Happy Friday! A few weeks ago I wrote about how we were a few weeks into the New Year. Rather than focusing on popular New Year’s Resolutions, I asked about your morning prayer routine. Since then, I’ve been thinking about my own routine. Showing up each morning is the biggest part of it for sure. The components of my routine? They’re ...

Hey, there and happy new year! It’s hard to believe but we are already half way through Month One of 2023. That went fast! Just a quick check in: how are you doing with your morning prayer time? Any adjustments you want to take in order to retool, revamp, polish your time with the Lord in 2023? Where do you feel He is nudging you at ho...

If you’ve followed this news story, you’ll note that the Vatican has removed Frank Pavone, longtime pro-life advocate, from the priesthood. The Church has disciplined many “famous” Catholics over the past two thousand years. It’s within its charge. It happens. What’s fascinating is how those who are disciplined deal with it. In recent ...

Today’s Mass and the Responsorial Psalm come from Isaiah 45. One line stopped me in my tracks, “I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people. Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him, glory dwelling in our land.” This nearness-of-salvation means a great deal to me because I remember what I was...

Many of you know that I work within the higher education sector, American colleges specifically. A common refrain among those who work with university students is that far too many kids lack the skill of friendship. As a result, the ability to make and maintain friends must be taught. It’s fascinating when 18 year olds discover (again)...

It’s time for the 2nd annual Nonprofit Productivity Summit on Dec. 6th and 7th. This free and virtual event is my way of connecting faith with work. Last year, we had attendees from 29 different countries. That’s pretty cool. This year’s guests include Tiago Forte, Christina Lamas, Jason Fried and so many others who are passionate abou...

Do you find that your week starts with the best of intentions and then fades into a “limp to the finish line” by Friday? Lately, that’s been my experience and it’s really bothering me. After all, I’m supposed to be The Productivity Guy. You’d think I would have this all figured out. Hardly. I’m a work in progress and old habits are har...

Like many of you, I struggle with silence. I like it but don’t love it. It can be jarring, even for me as a strong introvert. This new podcast by the team at Asian Efficiency highlights a new book called Golden: the Power of Silence in a World of Noise. The book’s authors explain that “finding silence” has many benefits beyond the shee...

How’s your morning prayer routine? No really- do you miss it when it doesn’t happen? Does your day feel “off” when you don’t commune with the Lord at the start of your day? When you don’t drink enough water, there are real effects. You’re less sharp mentally and are prone to getting a headache. When you don’t get enough sleep, your ent...

Where do you keep a nice collection of meaningful prayers and quotes? This could be within Apple Notes or inside a paper notebook. One that I’ve been meditating on lately is from St. John of the Cross, whom St. Teresa of Avila called “the father of my soul”. High praise for the 16th century man who wrote poetically about the spiritual ...

I used to go to the gym with my friend, Al. He taught me a key lesson about staying engaged with your workouts and I think it applies to morning prayer routines as well. He said, “It’s important to change up your routine every couple of months or else you’ll get bored and it won’t feel like fun.” Lately, I’ve been using the Hallow app ...

Simple living is popular these days and minimalism is attractive for many who seek to make life more manageable. You don’t have to look far for a “simpler way to organize your home” post or podcast episode. I think that simplicity is also a hallmark of The Quiet Life. In re-reading Fr. Dennis Berry, S.T.’s book (God’s Valiant Warrior),...

The Sacrament of Reconciliation (or penance or confession depending on your preference of titles) is a peculiar one for Catholics. You go into a small room with an ordained minister whom you may or may not know and share your sins. While I don’t have empirical data, I imagine that most Catholics are quite uncomfortable with this practi...

The responsorial psalm for today’s Mass (119) begins with this, “I find joy in the way of your decrees…” (v. 14). Where can you find joy today? Where will the Lord surprise you and literally bring a smile to your face? Wait for that moment. Anticipate it. Pray for it. It may come through something you read or in a conversation you have...

It’s never been easy to be Catholic. The earliest believers lost their lives due to their faith and devout followers of Christ are still persecuted today. In America, we have a very unique situation unfolding in 2022: many of the nation’s top political leaders are Catholic. This would be a point of pride for practicing Catholics were i...

Today’s Responsorial Psalm (119) from Mass features one line which could get lost if we but slow down long enough to hear it, “May I be wholehearted towards your laws…” (v. 80). What are you whole-hearted about? Golf? Food? A new boat? The neighborhood in which you grew up? In my experience, being whole-hearted is elusive. We can becom...

What if your daily prayer routine isn’t working anymore? This question is, of course, a bit of a trick. After all, God works even when we are unaware of His movements and promptings. I’m talking about our side of things. How we feel about our daily prayer and whether it resonates more often than it does not. This isn’t about having an ...

How do you pray each night with your kids? My family tried praying the Rosary. That went over like a lead balloon. Too long and forced. Then, we tried a consecration to St. Joseph. Too speculative and again, too long. We used one of the 30 days to … books and accompanying videos. The low production value was a turnoff to the kids. Eye ...

Here’s a confession of mine: I didn’t understand the devotion to Divine Mercy until about five years ago. Today, my kids love to pray it, albeit in part because it’s much shorter than praying the Rosary. Kids like brevity. Another devotion that has been foreign to me is that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As the Church celebrates the So...

It’s Pride Month here in the U.S. You already know this because it’s become widely promoted in public libraries, at your local Target store, online through rainbow corporate logos and through “drag queen story hours” that you may read about online. Many Catholics are left without much guidance from the Church on this matter. Is Pride M...

It’s hard to be patient when it comes to the spiritual life. We get frustrated at confessing the same things over and over again. We fail to notice the genuine steps of growth. I came across this quote from St. Irenaeus which speaks to the need to be patient with yourself and with what God is doing in you: It is not you who shapes God;...

Permission. That’s ultimately what’s needed in order to enter into Sabbath, a key pillar of The Quiet Life. Simply avoiding work isn’t enough. It’s permission to enter more deeply into rest that matters. When was the last time that you gave yourself permission to take a full day of rest? My son just graduated from high school. Before w...

Think about yesterday- did you hurry? Was there a moment when you felt rushed to complete a task or breeze through a meeting? I have long considered St. Francis de Sales to be the unofficial patron saint of productivity and The Quiet Life, especially for quotes such as this: “Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spi...

Much of The Quiet Life is about the anticipation of context and the impact it has on us. For example, I look forward to a hike with my children. I imagine clean air, the sound of gravel under my boots and the vistas at the top of the summit. I’m smiling just thinking about it. Do you do this when it comes to prayer? Does it feel like d...

Many of you know that my professional work is with a faith-based nonprofit that provides vital training to those on college campuses. Once a year, I invite my audience to support our work- today is that day! Our organization, the Catholic Campus Ministry Association, has been serving college campus ministers (lay and ordained professio...

A member of my board (at work) likes to text me a photo each weekend of a book he's reading. It's fun because it keeps me honest as a reader and thinker. It makes me want to keep reading and keep growing as a Christian and as a leader. I shared with him that I've been re-reading Everyday Simplicity: a Practical Guide to Spiritual Growt...

Happy Easter! I know that most Christians only use that term on Easter Sunday itself but Catholics know that it endures for a full season. The Church reminds us that the joy of Easter is greater than the fasting and abstinence of Lent. It can be all-too-easy to just go back to the hustle of daily life, post Easter. If we’re not careful...

It’s the Holy Triduum and I’m taking some extra time to read, pray and be silent. It was a hard Lent for me. I felt like my dog when he wants to go right and I pull him left. He eventually comes to my side but not without a bit of tugging. Part of my difficulty is a stubbornness in prayer. I do it, for sure, but I’m often trying to tak...

If you’re Catholic, you likely know that Lent is a time of repentance. This often includes frequenting the Sacrament of Confession prior to Easter. The question isn’t whether or not you ought to go but when you ought to go to Confession. My advice: if you’re an extrovert, go to the Penance service offered by your parish. This is the ty...

Today is what the Church calls Laetere Sunday, the midway point in Lent. The Psalm is perhaps my favorite, Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd… gets me every time. I simply cannot read this Psalm without a heavy sense of blessing and a light awareness of discipleship. Something that I’ve done for a while is to kiss my Bible after I’ve fi...