Archive for November 2020

Anne Frank wrote: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Today we can choose to not waste a minute in making our world better. That’s what the first four apostles called by Jesus did: they “immediately left their boat. . . and followed him.” What…

In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us that we are “enriched in every way…not lacking in any spiritual gift.” Though hard to believe, such affirmation gives us the spiritual boost we need to start the Advent Season. A new Church Year is a time for new resolve. What if we’d make a…

Before Vatican II the Solemnity of Christ the King was the last Sunday in October. In my home parish this was the weekend for First Communion and every third year Confirmation. So I am fond of this feast as an anniversary, although now the Solemnity rightfully occurs on the last Sunday of the Church Year…

“Silence grows me and frees me,” writes Joan Chittister in Radical Spirit. “It enables me to become the ear of God on earth. . . ” (p. 162). So often we remind ourselves that we are the hands and feet of Christ, but it’s a bit surprising to talk about becoming the ear of God…

The Church Year continually evolves. In the first couple centuries the anniversaries of the deaths of martyrs were remembered, and many of those early saints are still on our Church calendar, such as Saint Lawrence on August 10. The list gets longer with each new decade. Robert Taft, S.J. suggested each parish church having its…

Saints have a past. One denied his Master, and another doubted Jesus’ Resurrection. Some were scolded for their lack of faith. Some couldn’t control their anger or addictions. Hagiographers portray several as eccentric. Reading the lives of some saints, we may even feel sorry for their families, friends, or community members who had to put…

Have you ever lain back in a hammock and said, “Aah! This is the life”? As if anything besides relaxation is not life. Yet life encompasses everything, even suffering and death. In Evolution Toward Personhood, Ilia Delio, OSF writes: “The gospel message is about life. Anything else…misses the vision of God, who is Life itself.”…