In this episode, Monsignor Wolf reflects on his 70th birthday and uses small annoyances to open a larger reflection on civility, hidden suffering, and the danger of loose talk about civil war. History, media literacy, and prayer guide us toward mercy, truth, and peace, with a closing poem on the gifts of age.

• loud noise and fraying civility as signals of respect
• hats in church as a cultural practice of reverence
• grades and metrics failing to measure real life
• living with an unseen disability and fear
• choosing charity because most pain is hidden
• historical lessons on civil war rhetoric and cost
• media bias, sincere belief, and critical listening
• prayer for enemies as the only way forward
• poem “An Odd Plus” on the strange gifts of age

************

Father Don Wolf is a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Living Catholic also broadcasts on Oklahoma Catholic Radio several times per week, with new episodes airing every Sunday.