How do you feel about your morning prayer routine? For years, I felt that I was giving God the scraps of my energy, heart and mind. I would pray but that came after some internet browsing on Catholic news sites. I told myself that these “faith-related” articles were fine, just part of my morning routine. As it would turn out, one artic...

A tough Lent. Sickness, hospital visits for family members, the death of Cary’s half sister. While typical Lents would feature some earnest sacrifice of material goods and an extra dose of liturgical traditions, this one took on its own personality. And a personality that we did not enjoy. We eagerly waited for the finish line. The wai...

The world enters into the Holy Triduum today. For the next three (or so) days, we will reflect on the Lord’s Passion, death and resurrection. For Catholics, Orthodox Christians and others who take liturgy seriously, these next few days are rich with symbols, traditions and ancient rites. As you know, I love books and especially, spirit...

Of all of the YouTube videos I watch in a week, most are related to a Boston sports team or a productivity app. This one however, stopped me in my tracks. How quiet is your life? -Mike — Michael St. Pierre, Ed.D. www.mikestpierre.com

When we pray, we seldom are focused perfectly on the Lord. Rather, we are busied by many things. This noise is both within us and outside of us. On the inside track, we worry, fret, are distracted, and unsettled. Outside of us, we see things, hear things, feel things. In prayer, all of these issues come to bear upon us. They push down,...

This post isn’t about math, it’s about the freedom that comes when you enjoy less. Our culture isn’t big on less. It craves more, bigger, better, and newer. The idea of “enjoying less” feels, at least in American terms, like an oxymoron. Lately, I’ve been looking to do something very simple in the morning: get out the door with fewer s...

During a recent trip to see my father, I perused (who uses that word!) his bookshelf and found Robert Wicks’ Riding the Dragon: 10 Lessons for Inner Strength in Challenging TImes. The book made its way back home with me to PA and I’ve been reading this little gem over the past few weeks. A bit of backstory. I’ve been a fan of Dr. Wicks...

We tell ourselves stories all of the time. This starts, unfortunately, at a young age. • I’m not good at math. • I don’t have a good attention span. • I’m not artistic. • I’m just a messy person at heart. • I’m not athletic. • I’m born late for things. • I’m shy. The list goes on and on. We do this in prayer as well although we are sel...

It’s been almost four months since I began a new job as the Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Allentown. A blessed time for me as a professional- new challenges, great people and lots of systems to learn. My podcasting has paused and my blog posts have slowed. There have been plenty of times when I’ve wondered if I still hav...

In Tuesday’s morning prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, Isaiah 38:19tells fathers to tell their sons of God’s faithfulness. For me, this was one of those moments when God hit me between the eyes, “Mike, have YOU told your kids about how you came to Christ?” I decided at that point to use night prayers with the family to tell my kids a...

As I’m in a lot (and I mean a lot) of meetings each week, I get to hear a lot of prayers. Prayers for discernment, prayers of petition, prayers to calm a situation. I find this fascinating, listening to how individuals and groups of people pray. You learn something (probably not that much but something nonetheless) about the person who...

Do you ever feel distracted at Mass? We attended the 10am Mass at our parish this past Sunday. After arriving a few minutes early (not always a given when you have kids), I should have been later focused on the Lord and the privilege of worshiping Him. Instead, I felt distracted. I was distracted. A grandmother sat behind her family an...

Patrick Lencioni is one of the most prolific authors of the past 25 years. His books on business and leadership have shaped a generation of knowledge workers. I still remember the first time I read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and its core principles still resonate today. Great books are like that. Through a board assignment, I got ...

So much of The Quiet Life is about subtraction. St. Teresa of Avila famously said, “The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.” This process of a simpler, quieter, leaner spiritual life isn’t easy. There’s just so much noise that we allow into our lives. That noise starts on the outside and eventually creeps into our he...

Today’s Gospel is a tough one for homilists. Which part of the parable from Matthew 13 do you emphasize? This reflection provides some helpful background on Biblical farming and the idea of poisoning another’s crop with weed infiltration. It’s worth a read for you RoundUp fans who despise the weeds in your garden. No matter how you loo...

We live in a noisy world and while this isn’t particularly “new”, it’s become harder to maintain a clear, quiet mind. Think of the last time you arrived early for Mass. Those few quiet minutes were likely filled with head noise, i.e. distractions and thoughts. The fact is that our constant consumption of media seeps into our heads and ...

What do you love about your prayer life? Is it the liturgical moments when you are in community, praising God? Or, in the quiet of your home, do you savor the still mornings that precede a full schedule and hefty todo list? This article brought a smile to my face called What it Means to be Home. The author cherishes the littlest of thi...

When I lived in New Jersey, I enjoyed sports talk radio, WFAN on a daily basis. While I’m a Boston fan, the New York/New Jersey radio station offered up more than enough raw meet for even the casual fan. A typical line when folks would call in would be, “Hey it’s Phil from the Bronx, first time long time…” and then launch into his ques...

How do you capture important conversations? In the busy world in which we live, it’s easy to have a fantastic conversation and then let it pass into the ether, forgotten in minutes. But what if there was a better way, a more intentional way of remembering the contents of that conversation? It’s no secret that I’m a proponent of spiritu...

As a layman, I’ve struggled through the Liturgy of the Hours (or as I’ll refer to it, the Office) over the past few months. Having subscribed to Word on Fire’s monthly subscription, I figured I’d give it a try for the first time in decades. $7 a month felt like a worthwhile experiment. My experience has gone like this: • Month one: thi...

Since Covid began, our family has said evening prayers in one form or another. A typical weekly schedule includes the following: • One night for the Divine Mercy chaplet (the kids love it because it’s so short) • One night for intercessions • One night for Catholic art or religious imagery • One night for catechesis or apologetics • On...

Pride month begins tomorrow but in the United States, it’s been going on for at least a week. My local ShopRite began displaying rainbow shopping bags last week. No matter where you look, pride flags are everywhere. I can’t really think of a company that isn’t doing something for Pride month, even the pet food store. It’s worth thinkin...

We spend a lot of time striving. We work towards a greater income. We aim to be successful. We maintain our stuff so that it will last longer. We manage our time. We take vitamins and work out in order to live longer and be healthy. A question I’ve often pondered deals with the interplay between what God can do in all of this and what ...

“My name is Mike and I’ve got a problem: me.” While I’ve never been to an AA meeting, one of the great principles of any recovery program is the acknowledgement of a problem and that starts with me. A healthy look in the mirror is good for all of us. One of my favorite political and social commentators is Jason Whitlock. He’ll tell you...

Happy Easter! It’s good to say this, even after the Big Day. The Church reminds us that the Easter season is longer than the Lenten season (50 days vs. 40 days). How did your Lenten fasting-almsgiving-praying go? Now is the time to consider how you might sustain those practices OR modify them in the post-Lenten time we are in. Here’s a...

It’s a Friday in Lent so you know what that means: no meat. By dinner time, you’ll likely have eaten a lot of carbs and are feeling cranky. If I’m being too honest, forgive me! Fasting for me is a weekly thing, throughout the year. When Lent rolls around, my body (and mind) have been somewhat used to fasting. A few years ago, I decided...

Hi friends, Lent is wrapping up but that doesn't mean that your Lenten alms-giving has to end. As you may know, I have the privilege of serving as the Executive Director for the Catholic Campus Ministry Association. We provide vitally important training and support for those on the front lines of college campuses (campus ministers and ...

What does a good experience of prayer look like for you? For me, it’s about 30 minutes of quiet space, scattered with some reading and reflection on the Gospel, the Liturgy of the Hours and some journaling. If I’m docile enough, I might brave into deep silence and hope to find the Lord there as well. Now, what does prayer actually look...

Depending on how you experience prayer, fasting and alms-giving, you likely have a certain disposition towards or even against the season of Lent. I get a kick out of some of the Catholic branding around Lent. A “Lent for Men” website reminded me of a Delta Force movie, replacing AK-47 machine guns with cold showers for 40 days. A popu...

A week ago Sunday, I told Cary that I felt I was coming down with something. The next morning, I tested positive for Covid. A buddy of mine texted me with, “Wait, people still get that?” While at times it felt like a “lost week” of my life, it was also a tremendous gift. While I did lose five days of work, missed my first board meeting...