A favorite poem of Dr. Tod Worner is Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods One Snowy Evening,” in which the subject pauses briefly and, as Worner describes, is in “such a transcendent moment of peace and presence that the obsession over the future, the worry or the rumination or the guilt over the past disappears.”
The man is “just being present,” holding the reins of his horse, said Worner, managing editor of the Journal of the Word on Fire Institute. “That horse for you and me is that inner, efficient drive to get on with it, to move … to multitask.’” But sometimes “you need to trade off,” he said. “You need to get to where you’re going just a little bit later,” he said. “The bottom line is, once people start diving back … (they) say, ‘why did I step away from this ocean of grace?’”
Stepping away is a way to trade for the better, Worner said, and should be done on a regular basis. “You will not regret it. You will be transformed by it.”
Worner and Father Spencer Howe, pastor of Holy Cross in Minneapolis, recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss messages from Worner’s remarks set for April 18 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, titled, Have We Forgotten Who We Are? Resurrecting Catholic Identity in an Uncertain Age.
Young people especially understand “living outside of oneself,” Worner said, “connecting with people on social media, proving oneself.” Yet there’s “a barrenness on the inside because they aren’t finding time to be quiet, they aren’t finding time to commune with God in prayer, and they’re not finding time to take part in the sacraments,” he said.
Father Howe referenced a book, “A Mind at Peace,” which discusses the virtues that help “quiet our soul in an age of distraction.” He said the Church can help people back “into a rehumanized form of life because we are very often degraded and dehumanized … by the pace of life, but also the expectations to live in that exterior mode when we’re made for something much more.”
Referencing St. Augustine, Father Howe said: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in the one that has created us.”
Dr. Worner will speak at 7 p.m. April 18 at James B. Woulfe Alumni Hall at the University of St. Thomas. His talk, open to the public, is sponsored by two organizations: 1) Tommie Catholic, which includes campus ministry at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul’s Outreach and Catholic Studies, and 2) the Roccasecca Project, an independent alumni association and “a gathering of friends of the University of St. Thomas: current students, faculty, etc.,” said Father Howe.
The event “falls into our focus, especially of intellectual formation and ongoing intellectual engagement both on the campus and around the broader community,” Father Howe said.
To learn more, visit roccaseccaproject.org. To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. April 14 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. April 15 and 2 p.m. April 16.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who reflects on his first year as a bishop and about the Easter season; and Deacon Joe Michalak, director of the Office of Synod Evangelization, who discusses a recently concluded session at the School of Discipleship, the latest evangelization efforts and how to stay connected to the Synod process in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
