A Restless Life

In listening to Jeremiah's words in the First Reading, he reiterates God's importance in our life, which is reiterated in the Psalm.  To paraphrase these: God is our salvation, the source of our strength, the backbone that keeps us upright.  God is our refuge and our protector, and will provide solace in times of need.  This rings true especially to me, as I am reminded of my need to place more importance to be mindful of God's influence and more gracious of the gifts provided to me.  I find myself too often distracted by the problems of the day and feel like I must tackle them all alone.  Jeremiah words reassure me that God is here and will provide aid, whether directly through those gifts given or indirectly through those sent into my life. I'm sure we're all familiar with the Second Reading, or at least the latter part of it, due to its popularity in use at wedding ceremonies.  The first part of the reading is bracketed* this week, and provides a great i...

Throughout your life, you will find yourself amidst many distractions – wealth, social media, food, drink, sports, art, career, travel – and all of these will demand your attention.  These are fine in moderation, but these material items cannot, and should not, be your anchor.  Being superficial items, the support from these are shallow and will not support you through any sort of trial.  It may be true that these can provide short-term motivation to achieve truly amazing goals.  But for happiness and success to follow you throughout life, you need a consistent and constant why that reverberates across your life.  And to me, love needs to be that anchor that grounds your endeavors.  Love has been and continues to be my beacon that guides my decisions and gives you your why.  From the beginning of our lives, love surrounds us.   This love is found in our latching onto our families as we gain our initial identities from those around us – that fami...

Following last week's post on the readings, I found myself weirdly excited in Mass this past weekend with anticipation of what was to come.  I felt like I was well prepared for some exam that was to come.  Now this week, I contrast that feeling with the first reading where, according to the context provided next to my set of readings, the people of Nehemiah and Ezra's time were hearing the Word proclaimed for the first time following their return and they wept for joy at this experience.  Their actions are echoed in the Psalm's response that God's Words are spirit and life, expressing the tangible and intangible strength He has.  At the culmination of the First Reading, Ezra's proclamation to enjoy life, share with others, and celebrate the holiness of the day, is a good reminder to celebrate the important and sacred events in life. While I know that I won't do any justice to St. Paul in delving into the theological insights he provides in the Second Reading, I ...

 Life is all about choices.  You have the choice to be in motion or to stay static, and this applies to all aspects of your life.  While it may seem that situations will necessitate both, it is important to discern what to action is required.  I have tried to error on the side of action and carry that bias through all aspects of my life.  I have found that momentum is all that it is cracked up to be, both for good and for bad.    Once you make that tough decision, things start to fall into place and momentum carries the day.  Conversely, each time you hesitate and fail to act, it gets harder and harder to get those gears cranking.  The beauty of this is that you are the master of your fate, you are in charge.  Steel yourself and dare to take that plunge – who knows how that momentum will permeate into other areas of your life.  What starts off as a personal decision to wake up an hour earlier to get in that workout, could lead to ...

 Let me begin with this: I know nothing.  W ith that out of the way, I can begin.  We all have these little “aha” moments in everyday life that bring us a moment of clarity before the next thing distracts us – family, work, etc…  About 15 years ago, I began to take note of these moments, mainly through notes or voice memos on my phone as I’m typically on the go as these nuggets of wisdom strike.   I still vividly remember that first time, when I was traveling for work and ended up having an extended layover in Atlanta’s airport for six hours having missed a connection due to a delay.  As I sat in the terminal with nothing to do but watch my fellow travelers hurriedly go this way and that, the presence of so many individuals with preoccupied with their worlds made up of their unique hopes, dreams, loves, emotional baggage, just passing each other on their way to live their life.   I’ll dig deeper into that little anecdote in a separate post later...

What a great set of readings to begin this journey.  Not just in the Gospel, with Jesus performing his first public miracle, which echoes my beginning here with this project, albeit with mine beginning on a much smaller scale and in a more insignificant way...  But in starting with the first line of the First Reading, I feel like it is my own soul crying out that it will “not be quiet”.  In continuing to the Psalm, I (we) must “proclaim His marvelous deeds”, which are loving and miraculous, pointing towards what is to be read in the Second Reading and the Gospel.  This week, I’ll focus on the latter two readings mainly, as they resonated most with me. In the Second Reading, Paul is writing to the Corinthians around two thousand years ago, and yet the words seemingly could be spoken to any of us.  The Lord, through the Holy Spirit, provides gifts to us all, and it is part of our journey to find the proper outlets and use of those gifts.  We may be skilled ...