· 14 July 2008 | 226 words
There is a line from a William Stafford poem: "It's for the best," my mother said, "Nothing can ever be wrong for anyone truly good." And then I look at the suffering Jesus endured, and the suffering of all people....
· 15 June 2008 | 264 words
I ventured out recently into the blogsphere and discovered this meme via Sarx (with some links in the chain A and the original). if the nature of god is omnipotent, benevolent, and anthropomorphic (that god is a person, who sees...
· 14 April 2008 | 339 words
Yesterday evening, I was reading this certain book by a particular author who was opening windows and doors for me to paths of insights into metaphysics, mysticism, the mystery of God, etc., when all of a sudden, in one paragraph,...
· 10 April 2008 | 598 words
From Br. Joseph -- There are two sides to faith, just as there are two sides to a coin. One side of the "coin of faith" looks externally, that is, it looks outside of our selves to others for examples...
· 7 March 2008 | 21 words
God is like this... showing up where you don't want Him, where you least expect to find Him. [image via]...
· 4 March 2008 | 537 words
From Br. Joseph -- This is the fourth reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Signposts give us direction. They point to some place. They involve action, movement. Many signposts call us to remember...
· 28 January 2008 | 608 words
Near the end of the film Into Great Silence (technically it is a film, but it is something more), there is an interview with an old, blind monk. The years of solitude do not wear heavy on him. He is...
· 7 January 2008 | 85 words
Thomas Keating, in Manifesting God, says: "Worthiness is not the issue." Get over it. Stop projecting your own self-esteem issues onto God. God is God, not the god you make Him out to be. The Gospel is not about earning...
· 3 January 2008 | 36 words
O God, as once the good angels humbled themselves to adore You appearing before them as a man, may man humbly adore You appearing before us as bread. -- from a prayer card [via]...
· 12 December 2007 | 417 words
From Br. Joseph -- The young boy asked, "Why Christmas?" His father replied, "You know, it's December 25th, the season when everyone puts up Christmas trees and decorates everything in red and green. We hang Christmas lights on the house...
· 8 December 2007 | 12 words
God does not reside in the tomb of my thoughts or words....
· 4 November 2007 | 212 words
From today's reading: Before the Lord the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, ...
· 27 October 2007 | 14 words
God refuses to be known except by love. -- St. John of the Cross...
· 30 September 2007 | 149 words
Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back, Guiltie of dust and sinne. But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning If I...
· 19 September 2007 | 483 words
From Br. Joseph (Sept. 18, 2007) -- Sunday's Gospel reading was about the Lost Son in Luke 15 (aka Prodigal Son). I want to share a marvelous poem written about a century ago by Charles Péguy that references this parable....
· 2 September 2007 | 780 words
The term Body of Christ means three things: 1) the actual physical body of Jesus; 2) the Church (with a capital "C") because we as individual persons are church, parts of the Body, branches on the Vine; and 3) the Eucharist, the Blessed...
· 25 June 2007 | 111 words
Only in love can I find You, my God. In love, the gates of my soul spring open, allowing me to breath a new air of freedom and forget my own petty self. In love, my whole being streams...
· 2 June 2007 | 12 words
God always answers prayers. He answers them in His way, not ours....
· 24 May 2007 | 433 words
The felt the big emptiness this morning. It actually started yesterday afternoon, but I did not notice or label it as such until this morning. It is not depression. I know depression. It's close, but not the same. There is...
· 14 May 2007 | 435 words
I'm bad about shopping for books. I cannot stop in a bookstore without rummaging through the religion/faith section. If a book looks good, I'll purchase it in hopes of reading it some day. Sometimes, I'll start the new book the...
· 5 May 2007 | 346 words
The Lord God then called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9) This is, in my opinion, the saddest line in the whole of Scripture. It hints of God's heart ache for us. It is a...
· 17 April 2007 | 204 words
From today's reading, Jesus says to Nicodemus, "The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who...
· 4 April 2007 | 22 words
Heard this line in the movie, As Good As It Gets: Waiting gives the devil time. Waiting also gives God time....
· 2 April 2007 | 235 words
Is God in Hell? The modern explanation likes to say that Hell is the absence of God. But can such a place exist? The very existence of reality is grounded in God. Being or existence itself is in and of...
· 20 February 2007 | 167 words
In The Lord, Romano Guardini reflects on God's forgiveness: Men actually did not know that God must be as he is in order to be able to forgive, for what they formerly meant by forgiveness was no true forgiveness, but...
· 29 January 2007 | 123 words
At the retreat this weekend, one of my students had a small epiphany during a very special prayer moment around the Blessed Sacrament. The following words come to her; it seemed as if God was speaking directly to her within...
· 28 January 2007 | 84 words
Found this little poem in a book laying around in the sacristy of the chapel at camp. For every pain we must bear, for every burden, for every care, there's a reason. for every grief that bows the head for...
· 31 December 2006 | 189 words
Father, I just want to be with you. I'm tired of words. I want the clutter of thoughts in my mind to stop for awhile so that I can just pray, just exist with you. No asking for anything. No...
· 9 December 2006 | 692 words
In Three Philosophies of Life, Peter Kreeft writes about three books in the Old Testament that essentially outline three ways to live and view life: Ecclesiates, life as vanity; Job, life as suffering; and Song of Songs, life as love....
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us