Daily Reflection
September 9, 2025

Last year, I had a sudden health crisis, and I thought I was not going to recover. So, I started preparing for the worst. My doctor told me that to manage my anxiety, I had to find something to ground me in reality and incorporate more movement throughout the day. As I read the scripture passages today, I realized that a life of faith involves the same; It involves grounding and movement. 

Grounded in Christ, we gain the clarity to act in ways that reflect our faith. To be rooted in Christ is an ongoing commitment to let the love, grace, and wisdom of God shape our priorities, choices, and actions. Attending a Jesuit university taught me that this is called discernment. In the Gospel, Jesus models the process of discernment. He models a rhythm of a faith deeply connected to God and the needs of his people. Jesus did not rush into ministry without first grounding himself in God’s will, and neither did he linger in prayer without engaging the people around him. Jesus went up to the mountain to pray. He came down from the mountain with clarity of purpose, choosing his partners in ministry. “He came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground” (Luke 6:17). He immediately got to work. Jesus did not remain on the mountain. He came down to those who were sick, suffering, and desperate for healing. Lives were restored and hope rekindled. This rhythm of prayer, discernment, and compassionate action is the rhythm of the Christian life. It is the rhythm we see in the life of Saint Peter Claver.

Today is the memorial of Saint Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest born in Spain but eventually found himself in Cartegena, Colombia, an epicenter of the transatlantic slave trade at the time. Saint Peter Claver dedicated his life to serving and advocating for enslaved Africans brought to the Americas in chains, and treated as property, stripped of dignity. While many turned away, Peter Claver did not confine himself to abstract sympathy or distant prayers; he ran towards them. He met the ships at the docks, brought food, water, medicine, and profound warmth to those who were treated as less than human. He touched wounds, cradled the sick, learned words in their language, baptized many, and spoke on their behalf.
Why?

He did this because he saw Christ in them. Peter Claver came down from the mountain of private piety and descended into the valleys of human suffering. Peter Claver was grounded in Christ, and that compelled him to be moved into action from a place of love and radical compassion. 

Unfortunately, we still live in a world marked by manifestations of the same brokenness that Peter Claver encountered. Systemic racism, human trafficking, economic disparity, unfair labor practices, environmental exploitation, devaluation of the expertise of people of color, immigration discomforts, and general indifference to the suffering of others, are not relics of the past—they are present realities. 

Like Jesus, we must retreat to pray, discern how we are being called, and then find the courage to descend into valleys of human suffering and do our part, not with pity, but with compassionate presence. Sometimes, that would mean advocating for the marginalized when you can, standing in solidarity with the oppressed, spending time with those suffering in mind, body, or spirit, supporting anti-trafficking organizations, listening to the voices of those who have been silenced, or even engaging in deeper empathy in our daily interactions. It is a type of holiness that flows from the cross. The question before us is this: Will we remain on the mountain, or will we come down? As we honor Saint Peter Claver today, may we be inspired by his life. May we find those who are ignored and broken in our midst, and ask, how may I serve?

Compassionate God, grant us a faith that grows and stretches outwards to nourish, support, and bear fruit for others. Amen.