The Transfiguration and the Cross
Appearances can be deceiving. After all, Jesus was just another Galilean. His hands were the rough hands of a workman. People in Nazareth knew his mother. Some even remembered the man they thought was...
View ArticleHoly Workout
If you’re looking for a creative way to do penance during Lent, I have an idea for you: exercise. Even if you love to exercise, there is often a little suffering involved. It might be cold or raining,...
View ArticleMargaret Rose Realy: Cultivating the Garden with Words
I thought I knew, long before Lent started, what my Lenten reading plan would be. (In fact, I went so far as to write about it.) I should have known better, I suppose. The weekend after I “set” that...
View ArticleLove, Suffering and the Transfiguration
The love with which God embraces each of us is one of the great truths revealed in to us throughout salvation history, but especially through and in Jesus Christ. To come to better understand this...
View ArticleWhat Western Christians Can Learn from the Fig Tree
Some think Lent is a time for fasting. I see it as a time of feasting. I come to this conclusion based on the story of the fig tree in Luke 13. Three years without bearing fruit. What could be the...
View ArticleReconciliation & The Prodigal Son
“For our sakes God made him who did not know sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the very holiness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). Some Christians reading these words over the last few centuries have...
View ArticleWhat’s at the Bottom of Your Bowl?
Every Easter, my mother serves a delicious fruit salad. It is a healthy smorgasbord of taste and the perfect amouse bouche before our family feast. Yet left at the bottom of my fruit bowl each Easter...
View ArticleThe Cost of Forgiveness
It really looked like the end of the road for her. Caught in the act of a capital crime, her fate lay in the hands of an angry mob. Desiring to kill two birds with one stone, the rabble decided to use...
View ArticleQuenching a Thirst – God’s Surprise Gifts, Even in Lent
Our oldest son lives in southern California… so very far away from where we live. A benefit of this (particularly in February) is that from time to time we get to visit him and enjoy warm weather in...
View ArticleHuman Sin and Divine Love
Catholics seem preoccupied with the sufferings of Christ – the Crucifix, the sorrowful Mysteries, the Stations of the Cross. As if all this were not enough, Catholics must stand at attention one Sunday...
View ArticleThe Samaritan Woman and the Original Meaning of Lent
Lent’s a time of introspection. We read Exodus, and watch the Israelites grumbling, even after the amazing things God had done for them (Ex 17:3-7). In them, we recognize ourselves. For many of us,...
View ArticleDaily Catholic Quote from Pope Francis
“Fasting makes sense if it really chips away at our security and, as a consequence, benefits someone else, if it helps us cultivate the style of the good Samaritan, who bent down to his brother in need...
View Article40 Days Of What? On Doing God’s Will Instead Of My Own
I slipped away recently for a women’s retreat and while in a “prayerful” state, I decided to list my Lenten resolutions, the sacrifices I would offer during the forty-seven days in the desert. While...
View ArticleDaily Catholic Quote from Pope Francis
“Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.” (Pope Francis, Homily for Ash Wednesday 2014) If you liked this quote, please share it with your friends and family using the...
View ArticleThe Man Born Blind Sees the Lion of Judah
The Lion of Judah is no tame lion. Neither is he predictable. While walking along the streets of Jerusalem one day, Jesus sees a common enough sight in the Holy City. There is a disabled person by...
View ArticleCan You Hear Him Now?
It is Lent and God is continuing to call us closer to Him. But are we listening? That’s what the Pope wants to know. He raised the question more than once over the weekend. First, at his weekly...
View ArticleFor the Love of Lazarus
The gospel story of the raising of Lazarus found in John 11 shows us why Jesus can love some friends and disciples more than others, why death is not natural and beautiful, the difference between...
View ArticleBaptism by the Fires of Temptation
The Exodus Prefigures the Spiritual Journey of Christians During Lent God’s Chosen people remained in Egyptian captivity for 400 years and with hardened hearts and withering minds due to drudgery, they...
View ArticleHumility Triumphs
When a conquering hero of the ancient world rode into town in triumph, it was in a regal chariot or on the back of a stately stallion. Legions of soldiers accompanied him in the victory procession....
View ArticleDaily Catholic Quote from Pope Francis
“In the face of so many wounds that hurt us and could lead to a hardness of heart, we are called to dive into the sea of prayer, which is the sea of the boundless love of God, in order to experience...
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