will take from you." To be joyful we have to be attentive and sensitive to the great goods in our life. Among these are God's constant love for us and our own ability to love and serve him in return. Pride obscures our vision of true goods. To serve joyfully and find joy in serving, we need to foster humility. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Aug 14, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 36
Large, desperate crowds would press in on Jesus to hear and touch him. He was the focus of all of their attention and desires. Our Lord should be just the same for us: central to our lives. We meet Jesus in the Eucharistic Bread, in Sacred Scripture, in our habitual presence of God, and in others. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Aug 07, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 35
Originally published March 2021 As Good Friday approaches, we reflect on Jesus' death on the Cross. In his Passion and death, Jesus turns suffering into love. Love gives his suffering meaning and makes it fruitful. Jesus invites us to likewise accept suffering as a means to loving God and others. Suffering is unavoidable in this life, the real question is what will we do with it? https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Jul 31, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 34
Humility is a crucial virtue for the Christian life. Living it demands some courage given our tendency to prop ourselves up and to protect our self-esteem. Admitting our sinfulness and even our nothingness before God, however, is ultimately liberating and fruitful. Our humility must be accompanied by a deep sense of God's reality and his love for us. If it is, we will experience that "he who humbles himself will be exalted." https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Jul 24, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Jesus' visit to Martha and Mary contains great insights for our Christian life. Mary's attention to our Lord is a great act of appreciation and love. Jesus' correction of Martha is not owing to her being busy serving, but more for her being distracted and worried. Love, which includes prayer, is the one thing necessary. And love unites our attention, giving focus and purpose to all that we do. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Jul 17, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Moses describes God's law as "near" to the people of Israel. God's Word is also very near to us. Thanks to Jesus, we know what it takes to live life well and enter eternal life. The problem is actually wanting to do it. Like the scholar of the law, we wish to justify ourselves by overthinking, by making excuses, by hiding our basic unwillingness to love and obey. God's grace can change our unwillingness to willing submission and all of our obstinate "no's" into loving "yes's." https://comeawayby...
Jul 10, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 31
King David's fall into adultery and murder is a lesson in how sin happens and how we can respond to it. David's sin is preceded by idleness and sloth. Once fully aware of his sin, however, he appeals immediately to God's mercy. Our first response to sin should always be a radical trust in God's mercy and, when necessary, a prompt recourse to confession. In addition to trust in God's mercy, we should be resolute in our struggle against sinful habits. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Jul 02, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 30
On the Feast of St. Josemaria, we reflect on Jesus's presence in our ordinary lives and work. Originally published 2020. On the Feast of St. Josemaria, we reflect on Jesus's presence in our ordinary lives and work.
Jun 26, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 29
The "Bread of Life" Discourse in John Chapter 6 is a treasure trove of spiritual insights. Faith in Jesus's person is paramount for the Christian life. This faith is tested by the audacity of his claims for the Eucharist as well as by the trials and difficulties of our personal Christian vocation. Jesus promises spiritual satisfaction, eternal life, and, most amazingly of all, intimate communion with him for those who receive the Bread of Life in the Eucharist. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Jun 23, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 28
The Trinity is the deepest mystery of our Faith, revealing to us the secrets of God's inner life. This mystery transmits to us God's transcendence, his intimacy with us, and the importance of charity in the Christian life. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Jun 12, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 26
The Holy Spirit is a powerful agent of spiritual renewal and transformation. The virtue of docility and the gift of counsel are needed to tap into the motions of the Spirit which always accompany and surround us. The Sanctifier will sculpt the image of Christ in us provided that we are humble and willing to follow his lead. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Jun 04, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 25
After telling her "I am the resurrection and the life" Jesus asks Martha point blank, "Do you believe this?" What is the caliber of our faith in Christ? Do we believe all that he tells us about himself and his relationship to us? https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
May 29, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Recorded live May 17, 2022. On preparing for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Docility is key to fostering a deeper relationship with the Paraclete. Where do we find his inspirations? What does he want us to do? How do we know if we are lead by the Spirit? Questions like these will help us be ready for Pentecost.
May 22, 2022•25 min•Season 3Ep. 23
