Tapping into the Active Word of God
Scripture says, “The Word of God is living and effective.” It speaks to us personally. In the terrific book The Greatest Reformer, a biography of Pope Francis, there is an incident that illustrates this. Shortly after Pope Francis was made pope, a few evangelical pastors he used to pray with in Argentina visited him. One […]
Memorization for Knowledge and Prayer
What do you have committed to memory? Probably the ABCs, the multiplication tables, and at least a few of your passwords. Nowadays, when we can always consult the Internet for information, memorizing is sometimes viewed as outdated. Yet, our power to remember things is a boon. When I was a child, for each piano lesson […]
Birthday Gift Via the Bible
We believe that God communicates with us through Sacred Scripture. His word, which is living and effective, can speak to us personally in many ways. When I was in the novitiate, one day the novice director explained that the Scripture readings for the Eucharist on our birthday contain a special message for us from God. […]
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 […]
A Personal Bible Verse
One day our novice director told us that the Scripture readings for the Mass on our birthday hold a gift for us: a special message from God. My heart sank. My birthday is the feast of St. Martha, so I assumed that each year God would scold, “Stop working so hard, Kathleen, and pay more […]
The Bible by Heart
Did you ever hear a reader proclaim Scripture by heart? Or an actor present a whole Gospel? We may not be capable of such a feat, but we can always memorize a Scripture verse or two. Janaan Manternach calls this “banking prayers.” The verses will surface when we need them. For example, St. Teresa of […]
The Bible: God’s Living Word
As a result of working on the only complete Bible for children (St. Mary’s Press), I’ll be speaking on Scripture in Chicago this year. Some thoughts . . . What is the Bible? The Word of God in the words of human beings. In Genesis, God said, “Let it be,” and the entire universe came […]
Psalms: Prayers from God
Did you know that we pray to St. Anthony for lost articles because he once lost his Psalter and it was returned? At every Mass we pray a psalm. Why do we Christians pray these Jewish prayers? For three reasons: 1. They are in the Bible, which means God gave them to us. 2. Jesus […]
Jesus Is the Center
Blaise Pascal wrote, “Jesus is the center of everything and the object of everything.” In my research for talks on evangelization, I learned that most people who trade the Catholic Church for a Pentecostal or Evangelical church claim that it is because they are looking for a personal relationship with Jesus. This is mind-boggling because […]
