“Pray without ceasing,” St. Paul urged his fellow Christians in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Today we honor a woman who did just that: St. Monica, who prayed through years of tears and against all odds for her pagan husband and wayward son. That son, who became Saint Augustine, later wrote gratefully of his mother: “She said […]
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THE PARADOX OF THE CROSS: Learning from Mary on Good Friday
Above the altar in the Chapel of the Crucifixion in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre — traditionally recognized as the spot where Jesus was nailed to the cross — is a mosaic. A life-sized Jesus lies spread out on the ground where the soldier has just finished hammering nails into his hands. A woman […]
MARY: MOTHER OF GOD?
Lounging in my robe and slippers one New Year’s morning, my attention was caught by the scene over the fireplace. Candles, stars, and angels surrounded the Holy Family: the baby in his mother’s arms, Joseph standing by and looking on with love, Mary “keeping” the message of the shepherds in her heart. I was meditating […]
TRIBUTE TO ST. MARTHA, friend and servant of the Lord
It’s my opinion that Martha is vastly under-rated. Perhaps that’s appropriate. She’s the patron saint of servants, after all, and servants aren’t meant to garner attention and praise. But a servant in the kingdom of God is great indeed! With her memorial being celebrated today, I’ve been thinking about Martha’s life and witness in the […]
THE COURAGE OF MARY – The Annunciation
A year ago I sat, awed, a few feet from the place where tradition has it, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. The enormous Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is built over a small grotto – part of the house where Mary is said to have lived. The column that stands in it today […]
THE VISITATION: Seeing Jesus When He’s Out of Sight
Nestled in the hills southwest of Jerusalem is the beautiful Church of the Visitation, built on the traditional site of the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Over the altar is a luminous painting of Mary. In contrast to other paintings of the Visitation, we don’t see her greeting Elizabeth. Rather, we who look on sit […]
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE: A BURNING BUSH?
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 […]
“‘BEHOLD, YOUR MOTHER’: COMFORT FROM THE CROSS
Today the liturgy drops us from the heights of yesterday’s victory feast—the Exaltation of the Holy Cross—to the foot of that Cross where we mourn with Our Lady of Sorrows. It is a long step down. Mary, if you think about it, did not have on that terrible day, the advantage of hindsight that allows […]
MOTHERHOOD: A MYSTERY TO CELEBRATE
My favorite spot in the Holy Land is the Church of the Visitation at Ein Kerem, up in the hills North of Jerusalem. Here is where Mary ran when she learned she would bear the Son of God. There’s a lovely, simple statue in the courtyard of her greeting Elizabeth. The two of them stand […]
FINDING THE KING IN A CATTLE SHED
“And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night…. And the angel said to them, ‘Be not afraid…; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you […]
