Q: How many people does it take to understand an empty tomb? A: On that first Easter morning, according to John’s gospel, it took three. First responder Mary Magdalene assumed the worst and ran for help. John stopped at the door, noting the cloths left behind. Not until Simon Peter went into the tomb and […]
Search Results for: forgiveness
CLIMBING THE “SPIRITUAL LADDER” TO EASTER: Psalm 6
As is often the case, my heart is hard by the time Lent rolls around. I need help to soften and to turn it, so I can recognize my sin: the ways I’ve missed the mark or turned good to my own ends or put my own will before God’s. Or my needs before those […]
DIVINE MERCY: WHAT’S IT TO YOU?
It is part of our human condition that grief and fear blind us to heavenly realities. On Easter Sunday, St. Paul challenged us with Colossians 3:1-4: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above…. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life […]
TRUE CONFESSION: A Convert Looks at the Sacrament
“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been . . . [how long?] . . . since my last confession.” Confession is something I’ve never quite gotten used to, even after more than twenty years of being Catholic. I still feel I have to tell the priest, going in, that I’m not used to […]
CASTING OUT THE ROOTS OF BITTERNESS: Luke 17
They say forgiveness is easy, until you have something to forgive. And if the reason for that hurt continues – if the person responsible comes back and does it again and again and even, which is worse, apologizes every time and then repeats her sin – forgiveness is not easy at all. What can be done? […]
CARING FOR PEARLS (Or, Turning Trials Into Things of Beauty)
Talk about a “pearl of great price”! A Filipino fisherman this week revealed the unusual good-luck charm he’d kept hidden under his bed for ten years: a 75-pound pearl. No, that’s not a typo – his two-foot-long, fresh-water treasure weighs as much as your average 5th-grader. The extraordinary beauty of natural pearls comes from the […]
LIVE MERCY THIS LENT (Part 1 of 7)
What are you doing for Lent? Over the years, I’ve fallen into a rut. Here’s what my usual Lent looks like: Fast on Ash Wednesday and Fridays, give up alcohol and sweets and unnecessary shopping. Strive for more fervent daily prayer, especially with lectio divina. Add Adoration to my weekly schedule, and Stations of the […]
THANKS-GIVING, THE DOOR TO HAPPY HOLIDAYS
An “emotional survival guide” for the holidays showed up on my facebook feed the other day, a sad reminder that not everyone has fun around the Christmas dinner table. Why is it that those we love have the most power to hurt us? People gather at the holidays, hoping for the best. Then out come […]
WISDOM FROM JAMES: When the Rubber Meets the Road (1:26)
If you’ve been following this blog, you know James says to “count it all joy…when you meet various trials.” Not only did I read that, I memorized it. I meditated on it. I taught it to my Bible study class. By the time I was done, I knew all there was to know about counting […]
BE NOT AFRAID!
“Be Not Afraid!…Swing wide the gates to Christ!” Karol Wojtyla proclaimed this from the balcony at St. Peter’s Square back in 1978, the day he became Pope John Paul II. How fitting that today, as he is canonized in that same square, we read the gospel of Jesus “swinging wide the gates” of the Upper […]
