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“Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted.” We’re about three-fourths of the way through Lent, when Lenten resolutions may be harder to keep. Today’s First Reading telling us to sing and rejoice sounds like the Exsultet…

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless” (Mother Teresa). Do you remember some kind words spoken to you years ago? Perhaps they changed your outlook and attitude, or even the direction of your life. Today is an opportunity to speak or write kind words. Will we use…

Mahatma Gandhi stated, “We must become the change we want to see in the world.” Lent and New Year’s Day are the traditional times to consider change. It’s easy to see that our world must change. We can’t continue polluting the air and water, we can’t keep killing one another, we can’t keep letting the…

Lent is three days old, and I’m already feeling weak about my Lenten resolutions. That’s no surprise, but it is surprising that the Gospel for today suggests that all that fasting and discipline aren’t always the best things. Jesus’ disciples aren’t fasting, and Jesus defends them. No one fasts or mourns at a wedding, so…

You’ve probably heard the saying “Inch by inch, life is a cinch. Yard by yard life is hard.” As I start my Lenten journey I take a deep breath and wonder how I’ll ever persevere through 40 days. But 40 days are only one day forty times; however, that still doesn’t make Lent a “cinch.”…

As we begin Lent and look for ways to improve, the first place to look is with our family. George Bernard Shaw wrote, “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” How true! Is there some tension in the family? Is there an elephant in the living room that no one wants to address? Even…

Albert Schweitzer said, “Aim for service and success will follow.” This axiom describes so many of our world’s finest citizens. Today we honor George Washington, a man in service of the ideals of freedom, unity, and democracy. Make this a day of service. Perhaps success will follow.  

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see” (Mark Twain). Perhaps your day will be brightened by receiving candy, flowers, or cards. And you may be brightening someone else’s day in the same way. The origin of today’s sweet treats and flowers lies in a generous act of kindness…

I admire Abraham Lincoln, a man with a great imagination.  At the end of the Civil War he imagined the unimaginable—bringing the South back into the United States without punishment. Lincoln also imagined a country without slavery, a country where every person had a right to vote and own land. His imagination gave him far-sighted…

This week marks the half-way point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. While many are longing for spring, I don’t mind that winter is only half over.  Winter happens to be my favorite season. I realize that’s a bit unusual, but it is. I never tire of looking at snow-covered scenes, of walking…