Christmas in the Desert
Early in Advent, a line of Scripture struck me strongly and has stuck with me ever since: “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert’” (Jn 1:23). This Advent brought more revelations about the abuse scandals in...
Tagged: Advent
Discerning God’s Will
This is a reflection on the Mass readings of Sunday, December 20, 2020. Today’s readings present us with two stories. The first is the story of David, the second King of Israel. Through his extraordinary efforts, David had finally brought...
The Chimney and A Highway in the Desert
A reflection on the Sunday readings for December 6, 2020 — the Second Sunday of Advent Today, December 6, is the feast of St. Nicholas, who is of course known in popular culture as Santa Claus. Santa Claus is the iconic...
Acknowledging that we are sinners
“I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These were the first words spoken by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio when asked by the cardinal dean if he accepted his canonical...
Cycles within Cycles: The Liturgical Year and Christian Time
The traditional understanding of Christian eschatology is decidedly linear, moving from a defined creation to a defined end of time. While this model of time has more corroboration from the natural sciences today, it is in many ways less intuitive...
Advent: An invitation to live in the presence of God
Do you remember when you were a teenager and you first discovered the joy and freedom of going out with your friends? Oddly, the experience I recall most about going out with my friends was the moment I returned home....
Advent and the Pandemic: Similar Challenges, Similar Call
A reflection on the Sunday readings for November 29, 2020 — the First Sunday of Advent This is the first Advent we have observed during a pandemic and this will be our first pandemic Christmas. What if I told you that...
Memory of a Promise
The Christian is one in whom the past and future meet in the present and unfold into a new vision, a new life. In Advent, especially, the Church invites us to reconsider our lives as the intersection of our history...
Soft Miracle
As I said in my last article, sometimes we can find treasures of deep Christian wisdom hidden in the thoughts and writings of highly secularized and even anticlerical people. Today, I would like to present you one of the most...
The Celestial Tear
One thing that has always struck me as bizarre is how sometimes outsiders to the faith seem to have keener insights on how the faith works, or should be working, than Catholics allegedly in good standing. Sometimes, when atheists or...
Silence: the shield against Suspicious Man
“Express how you feel, and then be quiet. Because the truth is humble. The truth is silent. The truth isn’t noisy. It’s not easy, what Jesus did. But the dignity of the Christian is anchored in the power of God....
Silence according to Pope Francis
“Uncrowd my heart, O God, until silence speaks in your still, small voice; turn me from the hearing of words, and the making of words, and the confusion of much speaking, to listening, waiting, stillness, silence.” — Esther de Waal;...
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