Saint Ignatius of Loyola is known for his work on the Discernment of the Spirits. His writing on discernment was a product of his own experience, in particular when he was wounded during a battle as a soldier and had to be confined into seclusion for his healing and recovery. This was when he started reading not just books of chivalry but on the lives of the saints. He admitted that, when he would read books about knights and their lives, it would stir his manly heart for fighting, but when he read on the lives of the saints, his heart was inspired and he received peace.

We hear the Gospel today about the stormy boat while the Lord was sleeping until He was awaken by his apostles. With such a rocky boat, I have a feeling that the Lord Jesus was just waiting for the apostles to ask Him to do something.

Our heart is the boat and, like St. Ignatius’ heart, at times we surround our heart with stories and scenes that stir us into restlessness. These scenes, images, and stories bring storms into our hearts and lives that make us feel afraid, agitated, alone, and abandoned by the Lord. But the Lord has not abandoned us! St. Augustine said that God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. He is within, waiting for us to call on Him in the stormy dark night of our life. As soon as we do that, all that He has to do is to command our stormy heart to be quiet and be still.  

Let us rest in the words of the Lord. Let us heed His command to be quiet and still. Let not the restlessness bother us, because He is more powerful than any chaos that can come our way.  Today, rest in the Lord. Be quiet. Be still…and know that He is God.

What are the storms in your life right? In what ways are you feeling agitated, and maybe have come to think that God has abandoned you? 

How can you quiet your heart and mind today in order to hear the peace that the Lord offers? 

What are things in your life which you can cut out - songs, shows, instagram accounts you follow, etc. - which bring you stress and make you feel restless? How can you replace those things with peace and joy in the Lord? 

"You are my peace."

"I find rest in You."

​"Help me be quiet."

Find a time today where you can be totally silent and disconnect. Turn off all devices. Put down everything which may distract you. Simply choose total and complete silence and spend that time with the Lord - even if it's just five minutes, give Him total silence. 

Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

Most of the time, I’m convinced that my faith has to be big in order for it to mean something. Often, I think what that means for me is that my faith must feel big. If my faith doesn’t feel big enough that I’m confident that God has the power to tackle the big problems of this world and of my life, then I must not have much faith. 

And often, that leads to a lot of fear in my heart. Because the truth is, I don’t always feel like I believe that God has the power to end world hunger or achieve world peace or abolish racism and hatred. I don’t always feel like I believe that He has the power to convert my atheist parents or take care of my big financial problems or heal this wounded relationship that is causing me pain. I don’t even always feel like I believe He has the power to overcome the little, seemingly insignificant problems that plague my day today! 

But Jesus’ parable in the Gospel passage for today speaks hope in the midst of the hopelessness and fear that my small faith can make me feel. Because Jesus doesn’t ask for us to have a faith that feels big. A mustard seed, the smallest of all the seeds, is the size faith He asks of us. That takes a lot of the pressure off, don’t you think?

All that Jesus asks of us is to plant that little faith in our hearts -- He’ll do the rest. He’ll water it, give it sunlight, make it grow. He’ll cultivate that faith in our hearts until it’s big enough for us to pray boldly and confidently for the bigger problems that we each face in life. 

He doesn’t ask us for the courage to climb a mountain this day. He asks us for the courage to climb a little hill. So in the words of C.S. Lewis, “Courage, dear heart.” Our God is bigger than any mountain we face, even if our faith today feels smaller than the smallest mustard seed.

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

​What are the problems you are praying for and trying to conquer today?

What seeds of faith do you see God planting in your heart and in your life?

Do you have faith even the size of a mustard seed?

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.

"Courage, dear heart."

​"Plant faith in my heart."

"You are bigger than any mountain I face."

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with the Lord bear fruit in you today?

Take a step back today from all the worries, fears, and problems that plague your heart. Ask the Lord for the gift of faith, even if it's only the size of a mustard seed, and trust that God can and will do a lot even with the littlest seed.

Today's prayer was prepared by Catie Destatte, a Saint Paul's Outreach Missionary at University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, MN.  

If you have anything you'd like our team to pray for, please go to the page of our website called "Prayers" and let us know how we can pray for you today. 

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” I have always been struck my the story of St. Paul, and it is particularly his conversion story that has always deeply resonated with me. Here is this guy who is actively persecuting Christians and is zealous for their persecution. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, due to no merit of his own, Christ appears to him. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

It came as a complete surprise. He could have never expected it or asked for it. This is a good reminder for us of how Christ works in our lives. He comes and catches us by surprise, not because we have earned it or because we are good enough, but just because He loves us and wants to call us deeper. Paul certainly wasn’t “good enough” for Christ at that time in his life, yet Christ came to him anyways.

And when He surprises us by popping up out of nowhere in our lives- he convicts us of our sin just like he did to Paul. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Notice he doesn’t say “why are you persecuting the Christians”, He says “me.” Because He is present in each and every human person. So too today, let us hear Him calling each one of us by name- “Austin, Austin, why are you persecuting me?” I persecute him just as Saul (later on renamed Paul) did- yet I have no excuse. Saul didn’t know Christ. I do. Yet still I persecute him by judging others, making fun of others to score a cheap laugh, gossiping about others to make conversation or to make myself feel better, not reaching out to that person who is a bit awkward or seems lonely at that party, and so many more ways. Let us examine today the ways we are persecuting Christ by not loving those around us and resolve to turn from those ways.

​Think of one concrete thing you can do today to love Christ in your neighbor instead of persecuting him. Because when we see Christ for who He really is, we are happy to turn and leave everything behind like St. Paul did and follow him with our whole lives. “For to me, life is Christ, death is gain.”

Put your name in the scripture instead of Saul. How are you persecuting our Lord? 

How can you resolve today to change so that you are not persecuting our Lord? 

​How has God called you out of your every day to something greater?

"__________, __________ why are you persecuting me?"

"Life is Christ."

​"Death is gain."

​Today's prayer was prepared by Austin Ashcraft, a graduate student in New Orleans. 

If you have anything you'd like our team to pray for, please go to the page of our website called "Prayers" and let us know how we can pray for you today. 

In today's first reading we hear the Lord  speaking to Nathan to give words to David.

How interesting this is that God speaks to one person to communicate with another. Why didn't God just speak to David directly? 

Well sometimes it's difficult for us to hear the voice of God on our own. We might be stubborn, distraught, or maybe just too far from Him to hear His voice. This doesn't mean that God isn't speaking. It just means we might need some help hearing the correct voice and so He communicates through other people. 

This makes me think of our saint for today, St Francis de Sales. He is the patron saint of the deaf. When he was a priest he met a man who couldn't hear and so in order to teach this man the Gospel he developed his own form of sign language to communicate with the man and teach him the love of Christ. You see Francis knew God and so communicated the love he knew to the deaf man. In fact, you who are reading this reflection today know the love of God and can hear His voice God. So will you be a Francis? Will you be a David who not just hear the voice of God but acted? Be bold and act in a way that communicates God's love to another! 

Do you ever struggle to hear the voice of God? What can you do to hear His voice more clearly?

How do you respond to what God is calling you to? How can you be more open to whatever call calls you to?

​How far would you go to follow God? Are you willing to give up everything for Him? Why or why not?

"Here I am, Lord."

"Help me hear Your voice"

​"I love you, Lord."

Do some research on Saint Francis de Sales today. Learn more about this great saint, and try and read some of his works (Introduction to the Devout Life is a great one). Let him be a spiritual guide for you today, and try to hear God's voice through his words.