In Praise of Life
As I grow older, I’m valuing the gift of life more and more. As Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” This echoes Psalm 90: “Our life is over like a sigh. Our span is seventy years or eighty for […]
Best Gift for Jesus
Visitors from Abu Dhabi once brought me the gift of frankincense from Yemen in a beautiful carved box. It is pictured here. Frankincense, which is the resin of a certain tree, has a strong scent that lingers on your fingers when you touch it. We’ve just the feast of the Epiphany, celebrating the visit of […]
Perfume and Anointing, Lavish Gifts
One day when I was riding a rapid transit in Arabia, I stood beside a young Muslim woman garbed in black. Her fragrance was so enticing that I asked what it was. She said it was jasmine. Perfume and cologne are a big business. We all like to smell good! Here is a chapter from […]
Foot Washing: Humble Service
This week a Sister in Africa asked for a copy of the chapter on service from my book Voices: God Speaking in Creation. I realized that the topic is appropriate for my Holy Week blog, so here it is: Towel [He] got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel […]
Religions in Search of Truth
If you’re like me, some nights before you drift off to sleep you ponder questions like is there a God, is there really an afterlife, why do we suffer, and how did creation begin. These questions have engaged and intrigued people of all times and places. Different faith traditions have wrestled with them and ventured […]
Children of the Trinity
As I reflected on Trinity Sunday, my thoughts flowed along this path: We believe that the one God is three divine Persons. We also believe that we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are God’s adopted children. It follows then, that we must bear a family resemblance. Of course, we will […]
Signs of Compassion
Recently a group of us Sisters met and talked about compassion. Using quotations about it as a springboard, we reflected on how Jesus told us to be compassionate as our Father is compassionate, how God’s amazing compassion was shown in sending Jesus and ways Jesus had compassion, and how compassion is an infinite ocean of […]
To Be or Not to Be . . . a Saint
This past week I was interviewed about saints for a podcast, so I thought I’d share some thoughts about them this week. I believe it was Leon Bloy who noted, “The only failure in life is not to be a saint.” A saint is someone who made it to heaven. Consider the alternative. Sometimes people […]
Valentines for God
Remember how we celebrated St. Valentine’s Day in grade school by passing out valentines to our classmates? In the fourth grade I was crushed when the boy I liked best did not give me a valentine. But then after school, he appeared at our house and handed me a valentine. It wasn’t one of those […]
Is Christ Your King?
We’ve just celebrated the Feast of Christ the King, the climax of the church year. My religious province in Chardon, Ohio, was named Christ the King and used to celebrate this day in grand style, complete with the majestic song “Christus Vincit” in four-part harmony. In those days the feast occurred in October when the […]
