“For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” — Matthew 2:2b It’s a dull, gray day and there’s an emptiness around my heart, something I can’t quite name. Where is the child all the fuss was about? Where is Jesus? I wonder if the Church knew it might be […]
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START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT: BUILD A BIBLE READING HABIT
How would your life be different if you read the Bible every day — or if you turned to it as often as you do your smartphone? Pope Francis asked that question and had this to say: “If we had the Word of God always in the heart, no temptation would be able to estrange […]
RECEIVING THE GAZE OF JESUS: an exercise in visio divina
Let’s “come into the Word” today by doing a little visio divina — reflecting on a painting of the Word-made-flesh. It’s getting close to Christmas, and I don’t know about you, but my brain is too full to read another thing. There is something about a quiet gaze that speaks to my heart right now. […]
FINDING NEW MEANING IN THE CHRISTMAS TREE
In the winter of 1510, the merchants of Riga, Latvia, hauled a tree into the center of the marketplace. They decorated it with roses, symbol of the Virgin Mary. They danced around the tree in celebration of the Christ-child’s birth, and then they set it alight in a blaze of glory. That was the first […]
REJOICE! HOW ABOUT A PRE-CHRISTMAS RE-BOOT?
Have you ever heard of “foreboding joy”? That’s what Brene Brown (in The Power of Vulnerability) calls it when we prepare for the worst even when things are at their best. Foreboding joy. I know it sounds like a contradiction in terms, but I’ll bet a lot of people feel something like it right now. […]
WAKE UP TO ADVENT WITH TWO BIBLE READING PLANS
Wake up! It’s time to make our way toward Bethlehem. + + + + + + + “Stay awake! … be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” — from Luke 24:37-44, Gospel for the 1st Sunday of Advent Year A + + + + + […]
PUZZLING OUT THE TRINITY: What does it mean to me?
Father. Son. Holy Spirit. Why does it matter that God is three-in-One? Why do we celebrate this day? It doesn’t help me to think about a three-leaf clover, or of H20 as water, ice and steam. I still can’t wrap my head around it. I want to know first why it matters to my life. […]
A WINDOW INTO HEAVEN & THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS
It’s one thing to know something in your head. It’s quite another to feel it in your bones. I had that experience recently in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Dr. Edward Sri, who led our pilgrimage, had told us in advance what to expect: the grand central basilica, built over the graves of early Christians; […]
A MOTHER’S DAY GREETING FROM ST. PAUL
Reading the end of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, the part where he lists everyone he wants to greet, I was struck by verse 13: “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine” (NABRE). Is that one woman or two? The English Standard Version, while not as literal, gets across what […]
DON’T BE AFRAID: Jesus is with you!
One week after Easter, I can totally relate to the disciples. They are huddled behind locked doors, afraid of what the Jews might do to them. They must be still in shock from the crucifixion, even though they’ve been hearing that Jesus has risen. He’s not with them in the same way that he used […]
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