Year: 2023

How What I Dreaded Became a Source of Life

It was a moment I think most of us dreaded. In the later stages of formation some 60 years ago I remember hearing the words “Mr. Freund please”. The words came from the Superior’s bench in both the Novitiate and the Major Seminary. Whoever was called had to...

Thanksgiving

Beth Nicol here filling in for Fr. John who is taking a brief Thanksgiving break with plans to return to Mindwalk next week. During his small break, I offer the following reflection: On Thanksgiving Day 2008 I opened my email to find a note from my husband’s youngest...

Will You Be Traveling For the Holidays?

For many of my years, “Home for the Holidays” was in the back of most people’s minds come Thanksgiving and Christmas. For younger generations, it meant a trip to ancestral homes. It could be Mom and Dad’s House, while for others, Grandma and Grandpa’s. For older...

Have Catholics Seen Such Polarization Before?

There is so much polarization in our world today. And it is not just political.

Polarization is on full display at all levels of the Church today… hierarchy, clergy, laity, vowed religious.

Is this the first time in history that the Church has been so divided?

Certainly not!

Changing Our Clocks, Fast-forwards and Do-overs

Fall behind – spring ahead!

What if we could “replay” what we lost in our lives. Of course, we don’t get to replay the hours we lost.

Nor do we get to skip ahead and see our futures as we change clocks.

Can changing of clocks as a metaphor for our lives?

What’s Your Way of Handling Conflict?

A simple fact of life. We don’t always agree… especially on things that are important to us.

A painful fact of life. Disagreements and conflicts can get out of hand.

But, there is another fact of life.

We can and should learn from disagreements.

Unfinished Family Business?

Have you had someone close to you die with whom you had unfinished business?
We are left saying: “If only there were another chance!”
Well there is!

How Are You At Predictions?

A stopped clock is right at least twice a day.
I hope my track record for predictions is a bit better than that.

Here I revisit 3 predictions I made some two years ago.

Serving Others In a Digital World

RIp van Winkle slept though the American Revolution. Are members of the Vincentian Family aware of a new form of poverty – access to a digital world? What must be done?

NATO As No Action – Talk Only

In this Mindwalk, I explore an alternate meaning of the acronym NATO
It involves the story of a pivotal moment in the life of Frederick Ozanam. He was inspired to move from talk to action.

What was your mother’s special recipe?

Mothers often seem to have what seems like a secret recipe or ingredient for preparing a meal.

I wonder whether Vincent had some secret recipe that would account for the momentous changes he brought to the Church and society in 17th-century France.
I suggest it was his ability to imagine and support lay ministry, especially for women.

If Jesus’ Mother Had a Scrapbook

Mothers keep memories! Often in a scrapbook.
What if the mother of Jesus kept a scrapbook? It would be filled with what kept in her heart.
Might the mysteries of the Rosary be a peek at her memories of Jesus?

Is it Time for the “Brocolli” Approach?

Many generations of mothers have cajoled their children with “Try it. You’ll like it!” (It seems they all went to the same “Mommy” school.)

A famous layman, of the last century, Chesterton, used it in a different sense. ”The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

I wonder if maybe we should use the “try it, you’ll like it” approach to synodality.

Missing the Point!

Been in a conversation where someone missed your point? I certainly have.  Also, more times than I care to admit, I have been the one who missed the point.

Unfortunately, the more the conversation touches our lives the more heated the conversation becomes… especially when come to what it means to be followers of Christ

Can You Imagine That!

On this feast of Vincent De Paul, we can be thankful Vincent never stopped dreaming… and working1

St. VIncent imagined a world very different from the world he lived in.
He imagined a world that could be … and asked what can I do.

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