Saying “I’m Sorry”
The other day I explained to a postal clerk at the post office that a box I had mailed arrived empty. She curtly said, “There’s nothing you can do about it.” Period. Pursuing the matter, I spoke to an employee on the phone. Her first words were “I’m so sorry this happened to you.” What a difference! She couldn’t help me much either, but her sympathetic apology made me feel better! Words are powerful. For good reason our parents taught us to say “I’m sorry” as well as “Please” and “Thank you.” (more…)
Musings on Sunflowers as Symbols
This past weekend I was in Kansas to speak at a catechetical conference. I felt right at home because the state flower of Kansas is the sunflower. This bright, yellow flower is special to my Notre Dame community, thanks to our spiritual mother, St. Julie Billiart. She encouraged us to be like the sunflower. It always faces the sun, turning to follow the sun’s journey from east to west during the day. This flower seems to know that the sun is its source of life. St. Julie said that we should keep our eyes on God the same way. (more…)
Communion of Saints at Mass
In preparing to give a workshop on the liturgy, I was struck by a truth that seldom comes to mind: As we praise and thank God at Mass, all of the angels and saints are with us. This includes all of our loved ones who have “crossed over” and are now with God. They are all present but in another dimension, worshiping God right along with us: St. Francis, Mary Magdalen, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Michael the Archangel, our grandparents, and deceased friends. Actually, it’s not so much that these holy ones join in our liturgy as that we join in theirs. (more…)
Cherishing and Relishing Life
As a significant birthday approaches, I find myself paying more attention to things I can enjoy because I’m alive. The other morning on my way to 6:45 a.m. Mass the sunrise was extraordinarily spectacular: a shining ball of red-orange and wisps of pink-tinged clouds. After Mass a tall dad came into church towing a four-year-old on either side of him. The girl with blond ringlets and blue eyes stretched out her hand to get the priest’s attention and say hi. Later in the parking lot the barefoot children ran and leaped. The dad explained, “We came to visit Jesus before we go to P-L-A-Y.” The charming sight of those two children stayed with me. (more…)
The Jesus Prayer: A Means to Encounter God
On retreat I found myself praying the Jesus Prayer as I crocheted a baby blanket. The words fell in sync with my stitches: “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” We inherited this prayer from the desert fathers of the fourth or fifth century. People today still treasure it as a way to focus on Jesus and realize that he is alive and present. The words are Scripture based. They echo the repeated pleas of Bartimaeus: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47) and the prayer of the publican in Jesus’s parable: “Have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). (more…)
