- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- December 18, 2022
I invite you today to take a few moments to reflect on the meaning and significance of Christmas. In order to facilitate your reflection, I am offering 10 quotations on the Incarnation and Christmas from a variety of people. Let’s begin with a scripture quote from St. Paul’s letter to
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- December 11, 2022
I want to share with you a few thoughts from my recent retreat, Nov. 27-Dec. 4. First, the setting. I made my retreat in one of the small houses on our campus. I asked a Jesuit friend, Father Gary in Detroit, if he could meet with me (via zoom) for
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- December 4, 2022
I know some people who are always asking God (or some saint) for a sign. They ask God to send a bluebird, for example, to show that their deceased loved one is in peace. One woman told me she asked St. Therese of Lisieux (the “Little Flower”) to send a
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- November 27, 2022
Advent is a “peculiar” season. Its petition, “Come, Lord Jesus,” is the constant refrain throughout its four weeks. Those words pulse with a holy urgency. But an important question to ask ourselves is this: to whom are those words addressed? This is the question Genevieve Glen, OSB, raises in her
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- November 20, 2022
It is fitting to celebrate Thanksgiving Day not only with family, friends, and food, but also with taking a few minutes this week to name some of the things in our life that we are grateful for. This video might help. It is composed of stunning visuals, haunting music, and
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- November 13, 2022
The other day I had an echocardiogram. (Don’t worry. My heart is fine.) This test is essentially an ultrasound of the heart. The whole procedure took only about 30 minutes. But the experience was something of a religious experience for me. As some of you probably know, an echocardiogram is
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- November 6, 2022
November is the month the Church suggests we take time to reflect on death. For those of us living in the northern hemisphere and experiencing fall, this seems a fitting time to remember death. The leaves have fallen, the birds have flown south, the temperatures are dropping, and the days
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- October 30, 2022
The Our Father might be the most prayed prayer in the world. We teach it to our little children, pray it at every Mass, and often recite it at the bedside of our beloved sick or dying. The German theologian, Gerhard Lohfink, has written a new book on the Our
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- October 23, 2022
In 1991 a writer named H. Jackson Brown, compiled a little book entitled Live and Learn and Pass It On. It became an instant bestseller. The premise of the book is simple. All of us, regardless of our age, have learned a lot about life that might be worthwhile to
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
- October 16, 2022
Last week, as you know, I facilitated a retreat for 21 Sisters of Notre Dame at Bethany, our retreat center on this campus. Thank you for your prayers for this endeavor. We had a whole week to enjoy all the colors of fall too! At the closing of our retreat
