Holy Humor Week
There’s a tradition in the church that goes back hundreds of years. On Easter Monday people used to gather together and tell jokes. That’s right, tell jokes. It all stemmed from their realization that when God raised Jesus from the dead, God had the last laugh!
The Week We Call Holy
This week is Holy Week. We call it “Holy” because this is the week we commemorate the essence of the Paschal Mystery, that is, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. On Thursday we commemorate the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the Eucharist as a way of staying with us in time forever. That day we also reenact Jesus’ loving action: the washing of the feet of his disciples. This ritual reminds us that following Jesus essentially means this: to serve others. (more…)
The 32,000 Year-Old Seeds
Did you read the story about the 32,000 year-old seeds that germinated recently? It seems researchers at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow found some ancient plants (silene stenophylla) in a fossilized squirrel burrow in Siberia. (more…)
My To-Do List
The other day I was thinking about my to-do list, that small piece of paper on which I write my chores or goals for the day or week. Here are a few items currently on my to-do list: write blog (which I’m doing now!), call Sue, mail handouts to Kalamazoo, prepare presentations for Villa Maria, PA, return library books, get oil change, answer Elaine’s email, write two Advent reflections. Nothing too earthshaking there, just the ordinary tasks of an ordinary day.
Everytime I accomplish something on my list, I cross it off. I feel good when I do that. I get a real sense of accomplishment. In fact, sometimes if I do an errand that is not on my to-do list, I quickly write it on my list and then immediately cross it off. (I bet I’m not the only person who does this!)
But today I was thinking: what would my to-do list look like for my spiritual life? Maybe something like this: become a more loving person, talk to God more, help someone in need, smile often, enjoy God’s creation more, forgive that offense, say you’re sorry, read something spiritual.
The truth is, of course, we really don’t have two different lists. It is precisely through our ordinary to-do list that we achieve the deeper goals on our spiritual to-do list. Calling Sue, for example, is a way I reach out to a friend who is a little “under the weather” these days. My writing is another way I reach out to other people. I also talk to God often while I’m writing. If our ordinary to-do list bears no connection to our spiritual to-do list, then something needs to change. Perhaps we just have to become more aware of how our ordinary tasks can really be spiritual acts.
What about you? Do you have a to-do list? If so, what’s on it? How do your ordinary activities relate to your growth as a spiritual person?
The Shooting at Chardon High School
As many of you know, I live in Chardon, Ohio. What you may not know is that I live at St. Mary convent which, together with our church and elementary school, is right across the street from Chardon Middle School and High School. I was close to the tragic events on Monday, February 27 when a student opened fire in the high school cafeteria, shooting five students. Three of them died. As I write this, one student is still hospitalized in serious condition. A fifth student was released from the hospital last week. (more…)
