Blog
A Different Call
“What do I know to be true about God?” This was the question that continually ran through my mind as I walked through my garden. The spring sunshine was beating down on the damp earth and there were glimpses of green shoots reaching for the blue canopy above. Daffodils were blooming and birds were flitting around the feeder. I bent over and picked a piece of lavender. Inhaling the calming scent, I let out a sigh. This was hard. Life had thrown a curveball. In less than seventy-two hours I was being forced to take on a different role as a teacher, mother, and daughter. It was out of my control and the constraints and expectations seemed to be cinching tighter with each turn of the hour. I am a problem solver. My head screamed with solutions, but my heart ...
no longer will these walls hold you in
The window is open, and cool air blows through the room. The street is silent except for birds chirping. I will miss this the most, maybe, when quarantine ends. The stillness outside, even when the inside of my home thunders many moments: heavy feet of teenagers as they work through their day. Days fold in, one after another. A stack of moments in this small home. I remember they are sacred. Few things of importance get cataloged on a calendar anymore So much happens within walls. Life outside walls–but inside walls too. The push and pull of loving people. The trusting that good is here, in the uncertainty, in the mess, in the hard. And with that trust comes love, which is seldom easy. And always a choice. What choice am I making this day? And the next? I like to think about wha...
Building a new world in light of the Resurrection…
Recently, Pope Francis called on the members of the Church to build a new world where there is equity among the poor and the rich. He did this in the face of the terrible devastation that has fallen on Italy during this time of pandemic. He also did so in light of the hope that we have in Christ. The Lord has risen from the dead and this opens up new possibilities for humanity- even in the face of anguish and anxiety. It is the role of the whole Church to proclaim this hope – the hope that we have in the Risen Lord. Whatever else a new world might be, it would be reductionistic to see it only in terms of improved economic and distribution systems. Indeed, the greatest problem that the poor face today is not material. The worse of all inequalities is that the most vulnerable are...
The bread and the wine and the power of the Cross to transform them…
There is an engaging image of the Church contained in a passage from last week’s Office of Readings. It is instructive because it speaks not only of themselves but of the power that makes them. It is appropriate that we should receive the body of Christ in the form of bread, because, as there are many grains of wheat in the flour from which bread is made by mixing it with water and baking it with fire, so also we know that many members make up the one body of Christ which is brought to maturity by the fire of the Holy Spirit …. Similarly, the wine of Christ’s blood, drawn from the many grapes of the vineyard that he had planted, is extracted in the wine-press of the cross. When men receive it with believing hearts, like capacious wineskins, it ferments within them by its own power(From a s...
“The time has come to resume the Sunday Eucharist” — Italy’s bishops criticize state for keeping public Mass ban…
Rome Newsroom, Apr 26, 2020 / 03:29 pm MT (CNA).- Italy’s bishops have criticized Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for failing to lift the ban on public Masses. The Italian bishops’ conference Sunday released a statement denouncing Conte’s decree on “phase 2” of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, which it says “arbitrarily excludes the possibility of celebrating Mass with the people.” During a press conference April 26 to announce the next phase of Italy’s COVID-19 restrictions, beginning May 4, Conte said funerals may resume with a maximum of 15 people present. Other religious celebrations, including public Masses, will resume “in the coming weeks.” In their April 26 statement, the bishops referred to two bodies which advised Conte on lifting lockdown ...
Steffany Gretzinger – Sing My Way Back
If you feel disconnected from God today, I encourage you to take just 5 minutes to come closer to Him in worship. Sometimes that’s all it takes! This lovely song by Steffany Gretzinger is called “Sing My Way Back.” When I lose directionWhen I can’t see the starsIf we get disconnectedI’ll sing my way back to Your heartI’ll sing my way back to Your arms [embedded content]
Despite our technological hubris, we remain toddlers in God’s gracious creation — so give thanks to God, Governor Cuomo…
Upon hearing the puerile remarks of Governor Andrew Cuomo last week, Chesterton came to mind. The lapsed Catholic governor is usually prone to inanity and offense, but this reached new heights: “We have turned the corner on the Coronavirus plague. It was not faith or prayers that did it. Only hard work and science.” To such blather, Chesterton says: “The madman is the one who has one idea completely right, but one does not know where it fits into the whole of things.” Indeed, as with so many men of modernity, the governor is a madman. Yet he does have one idea right: essential to man’s flourishing is hard work and the pursuit of knowledge. But he does not know “where it fits into the whole of things.” The whole is God, which Mr. Cuomo fails to see, and that blindness is as large as a galax...
Why you’re very unlikely to get the coronavirus from runners or cyclists (no matter what you’ve read about aerosols)…
Under social distancing, we’re all doing our best to stay sane, and one of the best ways to maintain sanity is to go out for some nice fresh air. But venturing outside can be stressful if you’re worried that the very air is full of virus particles just waiting to infect you. So, how worried should you be that any time you go outside, you’ll contract coronavirus from a fellow pedestrian, runner, or cyclist who happens to exhale as they pass by? The answer is, you probably don’t need to freak out about it. As long as you’re maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from other people and you’re not in a high-risk group, you’re engaged in a very low-risk activity, particularly if you and others are wearing masks. Earlier this month, Belgian and Dutch engineers publicized some findings that went ...
Here is Our Lord’s charter for the Church…
Jesus gives a concise summary of the work and experience of the Church in His discourse with Nicodemus, which we read at Tuesday’s daily Mass: Amen, amen I say to you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony (Jn 3:11). I. Plural – Note that when Jesus speaks to Nicodemus He does not say, “I speak to you.” He says, “We speak to you.” The use of the first-person plural is common in Johannine literature. For example, at the beginning of the First Letter of John it is said, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life (1 John 1:1). Who is the “we” referred to here? As with most things in Sc...
Remaining Hopeful
www.courtnayerichard.com I’m not sure where you on the topic of hope, but I pray that this blog post encourages you, greatly. Whatever you’ve been hoping for, I want you to keep trusting God through the process of waiting, sis. Know that He has not forgotten you. He has heard your plea, cry, and heart on the matter or desire. Now, it’s just time to remain hopeful. Remaining hopeful is all about staying full of hope, no matter what your circumstances look like. It means remaining expectant of good things to come and answered prayers. Just think about it for a second. What are you hoping for in your life, currently? Ponder that for a moment, and then write it down in your journal or create a plaque and put it on your desk or on your wall to encourage you from time to time. Keep it before you...
Bethel Music – Closer
May the lyrics of this lovely worship song be our heart’s cry. Let’s come close to Him today… So pull me a little closerTake me a little deeperI want to know Your heartI want to know Your heart‘Cause Your love is so much sweeterThan anything I’ve tastedI want to know Your heartI want to know Your heart [embedded content]
This Sunday, Jesus calls out our discouragement…
By Tom Hoopes, April 23, 2020 We are all the disciples on the way to Emmaus this Third Sunday of Easter, Year A. The Scriptures continue to speak to our times so specifically that it seems as if God planned it that way. Which of course he did. The disciples in Luke’s Gospel were anxious and afraid. The bright future they had a few months ago was gone. We do not know much about these disciples, and that is helpful; they stand for each of us. They are going to “Emmaus” but we don’t know where that was, and that is also helpful; it turns the focus to where they were leaving, Jerusalem, the place Jesus has been journeying to throughout Luke’s Gospel. Their friends were hiding behind locked doors. Local authorities were treating them like a threat to the public. Their religious leaders wer...
