August 26, 2026

Fr. John Riccardo

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).

If there is one foundational Scriptural text for our work in ACTS XXIX, this is it. ACTS XXIX doesn’t offer programs, though programs can be and often are immensely helpful in the Church. Instead, the charism, the gift, God has entrusted to us as an apostolate is what we call “the three essential principles” for transformation in the Church and in the world. These three essential principles are: 1) to reacquire a biblical worldview; 2) to be reconfigured to Jesus for mission; and 3) to restore the initiative to God.

Each of these principles has to do with the renewal and transformation of our minds. And when they’re all done in sync with each other, they create something of an alloy, something new. Over and over again we are witnesses to the fact that these principles bring remarkable renewal to our parishes, our presbyterates, our chanceries, our ministries, our marriages and more. They are at one and the same time immensely practical without at all being prescriptive, which is important, because there is no one way to do something. And they serve as something of an antidote to the often toxic thought patterns that are floating around in our culture — in every culture, for that matter.

Two alternative translations of this text from Paul in Romans can prove helpful in understanding why we need such an antidote. One translation puts it this way: “Do not let the world squeeze you into its way of thinking.” A quick note: when Paul says “the world”, he doesn’t mean God’s good creation. He means that spirit that is opposed to God and His love and truth. That said, I don’t know about you, but I daily experience this opposing spirit assaulting my mind. I experience it hourly, in fact. Much of the news I read, much of the entertainment I consume, the billboards I see on the road, the pop-up ads that invade my screens, the commercials that talk to me on the radio and TV and in so many other ways, so often leave my mind feeling as though something has been trying to squeeze it into a particular mold, a way of thinking that is not in harmony with God and His good plan for me and all of creation. And it more often than not leads to frustration, anxiety, anger, and all sorts of other things.

Another translation says, “Stop allowing yourselves to be conformed to this age.” Here, the emphasis is not so much on the world’s attempts to squeeze me as it is on my conniving with being squeezed. Whereas the first translation reminds me that we have an enemy — the devil and his minions — who try to seduce us in various ways starting with our minds, this translation reminds me that we have a responsibility for what we put into our minds. In much the same way as the condition of the body will reflect what a person eats, our minds will reflect what we put into them by the words and actions that flow from our thinking. If I eat a steady diet of junk food it will sooner or later have an effect. And if I digest into my mind a comparable diet of words, images and ideas that are contrary to God, goodness, truth and beauty, it will also have an effect. There is a certain truth to the old adage, “You are what you eat” — and what you think.

This is why Paul tells us that we need to have our minds renewed. This renewal is something only God can do. And wants to do. The Holy Spirit wants to transform us starting with our minds, with what we think. This is what repentance literally means: to change our thinking. To stop thinking with the mind of the world that is opposed to God, and to let the Lord shape our thoughts with His Spirit, so that we might be able to see reality accurately: who God is, who we are, what Jesus has done for us, how we should live, what love is — and isn’t — and so much more.

A first step, challenging and perhaps even daring for many of us in this renewal of our minds, is to exercise better discipline with regards to our screen consumption. As I write this I’m sitting on a plane flying home from some mission work. Every single person within view, I mean every single person, has their face glued to a screen. Phones, ipads, computers, seat-back TV screens are holding captive every face around me. And every mind. And I don’t see much that I would categorize as true, good or beautiful. To be sure, it’s not all outright offensive, though some of it is (are people not aware others can see what they’re watching?!). But much of it is simply inane and vacuous.

As we “chew on” Paul’s words to us this week, then, let’s consider going on a diet, not of food but of thinking. Just as someone trying to get physically healthy starts being more intentional about what they eat and exercising the body, let’s get more intentional about the “food” we put into our minds, and exercising our thinking. Let’s consider less time in front of a screen and more time in conversation, with friends, in Scripture, and in silence in prayer. Just as our bodies can become healthier and the person is amazed at how different they feel (and are!), so, too, this can happen in our minds. And when it does, the amazement and the difference is even more remarkable. Let’s ask St. Paul to pray for us that the Holy Spirit will do what only He can do and renew our ways of thinking. And let’s respond to the grace God will make available by taking whatever steps we each know we need to take to cooperate.

Don’t Get Squeezed!

How Unsearchable His Ways!