Because He First Loved Us, Show Mercy
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Mercy still exists
Read MoreWrap Each Other in Courage
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In the New Testament, encouragement is always spoken of as a community event. We don’t need help being discouraged but we do need help being encouraged. We need each other. We cannot do it alone. It happens in community. We are to envelop, enfold, wrap each other in courage.
Read MoreRelationships and the Examen
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I’ve been lonely lately.
This time has taken a toll on my relationships. I know I am not alone. I know many are feeling this pulling and pressing on their communities and relationships.
Read my reflection for Ignatian Spirituality
Read MoreBook Review: The Defiant Middle
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Jane Goodall once said, “It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.” Author and writing professor at the University of California, Berkeley Kaya Oakes would agree and has written a new book, The Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life’s In-Betweens to Remake the World, to tackle this very issue.
Read MoreO Holy Night: A Carol for the Weary
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The Christmas song that always slays me, jolts me out of my secular complacency and reminds me that this is an absolutely sacred moment in the history of mankind we are celebrating here, is the carol, “O Holy Night.”
Read MorePraying the O Antiphons
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These names for the Christ are rich in theology and tell us exactly who he is, calling him with the imperative, “come,” or “O.”
Read MoreA Luminous Invitation: On the transformational art of Barbara Earl Thomas
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"When so many conversations on race build in tension or altogether end, Thomas’ work expands the story, giving it space to breathe and soar."
Read MoreQuiet Lives
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My reflection for Ignatian Spirituality on how extraordinary it is to live a quiet live of love and peace.
Read MoreHealing Hospitality
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After over a year of not being welcome in each other’s homes, and when currently there are many places that limit who is welcome, this act of hospitality seems nothing short of revolutionary.
Read MoreNoisy Praise
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At night, as I lay in bed, the pond just outside my bedroom window
burst into a cacophony of croaking, gulping, chirping, and guzzling.
It was not the silence I was seeking — but it sounded like a symphony,
On Advent Waiting: Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton
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What if we reframed the act of waiting -- as a gift?
Read MoreListen to Your Inner Voice
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Do you ever wonder if you even know the sound of your own voice — what stream of thoughts running through your mind are authentically yours? Or are you just hearing an echo of voices from throughout the day or your life?
Read MoreFrank Mc Court: Angela’s Ashes
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Frank Mc Court’s childhood in Limerick, Ireland was so dire, reading his memoir, Angela’s Ashes, you’ll be grateful you ever had a full egg all to yourself.
The bleak stories seem to spill over one another with Mc Court’s run on sentences and dialogue meant to evoke the Irish cadence of speaking over one another (and not necessarily listening). This style of writing works well to convey desperate nature of the lives of the Mc Court’s but leaves very little in the way of respite.
Read MoreOctober Book List
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I read about a book a week. Sometimes for reviews. Sometimes for fun.
I get asked often what I am reading, so I thought I’d make this a regular feature on my website. Maybe you’ll discover a new read or reminded of one you’ve been wanting to pick up.
Read MoreThanksgiving: A Spiritual Exercise
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I have a theory. It is very unofficial. I haven’t done any scientific research on it. I wouldn’t even know where to begin – well, especially since I am not a scientist. Here’s my theory: Those people who go around the table and say what they are thankful for at Thanksgiving dinner – they are happier than those who don’t.
Read MoreFinding God in the Present Moment
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I know a woman who used to watch the news religiously. She would get caught up in the latest mandate, scandal, or expose until it took over all her waking hours. She obsessed over these stories until she was so incredibly anxious, she forgot how to live.
Read MoreTell Your Story
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As Catholic Christians we seem to be most comfortable sharing our faith by our acts of service. This year Pope Francis challenges us to share our stories. Stories is how the church began.
Read MoreOn Being the World to Our Vision
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Contrary to popular narratives, Motherhood and Creativity might not be opposed but rather intricately, intimately linked. Read my essay On Bending the World to Our Vision for Dappled Things.
Read MoreJosephine Humphrey: Rich in Love
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“Perhaps someday we’ll recall with joy even these things”
These are Aeneas’s words in Virgil’s The Aeneid; spoken to encourage his men in the face of hardship. They are also the words of Lucille, the seventeen-year-old narrator of Josephine Humphreys’ novel Rich in Love, spoken to encourage herself. This is the story of the unravelling of the Odom family and the seventeen-year-old who tries to keep them together.
Read MoreWhat Does Love Mean?
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"When I hear “Love is love,” I know it is simply not true. My love looks nothing like the love of God. Love that gave up both his only Son and his own life for us. Love that suffered physically, emotionally and spiritually for us. Love that we can never be separated from. Love that banishes fear — and hate. And while we are still his enemies, while we hated him, while we still hate him, he loved us first. It is easy to love those who are like us, or those we like, but those we hate? Those who actively pull away?"
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