Today, October 1 is the memorial of The Little Flower, St. Therese of Lisieux. While I still contend that St. Francis de Sales is the “patron saint of The Quiet Life” due to his insistence on the avoidance of rushing, Therese may also be a member of the TQL team. This diminutive Carmelite nun changed the world through her “little way”,...

What is it that you bring to the Lord each morning during your time of prayer? Answering this question is a healthy exercise. Too often, we just launch into things when we pray. I need this, I want that, etc. Instead, pause to take a quick inventory: how are you feeling? What’s bothering you? What’s on your mind? The answer to these qu...

Look around- how much used furniture do you have in your home? For the past twenty years, our family has become virtual experts when it comes to used furniture. A desk here, a hutch there and before you know it, you’ve furnished your home with semi-decent stuff. After all, new furniture can be very, very expensive. Don’t get me wrong, ...

“I just don’t get it, when people talk about spiritual dryness…” the priest said. He scoffed at the idea that an individual would have a sense that God had withdrawn Himself from the relationship. The priest’s response struck me as out of touch with laypeople, who often say that their prayer lives are like sandpaper on hot day. Poll pr...

I had the pleasure of speaking to 500+ Catholic educators within the Diocese of Wilmington, DE last week about prayer. We spoke of the power of prayer, the importance of a daily routine and how to go about carving out time for prayer. In other words- be intentional. A prayerful life doesn’t just happen. It takes some effort on the part...

Today is the memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, widely regarded as one of the Catholic Mount Rushmore saints in Christian history. He's a big deal. And, today's first reading from Mass is from 1 Thessalonians 4:9-11: Nevertheless we urge you, brothers and sisters, to progress even more, and to aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind y...

I noticed something unusual over the past year. Each time I would post something about the covid vaccines on Facebook, no likes, shares, comments or the like would show up. The first time, I thought it was unusual. After the third time, I started to think there might be something to it. In full disclosure, I’ve never posted anything in...

Happy Friday! As I mentioned a week ago, I’ve launched Nonprofit Productive in order to synthesize what I’ve learned from 25 years of working in nonprofit ministry. From schools to churches to national organizations- you pick up a few things. And, with 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S., there’s a huge need for leaders who bring their ...

Today’s Gospel (Matthew 20:1-16) features the laborers and a landowner who pays everyone the same wage. Whether you worked an hour or a full shift, you got the full amount. When a worker protests, the owner tells him, with a big “I’m the Boss” sign, “I can do whatever I want.” I imagine the workers walked away. Half were delighted, the...

Before you say, “Mike’s losing his mind”, hear me out. Yes, I’m rereading a book that captured my attention earlier in the summer (Searching for and Maintaining Peace by Fr. Jacques Philippe) and yes it has nearly every page folded over for later perusing. With all of the books out there, choosing to re-read one that I just finished a ...

Happy Friday! After 25 years of working in and leading nonprofit organizations, I’ve decided to give back in a more intentional way through the creation of a new project called Nonprofit Productive. If you are a leader within a nonprofit, NPP is made just for you. As we get started, you can download a FREE pdf called “The Six Item Chec...

Lord, I am here Lord, I am open Lord, I am yours This simple prayer is one that I have prayed often during the pandemic. As the days tumble from one to the other, seemingly blurring all sense of time, I have found solace in this prayer. Being present, being vulnerable with a posture of surrender and being desirous of union with God- al...

Olympians are a lot like Christians- they have a singular goal and sacrifice everything for it. As someone who lived in New Jersey for many years, I couldn’t help but follow the meteoric rise of Sydney McLaughlin. Sydney is perhaps the greatest track athlete out of the Granite State and widely seen as a Catholic school heroine, having ...

You hear it again and again: someone in a position of power caught in the act. It can be devastating to find out that a person you once respected isn’t who you thought they were. Popular culture will encourage you to rage-tweet your anger and post catchy images to Facebook. Maybe that will make me feel better, you think. It won’t. So h...

I’ve long admired the spiritual foundations of the Marianists. Their colleges, St. Mary’s University (San Antonio), Dayton and others have a true commitment to the values of the founder of the Marianists, Blessed Chaminade. I came across this quote from him which sure sounds like a billboard for The Quiet Life, “As long as you are on e...

We typically thank God for big things- a new home, a promotion at work, a child born into the world. What if we filled in the blanks with a greater sense of thankfulness? In other words, what if today you thanked God for every little thing? Lord, thank you for… • The person who just cut me off in traffic • The teenager who didn’t smile...

When you see your Church fighting over the Latin Mass… When you see top Church officials resign once their secret lives have been exposed… When you see arguing online about the Pope… When you feel physically exhausted… When you find it difficult to pray… When you can’t stop checking the news… When… Don’t neglect the gift of Summer for ...

I’m reading a lot these days about “cancelled priests” and one from Wisconsin seems to be at the front of the line. Lots of interviews about how he’s being persecuted just because he was “preaching the truth”. Can we admit that being a good pastor is about more than just the words that come out of your mouth? For example, if you’re gif...

Today’s Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 23, the famous, “The Lord is my shepherd” psalm. Our culture tells us that we must strive, excel, climb and achieve. This in return delivers a steady dose of incompletion and a complete lack of rest. It’s basically the opposite of The Quiet life. Today, we are reminded that it’s enough to just be led...

Have you ever heard someone ask, “why does everything have to be so hard?” Usually they are speaking about a difficult life situation- the car breaks down, the washing machine stops, a child is uncooperative. I can relate. Some days are just those sort of days and you want to throw your hands up and put your head in the sand. Matthew 1...

Remember the song by Loverboy called “Everybody’s Working for the Weekend”? In the latest episode of the Pausing for Prayer podcast, I talk about how weekends are actually somewhat difficult when it comes to prayer. I offer two strategies for dealing with the long list of items that face you each weekend. Enjoy the podcast! — Prayer Do...

You know it when you feel it- leisure. It’s elusive. It’s good. It’s more than binge-watching Netflix or having a drink. Leisure contributes to our highest good as humans. Joseph Pieper said this about leisure, “The soul of leisure, it can be said, lies in ‘celebration’. Celebration is the point at which the three elements of leisure c...

Widely seen as the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, Jerry Rice played much of his career for the San Francisco 49ers. I’ll never forget a point late in his career when he was asked why he still worked so hard. His response was quick and profound, “I’m afraid of not being my best.” For Catholic speakers (and certainly anyone who i...

It’s a hot market right now when it comes to real estate in the Lehigh Valley. My neighbor’s house was on for 72 hours until it sold. To get ready to sell, they did the standard yard sale and tidying up of the yard. We bought an old window of theirs for $5, turning it into an artifact of our town as it had been in their prior home in d...

“We’re not going to do that. It’s not what we are about.” These statements come from the mouths of leaders. They have a sense when enough has been met. A line is drawn. Sometimes leaders who make these statements are parents. As in, “that’s enough, break it up”. School principals also say these things. The student who goes too far is p...

Last night, the Philadelphia 76ers lost a crucial game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks. On one side (Hawks) was a point guard who exuded confidence and relished the big moments. His swagger nudged his team to victory. On the other side was Ben Simmons, the point guard for the losing team. To put it mildly, he played poorly and not just in ...

One group existed before Covid times, fully in-person. The other was born out of Covid times, fully on line and then with in-person sprinkled in. One group survived Covid and the other did not. One group learned the advantages of remote-first, then in person. How about your parish or your ministry? Have you emerged from Covid with a ri...

On most days, prayer feels remarkably ordinary. We hope for fireworks but they rarely come. Instead, we get a partly cloudy forecast. Many sports coaches will talk about being in “the right position” to make a tackle, take a shot or receive a pass. Prayer is quite similar. To pray daily, intentionally, is to put yourself in a position ...

Can your prayer time absorb all that life throws at you? For me, life has been extremely full over the past two weeks. A conference for work followed by graduations, end-of-school year events and everything in between. My mornings have been irregular and the days have been long. Still, I’m feeling balanced. Grounded. Peaceful. This is ...

The weekend is here and this will either bring you joy or a hint of dread. Joy because you can catch a breath. Dread, perhaps, because you realize that your todo list is still calling our your name. Mow the lawn Buy groceries Clean the house Do returns Before you know it, your weekend is as busy as the workweek. Not good but certainly ...