From Br. Joseph — This is the last reflection of a series on seven signposts. The first reflection began Lent, and now this one bridges us into the Easter season and beyond. Signposts give us direction. They point to some place. They involve action, movement. Many signposts call us to remember something important, some thing […]
From Br. Joseph — This is the fifth reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Gravitate to humility. This signpost points in the exact opposite direction the world points by pointing to the First Beatitude, the Beatitude from which all the Beatitudes spring forth—blessed are the poor in spirit. […]
From Br. Joseph — This is the fourth reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Signposts give us direction. They point to some place. They involve action, movement. Many signposts call us to remember something important, some thing that is already there but is often covered up by the […]
From Br. Joseph — This is the third reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Surrender to grace. This signpost comes from a line in the book, The Lord by Romano Guardini. (A highly recommended book full of short, deep reflections on nearly every episode of Jesus’ life.) Although […]
From Br. Joseph — This is the second reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Signposts give us direction. They point to some place. They involve action, movement. Many signposts call us to remember something important, some thing that is already there but is often covered up by the […]
Signposts point to where we want to go. Follow, or don’t follow. There are seven signposts listed below because seven is the number of completeness. No claim of originality is made for the signs, excerpt maybe for their grouping. Keep hope alive. Dare to trust. Surrender to grace. • • • Reflect love. • • […]
On a country road in Kentucky where the pavement changes from blacktop to dirt, the sign posted says: Pick rut carefully, you’ll be stuck in it for next 20 miles.
It has been well over a year, maybe two, since I started wearing a wearing a small crucifix on a chain around my next. I wanted it close to my heart, so I wore it underneath my shirt. Sometime after Christmas, I added a St. Benedict’s medal to the chain. (Technically, it is referred to […]
I’m on page 148 of Paul Tillich’s The Courage to Be. He has painstakingly described three types of anxiety that are part of being human (ontologically speaking). There is the anxiety of fate and death, of which the western ancients were most troubled. There is the anxiety of guilt and condemnation, of which the Medieval […]
I’ve been working on a new website. I can’t seem to let go of my habit of collecting quotes. My little egoic self feels the need to collect them, as if they are something for it to hold on, to make itself feel more real or tangible. My true self knows that they are just […]
From Reference.com: The most common translation of Pantocrator is “Almighty” or “All-powerful.” In this understanding, Pantokrator is a compound word formed from the Greek words for “all” and the noun “strength” (κρατος). This is often understood in terms of potential power; i.e., able to do anything, or omnipotentent. Another, less literal translation is “Ruler of […]
At the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises, Saint Ignatius of Loyola wrote the Principle and Foundation as a mission statement to guide everything he did and to guide retreatants through the Exercises. About this time last year when I was in A Retreat in Daily Life, I wrote my own Principle and Foundation. It seems […]