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Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
More Wisdom from Thomas Merton
We must slow down to a human tempo and we’ll begin to have time to listen.
– Thomas Merton
We all know we should slow down . . .
Why is it so hard for us to do it?
Let Us Be Simple, and Turn into the House of Wisdom
We are encouraged in Sunday’s First Reading from the Book of Proverbs (Pr. 9:1-6) to seek wisdom.
Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven columns;
she has dressed her meat,
mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.
She has sent out her maidens;
she calls from the heights out over the city:
“Let whoever is simple turn in here;”
To the one who lacks understanding, she says,
“Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;
advance in the way of understanding.”
Some Wisdom from the Poet – Worth Waking For
The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
-Jalaluddin Rumi
What Is Gratefulness?
To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything.
-Thomas Merton
What Kind of Globalization Do We Want to Create?
We are living in a period of commercial globalization.
What we really need is spiritual globalization.
– Sister Joan Chittister, OSB
On the Feast of the Assumption
Wednesday is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
This fresco of the Dominican saints (which is at Santa Sabina in Rome) under the mantle of Mary reminds us that she and our loving God welcome us into their presence.
God’s Love for All – without Exception
Monday’s reading from Matthew 18 reminds us of God’s love for each and every one of us . . . without exception.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.
Heaven and Earth are Full of God’s Glory
Monday’s Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 148
Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise God in the heights;
Praise God, all you angels; praise God, all you hosts.
Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Let the rulers of the earth and all peoples,
the leaders and all the judges of the earth,
Young men too, and maidens, elders and children
Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Praise the name of the LORD, for God’s name alone is exalted;
God’s majesty is above earth and heaven.
Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
And God has lifted up the horn of the people. Be this God’s praise from all the faithful ones,
from the children of Israel, the people close to God.
Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
The Sunrise Will Surely Come
In Saturday’s first reading from the first chapter of the Prophet Habakkuk we read words to give us hope in the times when the future looks dim.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.
The Real Voyage of Discovery
I have always appreciated this quote from Marcel Proust, and hope that I will always have the gift of fresh eyes, fresh ears, and a fresh heart.
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