Holiness for the Working Day

In this first part of a meditation on justice, we explore the classic definition given by St. Thomas Aquinas: "reddere unicuique suum"—to give to each person what is due to them. Beginning with powerful scenes from A Man for All Seasons and reflections from Aristotle, Chesterton, and the Christian tradition, this episode examines why justice is rooted in the dignity of the human person created by God. We consider the origin of rights, the meaning of "inalienable," and why justice ultimately begins not with defending our own rights but with giving others theirs. Along the way we reflect on the nobility of the human person, the dangers of societies that deny that dignity, and how justice shapes everything from public life to our interior attitudes toward others. This is the first half of a longer meditation that lays the philosophical and spiritual foundation for understanding justice in our time.

Begin with the End in mind. 

A warm evening walk through Old Town turned into a meditation on something I keep noticing more and more in our culture, the strange fear of growing older. The line between youth and adulthood has become so blurred that many people seem to cling to the appearance and customs of youth long after that season has passed. The old milestones of adulthood have faded or been pushed further and further out, and beneath it all there seems to be a deeper anxiety about aging, meaning, and death itself. In this meditation I reflect on how the classical virtue of prudence helps us see reality as it truly is and teaches us to live in harmony with it. Prudence allows us to accept the season of life we are in with honesty and even with a kind of elegance, rather than pretending to be something we are not. The Christian life ultimately frees us from the desperate need to stay young, because our hope is not in youth but in the eternal life promised by God.

this is part 1 of a series on the Cardinal Virtues. 

1st Sunday of Lent, Year A 2026 The Tempation in the Desert 

The healing time of lent  Ash Wednesday 2026

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A and Valentine's Day 2026

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 the school of love, where virtue is formed through daily practice, where the fog lifts, where the intellect comes alive, and where the loop breaks not because circumstances change, but because we do as we journey to Easter. 

This is the last talk in the meditation series on Surrender. 

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Gospel Matthew 4:12-23 or 4:12-17 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 is at hand." As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.

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 strength is spent, the episode argues that real creativity, real peace, and real joy emerge only when we let go and place our lives fully in God's hands. It closes with a quiet, moving image of childlike joy at a graveside, a reminder that surrender is not weakness but courage, and that resting in God is the only place fear finally loosens its grip.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary time, Year A  Gospel John 1:29-34 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 see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God."

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 you to listen closely, because peace does not come from mastery, it comes from trust.

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord 2026  

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 Substack account.  @holinessworkingday on Substack.com    

Feast of the Epiphany 2026 Gospel Matthew 2:1-12 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod,  behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,  "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled,  and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,  He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea,  for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel." Then Herod called the magi secretly  and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said,  "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word,  that I too may go and do him homage." After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,  until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star,  and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures  and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,  they departed for their country by another way.

New Years 2026, Feast of Mary the Mother of God 

Feast of the Holy Family 2025