Episode Summary:

In a world that glorifies burnout, this episode invites you to step back, breathe deeply, and remember: you are not a machine. With wisdom from saints, psychologists, and mystics, we explore the healing power of rest, rhythm, and above all—humor.

Fr. Jacques Philippe reminds us that balance begins with limits. Jesus Himself rested, laughed, and lived in rhythm. And saints like Teresa of Ávila and Philip Neri teach us that true holiness is steeped in joy. Drawing from neuroscience, spiritual tradition, and the wit of G.K. Chesterton, this talk unveils a forgotten truth: laughter is not a distraction—it’s a sign of spiritual maturity and trust.

Whether you’re battling spiritual exhaustion or chronic self-seriousness, this episode offers a gentle reboot for your soul, your schedule, and your sense of humor.

Reflection Questions for Journaling and Prayer:

1. Where in your life are you resisting limits? What might God be inviting you to release?

2. How do you experience rest? Is it true rest—or just distraction?

3. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried? What did that moment reveal about your soul?

4. Do you take yourself too seriously? What would it mean to become “light enough to fly”?

5. How might joy and mirth be signs that you’re finally trusting the Father’s care?

The feast of the dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul 

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 

November 3rd, 2024

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?" 
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, 
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these." 
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
'He is One and there is no other than he.'
And 'to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself'
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God." 
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Feast of All Souls 2024

Meditation on the 4th Glorious Mystery, the Assumption of Mary. 

Solemnity of All Saints 2024

The Narrow Gate 

Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul 

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Feast of St. Luke 

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? 
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother." 
He replied and said to him,
"Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
"You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
"How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!" 
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." 
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
"Then who can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said,
"For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. 
All things are possible for God." 
Peter began to say to him,
"We have given up everything and followed you." 
Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 

Prayer of Forgiveness

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you whom you need to forgive (family,

friend, abuser, yourself)

Picture the person in front of you and pay aBenCon to what you feel

in your heart and body

Make an account of the debt they owe you (what did they take from

you, how did they hurt you? It is okay to feel angry or nothing at all)

Imagine yourself telling them what they did to hurt you and how it

has affected you

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any identity lies you believe

about yourself based on that incident

Renounce the identity lie “In the name of Jesus Christ, I renounce

the lie that I am not loved or cared for, that I have to perform well to

be loved, etc.”

Announce the truth of your identity in Christ-“In the name of Jesus

Christ, I announce the truth that I am seen, that I am valuable, that I

am loved, etc.”

Bring the person with you to meet Jesus on the Cross at Calvary and

look at His face of care and mercy

Ask Jesus to forgive the person

10. Ask Jesus to give you the grace to forgive the person

11. Pray a prayer of blessing for that person-as God to bless them and

heal them on their journey

12. Ask Jesus to seal this forgiveness and heal the wounds in your life

13. Thank God for His healing mercy and grace

Feast of St. Francis 

The Body and Communion – Wholeness in Flesh and Relationship

Wholeness Series, Episode 4

What if your body wasn’t just a tool for work or a source of shame, but a sanctuary—a vessel of memory, worship, and communion?

In this episode, we explore the profound connection between our physical bodies and our spiritual lives. From a grandfather’s Sunday jacket to St. Francis calling his body “Brother Ass,” we rediscover the body not as an obstacle to holiness but as a companion on the journey. Drawing from Aquinas, John Paul II, and modern psychology, this talk weaves theology, discipline, and delight into a new vision of embodied wholeness.

Whether it’s fasting or feasting, movement or rest, this episode offers a vision of the body as a living altar, capable of carrying burdens, expressing love, and becoming holy through small, daily acts.

We don’t need perfect bodies. We need present ones—offered, disciplined, and led gently toward communion with God, others, and ourselves.

1. What memories—joyful or painful—does your body carry?

2. In what ways have you used your body as an offering in love?

3. How can you begin to see your body as a kind of "sacrament"?

1. How do you treat your body: as a racehorse, a machine, or a faithful donkey?

2. What might change if you viewed your body with affectionate realism rather than frustration or pride?

3. In what ways does your body carry Christ to others?

1. When do you eat from hunger, and when from habit or emotion?

2. What small, daily food-related disciplines could help train your soul?

3. How might you make meals more sacramental and less rushed?

1. How do you move your body each day? Is it with purpose, joy, or obligation?

2. What physical discipline helps you show up for others with energy and readiness?

3. How might your next workout or walk be offered as a prayer?

1. When was the last time you let your body express something wordless—through dance, art, or play?

2. What emotions might you need to move through rather than just talk about?

3. How could rhythm, music, and movement restore wholeness in your life?

1. Do you see rest as laziness, or as worship and trust?

2. What rhythms of silence or sleep do you need to reclaim your peace?

3. Where is God calling you to surrender the illusion of control and rest in His love?

Let this episode be your invitation to wholeness not just in thought or feeling—but in flesh and bone, sweat and stillness, hunger and dance.

Subscribe to the podcast. Share it with someone who needs to be reminded: your body is not the problem. It might just be the path.

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 2024

Feast of Padre Pio 

Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024

Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary 2024

22nd Sunday in Ordinary time, Year B 

The Feast of St. Monica 

Feast of Corpus Christi 2025

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

This is a Homily about marriage & Ephesians 5 and I recommend it for all married couples or those discerning marriage. 

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 2024

You are Deified, Divinized 

Feast of St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross 2024

Feast of Pope St. Sixtus II and Companions 

This is a talk that was given at Theology on Tap at Murphy's Grand Irish Pub in Old Town Alexandria, VA. If you would like a more comprehensive exploration of anxiety and a Catholic approach to mindfulness and healing please search my podcast for a multi-part series I did called "Mindfulness in an Anxious World" some years ago. I also recommend another course I taught on the Podcast called "the Little Way" about St. Therese and her little way. I hope this talk helps anyone who is struggling with anxiety. I am praying for you. 

Fr. Searby 

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

August 3rd, 2024

Bread of Life Discourse

Feast of St. Peter Chrysologus

Feast of St. Martha (Mary & Lazarus) 

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The Feeding of the 5000

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

Healing and Wholeness: The 18-Inch Journey from Head to Heart

“The glory of God is man fully alive.” —St. Irenaeus

“God does not love some ideal version of you. He loves you—with your particular history, wounds, and desires.”

This episode takes you on what may be the most important journey of your life: the 18 inches from the head to the heart. Through the story of Blaise Pascal’s mystical night of fire, the gentle wisdom of Harvey’s Elwood P. Dowd, and the wisdom of the Church, we explore what it means to become an integrated person—one who lives not in fragmentation, but in communion.

We are not just minds or spirits—we are embodied, emotional, historical persons. And while trauma, generational wounds, and spiritual lies may have fractured our inner life, God is drawing us back into wholeness. This is not a journey of perfection, but of integration—of learning to live fully alive.

You’ll hear about:

• The role of the family in shaping our early spiritual imagination

• The wounds that distort identity and the lies we carry into adulthood

• How emotional maturity, spiritual direction, and community lead us to healing

• How God re-parents us through His Word, His Church, and His sacraments

This episode is an invitation to courageously face the inner story you’ve believed—and to let God write a new one with you.

1. Where in my life do I live more from my head than from my heart?

   Where do I hide behind intelligence, control, or performance rather than love, vulnerability, and trust?

2. Have I made the 18-inch journey from being right to being real?

   What would it mean to let go of needing to prove myself and instead seek communion?

3. What were the spoken or unspoken rules in my family growing up?

   (“Don’t feel,” “Be perfect,” “Never be weak,” etc.)

4. What emotions were welcomed in my childhood? What emotions were avoided or punished?

5. What role did I play in my family system?

   (Hero, invisible one, peacekeeper, rebel…) How does that still shape me today?

6. What is one lie I have believed about myself?

   (“I am only loved if…”; “I must always… to be safe.”)

   Ask: Where did I learn this? What is the truth that God wants to speak there?

7. What pattern have I inherited from my family or past that I want to bring into the light of Christ?

   Pray: “Lord, show me where You were when I felt unseen.”

8. Which of life’s tasks—work, friendship, or love—do I tend to avoid?

   Ask: Where do I need more courage to live generously and not self-protect?

9. Do I see emotional strength as a way to protect myself or to give myself away?

   What would it mean to see my strength as a gift for others?

10. What private logic or internal script still shapes how I see myself, God, and others?

    Bring one of those to prayer. Ask: “Jesus, walk with me through the rooms of my childhood. What do You want to show me?”

16th Sunday in Ordinary time, Year B

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 

Monday of the 14th Week of Ordinary Time 

July 8th, 2014