October 23, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint John of Capistrano, Priest
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Romans 6:19-23
Reflect on the Word //
Just this morning I read an article about the celebrated author, chef, and TV presenter Anthony Bourdain. He tragically ended his own life at what appeared to be the height of his fame, fortune, and creative power. The article included this quote from Bourdain: “You’ll never know the consequences of getting what you want until you get what you want” (source). It’s a quote that speaks to what happens when human desires are ordered toward the wrong goals.
I know in my life continuing to try to order my desires to the will of God is difficult because so often I don’t see immediate consequences. There are no dramatic miracles or spiritual ecstasies, let alone fame and fortune. As a mom, many of my days seem and feel quite ordinary, and while I know that what I do every day is important at deep, life-changing levels, there are few accolades or grand feelings of accomplishment. My desire to follow God’s will for my life brings a joy that looks and feels differently from worldly accomplishment or career success. That’s why Saint Paul’s words today are an important reminder that my desires have consequences, and the consequences couldn’t be higher. We can submit to a slavery to sin that ends in death or choose instead a slavery to righteousness and the greatest reward of eternal life.
The gift of Baptism, of becoming a Christian and sharing in the sanctifying life of Christ, is our path out of that slavery to sin: “But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life” (Romans 6:22). As Christians we have to continue to seek to align our desires with the desires of Christ. We are choosing and desiring the greatest consequence of human life if we do so. And while we will only see the consequences of this desire in part in this world, when we give ourselves over to the movements of grace we will anticipate eternal life spent with God.
Relate to the Lord // Meditate on Heaven. Ask God for a greater desire for Heaven today.
Christy Isinger is a cradle Catholic, wife, and mother of five teenagers from western Canada. During the short Canadian summers she tries to garden and grow flowers, while in the long cold winters she reads a lot of books, writes, and homeschools. Her Substack newsletter can be found at christyisinger.substack.com.
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