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In the Pentecost narrative, we hear of Jesus’ post-resurrection visit to his 12 BFFs, how they were infused with the Holy Spirit, and the instructions Jesus left them (and us) for sharing the Good News with the world.  Jesus would have known his Apostles well enough to gauge their strengths and weaknesses and he would have understood how differently each of them would confront the task set out before them.  I suspect the same was true then as now:  …

In her book of essays, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, author and poet Maya Angelou wrote, “I’m always amazed when people walk up to me and say, ‘I’m a Christian.’  I think, ‘Already? You already got it?’ I’m working at it…”

Possibly the most important conversion experience I have encountered personally involved coming to the realization that becoming Christian is a life-long process and while I may experience times of growth, I will never …

In Christus vivit, Pope Francis’ response to the 2018 Youth Synod, he writes “All the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord, each in his or her own way, to that perfect holiness by which God is perfect.”

There have been times when I have willfully ignored the place to where I was called because it seemed too far out of sync with what I wanted or where I was situated at …

When preparing young people to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation we often speak to them of gifts. We speak of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and wonder & awe) as well as the Fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.)  The idea being that when we graciously receive the fits God bestows upon each of us and work at strengthening them, we are rewarded …

Have you
held a grudge against another person, place or thing, whether that grudge be
grounded in truth or grounded in gossip? Perhaps you are harbouring a grudge
right now. Are you someone who likes to grumble over, find fault with or show
dissatisfaction with?  If you are, then
you may be a grudge-holder.

My father’s mother died
in 2017 at the age of 94, and her mother died at the age of 90 in …

Do you have a favourite book you read on a regular or semi-regular basis? I do this with Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt. I will not tell you how many times I have read it, but it is many, and I have learned that with each reading, different aspects of the book stand out for me depending on what is occurring in my own little world. “How could I not have noticed that before, it’s right there!?”

In
Maya Angelou’s Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, she wrote, “Human beings are more alike than unalike, and what is true
anywhere is true everywhere…” 

This line puzzled me, and it seemed such a lofty proclamation to
make, but I eventually began to understand it as an invitation to reflect on
what I believed to be universally true. 
Humans share common truths, and what is true is true for everyone. I
guess these …

Have you ever been so caught up in your routine daily activities, or the
busyness of life that you have forgotten to drink enough water, and suddenly
you realize your throat is hot, crackling dry, and maybe slightly swollen and
not only are you are developing a headache, but start to feel surly?  You feel like you have crossed a desert. Then
you realize your body is telling you it needs hydration, so you obey and drink
the water, …

If you have had the privilege of visiting Israel, you
may have seen the Jordan River and if you did, you may have noticed that the
Jordan River is… unassuming, making it fitting that it would be the site where
Jesus approached his cousin John demanding to be baptized.  The river resembles any number of small
rivers and you might pass by without noticing it unless someone pointed it out
to you. But this is the river in which …

Resurrection. 
How often have I uttered this word without considering seriously how
this might be manifested? Am I going to be happily driving to work one day
singing along to Selena Gomez when suddenly all those who have died before me
begin to climb out of giant, fiery cracks in the earth, entirely presided over
by a Judgmental Jesus attired in the fashion of first century Palestine?  Perhaps one day God will have grown weary of
our larking and …