Archive for January 2021

When I petition God for a favor, I sometimes pray, “If you wish, you can _____.” Then I hear or imagine God saying, “I do will it.” And I feel confident that my petition will be answered. Maybe it will happen exactly as requested; if not, I am still confident of an answer. Unlike the…

“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 is a bit surprising to talk about becoming the ear of God…

Vinita Hampton Wright is the author of The Soul Tells a Story. In her book Wright says, “Faith figures into creative work at every step. You say yes to the work, trusting that you are in some way called to it.” She goes on to say that the creative person has faith that there is…

Are you assessing your New Year’s resolutions after a couple weeks of resolve? Did you make a spiritual resolution? Because a spiritual life has goals and practices that engage us in our formation, it is open to a New Year’s resolution. This spiritual resolution doesn’t need to be taxing or arduous. No, our spiritual life…

We’re starting Ordinary Time today. After the Christmas Season, these weeks before Lent may seem uneventful, even dull. But let’s take the “ordinary” out of Ordinary Time. These weeks until Ash Wednesday on February 17 are not some leftovers on the Church Year menu. Over half the Church Year is Ordinary Time, its name coming…

The rite of Baptism has one phrase about original sin being taken away. Yet many people think the removal of original sin is the main purpose of baptism. Actually, there is much more richness in the ceremony. The ritual starts with the questions “What name do you give your child?” and “What do you ask…

From the moment of creation God ceased to be alone. God became totally involved with his creatures. Down through billions of years to this very minute God remains close at hand. God is always available. God is here in us as our deepest reality—ours and everyone else’s. With God so completely present to us, it…

Today’s lectionary Gospel shows Jesus withdrawing to a deserted place. Perhaps the past few weeks have been filled with unusual activity: putting up decorations and taking them down, cooking treats and exercising off the calories, shoveling snow and writing thank-you notes, getting back into a routine or wishing for some normalcy. Withdrawing to a deserted…

Today’s lectionary Gospel reading tells of Jesus who regularly taught in the synagogues. “According to his custom. . .he stood up to read.” He selected a passage from Isaiah that we have come to call Jesus’ mission statement. In the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would give sight to the blind, free the oppressed,…

As a Christmas present, I received Bead Attitudes, the polymer clay artwork of Dan Roth in Sandusky, Ohio. The ten prayer beads can be prayed in multiple ways as the accompanying paper suggests. I will share a few of these ways with you. If you don’t have Bead Attitudes, a decade of the rosary or…