-
Book Review: “A Time to Plant”
A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt by Kyle Kramer Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2010 I admit it. When I received a review copy of “A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt,” I cringed. A book about back-to-basics living? No, thank you. In my defense, I […]
-
Are You Set Apart?
I had the great pleasure of helping to welcome several young children into the Catholic Church today. I love attending baptisms. They are such hope-filled occasions. Each of the persons being baptized has a role to play in our Church. They were sent here by God for a particular purpose and our Church is not […]
-
Coping with the Darkness
It is that time of year again. We have turned the clocks back and returned to standard time. In my home state of Massachusetts, it now gets dark at 5 p.m. By the time of the winter solstice, it will be getting dark at 4 p.m. For those of us who suffer from seasonal affective […]
-
Hunger for the Eucharist
For as long as I have had the honor of receiving communion, the rule has been to fast for one hour before reception. The days of fasting from midnight are real to me only in light of my parents’ memories. I am thankful that the rule was changed. It was a necessity in light of […]
-
What Does it Mean to Have a Spiritual Friendship?
Our concept of “friend” has changed in recent years. With the advent of social networking, we tend to use the term much more loosely. We can count hundreds of people among our “friends.” We “friend” people we may never have had even one interaction with, and if it goes wrong, we can “defriend” them with […]
-
Being Persistent in Prayer
If we are told “No” or ignored repeatedly, most of us will eventually give up. If we are tenacious, we might try a different route to obtain what we are looking for. Otherwise, we might simply curl up in a corner and cry. The second reading and the Gospel this week both emphasize the importance […]
-
Moving Mulberry Trees
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Luke 17:5-6 Have you moved any mulberry trees lately? If you have, I’d be […]
-
Setting Realistic Goals
I am a very task oriented person. I know not everyone shares my joy in making to-do lists and then crossing things off of them once they are accomplished, but for me this is one of the simple pleasures in life. Certainly, I wish that there weren’t quite so many things on the to-do lists […]
-
A New (Old) Take on Sin
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote “We do not offend God except by doing something contrary to our own good.” I came across that quote recently and was struck by both its simplicity and its implications. One traditional act of contrition states “O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you because I dread the […]
-
Making Amends
What do you do after you say you are sorry? That is the question my parish priest posed to the children at Mass this Sunday. His point was that often saying we are sorry is not enough. We also must do something to make up for the wrong we have caused. We must do our […]