Posts by Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider

Each day is a new frontier to traverse. Each morning presents a choice to become more fully Christ in our world. What the day holds for us we do not know. Feats of courage will require feet of courage. A humdrum day also demands the courage to slog through. Morning prayer and morning walks set…

When in eternity we may learn more details of the Scripture stories. Perhaps, we may even learn a few humorous anecdotes that didn’t make the final edition of the evangelist. Have you ever imagined what has been left unwritten about the miracles or Infancy Narrative or discourse? I am imagining a different version of Pentecost.…

There is so much to contemplate in Jesus’ ascension into heaven that I am glad many dioceses have transferred this feast from Thursday to Sunday. For Teilhard de Chardin, the Ascension was the most beautiful feast of the year, because Christ’s Ascension predicted the universe returning to the Father. It anticipated the fulfillment of all…

In Charlie Mackesy’s book the Mole asks, “What’s your best discovery?” The Boy answers, “That I’m enough as I am.” Quite a huge, wise discovery for a boy! It’s taken me decades to know that I’m enough as I am, and I’m sure I haven’t achieved such self-knowledge completely. Many of us probably think that…

Continued thoughts from The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse . . . “’Doing nothing with friends is never doing nothing, is it?’ asked the Boy” in The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. Jesus said, “I call you friends.” If we were servants, we would need to be attentive to…

When the Boy in The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse written by Charlie Mackesy is asked what he wants to be when he grows up, his answer is “Kind.”  Later in the book Horse states, “Nothing beats kindness. It sits quietly beyond all things.” I thought for a while about kindness sitting…

Our religious Congregation, the Sisters of Notre Dame, was founded by Hilligonde Wolbring and Elisabeth Kühling. These two teachers needed to be formed in the vows and lifestyle of religious sisters before they could begin their own community. Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, the order founded by Saint Julie Billiart, came from Amersfoort to…

“This week we will muse on some sayings in Charlie Mackesy’s book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse.” Recently I was introduced to the book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. It took me ten minutes to read it from cover to cover, but I could…

On Thursday evenings I meet with a few adults who have lost spouses in the past months. We set aside nine consecutive weeks to come together, weeks corresponding to the nine lessons in our book The New Day Journal. Each week brings the group a bit closer together through sharing stories of loved ones, their…

If you’re looking for a parable, don’t turn to the Gospel of John. You won’t find anything about seeds and weeds, prodigal sons and pearls, yeast and nets. You won’t read that the Kingdom of God is like a vineyard. No, you will have the Vine Himself. Jesus is the vine. His Father is the…