I have been struggling with purpose lately, my purpose. What specifically is my purpose in life? What is my part in the big picture of God’s plan? I know and trust that God has a purpose for all things, including me (see Psalm 139). Either life has meaning or it does not; either everything has […]
I have wanted to write a post on the difference between happiness and joy. As I sat here and tried, none of the words seem to fit. Then it dawned on me that I replied earlier today in an email to a priest friend the words that start in the right direction. In reply to […]
“Pope Benedict recently completed a series of audiences on the Twelve Apostles,” writes Jimmy Akin. “He covers what we know about them, what is speculated about them, what their writings contain, and what their example says to us today.” Apostles as Envoys of Christ Profile of St. Peter On Peter, the Apostle Peter, the Rock […]
I ran across an interesting line from a post by Bob Godwin the other day that seems to highlight one of the major differences, if not the difference between a person of faith and one without faith. Like so many things, it boils down to a fundamental difference in viewpoints. (Political distractions have been edited […]
Does God use people, or does He love them? Does God love objects or does He use them? Early this summer, my spiritual director lent me a copy of Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven. It is part devotional and part biography of the Christian singer and song writer and his journey in faith—the […]
My daughter’s college roommate had a hand-crafted picture of this hanging up in their dorm room.
From Wednesday’s Baccalaureate Mass, Fr. Scott said the following near the end of his homily (emphasis added). It applies to all people, not only to the “youth of today”. They say that the biggest problem with the youth of today is their lack of identity. They don’t know who they are because they have not […]
I have not written one word on the Da Vinci Code or on gnostic writings like the Gospel of Judas or Thomas (or anything written by Elaine Pagels). I probably will not write any others after this post. My forte is not apologetics and so I leave it to others so gifted to stand against […]
The Jerusalem Cross has four smaller crosses around a large central cross. The five crosses represent the five wounds of Christ. When the large cross represents Christ, the four smaller crosses can represent many things—the four Gospels by the four Evangelists; the mission to spread the Good News to the four corners of the world; […]
Are you glad Jesus died for you? Are you gald that Jesus was arrested, humilated, beatened, scourged, forced to carry his final means of torture and death, stripped naked, nailed to the Cross, and hung up to die a slow, agonizing death before a crowd cheering for Him to die? I am. I know that […]
Here is a meme that St. Ignatius of Loyola started. In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius wrote that four questions must be asked of any leader that one chooses to follow. The same is true of Jesus Christ. 1. Who is Jesus for me? He is “the way, the truth, and the life”, the source of […]
The Shadow of Death, by William Holman Hunt, 1873 Lent ends with the Easter Triduum—Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. The whole life of Jesus leads to the Cross. This painting reminds me of that in a poignant and real personal way that only art can sometimes do. Some items to take note in this painting (See a larger […]
Hanging over the desk in the priest’s office is a picture of the crucifixion. The point of view is from above the Cross, kind of high above His right hand and a little out in front, looking downward toward Him and this vast crowd of people standing around the hill staring up at Jesus. You […]
God says (in part of this poem): I am independent of all purity and impurity, Of all laziness and all diligence in worship. I haven’t ordered my worship to profit from it, But to bestow a benefit upon My servants. I am not sanctified by their glorification: It is they who become sanctified and pure. […]
In Luke 10:27, Jesus quotes scripture: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ This one sentence, this one command, represents the three dimensions of spirituality: vertical, horizontal, and inward. This also implies […]
I had the great privilege and honor of being one of the assistants to distribute ashes at our school Mass today. Ashes are a strong symbol for death, and after all, that is the point of Ash Wednesday, to remind us that we all will die. Ashes are also a strong symbol of life, at […]
Lent should be more than a time of fasting. It should also be a joyous season of feasting. Lent is a time to fast from certain things and to feast on others. It is a season to turn to God: Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ indwelling them. Fast from emphasis on differences; […]
I heard once that if you read the four Gospels with a highlighter, and marked every time Jesus touched someone to heal them, you would find that you highlighted something on just about every page. Touching was Jesus’ preferred way to heal people. He could have easily commanded someone to be healed from across the […]
St. John of God picked me! Moneybags at A Catholic Life (via Julie D.) reminded us Catholics about “the practice of picking a saint at random to be your ‘holy protector’ for the year. Actually, the saint is the one who chooses us though.” He quotes an excerpt from St. Faustina: There is a custom […]
The second and last letter in the alphabet of Love: Just then she looked up at the cliffs above her head and started with surprise and delight. In a tiny crevice of the rock, where a few drops from the trickling waterfall could occasionally sprinkle on it, was a single plant. It had just two […]
The first letter of the alphabet of Love: On the last morning she was walking near the tents and huts of the desert dwellers, when in a lonely corner behind a wall she came upon a little golden-yellow flower, growing all alone. An old pipe was one tiny hole through which came an occasional drop […]
What does a holy place feel like? There is no right or wrong answer to this question. I ask that you please pause a moment and think seriously about your answer before reading further.
For the last seven weeks, I have been meeting with a small group once a week and with a spiritual director twice a month for a 30-week program called A Retreat in Daily Life. It is based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. At the beginning of the exercises, St. Ignatius wrote […]
What time I am afraid, I will trust in you. — Psalm 56:3
Spirituality is about seeing. — Richard Rohr I forgot where I read or heard him say that. He went on to say that much about spirituality is three steps forward and two steps back. When you think you see, that is, when you think you have it all figured out, then you no longer truly […]