Today, the common question in spiritual circles is not, “What is your church or your religion?” but, “what is your practice?” What is your practice? What is your particular explicit prayer practice? Is it Christian? Buddhist? Islamic? Secular? Do you meditate? Do you do centring prayer? Do you practice Mindfulness? For how long do you…
When I was a child, New Year’s Day was very special. Our family always had a big celebration, complete with a number of rituals. The rituals began already on New Year’s Eve. We didn’t go out that evening, but stayed in and celebrated together as a family. Everyone stayed up until midnight and, just before…
What does Christmas mean? Christmas is like a perfectly-cut diamond twirling in the sun, giving off an array of sparkles. Here are just some of its meanings: A four-year-old child woke up one night frightened, convinced that there were all kinds of spooks and monsters in her room. In terror she fled to her parents’…
Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s a pious axiom that doesn’t always hold up. Sometimes the bad time comes and we don’t learn anything. Hopefully this present bad time, Covid-19, will teach us something and make us stronger. My hope is that Covid-19 will teach us something that previous generations didn’t need to…
When I was a young boy growing up in a Catholic community, the catechesis of the time tried to inspire the hearts of the young with stories of martyrs, saints, and other people who lived out high ideals in terms of virtue and faith. I remember one story in particular that caught my imagination and…
Nearly 50 years ago Henri Nouwen wrote a book entitled, The Wounded Healer. Its reception established his reputation as unique spiritual mentor and he went on to become one of the most influential spiritual writers of the past half-century. What made his writings so powerful? His brilliance? His gift for expression? He was gifted, yes,…
Maturity has various levels. Basic maturity is defined as having essentially outgrown the instinctual selfishness with which we were born so that our motivation and actions are now shaped by the needs of others and not just by our own needs. That’s the basic minimum, the low bar for maturity. After that there are degrees…
Does the Earth feel pain? Can it groan and cry out to God? Can the earth curse us for our crimes? It would seem so, and not just because ecologists, moralists, and Pope Francis are saying so. Scripture itself seems to say so. There are some very revealing lines in the exchange between Cain and…
God is erotically charged and the world is achingly amorous, hence they caress each other in mutual attraction and filiation. So, in reality, the law of gravity and the gifts of the Holy Spirit have one and the same aim” Jewish philosopher Martin Buber made that assertion, and while it seems to perfectly echo the…
In his book The Second Mountain, David Brooks suggests that a key to sustaining fidelity in any vocation is to build a structure of behavior for those moments when love falters. He’s right. Anybody who has made a commitment to be faithful for the long haul inside a marriage, a friendship, a faith community or…