Earlier this week, on Sunday evening, I was going for an evening run through Wilmington, Delaware, just as it was beginning to get dark. As I turned right at an intersection to enter Brandywine Park, two boys standing at the opposite street corner called out to me, “Hello, Jogger!” Wondering what kind of greeting this could be, I stopped, and they came over to me holding a plastic bag.
Providing Life’s Necessities to Those We Love
A tired looking Ted was having lunch with his brother Luke, who remarked. “Geez Ted you look beat. What’s happening?” In a weary tone Ted answered, “It seems all I do is work, work, work, providing food and stuff for Dot plus saving a little for the kids’ futures, but I never seem to make ends meet.” Ted added “Don’t get me wrong Luke, I love my family, but it just isn’t fun anymore.”
Cordiality: Salesian Comity
A few weeks ago I read an editorial that suggested that the world today, fractured and combative, needs to rediscover comity. What is comity anyway? An early 1948 edition of Webster’s Dictionary defines comity as “mildness and suavity of manners; courtesy.” A later dictionary speaks of comity in terms of “international courtesy,” which is closer to its meaning in the recent editorial.
“O my heart, my heart, God is truly here!”
Summer Solstice
A Theology of Time, with Raymond “Red” Reddington
We Are All Connected
This summer, I have been interning in the pastoral care department of a local hospital, and among the first tasks in my daily routine is to print a list of patients in my unit. Beside the name of each patient is listed information such as their room number, birth date, diagnosis, etc. When I looked at the chart for the first time a few weeks ago, I was somewhat overwhelmed by the number of names on the list: all the information seemed to blur together into a mass of impersonal data.
What God’s Goodness Looks Like - Live
Anna is now 86 years old. For years she volunteered as a Bible Study teacher at her small country parish. And she loved it. Now, at 86, her eyes have begun to diminish.
This hasn’t deterred Anna from serving the Lord. As she put it, “After all He has done for me.” She added. “I’ll just look around until I find something else that fits!” And Anna did just that. She found her “What’s next!”
Oblate Motto: Tenui nec Dimittam
The motto for our Oblate Congregation comes from Chapter 3, verse 4 of the Song of Songs: tenui nec dimittam: “I have hold of you and I will not let you go!”
The Song of Songs, one of the shortest books in the Bible, was one of Francis de Sales’s favorites. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has reminded us, scripture scholars believe that before it became sacred scripture, this short work was initially a series of love songs that were sung at Jewish weddings.
Love as Christ Has Loved Us
Last Sunday a woman came to Mass wearing a T-shirt with the words: “Kindness is my superpower.” It was very fitting given Jesus’ command in Sunday’s Gospel: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” Notice that the command is to love as he has loved us. How did Jesus love? 1. He loved sacrificially. He laid down his life for his friends.
Fires
On Easter Sunday, we walk with Mary Magdalene to the tomb where she is the first to witness the risen Lord. She is the “apostle to the apostles” as she is entrusted to take that message to them. The second Sunday of Easter it is Thomas who is our guide. Forever known as the “doubter,” Jesus encounters him in his doubt and leads him to the most profound affirmation of who Jesus is, “My Lord and my God.”
The Power of Scars: Insights from Hannibal Lector!
In the wake of Jesus' crucifixion and death, the apostles were locked away together in fear. They were afraid that they might suffer the same fate as their teacher. Despite their anxious seclusion, Jesus breaks into their lives- not merely into the physical space in which they were taking refuge. Jesus also breaks into the core of their minds and hearts. Jesus attempts to calm their fears.
Seeing the Lord
Of all his feasts, Sr. Matilda thinks Jesus loves Easter best
Ninety-two-year-old Sr. Matilda looked up at me and asked: “Do you think the Easter season is celebrated with as much joy and energy in heaven as it is here on this earth?” Before I could reply, she answered with absolute surety, “It sure is!” When we consider Sister’s question, it does contain terrific insight. Why? For Jesus, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity has accomplished His mission.
Holy Week 2019
It took me quite a while to let go of the conviction that Easter, not Christmas, was the preeminent event of our Christian faith. For a long time, I clung stubbornly to my fond childhood memories of Christmas: family gatherings, gifts, decorations, special foods and that pervasive atmosphere of good will, joy and peace. I almost forgot: and no school! Christmas, I thought, must be first!
Take Up Your Cross
Holy Thursday is next week. Lent ends with the celebration of the Holy Thursday Evening Mass. The Triduum, the Great Three Days, begins, that bridge connecting Lent with the Easter Season. We will hear the Lord’s Passion proclaimed next week, from Luke on “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion” and from John on Good Friday.
Little Virtues
St. Francis de Sales loved what he called the little virtues, and humility and gentleness were his two favorite. Francis says that humility is a vertical virtue because it defines our relationship with God. God is creator and we are creatures. God is God and we are beloved sons and daughters. For those who long for control in life, this can be a hard lesson to learn.
The Hardened Heart
If you ask people the question, “What is the worst thing that can happen to the human heart?”, many folks will almost instinctively respond by answering, “When it breaks.”
However painful a broken heart may be, a heart capable of being broken is nonetheless a heart that is alive, capable of feeling any number of emotions. In the event, there is something much, much worse than a broken heart — that is, a hardened heart.
The Way of the Cross
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee,
Because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
(Bl. Louis Brisson, OSFS, Cor Ad Cor, March 5-18)
Throughout the season of Lent, this refrain is spoken in churches around the world, from the humblest to the most grandiose, as the faithful gather to celebrate the devotion of the Way of the Cross.