Today, Ash Wednesday, the gospel reading from Matthew gives us instructions fitting for the lenten season ahead: “Take care not to perform righteous deed in order that people may see them…” “When you give alms” do it in “secret.” “When you pray … go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your […]
TWO WAYS TO LIVE LENT “INTENSELY” IN THIS JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY
Pope Francis has asked us to live Lent more intensely this year, the Jubilee Year of Mercy. How can we do that? According to the Holy Father, two things in particular can help us experience and celebrate God’s Mercy first hand: (1) prayerful listening to God’s word, repeating his word until we make it our […]
LOOKING FORWARD TO LENT: Praying with the Penitential Psalms
It’s always bittersweet to take down the Christmas decorations and pack them up. The living room looks cold and bare without the twinkling tree and I miss the crèche above the mantel. “God is with us”! it seemed to say whenever I passed by. Today I hear a different voice: “Come.” Come to me, Return […]
REFLECTING ON THE 7 DEADLY SINS: SLOTH (ACEDIA)
As I stood in line for confession, folding and unfolding the little slip of paper I had written my sins on, asking the Lord to tell me if I had forgotten anything – the words of the Confiteor came to me: “…in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, […]
PRAYING THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS: Last Friday of Lent – Psalm 143
The final penitential psalm, Psalm 143, takes us to the foot of the cross on Good Friday. The psalmist — perhaps David, on the run from his own son Absolom — has reached the end of his rope. His “spirit faints,” his heart is “appalled” (vs 4). He feels trapped and abandoned even by God, […]
REFLECTING ON THE 7 DEADLY SINS: GLUTTONY
They called it the MEATBALL DEATH STAR: 5 pounds of ground beef wrapped around a mixture of cheese tortellinis, sautéed sweet peppers and onions; a fluffy cloud of garlic mashed potatoes; a woven cloak of bacon, spaghetti sauce and grated cheese. Six teenagers gathered at my house and cooked the thing for a Saturday afternoon […]
PRAYING THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS: 6th Friday of Lent – Psalm 130
One of my enduring memories of 9/11 is the odd yet absolute right-ness of the packed church that night. Nobody was told to come, there was no mass, no scheduled prayer service – the people just came. We came together in our grief, our fear, our incomprehension. We huddled in silent prayer and wept. Instinctively, […]
REFLECTING ON THE 7 DEADLY SINS: LUST
I’m not sure how it happened, but somewhere along the line, our constitutional right to “the pursuit of happiness” has come to mean, “if it feels good, do it!” and too bad for anyone else who gets hurt in the process. Lust is everybody’s favorite deadly sin. The fact that it’s called “deadly” makes it […]
PRAYING THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS: 5th Friday of Lent – Psalm 102
The beginning of the end of my Grandmother’s life came early one morning. I knew she had cancer; but to my young and hopeful mind she would survive. What signaled the change I do not know, but I woke to hushed whispers and frantic activity. A blood cot to the brain, they said. I loved […]
REFLECTING ON THE 7 DEADLY SINS: WRATH
A lady once tried to rationalize her out-of-control temper to her pastor. “It’s no big deal,” she said. “I blow up, and then it’s all over.” “So does a shotgun,” he replied, “and look at the damage it leaves behind!” Anger is a deadly sin because it leads to other sins. That’s why Jesus, in […]
