If you're looking for a treat this weekend, have a listen to my recent podcast with Fr. Dennis Berry, S.T. Fr. Dennis is a master of prayer and offers some gems from his over 50 years in religious life. He's been a personal friend and mentor to me for 25 years and I have wanted to interview him for quite some time. The conversation did...

Social media is a dangerous game. Think of it like reality TV but in small, bite-sized chunks. It’s real but not really real. I don’t know about your life but mine is rarely camera-ready or glitzy. It’s beautiful and blessed but it would be unlikely to garner hundreds of likes or clicks. Besides, having to share your life with the inte...

Where you pray matters. While it’s true that God is everywhere and we can pray in any location on planet Earth, there are certain spaces that lend themselves to deeper thought and better listening when we pray. My prayer spot is a corner in my home office, black leather chair-equipped and with a nice view out the window. It works for m...

My typical daily walk is about a mile and a half. I run half of it, getting my heart rate up. I’m out and back in less than a half hour. Occasionally though, I feel the nudge to do more. One more loop around the community center near my house adds another 12 minutes to the workout. I rarely want to do this but when the muse strikes, yo...

This side of heaven, we are often reminded of the imperfect, fragile side of things. Last weekend, our parish with three priests subtracted two. One is leaving the priesthood and the other is being assigned to a new parish. A simple letter was inserted into the bulletin explaining the situation of one of the priests. As for the other, ...

This Friday, I’ll be interviewing my good friend, Fr. Dennis Berry, S.T. on the Pausing for Prayer Podcast. I’ve known Fr. Dennis for over 25 years and have benefited from his counsel and spiritual insights. He loves Jesus and has helped thousands to do the same. His ministry has been extensive, ranging from vocations work to ministry ...

Episode 21 of Pausing for Prayer just dropped and this week, I talk about the importance of being patient in the spiritual life. Have a listen and see what you think. Enjoy the pod! M+

One of my favorite movies is The Dead Poet’s Society with Robin Williams. My wife actually bought me the VHS copy back in the 90’s. The movie’s famous line was from a Latin phrase, carpe diem, or sieze the day. Today, carpe diem has been popularized with concepts like living my best life or living for the moment or hashtag whatever. Wh...

Imagine you work at a company for three years. It’s a startup, very small and simultaneously very impactful. The CEO is a celebrity of sorts. Crowds show up for his public events. Three years in, he tells you that you should produce more and that you should really think about becoming a better member of the team. What? After all, you’v...

It’s tempting to wait for calmer waters. The timing just isn’t right, we tell ourselves. The conditions just aren’t lined up, we say. I’ll do that when I’m less busy, I think. C.S. Lewis had this to say about always looking for that perfect moment: “We are always falling in love or quarreling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, ...

Living in the Lehigh Valley (PA) has its benefits. Formerly a rust-belt part of the country, the area has been transformed into “new urban”. Instead of tearing down the old Steel Stacks from the Bethlehem Steel Company, they remain and have been surrounded by restaurants and shops. This pattern has repeated itself in several towns in t...

How am I doing? When was the last time I went to confession? How’s my prayer life? These questions are typical for those who are living The Quiet Life, striving to grow closer to God. And yet, if we’re not careful, we can be so self-focused that we forget one simple truth: it’s not about us. Francois-Marie-Jacob Libermann (Founder of t...

Think of the last time you shook someone’s hand, you know, before Covid-times. Was it a limp-dead-fish sort of handshake or a firm grasp? Either way, it likely left an impression on you. Small gestures matter. In our most ordinary moments, these tiny movements can make a big difference. St. Thomas More said, “The ordinary arts we pract...

Sometimes the spiritual life is more about subtraction than addition. Getting out of the way can be half the way forward. Francois-Marie-Jacob Libermann (1802-1852) was a converted Jew and founder of the Fathers of the Holy Spirit. He had this to say about how one can obtain peace of heart: “Effort and contention constrict the soul, bu...

Can you be on social media and pursue The Quiet Life? I’d like to say yes but these days, I’m reconsidering. This past week, a police officer saved the life of a woman who was lunging at another woman with a knife. Shortly thereafter, LeBron James tweeted something negative about the police officer. A little while after that, he delete...

I’m in a men’s group that meets a few times each month. Recently, one guy reflected on a priest he knew and how much he admired him. The priest, whom I know very well, is genuinely humble. He can laugh at himself, knows his gifts and admits his flaws. He’s confident without being a jerk. Utterly prayerful, he has a profound knowledge o...

You’ve got plenty of things to do today. Try not to rush. St. Francis de Sales once wrote, “You should treat your affairs with care, but never with worry or hurry.” In my newest podcast, I talk a bit more about de Sales and his approach to slow productivity. He’s also the perfect coach for The Quiet Life.

St. Francis de Sales famously taught against worry and about losing peace of heart. The handmade of worry is haste and de Sales hated hurrying. He said, “Never is a task accomplished with impetuousness and haste done well...Therefore, accept with peace all of the tasks that come to you and try to accomplish them in order, one after ano...

The Bible offers plenty of metaphors for one’s relationship with God. One of my favorites is that of refuge. I read about it today in Psalm 34:23. Keep in mind that I live in the suburbs. Refuge is a foreign concept to me and one which I’ve had to mine for many years. Only recently did I feel as if I “got it”. I had read Becky Eldredge...

Physical fitness is easy to measure. More pushups, a faster run and better stamina when working out. You see it and so do others. There is nothing better than when someone else notices and mentions your newly toned physique. How about your spiritual fitness? I’ve never had someone say, “Gee Mike, you’re holier this year than last year....

Much of prayer is spent talking. We do well to listen more often but this is either 1. Scary or 2. Something we don’t know how to do. Today, try asking God what it is that He wants you to know, hear and understand. It’s easier than it sounds.

Readers of my blog know that I am a big fan of Georgetown University’s Cal Newport. I gave each member of my team a copy of Deep Work and even a copy of his Time Block Planner. Whether Newport is a Christian or not, I do not know. What I am fairly certain of his is insight into avoiding busyness, a concept in sync with The Quiet Life. ...

The Easter octave is one of celebration- Christ is risen! This changes everything. A challenge to this ongoing attitude of celebration is our tendency to slide back into living the way we were before Easter. Worrying about things... Stressing over details... Being agitated by the faults of ourselves or others... Before you know it, it ...

I’ve struggled with worry for years. It wasn’t until recently that I looked in the mirror and decided to do something about it. It was time to make a change. Many of us allow for worry to steal our peace, to deride us from living The Quiet Life. As a result, we white-knuckle things, striving for more control and all the while, turning ...

It’s one thing to wait among a group. It’s another to wait all by yourself. The checking of the time, the looking out the window, the refreshing of your browser- it gets to you after a while. Today, we celebrate Holy Saturday within the Holy Triduum. It’s a day to wait but we do so together. Pope Benedict XVI said, “In the hour of supr...

It’s Holy Thursday and the Christian church around the world celebrates the first day of the Triduum. Today begins a solemn and slow march towards Easter Sunday. Let’s savor the rich symbols of these days: the washing of the feet, the prostration of priests, the stripping of the altars, the silence, the veneration of the Cross, the lig...

This story caught my eye as one man spent $10,000,000 trying to create the perfect todo app. It’s laden with regret and a clear sense of copycat culture. If only my product had what theirs does, etc. Without a keen sense of the finish line, it’s easy to spend our time trying to be like others. In the spiritual life, this applies as wel...

For many of us, waiting ranks low on our list of preferred things. Today’s Psalm from the Mass reminds us that waiting is ok and might actually be good for us. “Wait for the Lord, take courage; be stouthearted, wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14) Consider all of the things you are waiting for- a package to arrive, your birthday to come, ...

I dropped a new podcast this week on Holy Week. It’s very brief and I’ll save the details for you to listen. The key point: be intentional. Don’t let Holy Week breeze by your busy life. Mike and Alicia Hernon (from The Messy Family Project) offered a webinar last night on the same concept- being intentional when it comes to Holy Week. ...

Maybe this has happened to you. You’re at home and having a conversation when Alexa lights up and appears to join the conversation. You said something which triggered her and then you remember that a device is listening to you, albeit imperfectly. It’s a little bit creepy. Psalm 18, v7 from today’s Mass says, “...he heard my voice; my ...