Today’s reading from the prophet Jeremiah was one of those “dessert” prayers that Sister Valerie blogged about a few weeks ago. I am a potter — of sorts. Better said, I like to mess around with clay! I seem to fade into the background; time falls away. Thoughts and distractions

July 31 celebrates the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Today I’ve been mindful of this dear man of God who made it his quest to give God all the glory and to find God everywhere. Fast forward several centuries and there are tens of thousands of men and women

I still had visions of yesterday’s eXclaim gathering in my head as I woke up this morning. What a wonderful experience of Church! It was a great opportunity to connect with so many people and to enjoy a day of fellowship. I was especially touched at last night’s liturgy when

A mother in today’s Gospel for the feast of St. James asks Jesus to let her two sons, James and John, sit by his side in the Kingdom. Jesus responds with a question to the two sons: “Can you drink the cup that I am to drink?” We can imagine

“Ugh! Another bad hair day!” was my thought as I looked into the mirror. Then I tossed back my unmanageable locks and said to myself, “Well, certainly you can find something good in the mirror.” What if I would write along the perimeter of my mirror, “Looking like Christ”? Or

The following conversation was part of our migrant ministry this past week: Tutor: What is this vocabulary word? Student: Bless. Tutor: And what does “bless” mean? Student: It’s when someone puts God in your heart. What wisdom we can glean from children! Who has blessed you recently? How will you

The Son (Sun) of God shines upon us and through us. The evidence that God is shining upon us is our shadow. We would have no shadow without God’s radiating benevolence. “Shadow” is not used here as a Jungian term, the repressed side of us. No, “shadow” is the residue

I’m never so full that I can’t enjoy blueberry pie, coconut candy, lemon meringue, berries and ice cream, or anything else that’s sweet. While some have a sweet tooth, I boast a whole mouthful of sweet teeth. There’s always room for dessert. In my life of prayer, too, I long

This morning at Mass, I had one of those “These Scripture readings were chosen just for me” moments. The Gospel from Matthew reminds us: “Do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because

Today we celebrate St. Benedict. He reformed the way monks–and we–pray the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office). He chose the “Lite Psalter” method of fewer psalms and shorter hours (prayers prayed periodically throughout the day). Before his reform some monks would claim “One for the strong!” meaning they would