Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.
What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him. —1 Corinthians 2:9 When my grandchildren go to the playground, they often don’t want to leave. It used to be that when I would...
Earlier this year Pope Benedict XVI gave a series of weekly addresses on the Doctors of the Church. On March 30 he spoke about Saint Alphonsus, saying he “had a realistically optimistic vision of the resources of good that the Lord gives to every person.” A lot in that statement...
“Just where is your head?” Growing up, I often got lost in my own world instead of focusing on whatever was at hand. I’ve since learned that I take in information primarily through listening. Unless I make an effort, I tend to miss a lot of nonauditory details—especially visuals—and what...
Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.—Matthew 5:44 The weird thing about writing a column like this is the time lag between when I write it and when you read it. As I write this column in May, it has just been announced that Osama bin Laden...
Living them, teaching them It’s important for us to let the seasons breathe in their proper way and to let them shape our lives. Spring shows death giving way to life as buds blossom from what appeared to be dead bushes. Summer heat saps our energy and hurts us if...
Developing Eyes That See Jesus Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.—Luke 24:15b-16 On the Third Sunday of Easter, which this year is also Mother’s Day, we’ll hear the Gospel passage about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. I...
Threefold Pattern of Christian Living Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”—John 11:44 As we progress through Lent to an unusually late Easter, we hear the story of the raising of Lazarus. Once I was part of a little troupe that proclaimed this gospel at a prayer...
Don’t leap from beads to bunnies What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.—Romans 7:15 My granddaughter is in second grade and celebrated the sacrament of penance for the first time. Watching her skip to the confessional,...
Part 2 of 2 Many individual faults and failings led to the economic crisis of the past three years, and it’s important to recognize that every personal problem carries consequences for society as a whole. Our ability to order our society depends on our ability to order our lives. To...
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field.— Matthew 13:44 Three years ago I received Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Eat, Pray, Love for my birthday. I read it on a flight to India, where I spent a month praying with Indian Catholics, meditating in ashrams, taking yoga...
A colleague insists my glass is not half empty—she says it’s below sea level. So when January rolls around, I’m tempted to crawl under the covers and hide until the warm winds lure me into sunlight. During these bitter-cold months my mind fills with thoughts that take rather than give...
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit...
Listen to your father who begot you, and despise not your mother when she is old.—PROVERBS 23:22 For the Christian, “To love or not to love?” is not the question (my apologies to Mr. Shakespeare). Our question is always, “How do I love?” How we love changes from person to...
Oh, that today you would hear his voice: Harden not your hearts.—PSALM 95:7–8
Reading has clicked for my little granddaughter, and she is very proud of her new skill. She reads everything—cereal boxes, ads that come in the mail, road signs. This morning I was pondering this column as we drove through town, and as we approached the railroad tracks, she startled me by shouting, “STOP! LOOK! LISTEN!” I did. And then I explained to her the dangers of shouting at the driver.
As regular readers know, my husband and I are guardians of our three grandchildren, ages seven, four, and two. They are fun, delightful, sweet kids, and we love them to pieces. They are also needy, demanding, outrageously self-centered, and drive us to distraction. In other words, they—and we—are normal.
Sometimes I can only laugh at their timing. Like when the seven-year-old insists that I show her “right now, Nana, please!” how to do something on the computer while I am up to my elbows in the poopy diaper of her squirming, equally impatient little brother. A gentle “Honey, what am I doing right now?” is the best I can manage. (Sometimes I’m not so gentle.)
May is the month for celebrating mothers, the women who teach us about love by communicating an acceptance and protection that tell us how important we are to them years before we understand their words. These same feelings of acceptance and security help us ratchet up our courage and take...
There are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. —John 21:25
The last verse of Saint John’s Gospel is rather curious. Surely the events of the life of one man—even the God-Man Jesus—could be contained in a couple of thick volumes. Unless…the story continues?
A year ago I spent some time in India. One evening my hostess invited me to watch The Bucket List with her. Try to picture us: two women, one Hindu and one Catholic, unknown to each other until a month earlier, watching a movie about two men with terminal cancer who spend their last six months doing things they always wanted to do before they “kick the bucket.” Poonam and I sat late into the night discussing our own “bucket lists” and found we had much in common.
My initiation into the Catholic Church was unusual. No RCIA. Not even much instruction. I was a seeking girl/woman traveling with all I owned in a duffle bag and found myself in St. Louis under the influence of a Jesuit who introduced me to the Gospel. Within days, he baptized me.
Last year my Lenten discipline was to listen at Mass. I mean really listen—with my whole person. I made myself sit or stand very still, feet flat on the floor, hands at rest, back straight, eyes fixed on the reader. I was much more attentive, and my husband mentioned that my concentration helped him listen better too. This Lent, I want to continue to listen like that and also let each Sunday Gospel suggest a discipline for the week. Perhaps you’d like to join me.