Category: Spirituality

Take Up Your Cross or the Cost of Discipleship

Today’s Gospel reading is from Mark 8 Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,… Continue Reading “Take Up Your Cross or the Cost of Discipleship”

We Live in Hope

We feel we must disagree with those prophets of doom, who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world were  at hand . . . In the present order of things, Divine Providence is leading us to a new order of… Continue Reading “We Live in Hope”

All Life Is Holy

The world is holy. We are holy. All life is holy. Daily prayers are delivered on the lips of breaking waves, the whisperings of grasses, the shimmering of leaves. Terry Tempest Williams -Talking to God: Portrait of a World at Prayer

Wisdom Must Be Cultivated

We all know about the wisdom of Solomon, and how he asked God for this gift above all others. In yesterday’s reading we saw how his fame had spread to the Queen of Sheba, so great was his wisdom. All that fame, renown, and… Continue Reading “Wisdom Must Be Cultivated”

Let Our Feet Not Falter

From today’s Responsorial Psalm 37: The mouth of the just one tells of wisdom and the tongue utters what is right. The law of God is in the heart of such a one, so that the foot does not falter. May her foot not… Continue Reading “Let Our Feet Not Falter”

How Can We Contain God?

King Solomon, who built a great temple to “hold” God, knew that God could not be contained there. Where are the places we try to contain and constrain God? No matter how wonderful and perfect they may seem to be to us, it would… Continue Reading “How Can We Contain God?”

Finding God in Creation

The created world is the primordial sacrament. -Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ

A Door to a New Beginning

John O’Donohue, while not specifically inviting us to open a new window or new door, does beckon us to move forward into what is “not yet clear” in his poem, “For a New Beginning.” The following is one stanza: Though your destination is not… Continue Reading “A Door to a New Beginning”

More of Sometimes Poetry is Preaching

What is there not to like about John O’Donohue? Today I offer a stanza from his poem, “A Morning Offering” for all of us. May my mind come alive today To the invisible geography That invites me to new frontiers, To break the dead… Continue Reading “More of Sometimes Poetry is Preaching”

God’s Faithful Forgiveness

David’s saga continues today when the prophet Nathan comes to him and demands repentance. In this story of unvarnished humanness, David admits his sinfulness and turns to God for forgiveness. God doesn’t remove all the consequences for David’s despicable actions, but faithfully forgives David’s… Continue Reading “God’s Faithful Forgiveness”