So that is my purpose. To know, love, and serve God as Mom. So, when I was lying in bed and I heard Lilly crying at 2 AM I didn’t just hear Lilly crying, I heard God crying asking me to love him and to serve him.
Month: December 2020
Focus On the “What” or the “Why”?
The heart of every gift is in the relationship. The lesson to be learned is that gifts, even unappreciated ones, are signs of love rather than the magical fulfillment of wishes. Sometimes the two overlap but sometimes they don’t.
December 21 As a “Mood-changer”
Whether great or small, events have a way of shaping our moods. But ultimately, it is what we are aware of and focus on that shapes our moods. Let’s focus on the big picture … even in our doubts and confusion.
Pope Francis’ Personal Covid-like Moments
“I’ve experienced three ‘Covids’ in my own life: my illness, Germany, and Córdoba. … In every personal “Covid,” so to speak, in every “stoppage,” what is revealed is what needs to change.”
Family Historians
Keepers of memories! Almost every family has one. You know… the person who remembers the family history, the stories of Uncle… and Aunt…, the in-laws and the outlaws. St. Matthew was trying to get his Jewish audience to think about the very unlikely people who played a part in salvation history.
We Don’t Listen To Secular Prophets Either
Israel’s prophets talked, but their audiences didn’t listen. Little has changed in 3,000 years. Given how little the Israelites listened to their prophets, what are we to think of the prophetic dimensions of Vincentian ministry today?
Don’t Mess With My Nativity Scene!
Don’t mess with my nativity scene… at least as I rrmember it. Yet Pope Francis reminds us that such “additions show that in the new world inaugurated by Jesus there is room for whatever is truly human and for all God’s creatures”.
Will you give birth to Christ today?
Have you ever thought of how the many dimensions of Mary bringing Christ to the world serve as a pattern for how we are called to birth Christ in our world?
Did the Mother of God Speak Spanish?
The mother of Jesus speaks the universal language of mothers or “mother tongue”. In each apparition, she speaks the motherly language of comfort, advice, warning or encouragement.
Each Approach Is Necessary
An image each Vincentian should consider! It is a simple image of people imperiled by a river flooding out of control. Read on to learn how a Franciscan uses that image to explore various approaches to saving people.
Scream!
We can relate to “the Scream”. The cross has transformed the scream. What is the way of the cross?
You Are Pregnant!
We have thought about Mary’s reaction when she heard that she would be pregnant. Have you ever wondered what Mary’s mother Ann thought when she was pregnant with Mary?
Cost of Preferential Option for the Poor
Forty years ago, four women gave their lives as part of their preferential option for the poor. Read their own words. It should take just about 40 seconds.
The Challenges of Celebrating an Expanding Family
Over more than 80 years my concept of family has continually expanded and challenges me. I am finally beginning to realize we are all family, God’s family, each and every one of us. And we are called to celebrate who we are.
Rom 16, 13 reads: "Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; and greet his mother—a mother to me also." If this…
Have a blessed Holy Week!
I have never thought about the people that were named in the Gospels. I would agree that they may be…
Generally, I love the laconic nature of Mark's Gospel. The Passion narrative is very compelling in its starkness, with one…
Father John, Blessings to you as you step cautiously down that new path. Grace and Peace be with you!