Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Story tellers can have you on the edge of your seat and have you hanging on their every word. They are so good at emphasizing the right words and changing their voice so that they draw us into the story. There is one more part to it that St. Paul clearly understands by making the story connect directly with the experience of the lives of his audience. In ministry we often do this by actively listening to a person or group sharing with us and then reflecting their experience by to them. This can create an intense connection.
Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Today’s readings are pretty intense for significantly different reasons. On one hand, there is the persecution, imprisonment, and liberation of Paul and Silas. On the other hand, there is Christ’s departure and assurance to his disciples. Both attest to the power and presence of God in times of trouble and uncertainty.
Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter
I’ve always thought of myself as a good listener but when I stop and think about it, I have to admit there are times during conversations or meetings, or even during church services, I find my mind has wandered. Maybe I presume to know already what I will hear or I am thinking about something else, in truth it means I’m not ‘actively’ listening. This day’s Scriptures perfectly demonstrate the importance of being open and engaged and actively listening. This way of listening is a gift and an art. There is nothing passive about it. Active listening requires work, attention, and perseverance.
Sixth Sunday of Easter
There is a new book that is creating great controversy in Christian circles. It is written by Rod Dreher and entitled,The Benedict Option. The subtitle of the books says it all. It proposes a “Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation.” Dreher believes that our nation is no more a Christian nation but a post-Christian one. He believes that Christianity is entering a new Dark Age and that in our time and within our civilization we may live to see the death of Christianity. The main enemy of Christianity, according to him, is militant secularism which threatens to eliminate religion entirely. Dreher invites believers follow the model of the sixth-century monk St. Benedict, who, as the Roman Empire collapsed, withdrew from society and set up religious communities. Following the Benedict option, Dreher invites today’s Christians to withdraw from politics, move inward, and deepen, purify and preserve their faith. He also suggests that Christians secede from mainstream culture, pull their children from public school, put down roots in separate communities and find new and more radical ways to practice their faith. Even though I do not entirely buy Dreher’s main argument, I at least think that he is concerned about the right thing - the relevance and authenticity of Christianity for in our times.
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
What does it mean to be pastoral? I’ve heard some express concern that the concept is abused to take the easy way out. I’ve heard others fear that the Church too often forgets to be pastoral. Today’s first reading gives a view of pastoral ministry that both inspires and challenges. We find these words, “Paul wanted [Timothy] to come along with him. On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” In this sentence and a half, I see the reality of what it means to be pastoral and I want us to come along with Paul and Timothy for just a minute as we unpack what this word means for us as disciples.
Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter
I often get asked, "Why is Christianity so legalistic? Why are there so many rules?" This seems intuitively wrong to many, especially when they read that Jesus himself broke laws. For instance, Jesus broke the Sabbath in order to heal people (see Mark 3). He favors mercy over legalisms and love over obeying a rule that doesn't lead to more love.
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter
"I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." This verse from today's Gospel causes me to stop and ponder, specifically this line "your joy might be complete." It is only through Jesus and keeping his commands that we experience complete, full, abundant joy. Jesus is not talking about a superficial joy where everything always works out and we are always happy - that is unrealistic and false. I think instead he is speaking of a joy we feel deep within our souls - a joy that remains with us through hardship, challenges and fears, as well as successes, milestones and victory - a joy that is not fleeting but rather is abundant and constant.
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Gardening requires an attention to detail for which not everyone has time. In recent years our garden has been let go as precious resources were given over to school and seminary. Starting last fall we have begun to be more intentional in trying to recover the good plants that remained. We spent hours pulling weeds last fall and this spring. The roses are blooming prolifically this year as they were finally pruned like they should. Still the heat of the day and the lack of watering has left the hanging baskets almost beyond being saved from the withered state which they were allowed to become.
Tuesday of Fifth Week of Easter
As summer begins, I know that I, for one, am thinking about travelling. The past few years, my summers have been filled with many trips, whether abroad or more locally. I really love travelling; growing up in an Air Force family meant that I got to see many different places as a child and I continue to crave new places to visit. But as much as I love travelling, I must admit that it is exhausting. It is mentally and physically demanding to be on the move. I wouldn’t miss my friends’ weddings, my academic conferences, or my new cultural experiences for anything, but it sure is nice to be home sometimes.
Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Recently I was able to attend a conference discussing children and their spirituality. The presenters offered many stories and experiences describing the great depth and awareness that children have regarding God. In many of my experiences both at work and in the parish, I have witnessed the openness that many children have to God and His Spirit within them.
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Perhaps most of you know that Pope Francis has been on a twenty-four hour visit to Fatima. He was there to canonize two of the three children who witnessed the apparition of Mary. Apart from all the celebrations, he also tweeted, “Whenever we look at Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness.” On mother’s day, there is nothing more beautiful Pope Francis could have said about Mary. Mothers are the face of love and tenderness of God and Mary. In my life these days, much focus has been on my father because of his ill-health. I love my father to death. However, it is my mother who is the hero. This woman who gave birth to me, nurtured me, and loved me - this woman is my hero. Gentle yet strong, loving yet straight-forward, tender yet firm, holy yet humble — she is my hero. She is small but she has the biggest heart. My mother is my hero. As I often say, “My mother is the best mother in the whole wide world.” I am sure most of you will say that same thing about your mother.
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter
I don’t like sin. I think that is a good thing. However, what I really don’t like is owning up to my own sinfulness. It is a piece of cake to hate sin in another person’s life, but difficult to hate my own sins.
Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Recently, I read a book called Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren Winner. Winner describes a mid-faith crisis as the realization that the newness, excitement and joy of faith has worn off and that the end goal of spiritual life (that is, life in God) seems quite far off. How do you make it through the middle of faith, when God seems far off, and nothing ever seems to change? Winner describes the slow, sometimes painful process of going through a mid-faith crisis - from her vantage point, it involves a lot of prayer (even when sometimes you're not sure that God is there), a lot of discussions with trusted spiritual friends, and a lot of simply being in the loneliness that a mid-faith crisis sometimes involves.
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter
We hear in today’s first reading Paul recounting the story of how God saved Israel and made them into the chosen people. There’s something about humanity that thrives on the stories of how we became who we are today. Who brought you to the Lord? Take time this morning to remember them and the story of how you became a faithful follower of Christ. What conversations and teachings stick with you? What actions and movements of the heart proved God’s loving way is The Way? Was it your parents, or ministers of the Church? Was it a priest or sister or brother? Was it other family members or friends? How did you come to believe, and continue believing?
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
So much of our life is driven by growth. As children we grow physically as our bodies mature. Our minds expand as we learn both academically and from experience. As adults we seek growth temporally through careers and employment, and personally through our interpersonal relationships. Most of this growth is something we can see and measure.
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
In the recent daily scripture readings, we have been working through the book of Acts. This book has always intrigued me. It is full of lively accounts of the activities of the first Christians and their attempts to live out the gospel. It also recounts the astonishing ways that the Christian faith spread through the action of the Holy Spirit. Although I find this book fascinating, I also sometimes wonder what this book can have to say to us in our times, since our world is very different than the world which Jesus’ apostles and early disciples inhabited. It seems to me that the scripture readings for today provide an answer to this question.
Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
While reflecting on this day's readings, I thought it may be interesting to investigate the origin of the word 'shepherd'. Turns out, it's one of those google searches that lead one into a 'black hole' of sorts. Yes, the meaning is fairly consistent, but I was looking for something really provocative. I wanted to use the origin of this word to say something profound. No such luck. So, I just know the word 'shepherd' stirs me and I know it refers to every person who identifies themselves as Christian.
Fourth Sunday of Easter
High profile geo-political events have monopolized our attention for more than a year now. Brexit, the American election, the North Korean conundrum, and now the French and British elections. Locally, the issue has been between fake news and alternative truth. In the midst of all the brouhaha, news about critical humanitarian crises have not made the headlines. Twenty-three million people in East Africa risk hunger, starvation, and death due to a persistent drought. The problem is compounded by ethnic conflict. As you know, the most affected people in times like this are women and children. For the past couple of weeks, I have been unable to detach myself from the suffering of the people in East Africa.
Saturday of the Third Week of Easter
I love storytelling. Not that I’m a particularly accomplished storyteller. I’ve met people who can turn ordinary, daily activities into riveting tales of anguish, joy, hope, and victory. They can take a two-minute story and captivate their audience for fifteen minutes. That gift of storytelling intrigues me. I’m attracted to stories and how they are told. Thus, I take them in however I find them. Whether they are stories told with friends over a meal, on pages of a book, from episode to episode on a TV show, through the playing of a game, or watching a movie (and yes even some musicals and plays), I love the side of our humanity that tells stories. In many ways, I think it models God, who I fervently believe is a master storyteller, but today’s readings remind me that the Lord is so much more than that.
Friday of the Third Week of Easter
In this year of peaceful discipleship, it's important to think about how to respond to our enemies - or at least to people with whom we find ourselves utterly at odds. Today's scriptures help us to rethink how we respond to our enemies, or even just those with whom we have serious disagreements.