Posts by Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider

During this late Easter Season we hear in the readings “Remain in Me.”  The Risen Lord has appeared several times. Word is out that Jesus is truly alive. The time is ripe to tell the whole world. Mission trips have begun. “Let’s go!” So boats set sail, converts are brought to Christ in distant cities,…

John’s Gospel states: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” A disciple is one who learns from his master, who imitates the master, and measures progress in the comparison. Others will know we are Christians by seeing in us the characteristics of Jesus Christ.…

When I look at my feet, I think of my dad. He had long, thin toes. Mine are the same. You know the rhyme: “I’m a poet, and you should know it. My toes show it. They’re Longfellows.” My dad died nearly 20 years ago on May 14, an easy date to remember because it’s…

Our hearts are disturbed by all the displaced persons in our world—those who have fled Ukraine, persons crossing rivers and seas to reach a shore in hope of freedom and safety, people in our town whose homes have burned. We are empathetic, yet many of us cannot remember what it’s like, for we have never…

Yes, my spell check is working. This is a made-up word, obviously based on the word “family.” The suffix -ing shows action, effort, intent, planning. “Familing” is keeping one’s parents and siblings and in-laws connected. Sometimes it means getting everyone in the same place. Or maybe it’s a text or phone call to individual members.…

In the ancient Church among the earliest community of Christians there was a man named Joseph, also named by the Apostles, Barnabas meaning “son of encouragement.” The reason for the change in name is not given, but I wonder whether Barnabas’ willingness to sell a “piece of property” and put the money “at the feet…

According to Chiara Lubich, Jesus had one ideal: “May they all be one.” This was God’s ideal at creation. This was the purpose of the Incarnation. This was the message of Jesus’ life, his last words at the Last Supper. As followers of Jesus, this must be our one and only ideal: unity. How will…

The Sacred Triduum is the most sacred time of the year. We do much more than remember past events: Last Supper, crucifixion, resurrection. We celebrate the Paschal Mystery. Jesus Christ died and rose, and so do we. We remember the past events so that we can better be the Christ today. We receive the Eucharist…

More than at any other time of the year, the liturgies of the Sacred Triduum stimulate our senses with the potential for fully engaging us. On Holy Thursday our eyes and noses are attuned to the glistening oils carried in procession, our ears hear the ring of bells at the Glory to God, we hear…

Do you ever find yourself remembering, humming, or singing a refrain non-stop? The past few days I keep hearing “He has covered himself in glory.” It’s from Exodus 15, the responsorial psalm after the required Exodus reading from the Easter Vigil. Referring to the Israelites’ triumph over the Egyptians who drowned in the Red Sea,…