• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Memphis residents Jo Ann Thweatt, 84, and Charlie Feraci, 89, are pictured through a door March 29, 2020. They have been on a self-imposed quarantine amid the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS photo/Karen Pulfer Focht)

Confined? Look within

November 6, 2020
By Father Joseph Breighner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Commentary, Coronavirus, Wit & Wisdom

Most of us remember the parable Jesus told about the wedding feast (Mt 22:11-13). Everyone was invited but one man showed up without a wedding garment. The head of the household told the servants to throw the man out into the darkness “where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

To make a point in his sermon, one preacher kept repeating the words “wailing and gnashing of teeth, wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Finally a man in the first pew raised his hand and asked: “But, Reverend, suppose you have no teeth.” The preacher responded: “Teeth will be provided.”

During this period of the COVID-19 confinement, most of us may not have been grinding our teeth, but most of us have been challenged. We’re not used to staying home. We Americans have always been people on the go. From the beginnings of our nation, we have sought new frontiers. “Westward ho” was the call of the early pioneers. Having our own car and being able to go when and where we want had been part of our tradition. I think we have a new appreciation of just how much people in prison suffer in their confinement.

We deal with our confinement in different ways. Sometimes we may drink alcohol. One drink may not be so bad. But keep it to just one. We may watch a lot of television or go online. But they, too, have their limits. In short, even our distractions have their limits.

But there is another way. In our time of physical limits, we can go within. There is a universe within us that most of us rarely discover. Jesus said quite emphatically: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Lk 17:21). If the infinity of God is within, then we do indeed have not only new worlds to discover but also a new place to go.

A simple phrase to repeat silently throughout the day is: “Be still and know that I am God.” When we can be still, we can discover the presence of God.

I’m reminded of the story of the man who was told by God that he would come to him that night. The man waited all night, and never saw God. The next morning he complained bitterly to God: “You didn’t keep your word. You never showed up.” God replied: “You forgot to look within.”

Closing our eyes and repeating, “Be still and know that I am God” is a simple, but profound, way to practice the presence of God. God fills the universe in all its parts. We need to remember that God fills us as well.

As you may have guessed, if you’re driving a car or walking or jogging, closing your eyes is not a good idea. The prayer that I use when I’m not still is “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” Or, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.”

We can spend our days being aware of God within us and praying for those around us.

Our confinement will pass. God will not.

Copyright © 2020 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Father Joseph Breighner

Father Joseph Breighner is a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and a columnist for the Catholic Review.

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

Archbishop Wenski: ‘Change the narrative about migration’

Reasons why St. Francis is a model of synodality

Cardinal Dolan: Are Sunday Masses just too long?

A taste of a child’s birthday joy

Grandma still uses cash, but updates when it’s truly necessary

| Recent Local News |

St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore awarded $2 million VA grant

‘The Following of Christ’: The ‘hidden’ book that helped make Mother Seton a saint

St. Maria Goretti High School faces uncertain future after difficult decision by archdiocese

Compensating all claims of abuse: Archdiocese considers Chapter 11 reorganization

Perfect harmony: Music internship program helps parishes in Western Maryland

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Rosary, community help Minnesota family through grief over loss of son
  • France’s reactions to pope’s upcoming visit are mixed; some see ‘Fratelli Tutti’ momentum
  • Shrine to only approved U.S. Marian apparition gets ready for first solemnity
  • Vatican astronomer helps NASA in historic mission to study asteroid
  • U.S. Catholic archbishop receives award from Ukraine’s Zelenskyy
  • People have a duty to save migrants in danger of drowning, pope says
  • St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore awarded $2 million VA grant
  • Arriving in Marseille, pope prepares to speak up for protecting migrants
  • Florida, Michigan bishops decry ‘grave,’ ‘appalling’ abortion efforts underway in their states

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED