It was almost 20 years ago when I entered the small-town high school gym and found a seat with a good view. The seniors waited in cap and gown for a slightly off-key band to begin "Pomp and Circumstance." And the banner above the platform proudly proclaimed, "The question isn't are we ready for the … Continue reading Beyond the Résumé and the Eulogy: Virtue, the Little Way
"In the early days of World War II, an odd book appeared in England and America," Thomas Howard writes in his introduction to the fiction of C.S. Lewis. "It seemed to be a collection of letters from an old devil to a younger one, telling him how to handle a man who had been assigned … Continue reading Screwtape’s Diabolical Tips for Advancing in Pride: Be Smug, Superior and Politically Divisive
Poet Mary Oliver evokes the paradoxical quality of living in the "now" and the "not yet." She draws us into a humble yearning. Oliver's spot-on specificity reveals an attentive, light-but-longing heart (see Morning Glories, Beside the Waterfall, and The Hermit Crab). The poet meets us on human dignity's common ground. We listen to the heart of … Continue reading Mary Oliver’s Thirst: A Humble Heart Revealed
It was on a Holy Saturday about ten years back that I first saw an image of the "Harrowing of Hell," a depiction of Christ entering the realm of the dead and releasing the souls imprisoned there (1 Peter 3:19). We proclaim it in the Apostle's Creed: Jesus Christ "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, … Continue reading Holy Saturday: Harrowing the Hell in Our Hearts
It is Good Friday. Meditating on speech and silence in various Good Friday texts can enlighten us about our own uses of each. The choices of those present that sorrowful day may bring us to a fruitful examination of conscience, as we see: Accusation: "The chief priests accused him of many things." Truth: "I have … Continue reading Good Friday’s Speech and Silence
This evening marks a beautiful night: the night Christ gave us a new commandment: that we love one another. The night he stripped off his outer garment, knelt and washed his friends' feet, telling them they must do likewise, serving one another. The night he took bread and wine and said, "This is my body, … Continue reading “Brother”: A Song for Holy Thursday’s New Commandment
At the Passover meal before his death, Jesus said to his disciples, "One of you is going to betray me." And along with all the others, Judas said, "Surely it is not I, Lord?" My Lenten examination of speech and silence leaves me convicted, at times almost helplessly so, of the many ways I … Continue reading Judas and Isaiah: Our Betrayals and Our Hope
When I was newly married and helping put my husband through his final year of college, I worked at a drug store behind the camera counter which doubled as the return desk. It was a deep immersion into the world of complaints. One of the most memorable was a post-Christmas encounter with a man dissatisfied … Continue reading Do Everything without Complaining or Arguing
Father Cajetan Cuddy, O.P., writing in the Magnificat Lenten Reader, recalls an etiquette class he was enrolled in as a child. "One of the most memorable things I learned in the class," he writes, "was always to pay attention to the other person in a conversation. True communication is impossible if one or both conversation … Continue reading Wrenching Ourselves from Distraction to Attend to those Closest to Us
Very early in John's gospel (2:23-25), just after the wedding at Cana and the first cleansing of the temple, the text notes that "many believed in [Christ] when they saw the signs that he was doing." Those must have been exhilarating days for the disciples who first left everything they had to follow him. Numbers … Continue reading Human Praise: The Tempered View of Christ
