» Mission and Purpose

Living from the Heart

Written by on September 24, 2011 - 8 Comments

Are you living in your head or from your heart?

What does it feel like to live in our heads? When we live in our heads we over think, we easily tire, we literally feel our minds buzzing with distractions.  We feel mentally, spiritually, and emotionally cluttered.  Living in our heads is heavy, burdensome, and tiring.

What does it feel like to live from our hearts?  We feel connected to God, to ourselves, and to others.  We feel passion and love.  We enjoy the moment.  We’re serene and happy.

Living in our heads is draining; living from our hearts is invigorating.  Living in our heads drives us to isolate.; living from our hearts leads us to connect more deeply with others.

I think many of us are disconnected from our hearts.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the heart is “the place of encounter.”  The heart is the deepest center of the person, the place where we are most authentically ourselves, the place where we encounter the living and Triune God.  The more we connect with our hearts, the more we connect with the Lord who dwells in us.

So how do we make this journey from living in our heads to living from our hearts?  I’ve been trying to do just that.  I’ve consciously distanced myself from technology.  I’ve gotten off of Facebook and Twitter and disabled email on my iPhone.  Yes, I still use the internet and email daily, but I’ve consciously stepped away from a lot of it.  It’s made a big impact in a short amount of time.  I’m more peaceful, and I’m more connected to the Lord, myself, and others.

So here are some steps you can take to get out of your head and into your heart:

  • Minimize distractions in your daily life.  Let technology be your servant not your master.
  • Declutter.  Get rid of the clothes you don’t need.  Clean off your desk.  Get rid of those items you’ve been wanting to throw away.
  • Consciously slow down during the day.  Remember that you are a temple of the Lord.
  • Make time for daily silence; open your heart to the Lord in deeper prayer.
  • Be present to people.  Look them in the eyes.  Be conscious that God is present in your encounter with each and every person.
  • Commit to some type of physical exercise.
  • Enjoy nature.
  • Laugh.

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Let Your Light Shine

Written by on July 22, 2011 - 2 Comments

The other day I was doing some grocery shopping at Shaw’s Market.  For some reason I was in a bad mood, feeling rather irritable; but I guess that’s the way most men feel when they have to go shopping.  As I was pushing the shopping cart around looking for the items on my list, I heard a man singing.  He wasn’t just humming or singing quietly to himself; he was singing joyfully for all to hear.

As I got to the aisle where the mysterious, singing man was, I noticed that he was an employee.  He was joyfully stocking shelves, smiling and greeting each person that passed by.  My first thought was that this man was acting rather strangely.  But as I continued shopping–and he continued singing–something began to change in me.

I noticed that I began to chuckle and smile as I listened to his voice bellow throughout the store.  And as my chuckling and laughing increased, my irritable mood began to decrease.  I was being affected by this man’s joy.  He clearly didn’t care what others thought about him, and I admired that.  He was just enjoying his work and letting others know it.

That experience reminded me that we can indeed have a positive effect on people by the way we live.  That man had no idea that I was in an irritable mood, but his joy was infectious and I left the store feeling a bit happier than when I had arrived.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.  Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14-16).

I’m happy that the singing-Shaw’s-employee let his light shine that day so that my spirit could be uplifted.

Are you aware of your moods and how they affect others?  Have you ever had the experience of your mood being changed, for good or for bad, by someone else’s behavior?

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Does God Speak through Our Desires?

Written by on February 9, 2011 - 11 Comments

“May He give you your heart’s desire” (Psalm 20:5)

In my attempt to stay in shape during this cold and snowy New England winter I’ve retreated to the treadmill, mostly because I don’t like being out in the cold.  Truthfully, I find the treadmill extremely boring, so I’ve loaded my iPhone with some good talks to pass the time.

I’m a big fan of John Eldredge and I recently listened to the podcast from the Desire Conference that he gave with his colleague Gary Barkalow.
Eldredge and Barkalow’s point is simple but profound: God speaks to us through the holy and noble desires of our hearts, and so it’s important for us to become deeply aware of these desires because they point us toward our mission and union with God.

Some well-intentioned Christians, however, take the approach that we must kill our desires in order to be holy.  Some fear the power of desire or they mistrust it, and so they believe the best approach is to suppress or ignore it.  You may have met some of these people: they claim to have deep faith, but they never smile or laugh for example.  The truth is that God has placed good and holy desires within us to lead us closer to Him.

It’s important to understand that when I refer to getting in touch with desire I am not speaking about the sinful inclinations that we all experience–which, by the way, simply need to be tutored by God’s grace so that they can point us toward the good.  What I am referring to are those desires that exist in the deepest core of our being, those desires that we can only know clearly as we sit in quiet and open ourselves to experience the presence of God.

As Christians we believe in the existence of the devil, our enemy.  One of the devil’s greatest tactics is to kill desire within us (Barkalow makes this point brilliantly in the 5th talk).  The devil wants us to ignore desire, because he knows if we get in touch with the good and holy desires of our hearts, they will lead us to a deeper friendship with the Lord.

So what does the devil do? He keeps us busy: We find every excuse not to pray and not to listen to the voice of the Lord within us.  He also fills our lives with noise: television, radio, Internet, iPods, anything to keep us from being attentive to the desires of our hearts.  Or he makes us doubt: for a moment, we get in touch with the desires of our hearts, but then we think there’s no way that I can live this out…no way that God is asking this of me.

Have you taken the time to prayerfully reflect upon the holy desires of your heart?

Barkalow poses three questions to help us identify our deepest, God-given desires: What do I desire to bring to the world?  What contribution do I long to hear that I have made?  What am I doing when I feel God’s pleasure?

I encourage you to take these questions to prayer.

What is the holy longing in your heart?  What is God saying to you through it?  It’s in those desires that you will find what He is asking you to bring to the world.

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The Saints: Teachers of Authentic Happiness

Written by on November 6, 2010 - 2 Comments

This is a video of my homily from All Saints Day at La Salle Academy, the high school where I am blessed to serve as chaplain.  The Mass was celebrated in the gymnasium.  It’s such a great feeling to be able to preach to over 1400 teenagers!  Thanks to my campus ministry colleague, Ms. Maggie Naughton, for shooting this video with my Flip recorder.

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How to Live Your Purpose

Written by on May 2, 2010 - 3 Comments

“You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense” (Rick Warren) So, how are you doing with identifying your purpose?  If you haven’t read my last post about how to know your purpose, or if you just want to review it, go do it now before [...]

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How to Know Your Purpose

Written by on April 25, 2010 - 7 Comments

“Don’t ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive” (Howard Thurman). Do you believe that God created you for a specific purpose?  I do–with every fiber of my being.  However, not everyone believes this.  To paraphrase Henry [...]

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My Failed Jack Bauer Attempt…and What I Learned

Written by on April 22, 2010 - 22 Comments

I’m a “24″ addict.  If you’re not familiar with the show, Kiefer Sutherland plays Jack Bauer (above), the US Counter Terrorism agent who always saves the day.  My DVR is set to record each episode.  Every Monday after 9:00 Night Prayer in the seminary chapel, my friend Fr. Dave and I rush to my living [...]

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