From time to time we all need to step back from who we are, where we are, and what we’re doing, and reassess who we are and what on earth we are doing. It’s important because we won’t be here long. If we don’t make an effort to step back regularly, the momentum of life can carry us away, and before long we don’t even recognize ourselves. Then we run the risk

of waking up one morning with the feeling that we are living someone else’s life.

Flannan was an Irish saint who lived in the 7th century. When we look at his life, one thing becomes clear: amazing things happen when you take a step back from it all. As a young man, the first step away he took was entering an Irish monastery. In the silence of prayer each day, he deepened his faith and grew closer to God. Even after living in a monastery and becoming Abbot, Flannan knew he was being called to step away again. He decided to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. Because of that decision, Flannan met the pope and was consecrated as the first Bishop of Killaloe. What might God do with your life if you stepped away from it all? 

Maybe you would love to take a step back, but you’re not sure how. No matter what your life looks like, there are things you can do to step back and rediscover your real purpose. 

You could go on retreat for a couple of days once a year, and that would be powerful. You could make a pilgrimage to one of the epic holy places of our faith. But time passes between these

experiences, and we can easily lose God’s perspective. One of the most powerful ways to step back from it all is to take a few minutes in prayer every day. 

You could stop by a church for ten minutes and sit in front of the tabernacle. You could pray the Rosary. You could sit in a quiet corner of your home and speak to God in the silence of your heart. Prayer is a mini-retreat. Prayer is a pilgrimage in your soul. If you ever feel like running away from the world and just leaving everything behind, going somewhere quiet and simple, prayer is a great way to do that.

Do you yearn for peace? We all do. It is good to get away from time to time and go off on a retreat or pilgrimage. But we also need to find ways to connect with that feeling of stepping

back from it all each day. Taking time to pray each day is like stepping back from the crazy, noisy, busy world and into a calm, quiet, peaceful haven.



Feast Day: December 18

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Malachy and Saint Gatianus

Patron Saint of: Killaloe, Ireland

Canonized: June 9, 1902

Canonized By: Pope Leo XIII