A little warning, this is a long one today. I try to keep these reflections short, but sometimes my prayer takes me a little deeper, and today was one of those days. I pray you find some fruit in it too.

I am learning a lot about God these days. Between studying theology, reading Scripture, and writing these reflections, I am seeing things I never noticed before.

But here’s the question I found myself wrestling with this morning. Am I actually living what I am learning?

I can write a reflection in the morning, and by lunchtime, I can hardly remember what I wrote! I get busy, move on to the next thing, and before I know it, the day is gone.

That is why something St. Paul said today really caught my attention.

“May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened.” (Ephesians 1:18)

The eyes of our hearts. Think about that for a minute. Our hearts don’t have eyes, but somehow they need to see.

I love that image. Because I think Paul is talking about something much deeper than simply knowing about God. We need to allow what we know to change how we live.

And I know I struggle with that.

This morning, I was with a brotherhood group, and we got to talking about making time for prayer. It’s funny, because many of us once thought we didn’t have enough time to pray. But when we started making it a priority, we discovered that we actually did have the time. And most days, life seemed a little less stressful because of it.

I’ve experienced that myself.

But here’s where I still struggle. I’ve learned to make time for God in the morning, but what about the rest of my day?

I have reminders set up to stop and pray throughout the day. Little opportunities to pause, turn my attention back to God, and listen.

And you know what? I can’t even remember the last time I actually noticed one.

I know they’re going off. I’ve just gotten so accustomed to silencing them that I don’t even think about it anymore. I’m in the middle of something, so I dismiss the reminder and keep going.

It’s not that I’m consciously telling God I don’t have time for Him. I’m just so caught up in what I’m doing that stopping doesn’t even occur to me.

And I think that’s the problem.

I’ve become so accustomed to moving that I’ve forgotten how to stop.

I remember reading a story about Mother Teresa. Her sisters were overwhelmed with work and didn’t think they had time for their normal hour of prayer. Her response was that they needed two hours instead.

And isn’t that exactly what we tend to do? When life gets overwhelming, one of the first things we let go of is those little holy moments. We skip prayer, silence the reminders, and tell ourselves we’ll get back to God when things settle down. But somehow, things never really settle down, do they? And the very thing that might help us through the busyness is the first thing we abandon. Ugh!

Now that doesn’t seem logical, does it? When there’s more work to do, spend more time praying?

But maybe she understood something I’m still trying to learn.

Prayer isn’t taking time away from the work God has given us. It helps us remember Who we’re supposed to be doing that work with.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about rejecting the Holy Spirit. I struggled with those words this morning, even though I know the Church teaches that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is ultimately refusing God’s mercy.

But that made me think about how often I fail to listen to the Holy Spirit in the ordinary moments of my day. Not because I want to reject Him, but because I am moving too fast to recognize His presence.

And that brings me right back to St. Paul.

The eyes of my heart.

I can study theology, read Scripture, and write reflections all morning long. But if I don’t allow those things to change how I live the rest of the day, what am I missing?

Maybe my heart isn’t seeing because I’m not giving it a chance to look.

I don’t think the answer is another reminder or another thing to check off my list. I already have those. I need to learn to actually respond to them.

To be willing to interrupt my day for God.

And perhaps that’s the part I need to remember most. God isn’t just someone I visit in prayer each morning. He’s with me throughout the day. But I have to be willing to stop long enough to recognize Him.

So my prayer today is simple. Lord, enlighten the eyes of my heart. Help me recognize when I’m moving so fast that I don’t even think to stop. Teach me to welcome those little interruptions that bring me back to You. I don’t just want to know You better. I want to live what You’re teaching me.

Are you moving so fast through your day that you’ve stopped noticing the opportunities God gives you to pause and be with Him?

I pray you get the graces you need today.

Keep up the good fight.

I’m praying for you. Please pray for me.

Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23 | Psalm 8:2-3ab, 4-5, 6-7 | Luke 12:8-12