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.
Mindwalk: Latest posts and thoughts…
Is Your Glass Half Empty?… Or Half Full?
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.
“Why, God?” To “With God’s Help, Why Not?”
“ 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?”
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?