Reality Check

Elements of my life seem to pass in phases. Sometimes I’m in a reading phase where I’ll read five-seven books a week. Other times in a writing phase where I could sit down and write for hours.

Right now I’m in a “weird” phase.

I read a lot. I write a lot. But the thing is, I work and pray a lot as well. Yesterday I left for work at 7:00 AM and arrived home from work at 11:00 PM. If you do the math, that’s a sixteen hour work day. During the day I was able to take some time for prayer in the adoration chapel adjacent to my office. It seems like a lot – but it’s just what Mondays are like for me. The rest of the week isn’t quite as packed!

But still, I really feel like I need to go on retreat somewhere for a week or so. I just would love to grab my rosary, Bible, catechism, code of canon law (that’s weird, I know), and the works of Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas and simply pray, study, and write for a solid week.

At the same time I need some simplicity. Christ commands us to be like children to enter his Kingdom. St. Thomas Aquinas called his many words about God a pile of worthless straw in comparison to beholding God’s glory and splendor. Sometimes I have too many ideas floating around my head! I need to focus on the beatitudes. Many Catholics know the truth and live good lives – but to become truly saintly, that is, beautiful, they must live out the beatitudes.

Humility is step one for both Socrates and Jesus. The poor in spirit are blessed (the first beatitude) because they realize that they are not God. In fact, without God our lives are meaningless and even non-existent. Humility produces faith – for only one who knows he needs God will be granted the faith to seek Him and rely on Him, day in and day out.

I’m not sure what’s to come next… I’m in the middle of preparing our parish’s Easter Vigil mass but after that I have a whole week off for spring break. So who knows what could happen? Well, God knows… and that’s just fine with me!