A life marked by silence is not just for monastics or religious. We all need to make space for silence. The benefits of silence are necessary for both our bodies and our souls. “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." (Mark 6:31).

Many of us are born into the mess called generational sin: The reality of a family or fatherly wound that often leads into sin for many generations. There are choices we can take to sever our relationship with these sins in our families.

To all of those who thought we could scrape by without much fuss—continuing to live quietly in the midst of the world, living our Christian faith without any conflict or much attention—that time has passed

If we neglect the little things, we neglect everything. The big things (marriage, careers, friendships, children) are made of the little things (an unnoticed good deed, a phone call with a friend, sharing a compliment just because).

When we open our minds and hearts to receive God’s Word, He speaks to us and the more we enter deliberately into God’s silence, we will become attuned to listening more closely.

Games give the sense of achievement and identity that traditional rites of passage would have done.  And this is why the insecurity in their reactions is so palpable – you’re attacking who they are, not just what they do.

The single life is the time to gain self-mastery, to learn true freedom through self-denial, and to learn to look forward to the sanctification of your future spouse.  You should be praying for her now, not longing for a female body to play with.  It’s time to grow up and conquer lust because marriage is not the cure for your slavery.   Freedom is.

There is a demon that the saints, especially the desert fathers, recognized in this vein – the one that comes in the daytime, during our work, to propel us further into nothingness. He was called “the noonday devil” precisely because he comes in the light of day while we are at our normal duties and work.