Jesus encourages us to respond to our troubled hearts with trust in him and in his Father. To see Jesus is to see the Father, to know Jesus is to know the Father. Jesus's love and mercy reveal what God is truly like even more than a vision of God's power and majesty. Jesus's miracles show us that the same God who is the all powerful creator is also our savior and loving father. Our trust in God's goodness is emboldened by our awareness of God's strength. God's first "miracle," creation, also spe...
May 07, 2023•27 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. This reality fills us with confidence in following Christ. Jesus is also the gate into the fullness of life and into eternal life. Entering this gate entails conversion. We need to leave behind whatever keeps us from following Christ. Conversion demands courage, however, because the gate to life is narrow and the path is difficult. We need courage to fight against sin, to recognize it in the first place, and to accept the tension that our Christian life can cause in o...
Apr 30, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 22
"He who eats this bread will live forever." "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him." In the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus makes wonderful claims about Eucharistic Communion. In Communion, we share in Jesus' resurrection and are intimately united with him. This should change the way we think about Jesus. He is not a merely figure from the past or a distant model to imitate, he is a spiritual force in our lives, a person who is always present with a mind, a will, powe...
Apr 23, 2023•32 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Originally published in 2021. On Divine Mercy Sunday, we reflect on Jesus's message of peace to the Apostles in the upper room on Easter Sunday. He brings them peace and joy when they are afraid and sad. He gives them and us the means to return to peace, the sacrament of confession. God's Mercy is powerful and enduring, only our pride can keep us from experiencing its marvelous effects. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com https://soundcloud.com/dave-grieco-1/tracks...
Apr 16, 2023•31 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Originally published Easter 2021 Jesus's Resurrection is the culmination of his victory over sin and death. In his death and his rising to new life Jesus defeats Satan, the great enemy of God and humanity. The Resurrection proves that God's love for us is undefeated and truly invincible. In any battle that God wants us to fight, we can be fully confident of eventual and joyful victory. Happy Easter! https://comeawaybyyourselves.com For the music see https://open.spotify.com/album/5XqqbnE7ywxlAPO...
Apr 09, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 19
The Cross of Christ is "folly to the Gentiles and a scandal to the Jews." The Crucifixion contradicts our normal expectations of who God is and how he should act. In speaking against us the Cross reveals God as radical love and sin as radical evil. The Cross even contradicted Jesus, who asked that "this cup might pass" during his prayer in the garden. Our crosses will thus also be difficult to understand and accept. However, they remain precious opportunities to follow Christ and live his life. ...
Apr 07, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Jesus's death on the cross is the supreme revelation of God's love. St. Paul tells us that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ. Christ's death shows us how much he loves us and what the Father's love for Him, and for us, is like. This is a reliable love, upon which we can firmly plant all of our problems and our whole life. The cross fills us with confidence in God and our own crosses are a sign of God's confidence in us. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Apr 01, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Almsgiving (charity) is one of the three traditional practices of Lent. When preaching about almsgiving, Jesus focuses on purity of intention. We should love others for their sake and for the glory of God. St. Paul paints a portrait of the Christian heart in his letter to the Ephesians. Christian charity is especially imbued with understanding of others and selflessness in service. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Mar 26, 2023•27 min•Season 3Ep. 16
On the Feast of St. Joseph, we reflect on his courage in accepting the unique responsibilities entrusted to him by God. This courage was bolstered by his trust in God and in God's plan. Joseph didn't have to understand everything to be faithful to God's will. His determination to love and protect Mary and Jesus is tied to his flexibility and detachment with respect to his own plans. For more information and resources, please visit https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Mar 20, 2023•31 min•Season 3Ep. 15
While Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving are the three traditional practices of Lent, prayer should take priority. We learn from the example of Jesus who put prayer in the first place in his day. Like Our Lord, we should make sacrifices in order to find time to pray. Mental prayer is especially fruitful and important. To raise our minds and hearts to God is restful and reminds us that God is our father and our great friend. Lacking time for prayer is most often a lack of desire to pray or a failure...
Mar 19, 2023•32 min•Season 3Ep. 14
St. Paul's letter to the Romans connects justification with a state of spiritual peace. God's love for us should be a source of continual peace even amidst problems and turbulent times. This takes an effort to grow in our faith and to evaluate everything in the light of faith. Hope depends on the reality of God and his love. Paul also sees God's love for us as a source of inner and resilient joy. Knowing that God loves us is a fount of joy that we can tap into even when saddened or distressed by...
Mar 12, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 13
At twelve years of age Jesus takes initiative and responsibility for his mission. To be a man is to take life seriously. Pleasure seeking and love of comfort will keep us from being true men. Boredom is a symptom of selfishness and indifference to others. Jesus invites us to join him in his work of redemption. This takes growth in our own sense of maturity, self-control, responsibility, and initiative. Some of the examples in this meditation may not be suitable for younger children. https://come...
Mar 05, 2023•24 min•Season 3Ep. 12
A theology class given for parents at Montrose School in January 2023. If God is good and all of his creation is therefore good, what can "evil" possibly be? The mysterious nature of evil and its connection to nothingness are important topics for Christian reflection. By understanding evil's strange relationship with goodness and the true source of moral evil, we will be better equipped to recognize and reject it. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Feb 27, 2023•57 min•Season 3Ep. 11
After forty days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus is tempted by the devil. We learn the importance of our own Lenten fasts by reflecting on Jesus' fast. Jesus' temptations also contain valuable lessons for us. Temptation is part of God's plan for us. As it was for Jesus, temptation can be for us a great spiritual opportunity rather than an obstacle. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Feb 26, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Lent is a season of penance and prayer. Voluntary denial of our bodies, souls, and our very selves strengthens our spiritual life. Without silence, deep prayer is impossible. Without mortification of our habitual distractions, interior silence is unattainable. Above all, we should practice the denial of our ego. Self-satisfaction, vanity, and pride can all coexist with other forms of mortification. For Jesus to live in us and through us, the denial of our self-centeredness is indispensable. http...
Feb 22, 2023•29 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Lent is a great opportunity for conversion. Conversion is a deep change of mind and heart: to leave behind the wisdom of the world in order to have the mind of Christ. The beatitudes are a call to conversion. They contradict what the world considers as essential to a good life. The first beatitude, "blessed are the poor in spirit" is particularly helpful for us in our often materialistic and consumerist culture. Lent provides us with a season to practice detachment and to foster interior silence...
Feb 19, 2023•27 min•Season 3Ep. 8
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." What a difference it makes to know that Jesus is present within us! Ours is a God who loves us, understands us, and wants to help us. And he doesn't do this from a far distance, he is more present to us than we are to ourselves. With him present in our soul, we need never be alone.
Feb 12, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 7
The corporal works of mercy are the scorecard by which we will be judged at the final judgment. Awareness and alleviation of the needs of others are essential components of Christian life. Our modern lifestyle and society often hides the most needy from us. To help others who really need it, we have to be intentional and to fight against our tendency to comfort and self-seeking. When we commit to Charity, we experience God more intensely, enjoy a peaceful conscience, and often benefit even more ...
Feb 05, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 6
"I have called you my friends." These words of Jesus teach us how we should speak to him in our prayer. Close friends converse with each other confidently and intimately. We should habitually share all of our thoughts, feelings, and concerns with our friend Jesus. He is interested in any and every thing that affects us. In times of trouble, when it seems like he has left us, this continuous dialogue becomes even more important. They are moments to be trustingly sincere and simple. Eventually he ...
Jan 29, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Evangelization came naturally to the first Christians. Convinced of how much good Christ did for them, they were convincing in encouraging others to meet Christ for themselves. A profound knowledge and appreciation of our own relationship with Jesus will also move us to share our faith with others spontaneously and naturally. This sharing is the result of the depth of our prayer life and our genuine concern for the people in our life. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Jan 22, 2023•28 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Holiness is God's own will and resolution for us. In calling us to be holy God resolves that we be such. Holiness is the fullness of charity. To respond to our call to holiness, to live this divine resolution, is to learn to love God in himself and in and through all things. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Jan 15, 2023•31 min•Season 3Ep. 3
This was the Q&A session that followed the class on freedom.
Jan 05, 2023•13 min•Season 4Ep. 2
A class given in November, 2022 to parents at Montrose School, Medfield, MA. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Jan 05, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Christmas puts before us the Virgin Mary loving and caring for her Divine Son. It's a scene that we can enter into in our prayer and in our life. Jesus says that we too are "his mother" insofar as we do God's will. God allows Mary and all of us to love him in the Christ child just as He has always loved us: with a mother's heart. Christmas is a time to begin life again with a newfound trust in the goodness of God. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com...
Jan 01, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 51
Jesus's appearance as a child contains valuable lessons for our life. Dependence, sincerity, humility and trust are all luminously revealed by the infant God. Christ's whole life is a "master class" on how to live, including his apparent inaction in the manger. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Dec 25, 2022•25 min•Season 3Ep. 50
Joseph welcomes Mary into his home and thus welcomes Jesus with her. Jesus is Emmanuel, "God with us", and the "God who saves." Jesus's presence in the world is a spur to our own spirit of service. He is in us and among us as "one who serves." https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Dec 18, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 49
A meditation on trust, patience, and God's power and love.
Dec 11, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 48
Originally published 12/8/2020: The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady is a wonderful occasion for prayer. Our Lady's special favor with God is a reflection of his generosity and love for us. Bernadette of Lourdes' encounter with Mary helps us to deal personally with our Lady as she truly is: a loving mother and a teacher of prayer.
Dec 08, 2022•32 min•Season 3Ep. 47
Isaiah foresees the absolute peace that Christ will eventually establish. Until then, Christ's peace is ours to develop and folster. Christ brings us peace with God, peace with ourselves, and peace with others. To foster and enjoy this peace is a beautiful task and privilege of all Christians. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
Dec 04, 2022•27 min•Season 3Ep. 46
Originally published Advent 2020 John the Baptist is a key figure in Advent. His call to penance prepares us for the coming of Christ, our redeemer and savior. A key to being redeemed and saved is our recognition of our own sinfulness. Only by admitting our need for Christ will we truly encounter him come Christmas time.
Nov 27, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 45
