Celebrating Grandparents
Pope Francis has declared the fourth Sunday in July as World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. The Sunday was chosen because it will always be close to the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, Jesus’ maternal grandparents, which we celebrate on July 26. In honor of this day, let’s look at some of the […]
By the Way…
One of my books is called By the Way: 100 Reflections on the Spiritual Life. The book consists of reflections that didn’t fit into the “conversation” of my previous books. The book says, “By the way, here are a hundred more things I’d like to say.” Today I’ve adapted four of those reflections for you. […]
Growing through our Failures and Mistakes
A friend of mine, Theresa, loaned me her copy of the Pope’s new book, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future. In it Pope Francis explores some of the ways the Covid crisis can teach us to handle upheaval in our lives. In this reflection I would like to share one of the […]
“The Great Comma”
I am currently reading Richard Rohr’s new book, The Universal Christ. A friend gave it to me after we were talking about the historical Jesus and the Cosmic Christ. I concluded that I definitely need to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the Cosmic Christ. That’s exactly what Rohr’s book focuses on. Even before […]
What’s the Most Courageous Thing You Ever Did?
Today let’s reflect on courage. We’ll begin with this definition: Courage is the mental or moral strength to withstand or endure despite danger, pain, difficulty, or fear. If that’s our working definition, then how would you answer this question: What’s the most courageous thing you ever did? Don’t sell yourself short. You can’t be an […]
Wow! Three Little Stories
Here are three little stories I came across in recent months. Each one made me say, “Wow!”—for different reasons. I hope you enjoy them: The Ice-Cream Chain: Tina Jensen manages two Dairy Queens in Brainerd, MN. Occasionally, she said, a drive-through customer will pick up the tab for the strangers in the car behind them. […]
A Prayer for When Life Doesn’t Make Sense
Sometimes life is good and faith is easy. Choose your image: the seas of your life are calm… the various components of your life are gently falling into place… the people around you are pleasant, agreeable, and kind. But sometimes life doesn’t make sense and faith is tough. Really tough. Things happen (or a single […]
Longevity and Transience
Recently biologists were tagging sturgeon in the Detroit River. The procedure was pretty routine. Catch the sturgeon in a basket, weigh, measure, tag, and release. Imagine their amazement when they hauled up a 240 pound sturgeon! She (yes, it was a female) was 6′ 10″ long with a circumference of nearly 4 feet! They estimated […]
What Is God Doing All Day?
What do you picture God doing all day? Here are just a few possibilities. God is watching us. We might have been told this as children. God was watching, so if you do something bad—like hit your brother or sister—God will see you. This turns God into something like a guard in a prison who […]
Hope and Worry
The other day I was reflecting on some of the differences between Hope and Worry. Here’s what I came up with. Hope believes a better world is possible… Worry believes the world is getting worse. Hope asks, How can I help?… Worry asks, What’s the use? Hope trusts in God… Worry trusts in nothing. Hope […]