Whirled Peas

World peace would be nice but I would settle for a little peace in my house, myself!

I woke up this morning and quickly moved into panic mode. You see the last few days I have been running late getting to work. Not real late, but being even a few seconds late really gnaws at me. My list of, to-do's, was long. Longer than I could keep track of. Of course writing them down would probably help, but that is for another article.

Praise God that I have a lovely wife who prayed for me to have some peace and relief from my stress. Then I sat down to read the Gospel from today's readings.

John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

Jesus promised us His peace. A peace that is so complete that it surpasses all that we have ever known. He gives it without strings or conditions. We don't have to earn it and He will never take it back. So, what happens then?

We give it back!

We give all of our troubles and anxieties to God and he gives us peace. Then we look over at them laying at the foot of his cross and we take them back. Kind of like taking that favorite t-shirt out of the recycle while your wife is not watching. Or when my son sneaks his favorite shirt out of the dirt clothes to wear again for the 4th day in a row. 

We know it is time to give these things away for good. It is time to have our souls washed clean in the blood of the lamb.

Now is the time. Accept the peace offered to you by Jesus.

Spiritual Diet

So, I am on a diet. According the BMI charts, I need to take off about 30 pounds. I am looking for a happy medium.

For this week, I have started tracking everything I eat. My calorie count has been good but I noticed that my sugar intake is off the wall. Then I realized that I had been real grumpy that day and a bit anxious. I made the connection between the amount of sugar and my mood.

This got me to thinking about how important it is to watch what I am putting into my body as it has great consequences. I may be losing weight but the side affects are not desirable. So, now this got me to thinking about my spiritual diet. Sometimes, I notice that my prayer is great but my scripture study is non-existent. Not a recipe for a healthy spiritual life.

At different times, you may crave different things. That's OK. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and where he may be guiding your spiritual life.

When we eat too much, we feel lethargic. The same thing can happen in our spiritual life. When we have too many devotions, we can become lethargic in our spiritual life. The very things that we want to feed our spiritual life are what is dragging us down.

What are the spiritual sugars that I am putting into myself? Are these affecting me in a good or bad way? Do I have a healthy, balanced spiritual diet? Am I covering all of the food groups; prayer, sacraments, service,  and scripture?

Bottom line, we need to keep our spiritual life balanced and our physical life. Let's pay attention to our diets, physical and spiritual.

They Will Pick Up Serpents

On Thursday, I realized that I had been in a bit of a funk. I had not written anything in my blog for about a week and so I proudly said to my wife that I would blog about whatever the readings were that day. 

Then I read the readings. Maybe I should have looked at the readings first, but they were just what I needed to hear and more I have been contemplating on them for a couple days now.

1 Peter 5:6-7 So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

I think sometimes I am able to cast all my worries on him. But then, I guess I must like my worries because I take them back. The problem I have with worry and anxiety is that they can become self-fulfilling. I am anxious or worried because I may not be good enough. Intellectually, I know this is not the case but still the worry exists. So, then if I sin, I prove that I am not good enough and my worries are justified.

Now that is pretty dumb. And yet we do it. (I am sure I am not the only one).

Why do others seem to have a much higher opinion of what I can do than I do. I mean like my boss seems to think I can work miracles. This makes me feel good and scared at the same time because there is an expectation out there. How can I ever measure up?

Mark 16:17-18 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

 No pressure here, right? Jesus is telling them they will work miracles, literally. Jesus is calling all of us to work miracles. He has a high opinion of us. He is like a father encouraging his son or daughter to take the training wheels off. 

What are our training wheels? What is keeping us from working the miracles that God has given us the ability to work in His name? How do we get over not feeling worthy?



Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

1 Peter 5:6-7 - So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you. 

Thoughts: On September 8th, my worries were truly laid at the feet of God and I was washed clean in the waters of baptism. It was truly a baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

I was a master at worrying. I still have occasional worries as I still live in this world. My worries will not ever be gone until I sit in heaven at the feet of Jesus. 

Through the practice of frequent prayer, constantly laying my worries at the feet of Jesus in humble submission to the will of God I  feel the love that comes from a close, personal relationship with Christ. I now fill the empty spot, where I used to keep my worries, with the word of God.

Once I was able to truly lay all my worries at the foot of the cross and submit myself humbly in prayer to Him, He started using me in awe inspiring ways to share the message to anyone I might have the opportunity to. This call to humble service feeds my soul in so many ways. It may be a bit bold but I feel a real connection to Pope Francis and desire to follow the loving example he is giving us.