John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea
and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
A voice of one crying out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
John wore clothing made of camel's hair
and had a leather belt around his waist.
His food was locusts and wild honey.
At that time Jerusalem, all Judea,
and the whole region around the Jordan
were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged their sins.
When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.'
For I tell you,
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance,
but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.
I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand.
He will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Jesus, the Great Romantic
Holiness for the Working Day
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A and Valentine's Day 2026
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Meditation on Lent as the Training Camp of Love
Holiness for the Working Day
This Lent, we step into a type of Groundhog Day and discover that the real loop is not time, but of the heart. Like Phil Connors, we can drift through repetition, chasing comfort and distraction, or we can let repetition become formation. Lent is not a diet, a productivity plan, or spiritual biohacking. It is a training camp for love. It is the joyful adventure of waking up to the ordinary day and choosing to grow in it. It is the season where the mind is reawakened, attention is purified, and sanctifying grace elevates our natural powers so we can truly know Christ and love like Him. This is...
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Meditation on Virtuous Friendship
Holiness for the Working Day
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Meditation on Surrender & Gethsemane
Holiness for the Working Day
This is the last talk in the meditation series on Surrender.
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Come After Me!
Holiness for the Working Day
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Gospel When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven...
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Meditation on Surrender 2
Holiness for the Working Day
This episode explores the fear that sits beneath both creativity and ordinary life, the quiet conviction that we are not enough, that if we stop producing we might disappear. Beginning with Tolkien’s line about fearing “so small a thing,” the reflection moves through impostor syndrome, perfectionism, and what John Barth called Scheherazade’s terror, the belief that silence equals death. From there, it opens onto the Christian paradox that freedom does not come from control, but from surrender. Drawing on Tolkien’s idea of eucatastrophe, the sudden turn when grace intervenes after our...
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BEHOLD the Lamb of God
Holiness for the Working Day
2nd Sunday in Ordinary time, Year A Gospel John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you...
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Meditation on Surrender, Part 1
Holiness for the Working Day
What if the reason we feel anxious, blocked, and exhausted is not a lack of effort, but a refusal to surrender? This episode weaves poetry, ancient myth, modern culture, and Christian wisdom into a single question: where does real creativity and real peace actually come from? From the Greek Muses and Plato’s divine madness, through Homer and Shakespeare, to Augustine, Aquinas, Tolkien, and Christ in Gethsemane, this talk challenges the modern instinct to control, perform, and self-create. If you feel restless, afraid to let go, or stuck trying to hold your life together, this episode invites...
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Let the Adventure Begin!
Holiness for the Working Day
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord 2026
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Meditation on Creativity & Learning to See Again
Holiness for the Working Day
Jesus Christ is not something we watch or analyze; He is an event that addresses us and demands a response. This meditation explores how distraction and passive consumption dull our capacity to behold reality, and how attention, prayer, and creativity restore it. Rooted in the Catholic understanding of Christ as the One who encounters us, this reflection invites a return to seeing, creating, and living in response to Him. Join me in this year of creating and not consuming. Join me on the journey to freedom and encounter. Join me throughout this year as I post more material on my new...
info_outlineJohn the Baptist and the Second Sunday of Advent, Year A 2025