Tearing the Veil before God’s Presence
A woman attending my Bible study commented that she never knew the meaning of the veil of the sanctuary being torn at the crucifixion. The next Sunday, our pastor began his homily speaking of this veil. In the Jewish temple there was a veil separating the rest of the space from the Holy of Holies, […]
Detecting Grace in Life’s Messes
I can relate to the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day because I just had an entire week of bad days! My phone was cancelled by mistake, and it took six days and talks with seven agents before it was restored. I lost the PBS station on TV (jeopardizing […]
The Art of Listening . . . to Others and God
Last week a workman was explaining a new carbon monoxide detector to me. When I said, “I don’t know where there’s another outlet,” he said, “You’re not listening. I said it doesn’t need one.” This made me wonder how many other times I wasn’t listening and what I was missing because of it. Usually when […]
The Challenge of Spontaneous Prayer
A Catholic convert from an evangelical tradition asked me this week, “Why don’t Catholics pray spontaneously?” This is a good question. My friend proposed that it was because no one taught us to offer personal prayers out loud. I wonder, though, how it happened that our Christian brothers and sisters find it so easy to […]
God Speaks Through Nature, His Creation
Now that the trees are about to burst in autumn glory, I thought the introduction to the first book I ever had published (Voices) would be appropriate. (It’s out of print now.) Here it is: Creators are mirrored in their creations, A song reflects the composer; a painter, the artist; a book the author. In […]
Short Prayers for Everyday Spirituality
When I entered the convent, a custom prompted us to think of God all day long. Every hour a bell rang over the PA, and we prayed a lengthy ” hour prayer.” This is no longer done, and it has never been done in regular homes as far as I know. Yet, we are still […]
Praying to God like a Friend
Usually when I’m on retreat as I walk around our province center property, I encounter beautiful works of creation like a blue heron or a deer resting in a field. This past week on the day of our retreat when we were to go outside and enjoy “God’s Playground,” I expected similar treats and hoped […]
God the All-Generous and Prodigal
The news last week carried the story that scientists discovered an ocean 400 miles below the earth’s surface that has about three times the amount of water as the oceans we know. Here we are combing space for a planet that has water and so can bear life, and our little Earth has a superabundance […]
The Our Father Prayer, a Privilege
Just as our first words are mama and daddy, the Our Father is one of the first prayers we learn as members of God’s family. Little children mangle it by praying “Howard be thy name” and “deliver us some e-mail.” During the liturgy a couple weeks ago, the Our Father prayer was presented to the […]
Malaysian Plane, a Double Mystery
So far no one on earth can explain what happened to the Malaysian plane that disappeared somewhere over the ocean. This horrifying occurrence may forever remain a mystery. The shocking, sudden deaths of 239 people poses a greater mystery: why would God allow this to happen? I’m writing this on the feastday of St. Julie […]
