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 […]
God’s Presence Everywhere All the Time
Remember the joke about the little boy who was afraid to get the broom out of the dark closet for his mom? She assured him, “Don’t be afraid. God is everywhere.” So the little boy cracked open the closet door a little and called in, “Hey, God, would you hand me the broom!” Catholic Vitamins […]
Thank God for Light!
Now that spring is approaching, the days are growing longer. Hooray! No more getting up and going to church in the dark. The Gospel of John opens by calling Jesus the light of the human race. Jesus identifies himself as the light of the world. I can see why. The other night I was driving […]
God of Surprises
Long ago a woman sent me a letter in which she shared a thought-provoking experience. She said that one day in church she was overcome with sadness and began to cry. To her distress, she discovered that she didn’t have a single tissue with her. She turned to the woman seated beside her, a stranger, […]
Nuggets in the Bible: Insights from Lectio Divina
After reading and hearing the Bible stories umpteen times, when we encounter them yet again, we might be tempted to tune out. This is foolhardy. Why? Because God speaks to us ever anew in his Word. I’ve discovered that sometimes I’ve overlooked—or been deaf to—a certain element in a biblical passage. Sometimes a homily or […]
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 […]
Standing in Love
This month we celebrate Valentine’s Day, and last Sunday we heard 1 Corinthians 13 about love. So some thoughts about love are in order. Let’s skip over sentimental and romantic love and focus on Dorothy Day’s kind. She often quoted Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov: “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to […]
God Really Does Answer Prayers
Did you ever pray incessantly for something, and it seems that God doesn’t hear you? You wonder if maybe he doesn’t like you! Jesus did encourage us to ask, to seek, to knock and our Father will give us what we ask him for. Surely Jesus wasn’t fibbing. Why then do our pleas sometimes apparently […]