Banishing Fear, Worry, Anxiety, Dread
Years ago when I had just moved in to begin a week-long retreat, a remarkable thing happened. A hot air balloon landed in the field across the way. We retreatants ran outside to watch, and a woman in the balloon called, “C’mon, Sisters! Who wants a ride?” I wanted to accept the extraordinary invitation, but I didn’t. Why? Not for fear of the balloon (well, maybe a little), but for fear of what others would think! How often we miss out on opportunities because fear paralyzes us. (more…)
A Host of Angels
Recently a nineteen-year-old girl was trapped in her car after an accident. While rescue workers worked to free her, she asked them to pray out loud with her. A man appeared who prayed with her and anointed her with oil. Then the mystery man disappeared. The media was hot with reports suggesting that he was an angel. He turned out to be priest. This incident reveals how deeply angels are embedded in our culture. We like to believe in a supernatural world peopled with powerful beings who look out for us. The Catholic Church teaches that angels are a truth of faith, supported by Scripture and tradition. Here are ten things I learned about angels while doing research for my next book. (more…)
Why Catholics Pray the Rosary
Where did the rosary come from? It’s not in the Bible. St. Paul tells us to sing hymns and offer prayers for leaders, but says nothing about praying these prayer beads. According to a legend, the rosary began when the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Dominic in the fifteenth century and gave him a rosary to pray. This isn’t true. This legend arose because the Dominicans promoted praying the rosary. So how did the rosary originate? Long ago it was the custom to pray the 150 psalms. But illiterate people prayed 150 Our Fathers instead on beads called the paternoster (Latin for “our Father”). Lady Godiva bequeathed her paternoster made of gems to a monastery. (more…)
Our Awesome God and Space Travel
NASA announced that after 36 years (!) the spacecraft Voyager has left our solar system and entered interstellar space. It is now 12 billion (!) miles from the sun. Isn’t that incredible? Our universe so so vast and mysterious—a good metaphor for God. Here we are, attempting to plumb its secrets, yearning to know more about it. I recall that a teacher once asked, “What’s at the end of the universe?” Now that is a mind-boggling question. We usually don’t think about space and what it contains until we venture out to view a meteor shower or a harvest moon like the one last week. Or until an asteroid is approaching for a close encounter! Usually we are like fish in a bowl, who are busy swimming in circles in their own little world, oblivious to the immense world around them. (more…)
The Power of Peer Pressure
The other day at Mass a woman in the front pew stood at the wrong time. The two women next to her joined her. Soon everyone in the church was standing. I stood too, even though I knew it was a mistake! I could hear my mother’s words echoing in my head, “If everyone jumps in Lake Erie, are you going to jump too?” We humans are so closely bound that we exert a powerful influence on one another. If a group of people are standing together and one person folds his or her arms, soon the others do too. Our emotions are also contagious. Someone in a good mood puts others in a good mood. Likewise a gloomy person soon soon has others downcast. There must be some stray lemming cells in us! (more…)
