Suffering Far Beyond Our Own

Imagine driving between two walls of fire, almost impenetrable smoke hiding the road whose destination is far from certain. Engulfed in fear and impending disaster, how does one function? Watching the California fires and hearing of their ferocity, I think of these persons whose terror is beyond my imagining. Henri Nouwen writes, “As we feel…

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The Story Never Ends

Parker J. Palmer wrote: “The marvelous thing about learning from a story is that a story never ends, so our learning from it need not end either.”  Whether the story’s last line is “And they lived happily ever after” or the main character rides off into the sunset, stories live on inside me. No day…

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Halloween’s Last Laugh

Many jack-o-lanterns have smiling faces. I can think of two reasons that this might be so.  The first is the fact that Halloween preludes All Saints Day.  And who are the saints?  The saints are those who imitated Christ the Light of the World, who said to his followers, “You are the light of the…

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Sacraments Are -ing Events

There’s a difference between saying I drive a Ford and I am driving a Ford. The first simply claims that there’s a car sitting in the parking lot. The second is the activity of traveling down the road. In a similar way, we can think of sacraments as past events or events that are ongoing…

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Jonah’s Temper Tantrum

Recently the lectionary readings focused on the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet upset because the people of Nineveh converted their ways. Why shouldn’t Jonah have been pleased that such an enormous city would listen to one man’s warning? Was Jonah even acting logically? We’ve probably all felt anger for little or no reason. And…

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I Second the Motion

I love this idea from Richard Rohr’s book The Universal Christ: “Your asking is only seconding the motion. The first motion is always from God.” God plants desires in our hearts and minds. We become aware of these inspired ideas, ruminate on them, and perhaps come to desire what God desires for us. We then…

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Foundation Day

In 1850 the Sisters of Notre Dame came into being as Hilligonde Wolbring became Sister Maria Aloysia and Elisabeth Kuhling became Sister Maria Ignatia, the first novices of the new congregation begun in Coesfeld, Germany. Would our congregation have ever begun without the friendship and shared teaching ministry of Hilligonde and Elisabeth? Now nearly 170…

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Creation’s Bible

Greta Thunberg has mobilized youth around the globe to protect Planet Earth. Marches mobilizing thousands of participants demonstrate the earnestness of these young people to ensure their future and that of generations to come. For them and all of us it is a matter of the survival of humans, animals, plants, every creature. Perhaps for…

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Knowing What to Celebrate

Peter Brook said, “We don’t know how to celebrate because we don’t know what to celebrate.” What deserves our celebration? To answer that question, we might ask another: “What doesn’t deserve our celebration?” So what shall we celebrate tomorrow? How about celebrating getting up in the morning? You’re still alive! You have another chance to…

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