Hey friend, grab your coffee or a tea, and sit with me for
a minute.
I just finished listening to part one of Chuck Swindoll's
end-of-year messages, and man, after listening to this man teach Scripture
since 1983, he still manages to cut right through all my defenses and get
straight to the heart of things. There's something about Chuck's teaching style,
that kitchen-table honesty, that refusal to play games, that has kept me coming back
for over forty years now.
As a Catholic, I absolutely love his teachings, his humor,
and his insights. He brings Scripture to life in a different way, and back in
the 80s, there just weren't many Catholic teachers on the radio, so I was drawn
to him. I use my Catholic Faith to guide me through everything, so I can pick
out the gems of his teachings, and there are so many. What follows is my own
interpretation and reflection on what I just heard, filtered through my
Catholic lens, and I hope it encourages you as you prepare spiritually for
2026.
Chuck's got this gift of making you feel like he's sitting
across from you, having a real conversation, not delivering some polished-up teaching.
He invites us to approach God's Word with both reverence and accessibility, something
we Catholics understand deeply through our liturgical tradition and our
personal prayer life.
So here we are. December 30th. That weird in-between time
when you're eating leftover Christmas cookies and pretending you'll actually
follow through on those New Year's resolutions. But Chuck (and the Lord,
through him) is asking us to do something different than just promising to hit
the gym more. He's asking us to stop and actually look at our lives.
The
Uncomfortable Gift of Reflection
You know what's funny? Most of us spend more time planning
our next vacation than examining our own souls. We'll research hotels for hours, but can't spare twenty minutes to ask ourselves the hard questions. Chuck talks
about how some people intentionally set aside time monthly or seasonally to
reflect, and honestly, when he said that, I thought, "Well, I'm clearly
not one of those rare unicorns."
This reminds me of the practice of the Examen, that
beautiful Ignatian prayer where we review our day with God, looking for His
presence, our responses, and where we need to grow. It's exactly what Chuck is
calling us to do, just on an annual scale. The Church has always understood
that spiritual growth requires intentional self-reflection, guided by grace.
And honestly? The Rosary does this too, as we meditate on the mysteries,
we're invited to examine our own lives through the lens of Christ's life and
His mother's faithful witness.
But here's the thing: sometimes God doesn't wait for us to
volunteer for this soul-searching. Sometimes, He just... stops us in our tracks.
An accident, a health scare, devastating news, suddenly everything grinds to a
halt, and we're forced to listen.
The story Chuck shares about Stephen King getting hit by
that van is absolutely haunting. Here's this successful writer, routine day,
running his usual route, and bam. Fourteen feet in the air. Leg fractured in
nine places. And King writes later about how he learned what "you can't
take it with you" actually means when you're lying in a ditch with your
bone sticking out like a tree branch (told you it was haunting).
We come in with nothing; we leave with nothing.
Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Elon Musk: everybody goes out with the same bank
account: $0.00. As Jesus reminds us in Luke 12:15, "Take care to guard
against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of
possessions."
This echoes what we profess as Catholics about the particular
judgment: when we stand before God, we bring nothing but our souls, our
choices, our love or lack thereof. The Catechism teaches us that "at the
evening of life, we shall be judged on our love" (CCC 1022). Not our bank
accounts. Not our accomplishments. Our love.
So, if we can't take it with us, what matters?
Four
Things Worth Examining
Here's where Chuck really got me thinking. He walks us
through four areas of life that are actually worth our attention, and I want to
share my reflections on each one through my Catholic understanding. Think of
this as a spiritual checkup, which can be uncomfortable, maybe even a little
painful, but necessary if we want to actually grow toward holiness.
1.
Your Thoughts
This one hits hard right out of the gate. Philippians 4:8
gives us the checklist: "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever
is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there
is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these
things."
Chuck asks the most uncomfortable question: If your
thoughts could be projected on a screen for everyone to see right now, would
you be embarrassed? Ouch.
As Catholics, we understand that sin begins in the heart.
Jesus taught this clearly in Matthew 15:19: "For from the heart come evil
thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy."
Our Catechism reminds us that we're called to guard our interior life, to
cultivate virtue in our thoughts before they ever become actions (CCC 2520).
You know what's been transforming my thought life? The Rosary.
I mean it, there's something very powerful about meditating on the mysteries of
Jesus’s life while those beads slip through your fingers. When my mind wants to
spiral into anxiety, gossip, or impurity, Our Lady gently redirects me back to what's true, honorable, and pure.
The Joyful Mysteries remind me of humble beginnings and patient waiting.
The Luminous Mysteries? They're like a master class in how Jesus
thought, taught, and lived.
The Sorrowful Mysteries teach me about sacrifice and perseverance.
And the Glorious Mysteries lift my eyes to what really matters, heaven,
eternal life, the triumph of grace.
This conviction is real for individuals whose
minds occasionally wander. Proverbs 4:23 warns us, "Guard
your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."
Your thought life isn't just private entertainment; it's the construction site
of your character. What do you think about what has shaped your character to
become? This is why the saints emphasized custody of the mind, why we're called
to "take every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Are you dwelling on truth or deception? Nobility or
garbage? Purity or... well, you know where your mind wanders. This isn't about perfection,
it's about direction. And after forty-plus years of listening to Chuck, I can
tell you he's consistently called us back to this foundational principle that
aligns perfectly with Catholic teaching: transformation starts in the mind,
but it's completed by God's grace.
Here's my challenge for 2026:
Pick up your Rosary. Make it a daily devotion. Let Mary, our Blessed Mother, the school of all virtues, teach you how to think like Christ. She pondered all
these things in her heart (Luke 2:19), and she'll teach us to do the same.
2.
Your Treasure
Jesus said it plainly in Matthew 6:21: "Where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Look at your bank statement. Look at your credit card
bills. They're not just numbers—they're a map of your priorities. Are you
generous or stingy? Do you spend on what matters eternally, or just on the next
dopamine hit from Amazon?
The Works of Mercy: both corporal and spiritual, aren't
just nice suggestions from the Church; they're the practical outworking of the
Gospel. We're called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the sick.
But we can't do any of that if we're clutching our possessions with white
knuckles.
Chuck's reminder that we're all going out broke really
shifted my perspective here. All that money, all those possessions, it's all on
loan anyway. Everything we have is a gift from God, meant to be stewarded well
and shared freely. The principle of stewardship is deeply Catholic; we
don't own anything; we're just temporary caretakers of God's gifts. As
Scripture says in 1 Chronicles 29:14, "Everything comes from you, and we
have given you only what comes from your hand."
We're called to be people who give, not hoard. King's words
that Chuck quoted, "All that lasts is what you pass on", man, that statement
will stick with me. It reminds me of what Jesus said: "Store up treasures
in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys" (Matthew 6:20).
3.
Your Time
James 4:13-15 reminds us: "Come now, you who say,
'Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town... and make a profit',
you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke
that appears briefly and then disappears. Instead, you should say, 'If the Lord
wills it, we shall live to do this or that.'"
Translation: We're not guaranteed tomorrow, folks. So, how
are you spending today?
This is why we end our plans with "God
willing" or "Deo volente", not as superstition, but
as a profound acknowledgment that we're not in control. Every breath is a gift.
Every moment is on loan.
Are you wasting hours scrolling through outrage on social
media? Are you too "busy" for the people who matter most? Are you so
caught up in productivity that you've forgotten how to just be with God?
Have you been skipping daily Mass, rushing through the Rosary like it's a
race to the finish line, or treating prayer like a checkbox instead of a
relationship?
The Church gives us the beautiful rhythm of the Liturgy
of the Hours, sanctifying each part of the day, reminding us that all time
belongs to God. We're not just cramming God into our busy schedules; we're
living in God's time, recognizing that every moment is sacred.
And can I be honest? Those 15-20 minutes with the Rosary?
That's not time lost; it's time invested in eternity. Mary meets us
there, in that quiet space with our beads, and she prays with us and for us.
She's not demanding or pushy; she's a mother, gently leading us to her Son.
"Do whatever He tells you" (John 2:5). That's her constant refrain,
her maternal advice for every situation we face.
Time is the one resource we can never get back. Spend it
like it matters. I love how Chuck always brings it back to the practical. This isn't theoretical theology; it's Monday morning reality. It's choosing to pray
instead of scroll, serving instead of consuming, to love instead of just existing.
It's choosing to pray your Rosary instead of hitting snooze one more time.
4.
Your Touch
This is about impact, how you affect the people around you.
Are you building others up or tearing them down? Are you present for your
family or perpetually distracted? Are you serving or just being served?
King's words that Chuck shared echo powerfully here:
"Make your life one long gift to others. And why not? All you have is on
loan anyway. All that lasts is what you pass on."
As Catholics, we understand this through the lens of vocation,
whether we're called to marriage, religious life, or the single life, we're all
called to holiness and to service. The Catechism reminds us
beautifully: "God calls each person to holiness in the midst of the
world" (CCC 2013). We're not just trying to be good people, we're called
to be saints, people who cooperate with God's grace to become sources of
love in a broken world.
Your touch, your presence, your kindness, these are the corporal
works of mercy lived out in real time. When you comfort someone who's
grieving, you're burying the dead. When you're patient with that difficult
person, you're bearing wrongs patiently. When you forgive that family member
who hurt you, you're forgiving injuries. These things ripple outward in ways
you'll never fully see this side of heaven.
And let's be real: this is where the rubber meets the
road in our faith. It's easy to pray beautifully in church on Sunday. It's
harder to live charitably with your spouse on Tuesday morning when they've left
their socks on the floor again. But that's exactly where holiness happens—in
the ordinary, mundane, irritating moments of everyday life.
Here's where Our Lady shines as our model:
She lived an ordinary life: cooking, cleaning, raising a child, managing a
household. But she did it all with extraordinary love. When we pray the Rosary,
we're not just saying prayers; we're asking Mary to teach us how to love
like she loved, patiently, faithfully, sacrificially, joyfully. We're
asking her to help us touch the lives around us with the same tenderness she
showed to everyone who came into her home in Nazareth.
So,
What Now?
Look, I'm not asking you to make some grandiose resolution
that you'll abandon by January 15th. Chuck isn't either. We're just asking you
to pause. To look. To listen.
Where has God been trying to get your attention? What needs
to change? What needs to be renewed? Maybe it's time for a good Examination
of Conscience and a trip to Confession. There's something incredibly
freeing about bringing our mess to the sacrament, hearing those words of
absolution, and starting fresh. That's not just Protestant renewal; that's Catholic
regeneration through the sacramental grace Christ gave His Church.
Chuck said something in this message that really got me:
"Don't think someone else ought to be here to hear this... This is for
you." He's right. This isn't about your spouse, your kids, or your coworker
who really needs to get their act together. It's about you. It's about me.
We're all works in progress, stumbling toward sanctity one
honest conversation with God at a time. This is the journey of ongoing
conversion that the Church speaks of, not a one-time event, but a daily
dying to self and rising with Christ. As St. Paul says, "I die daily"
(1 Corinthians 15:31). Every morning is a chance to begin again.
As we step into 2026, let's do it with open hands and
examined hearts. Let's choose to live intentionally, not accidentally. Let's
remember that, as Chuck so beautifully put it, we're here by divine
appointment, not random chance. You didn't just happen to read this, God's got
something He wants to say to you. Divine Providence brought you here, to
this moment, to these words.
And hey, let's remember that the same God who gives us
peace (Philippians 4:9) is with us in this process. We're not doing this alone.
We have the Communion of Saints cheering us on, the Holy Spirit
empowering us, Our Blessed Mother interceding for us, and the sacraments
strengthening us for the journey. The Church gives us everything we need; we
just have to show up and cooperate with grace.
So grab your Bible, maybe your Catechism too, and
definitely grab your Rosary, find a quiet spot before the Blessed
Sacrament if you can, and have that kitchen-table conversation with Jesus. Let
Mary lead you to Him, like she always does. Ask Him the hard questions.
Listen for His answers in Scripture, in the silence, in the teachings of the
Church. And then, this is the important part: actually do something about what
you hear.
You've got this. More importantly, God's got you. And
you've got Mary, our Mother, who never stops praying for us. You've got two
thousand years of Catholic wisdom, teaching, and saints backing you up.
Happy New Year, friend. Let's make 2026 count, not for
ourselves, but ad maiorem Dei gloriam, for the greater glory of God. And
may Our Lady of the Rosary guide every step we take.
Watch for Part 2’s "Time to Reflect & Prepare" Tomorrow.
P.S. - I've been blessed by Chuck Swindoll's teaching for
over four decades now, and if his ministry has impacted you the way it's
impacted me, I encourage you to support Insight for Living. And if this little
reflection, my Catholic interpretation of what I heard, helped you at all, pass
it along to someone who needs to hear it. After all, we can't take any of this
with us; might as well give it away now, right? That's the Catholic way: faith
in action, grace poured out, love multiplied. And if you're looking for a
concrete way to grow in 2026? Pick up your Rosary. Our Lady is waiting to walk
with you.
©2025 James Dacey, Jr., OFS
