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 […]
Rainbows and Sand Gifts
Driving home from our BBQ, I saw a spectacular double rainbow shining against dark purple clouds. It ended in front of me on Green Road with the brightest, most vivid display of light I’ve ever seen. Once again, I wished I had my camera in the car! How good it is to be alive and […]
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 […]
A Trick for Praying Psalms
Praying the psalms in the Divine Office every day, I found that often my eyes glide over the lines but the words don’t register. When I close the book, I wonder if I said anything to God! Lately I’ve been applying a tip St. Ignatius gave for praying the Gospels: use your imagination. Call on […]
