Religion & SpiritualityChristianityReligionSpirituality

Come Away By Yourselves

Fr. John Grieco

"Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." These words of Jesus Christ are an invitation to personal and intimate prayer. The meditations offered in this podcast are intended to help the listener enter into his own prayerful relationship with God. By reflecting on scenes from the Gospel, on other passages from Scripture, and on the insights of saints and spiritual writers, we can strengthen our faith in Jesus and our love for God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I have called you my friends." By regular meditation and dialogue with Our Lord in prayer, our life can be transformed into an ever deepening and loving friendship with God.

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August 22 · 29 min
Christ's Suffering (and ours?): Meaningful, Free, Loving
Sacred Scripture teaches us some clear lessons about Christ's suffering. His passion was redemptive and meaningful. It was freely chosen and accepted. It was all an act of divine and human love for us and for the Father. As Christians, Christ invites us to give the same meaning to our sufferings. This invitation is a tremendous act of confidence in us and in our capacity to love as he did.
August 14 · 30 min
The Assumption of Mary: Shining like the Sun in the Kingdom of God
The Assumption of Mary is a very special Feast in the Church. To gaze on Our Lady in Heaven is to contemplate something very beautiful and important. The marvel of her glorification speaks to us of the surpassing beauty of goodness and holiness as such. Our Mother's destiny in heaven and her eternal glorification is a revelation of our own future as Christians called to holiness and everlasting life.
August 8 · 28 min
"Say 'Thank You!'": Reflections on Gratitude
Gratitude is a very important Christian disposition. God appreciates gratitude, as we all do. One of the four basic acts of prayer, gratitude should be a constant state of mind and heart. In addition to pleasing God, it also brings the soul joy and peace.
August 1 · 28 min
"God Will Provide": Growing in Radical Trust
This Sunday's readings show as God as a generous provider. In the book of Isaiah, God invites the people to come to him for their food and drink. In the Gospel, Jesus feeds the crowds with the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fish. God's providence is something we are called to place great trust in, especially when times are hard.
July 25 · 28 min
Rebroadcast: The Cross and Transformation
"He who loves his life will lose it, he who loses his life for my sake will find it." Finding our true life, and our true selves, means handing ourselves over to Christ. Losing our lives for the sake of Christ is a transformative union with him. This takes work and an acceptance of suffering. There is no resurrection of ourselves in Christ without the cross. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com
July 18 · 27 min
"Compassion on the Crowd": Charity and Understanding
Jesus doesn't just have compassion on others, he discovers motives for his compassion. Understanding others is an essential ingredient in loving them. This takes humility, patience, and the rejection of an evil, critical spirit.
July 11 · 26 min
"Rejoicing in Heaven": The Joy of Contrition
Jesus' victory over sin is a great cause of joy in heaven and on earth. This victory only happens, however, insofar as sin is recognized and repented of. Paradoxically, therefore, the sorrow of contrition for our sins is simultaneously a great motive for joy at our reconciliation with God. Sorrow for sin lets Jesus' victory be won in us and thus makes of us fertile grounds for joy and celebration.
June 27 · 29 min
"Go and sin no more": A More Decisive Conversion
Sin and evil are real. They are not playing games. To defeat them and be disciples of Christ, we need to take our Christian life very seriously. This takes resolute, decisive choices and clear thinking about good and evil, virtue and vice, love and betrayal.
June 20 · 28 min
"Stay with us, Lord": Dwelling with Christ in Prayer
Jesus's presence in the Blessed Sacrament affords us a wonderful opportunity. Just as we spend time with friends and loved ones just to be with them, our mental prayer is an occasion of simply being present with Jesus. Jesus did this during his earthly life with various groups and individuals. They cherished these days and hours alone with their Friend, Lord, and Teacher. We can do the same in our prayer life.
June 14 · 20 min
"Christian, remember your dignity"
This Sunday's readings remind us of so many important realities. We are God's people and precious to him. He has loved us in our sinfulness, before we merited any goodwill on his behalf. We are an apostolic Church chosen by name and invested with power to do good and proclaim the Gospel. Our ordinary lives are actually quite extraordinary!
June 12 · 26 min
Jesus's Sacred Heart: His Divine and Human love for you!
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is more than a symbol. Jesus truly loves us with his heart. This love is fully human: emotional, warm, tender, encouraging. This love is fully divine: all powerful, infinite, eternal. To appreciate this love we need to live in it and pray about it. Let's "enter into the Sacred Heart of Jesus," as saints and Popes alike have encouraged us. There we find new strength for our own love of God and others.
June 6 · 30 min
The Feast of Corpus Christi [Rebroadcast]
On the Feast of Corpus Christi the Church turns her heart to Jesus's real presence in the Blessed Sacrament. A marvel of love, in the Eucharist the infinite enters the finite, the Creator his creation and the invisible the visible real. Adoration, devotion, and gratitude should mark our response to this great mystery of our Faith.
May 30 · 32 min
Silent Love, Silent Prayer [Rebroadcast]
The Bible often encourages us to a silent, receptive stance before God's reality and goodness. This kind of prayer takes recollection or composure of heart, which in turn requires some trust in God. Our distaste for quiet prayer can be rooted in an unwillingness to cede control or a fear of the changes it might provoke in us. Jesus's advice to the busy Martha is pertinent for all times: "Mary has chosen the better part." Although our lives are rightly busy, we should also play the role of Mary--quietly listening to Jesus--and we can do this by learning how to pray in silence.
May 23 · 27 min
Pentecost: God's Spirit in our hearts
The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us. The Spirit dwells within each one of us in the state of grace. We should ask him for help and rely on his presence especially to live the virtue of charity. The fruits of the Spirit are the indications of his activity in our life.
May 16 · 28 min
Growing in Knowledge and Love of God
"This is eternal life, that they know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." These words of Jesus reveal the importance of coming to know God more and more. We grow in this knowledge in various ways: study and spiritual reading, personal dealings with Him in our prayer life, living in HIs presence. To know Jesus fully, however, we also have to enter into his own experience of loving and trusting God in and through the trials of our life.
May 9 · 29 min
Mother's Day, Mother's Month
As we celebrate Mother's Day in the month of May, our minds and hearts naturally go to our Heavenly Mother, Mary. Devotion to Our Lady should be natural and heartful, as is our devotion to our own mothers. Mary is a great ally in the Christian life and May, Mary's month, is a great time to increase our love for her and our dependence on her intercession .
May 2 · 28 min
"Offer it up!": Christian Spiritual Priesthood
St. Peter says we are a priestly people who offer spiritual sacrifices to God. What does it mean to have a "priestly soul"? How can we make our hearts altars of a burning love of God? How can we be mediators and peacemakers between God and men?
April 25 · 26 min
Good Shepherd, Good Sheep [Rebroadcast]
The image of our Lord as Good Shepherd is a challenging one. It means that we Christians are sheep. Our pride and self-sufficiency naturally bristle at this image. Only with deep humility, and contemplating Jesus the Lamb of God, can we embrace being sheep and having a Shepherd.
April 18 · 28 min
On the Road to Emmaus: Encountering and Confiding in Jesus
The two disciples' encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus teaches us so much about prayer and faith. Jesus walks with us whether we realize it or not. He is interested in what is happening in our lives and also in how it affects us. His presence in the dialogue of prayer, in the Eucharist and in Scripture should be places where we regularly seek his companionship and counsel.
April 11 · 30 min
Divine Mercy and The Peace of Christ
When he appears to his apostles on Easter Sunday, Jesus's first and consistent message to them is one of peace. The very presence of Jesus brings us peace as it did the fearful Apostles. Union with the person of Christ is also another source of peace. This is promised to us by Jesus himself, "Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you." Trust in God, especially in God's mercy, is a key to receiving this peace from Christ.

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