This is one of the core teachings at PRI that everything stems from. Listen as Msgr. Don explains why there is really no need to go searching for God outside of yourself.

Good morning. If somebody stops you and asks you what is the goal of religion or what is the goal of a religious person, you might hear them say something like, “Well, it's an energy, a life force in you that is somehow striving to find God to engage with him.”

It's considered to be in many ways, I think in some person's spirituality, what you work for: I've got to work to get to God, so God will then be there for me. And then if there is any kind of effort on your part to do that, be careful of that. Because in a sense, there is something you need to do to be in touch with God, but it is not that he's out there, up there, that you have to try to get him to come inside of you. He's already inside of you. You wouldn't exist if he wasn't inside of you. He's in every single thing that's alive. He's everywhere. I'm not saying that God is not a personal being. He's not just this energy or force, but he's really a human like us.

I mean, he's divine, but his divinity is not far from our humanity. And that helps me so much to realize that there is something so beautiful about going around looking for something only to discover that it's already there. And that would be the best way I could describe our search for God. It's like looking for him everywhere in one religion or another religion or trying something else.

No, no. Go inside. He is there. And what do you find? I can't describe it. But when you know it, when you feel it, when you sense Him, it's like a part of you that was always missing is now there. Life isn't perfect, but it has some kind of inner calm, inner core that never seems to be able to be destroyed by anything happening on the outside because it's an inside job. That's religion. An inside job. 

Have a good day.

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