Law Is Good, Love Is Better

It seemed like such a good idea at the time: Carve the law of the nation in stone. We citizens of another land and millennia can appreciate how final the Ten Commandments must have felt — and yet

Many Years, Countless Tears… But Joy Comes With The Morning.

Tapestry of Saint Monica of Hippo, by John Nava (b.1947).

For many, many years Saint Monica of Hippo wept during her ceaselessly tireless prayers for her husband Patricius – a pagan whom lived in her hometown of Tagast in North Africa, to whom her parents gave her in marriage, even though she was a Christian – their son Augustine, and her mother-in-law who lived with them, to become Christians. Patricius was known for his violent temper and licentiousness, while Monica’s mother-in-law was similarly ornery and cantankerous. Her dedication and devotion to

Don’t Fan The Flames

In the summer of A.D. 64 a terrible fire swept through the city of Rome. Emperor Nero found himself praised for his efforts to help the victims, and accused of setting the fire. To deflect the criticism, he

Shouldering Responsibility

The pallium is an ancient liturgical vestment worn only by the pope and a very few other high-level church officials upon whom the pope bestows it as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them. In honor of Saints Peter and Paul, today is the day of

Think Before You Act

The church calendar identifies the second-century saint Irenaeus as a “bishop and martyr.” He was certainly a bishop (of Lyons in France), but his martyrdom may be more legendary. He is remembered primarily, however, not for his death but for

Good News For Hungry Hearts And Minds

Christians haven’t always done evangelization well. The Benedictine monk and bishop, Saint Boniface (c. 680-754), had a mixed history in that regard. There are stories about him literally trampling the religious traditions of other cultures but also about him embracing the customs of people and inviting them to see their own lives in light of the gospel. What’s your take on evangelization? Is there a hammer, or the gospel in someone’s hand? Consider the words of

Stepping Out For Jesus

Saint Philip Neri (1515-95) must have had a good cobbler, because he sure put a lot of miles on his shoes. He sauntered through Rome, striking up conversations with whomever he met, beggars or bankers, warming hearts as he talked about God. Often, he’d bid them walk and talk with him en route to

Thank You, Mother

Pope Francis recently added a memorial to celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as “Mother of the Church” every year on the Monday after Pentecost as a way to

Let Go And Love

Jesus’ Last Supper discourses are surely some of the most poignant passages in John’s gospel. You can almost hear the urgency in Jesus’ voice as he exhorts His disciples to carry on and always love one another. Just “love one another.” Three simple words, yet how difficult they are to live at times! Or at least we make them that way. We prefer to hold on to our anger, resentment, or that small slight from this morning. We are entitled to feel the way we do — right? Yet, how much

Working In Absentia

Much has been written about the importance of a “ministry of presence” – of being with people in times of need. Important as presence is, there is also a “ministry of absence,” said noted spirituality author Henri Nouwen. We should never forget that it is

Find Your Own Path

Modern gurus abound on talk shows and blogs, full of advice about how you should live your life.

Some of their suggestions may be helpful; the best ones are borrowed from

Your Turn To Serve

Wise. Brave. Humble. Seekers of the common good above personal ambition. The world can’t get enough good leaders, and the best way to acquire the leaders we need in every aspect of modern life is for all of us to strive to be leaders right where we are. On this 55th World Day of

Focus On The Good – In Everyone

Just as Mother Teresa had her critics, so also Father Damien was maligned after his death. It was novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, however, who visited the island leper colony where Damien ministered in 1889 and set the record straight. When a Honolulu pastor publicly called Damien a “coarse, dirty man” whose leprosy should be attributed to his “carelessness,” Stevenson rebutted: “You are one of those who have an eye for faults and failures; that you take

Fully Love

One thing Jesus never could stomach is a hypocrite. In the stories, He always prefers sincere sinners to religious fakers. It’s easy to slip into the role of a synthetic disciple without even noticing. Our religious routines — prayer, Mass attendance, lip-synched proper responses to moral issues — can go on autopilot. Meanwhile,

Whom do you follow?

Like Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador in the 20th century and Thomas à Becket of England in the 12th century, Saint Stanislaus (c. 1030-79), according to tradition, was killed in church, in this case while celebrating Mass. Stanislaus’ murderer was

Let It Be

Mary is the mother of the church and the model of all Christians. At the message of an angel, she believed beyond all reason and offered her life in service of God’s plan. Her response, “let it be,” is the answer of every disciple who trusts in God’s word to make all things new. In the season of

Rise Up In Faith

Talk about “life-threatening”: Sometimes vitality itself is the threat! Lazarus was looking mighty good for a dead man after Jesus called him out of the tomb. So the religious authorities put Lazarus on their hit list along with Jesus. Next time, Lazarus might stay dead; however, nobody

Bathed In Grace

Not long before Jesus heals the sick man at the pool, He encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. The stories have much in common. Neither knew who Jesus was or the power He possessed, but Jesus knew everything about them — and offers to

Get Outside Your Self, Focus On The Bigger Picture

If there were ever a patron saint for people who jump to extremes and then find balance in their lives, it would be John of God (1495-1559). First he was a wild-living soldier nearly hanged after being accused of stealing from the army. After a reprieve, he was so grateful that he

Service Is The Only Security

Not even the deepest, fiercest parental love can secure the future of loved ones or keep them from harm. Take Perpetua, a young mother still nursing, and her pregnant servant Felicity, who were

Less Is More

The phrase “less is more” catches our attention because at first glance it seems illogical. How can less be more? They’re opposites, and of the two, “more” is often regarded as better. But taken in a different light, the phrase makes good sense. Maybe we

Turn It Over

One of the many advantages of memorized prayers such as the “Our Father” is that we can say them when we have no words of our own; we don’t have to think. That’s also one of their disadvantages: We don’t have to think. In fact,

Get Outside Your Comfort Zone This Lent

The desert’s a great place to encounter the Holy, as a long tradition of desert fathers and mothers attests. But the desert’s a traditional place to make intimate acquaintance with your demons as well — which is

Be Fast To Offer Assistance

Lent is just getting under way, a good time to carefully consider one of its key traditions: fasting. What can fasting mean in our health-conscious culture? The fasting of Lent is not about

Skeptical Of Authority

As any baker can tell you, a small amount of leaven — yeast — goes a long way, working its effect on a much larger mass of dough. For this reason

Time For Trial

Everyone experiences difficulties at some point in their lives. No matter how fortunate a person may be, going a lifetime without

Deliver Us From Every Evil

Even the best of us harbor within ourselves an unclean spirit or two. “Unclean” simply means not compatible with the holiness of God. This isn’t a condition any of us can afford to be in! Consider the garden variety

Be A Living Example

Timothy and Titus were companions and coworkers of the apostle Paul. We call them bishops because

The Impossible Is Possible

Have you or someone you know ever experienced a conversion? Conversion can take many forms. Someone turns their life around — recovering from an addiction, bouncing back from an illness or a setback and going at life in a whole new way. The amazing thing about

How To Enjoy Early Retirement

Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622) led a full life, both before and after his relatively late decision to join the priesthood. In his era, a life of holiness was considered the domain of monks and nuns, certainly not of laypeople. But he believed God could and should be found in everyday life and was

It’s not the end of the world

If there’s one thing we can use less of, it’s negative attitudes. After a brief perusal of daily headlines, we might be forgiven for thinking that the next six wars are preloaded, our food supply is toxic, strangers may be killers, and all leaders are liars. Yet our sacred story declares that

Touch The Pain

When people are hurting, they seek the healing power of physical touch, just as those who followed Jesus did. Perhaps that is one reason why healing massage is one of the fastest-growing phenomena in our society. We seek to be healed physically, emotionally, and spiritually of what ails us, of that which

It’s Your Call

Most of us are leery about accepting calls from unknown sources. In the happy age of Caller ID, it’s as if a virtual butler brings each visitor’s card on a silver tray into our drawing room. We can decline to be “home” to any undesirable contact. Still, people of

Take In The Outcast

In the gospel era, lepers were considered rejects of society. According to the law of Moses, they had to announce their presence to everybody within earshot so they could be avoided. Yet, with a simple choice, a word, and a

Healer, heal thyself.

“Caduceus,” recognized as a universal medical symbol, in this bronze representation by James N. Muir (b.1945, Indianapolis, IN) has become and Angel of Healing bringing love and peace upon the earth and all of its inhabitants. She is 12 feet high with a 9-foot wing span and includes fountain capabilities. This statue, featuring the artist, is in Sedona, AZ where he resides.

You may have heard the expression “wounded healer.” It suggests that you don’t have to be perfectly healthy to help others. But you have to be careful not to bring your unresolved problems into helping relationships with others, or you could do a lot of damage. Scripture makes it clear that taking care of your personal spiritual health should come first. Peter’s mother-in-law

What possessed you?

It’s worthy to note that the “unclean spirits” in the gospel stories speak in the plural: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” Why is that? The “possessed” person is

Work With What You Have

And you thought you were busy? Consider Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1744 – 1821), the first citizen born in the United States to be canonized, who was canonized Sunday, September 14, 1975 in St. Peter’s Square by Pope Paul VI.

She was a New York

Walking Through Darkness

Saint John of the Cross (1542–1591), aka ‘San Juan de la Cruz’ in Spanish, was a Spanish mystic most well known for writing the highly-regarded book “The Dark Night of the Soul,” which explores

All At Once

When a dispute arose about who was to be the new bishop of Milan, Ambrose (c. 339-397) stepped in to try to mediate the dispute. Ambrose is also remembered as

A Jolly Good Tradition

Saint Nicholas spoke out against heresies and was imprisoned for a time for his Christian beliefs. His faithfulness is exemplary, but charity remains his signature virtue. What started with Nicholas tossing a few bags of coins into a poor family’s yard has been transformed over centuries of retelling, embellishing, grafting, and adapting into the magical tales of Ole Saint Nick (Father Christmas, Santa Claus, Kris Kringle), whose yearly ambition is to deliver gifts to every girl and boy. We may not

To Know You Is To Love You

In these times of war, political conflict, and growing poverty, it’s hard to imagine a state of affairs in which wisdom and justice reign and everything works together for the good. Yet that’s exactly

Mindfulness 101

Be aware of your surroundings. Look where you’re going. Think before you speak. Remember to breathe. Be here now. Pithy reminders to be mindful have been sprinkled into the popular diet for so long, they tend to

Move Beyond Pity

Widows in ancient times were to be pitied and granted favors, but of course, those filled with the Spirit had a tendency to turn perceptions upside down. So we find widows in the Bible who are models of faithfulness (1 Kings 17), insight (Luke 2), righteousness (Luke 18), and generosity (Luke 21). Whom do you pigeonhole as pitiable? Homeless people? The undocumented? People with

Get Your Passport Stamped

The man often called the “good thief” turned his life around in the final hour when he encountered Jesus on the cross at Golgotha. One good act of

Be A Legend In Your Own Time

Catherine of Alexandria was said to be a very learned young woman, a philosopher, and eloquent speaker who persuaded many of the Roman persecutors of Christianity of the errors of their ways. For this, Emperor Maximinus II ordered her

Give It Your All

How much are you willing to give? Some make the ultimate sacrifice and give their very lives. Andrew Dung-Lac (1795-1839) was a priest and one of 117 saints martyred by

Be Present To The Spirit

How did the Virgin Mary come to be a woman “full of grace”? It was her close association with the holy Temple, as today’s feast (Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary) reminds us. Although not recorded in the Bible, an early document attributed to the apostle James

Envision Your Faith

One of the greatest blessings any of us ever receives is insight into another person’s soul — seeing the truth of another’s sadness, sensing their loneliness, feeling their pain, understanding what would bring them joy, and then with an open heart offering ourselves

Dust Off Tradition

Three servants are entrusted with their master’s “talents”; the one who fearfully buries his is reprimanded, while those who grow theirs earn the “master’s happiness” and trust. Today we take the hint. We try to share the gifts God gives us. But earliest versions of the parable repeat the phrase

Do Good, Regardless Of The Reception

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Window by F. X.Zettler

During her marriage to the German Prince Louis, Saint Elizabeth of

The Charity of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary by Edmund Blair Leighton (1852 – 1922)

Hungary (1207-31), sometimes also known as St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, gained a reputation for generosity to the poor and sick. But Louis’ family was