Come Away By Yourselves

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

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.  

"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."...

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 exactl...

All Souls Day is a special occasion to pray for all the faithful departed, especially for those closest to us.  https://comeawaybyyourselves.com

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 div...

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...

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, e...

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 fo...

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...

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 pros...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 deserv...

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, mor...

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 chari...

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

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://comeawaybyyo...

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

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...

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 &quo...

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...

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&apos...