Franz Joseph Haydn wrote: “When I think of God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes leap and dance as they leave my pen: and since God has given me a cheerful heart, I serve him with a cheerful spirit.” Apparently the thought of God created spontaneous

In Isaiah 55 we read “For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song.” Long before The Sound of Music, Isaiah knew “the hills are alive with the sound of music.” Going for a long

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,

The catechumens are now approaching the third phase that begins with the Rite of Election on the First Sunday of Lent (February 13-14). After their names are enrolled during this ceremony, they will be called the Elect, and they have every right of the Catholic Church, such as a Catholic

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

St. Francis de Sales wrote: “Lent is the autumn of the spiritual life when we pick the fruit and gather it for the whole year.” Really? Autumn? Isn’t Lent the springtime of the Church Year? (This year’s early Ash Wednesday even makes Lent more like mid-winter.) Well, let’s humor St.

Although my eyes are nondescript, my driver’s license claims they’re “blue.” Actually the color could be a blob of green, brown, and blue paint. The license is just a guess. Other parts of me are quite descriptive. My fingers are short and stolid—nothing to look at but great for playing

Some words or phrases are just plain fun to say. They delight the mouth and please the ear. At times the consonants and vowels shape the facial muscles into a friendly mien. For a pleasant countenance, try these words: delightful, supreme, ebony, alleluia. Here are some fun words to say

Christ is the union of all created reality in the love of God. Everything in the universe streams toward Christ to find completion. One day all creation will become the Body of Christ, God’s Body. I imagine that on that day the sounds of laughter will reverberate throughout the universe.

In the sixth century Irish missionaries used Advent as a time to emphasize the last judgment. Thus Advent became a penitential season with fasting, prayer, and purple vestments—in other words, another Lent. In Rome in that same century, under Pope Gregory the Great, Advent focused on the Incarnation during the