Abraham, Model of Exceptional Faith
It’s been awhile since I’ve thought about Abraham, the great granddaddy of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. But as I prepare a talk on him, I’m renewing my acquaintance. Aspects of his life shed light on our own. If you recall, when Abraham was already 75 years old, the one and only true God told him to leave his land and relatives. Yet God didn’t reveal where he was to go. This command made no sense, but Abraham began walking. Talk about a leap of faith! (more…)
Tapping into the Active Word of God
Scripture says, “The Word of God is living and effective.” It speaks to us personally. In the terrific book The Greatest Reformer, a biography of Pope Francis, there is an incident that illustrates this. Shortly after Pope Francis was made pope, a few evangelical pastors he used to pray with in Argentina visited him. One confided that God had given him a word for the new pope. From his iPad he read from Jeremiah, chapter 1: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations . . . . See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” (more…)
Mottos and Brands as Guides for Spirituality
Company brands, or slogans, identify their purpose and are used in publicity. They become familiar to us. What fast-food restaurant’s is “I’m lovin’ it”? What insurance company assures us that we are in good hands? What drugstore is on the corner of happy and healthy? Unless you never watch television, you probably know the answers are McDonalds, Allstate, and Walgreens. On being consecrated, bishops choose a coat of arms and a motto. (more…)
Ordinary Time in the Church Year (or Extraordinary)
According to the Church calendar, this is the first week in Ordinary Time. The weeks are referred to by ordinal numbers, which is why they are called ordinary. There are 34 of them. In the usual sense of the word ordinary, these weeks are not special seasons like Advent or Easter. But is any week actually “ordinary”? Considering that out of the zillion or so planets and other things floating in the limitless universe, our little planet daily sustains our lives, I’d say that any week is extraordinary. The fact we human beings can think, create, imagine, choose, and love, unlike other creatures such as the billions of insect species, I’d call that extraordinary. (more…)
Mysterious Match: An Epiphany or What?
During my meditation time, I light a candle. One day the wick wouldn’t light. When the match burned my finger, I dropped it into the candle where it burned up, black and crisp. However, the tip flamed for the entire half hour. For about two weeks now, whenever I’ve lit that match, it burns, but the match isn’t consumed! Is this my personal burning bush or menorah that burned without oil in the Temple? Once before a strange thing happened, but it was eventually explained. From rocks I bought back from the Holy Land, water seeped out, making a puddle on my bookshelf. Frightened, I put them outside my room for the night! But then Sister Jeanmarie, a chemistry professor, explained that the rocks from the Dead Sea were loaded with chemicals that interacted with the atmosphere. Mystery solved. Does anyone know why my dead match still ignites? (more…)
