I sat with my grandmother in the hospital toward the end of her life, miserable to think that she would soon be gone. As was typical with her, she was the one comforting me. At 22, I couldn’t imagine life after anybody’s death . . . but she could. “But God, Sarah,” she said. “…but God! No […]
CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART: Psalm 51
“You’re the man!” According to the Urban Dictionary, that’s a cool way of saying “you rock!” You’re comparing the person to someone everyone knows is awesome, like Jesus (or Allah, or Buddha, or even Chuck Norris, according to that source!) Somehow I don’t think that’s what the prophet Nathan meant in 2 Samuel 12 when […]
THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT: Reflecting on the Sin of Wrath
This continues a series of reflections on the seven deadly sins, with related scripture for meditation. Begin the series here. Week 4: Psalm 51 — “From the sin of WRATH, O Lord, deliver me…” A lady once tried to rationalize her out-of-control temper to her priest. “It’s no big deal,” she said. “I blow up, and then […]
THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT: Reflecting on the sin of Envy
If you’re reflecting on the seven deadly sins with me, and praying with the Penitential Psalms to overcome them, notice how well this week’s Psalm 38 expresses our experience with envy: “thy arrows have sunk into me” (vs 2); “my wounds grow foul and fester” (vs 5); and “Lord, all my longing is known to […]
THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT: Reflecting on the sin of Greed
This week I’m looking at the sin of greed (avarice), making it the basis of an examination of conscience and pairing it with the second penitential psalm in my lenten reflections. [Read more about that here – and download instructions here.] Week 2: Psalm 32 — “From the sin of GREED, O Lord, deliver me…” “Greed is a […]
THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT: Reflecting on the sin of Pride
I’m reflecting on the seven deadly sins this year, focusing on one each week as part of my Lenten examination of conscience. Will you join me? The internet is full of questions to use if you need help, just type in “examination of conscience, seven deadly sins” and find a set you like. Or you […]
PSALMS FOR LENT: Find GRACE in the Penitential Psalms
The Psalms are unique in the Bible because on one hand, they are prayers of people pouring out their hearts to God; but at the same time, they are the words of God. When we pray with them, our thirst for him meets his thirst for us. The psalms reveal HIS heart while they bare […]
ENTERING THE SILENCE OF HOLY SATURDAY
Scripture is nearly silent about Holy Saturday. It’s as if with the death of our Lord, everything stops. There is a flurry of preparation in the short time between his death and the start of the Sabbath: Joseph of Arimathea wraps the body of Jesus carefully and lays it in a new tomb not far […]
Palm Sunday: ENTERING THE NEW COVENANT
Now Holy Week begins, and the readings draw us into the Passion that saved us. (Each week of Lent, I’ve been musing on the Sunday Mass readings: specifically, through the lens of the first readings. Read in turn, these stories from the Old Testament take us on a journey through God’s plan of salvation. They […]
5th Sunday of Lent: ANNOUNCING THE NEW COVENANT
This week, the Mass readings get personal. It’s not just Israel we’re thinking about now, but our own hearts. How is yours? (Each week until Easter, I’m musing on the Sunday Mass readings: specifically, through the lens of the first readings. Read in turn, these stories from the Old Testament take us on a journey […]
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