Author: Fr. Peter Kavanaugh

Jacob wrestled with God from dusk to dawn. At daybreak, our Lord saw that Jacob would not give it up. He touched his hip socket, putting it out of joint, and said, “It is dawn. Let me go.” Jacob refused. “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” As Jacob wrestled with God, so must we wrestle with Truth. God blesses the person who refuses to give up. We do not take truth seriously today. We have been taught that everything is relative, that our feelings are precident. Yet, truth does matter. Truth is living and dynamic, and our souls are starved for truth.

Continue reading “Wrestling With Truth”

“Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (Jn. 16:24).

How can you describe a saint’s smile? He was an elderly monk of no importance to the world. There was nothing particularly charming about his face. Yet, his smile transcended everything in the world. Old bones and old skin, but a peace hung about him that was outside of time, eternal, and overwhelming. 

Continue reading “Ask God for God”

“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass” (Deut. 32:1-2).

Moses wrote these words shortly before his death. Just as he completed the Torah, he had a glimpse of the Resurrection. The first covenant was freshly carved in stone, when Moses prophecied about a new and greater covenant, when the Holy Spirit would overshadow our hearts like rain showering grass. This is the same event that Christ forewarns in our gospel today: “The Spirit of Truth will come. He will guide you into all truth.” So where is this “all truth”?

Continue reading “God in Ceremony”

Hope carries us. Hope transforms us. Hope is at the heart of life in the Resurrection. This has been a season of hope. There have been a lot of losses. Our country and world have suffered deaths, sickness, economic loss, and plenty of fear and frustration. Yet, in the midst of it all, the foremost word that comes to mind is hope. The quarantine hit the breaks on everything. Any plans that we had made were shot down. Any thought about where we would be a week ahead was out of the question. We have been left in a standstill, forced to wait and hope: hope that we can get back to normal, hope that we can recover, hope, in the broadest sence of the term, for tomorrow. Hope is also the spirit of the Resurrection. We prepare our hearts for eternity by learning to rest in hope. 

“A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me” (Jn. 16:16). 

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Insanity spread through his mind. The once proud king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar suffered the worse form of a mental breakdown. Psychologists today call it Boanthropy. One’s psyche becomes so strained that a person snaps. He falls into a delusional state and thinks and behaves like an animal. “He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched as an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird” (Dn. 4:33). Darkness engulfed his soul. The whole world became bleak. 

Continue reading “Dark Night of the Soul”

“He was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Mt. 4:1).

Why would God lead someone into temptation? Indeed, that is exactly what is happening to us now. We are Christ, his mystical body, and the Spirit has led us into the wilderness of Lent. Most of the time, we are too busy to hear God or the devil. Lent comes to force us to be quiet and real, to allow all the stuff in our hearts to bubble up, the angels, the demons, and everything else, and let God clean house. Our Gospel today lays out everything in Lent. In particular, it shows us the parts of our soul that God longs to heal: lust, apathy, and pride. 

Continue reading “The Banquet after the Trial”

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily” (Luke 9:23).

In the 18^th century, Russia underwent a spiritual revival called Kenotism. A wave of fervor swept through the Orthodox world as men and women aspired after ‘kenosis,’ in Greek – a word used by St. Paul to describe Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Phil. 27). He – “kenóō” – poured himself out for us. In the same way, anyone who wants God must also empty oneself. This is our salvation and this is the spirit of Lent.

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“The springtime of the Fast has dawned, the flower of repentance has begun to open.”

There are few seasons so sweet and refreshing as Lent. It is a bright spot in our lives, a time of lightness and freedom. Yet, at this time of year, dread and foreboding somehow seem more appropriate for how we can feel. Is that reasonable? The idea of not eating meat and skipping breakfast for a month does not sound very exciting. Yet, what are we gaining in Lent? What happens in Lent? During these three weeks of Pre-Lent, we have a special work to do. What kind of attitude will we bring into Holy Lent: indifference, grumbling, or joyful enthusiasm?

Continue reading “Lent: Seasons of Joy and Freedom”

“While everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat” (Mat. 13:24).

Few men have boasted strength and masculinity as Samson. He was God’s warrior, sent to the Israelites to battle vicious tribes. He tore a lion apart with his bare hands and slew an army with a donkey’s jawbone. Yet, despite his strength, Samson brought about his own destruction. He let down his guard. Entangled in lust, seduced by sweet, honeyed words, he slipped from God’s grace. All of us have feet of clay. When we stop wearing God’s armor, the world seduces us so easily. When we are not living a vibrant devotional life, we slip from grace and everything that makes life good. 

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“Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

God woke in the early morning to pray. I was camping, once, in the hills of Meteora, Greece. It is a region in central Greece with some of the most spectacular natural wonders. Huge boulders jut up into the sky hundreds of feet high, creating a sight like you would expect in a fairytale. What makes the scene most dazzling are the monasteries carved out of rock at the peak of the boulders. I woke at the crack of dawn, and started up the road, when I heard singing. High above, as though it were coming out of the clouds, sweet chanting soared down into the valley. It was a choir of nuns. They were in their chapel, up in the rocks, singing their morning hymns and prayers.

Continue reading “The Light of Daily Devotions”