Oh, for the power to change the ordinary into something extraordinary! Let me back up a bit. We are moving into what the church liturgical calendar calls "ordinary time". However, that doesn't mean ordinary as we understand ordinary. It actually means these Sundays...
“Are you the only one in the world who has not heard what is going on in (Washington?)” (Luke 24:18) People from around the world are trying to make sense of recent events. I offer some resources for reflection.
Pilate’s somewhat cynical question is among the most famous questions of history. In a somewhat prophetic message for World Communications Day 2020 Pope Francis offered what amounts to a “mindwalk” on truth
Helping another to speak what is in their heart requires listening … and connecting. St. Vincent’s canvas and oils were his gifts of helping people to see what they had not seen. With his genius for organizing he involved them in the solution.
True optimism is the ability to see the emptiness of half the glass while choosing to focus the fullness of the other half of the glass.
“ Elizabeth experienced a wide range of challenges and joys as a daughter, wife, mother, laborer, and convert to Catholicism. God’s love and the hope for eternal life gave purpose, meaning, and direction to Elizabeth’s life. She changed “Why, God?” into “With God’s help, why not?”
Parents, for the most part, “learn on the job.” What can learn about our role as church today as we celebrate the feasts of the Holy Famiily and Mary Mother of the Church as well as the upcoming “Year of Joseph”?
Jesus’ mission was all about teaching us to pay it forward. After all, God has first loved us and wants us to pass on the gift of God’s in our lives! Isn’t this what Jesus did? And it changed and is changing the world!
Let us not settle only for what is necessary. The Lord does not want us to narrow our horizons or to remain parked on the roadside of life. He wants us to race boldly and joyfully towards lofty goals.
I am wondering if I am the only one unable, and unwilling, to get Tammy’s words out of my head… and whether you will find new and perhaps visceral understanding of scripture passages read so often.
Holiness will look very different, depending on the health of the family dynamics, but regardless, all families are called to holiness.
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.
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.