How Do We Deal With all this Anxiety?
At an R.C.I.A. meeting recently we were talking about images of God. I often use the example of speaking with someone on the phone. When you are on the phone with someone you usually have an image in your mind of who it is you are speaking with. You can envision what they look like. So, when you are praying to (talking to) God, what is the image in your mind of who ...
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We all need conversion; that’s a given. Lent is given to us as a gift to ponder what conversion looks like in each of our lives, what it looks like for the Church, and what it might look like for the world. One of the most important conversions Pope Francis says the world needs is an ecological conversion. Ecological conversion is a change in how we look at, interact and behave, to care for our common home—the earth. It is ...
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For some time now, I have been fascinated that because I exist, the DNA of someone who died thousands of years ago is still floating around in my body, and therefore, in my mind, is still in some inexplicable way, alive. I am no scientist, so that may not be accurate, but, while a stickler for confirming fake and real news, I am content not to have that verified. Rev. Dr. Hugh Farquhar in his Weekly Reflection Booklet, Come and ...
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About 25 years ago, I took up the hobby of stained glass making. The first thing I attempted to make, with my new-found hobby, was the “comedy and tragedy” masks you have probably all seen. It’s a laughing face alongside a frowning face based on ancient Greek theatre. It’s called “comedy and tragedy,” but my first attempt at stained glass was so bad, I named my creation, “tragedy and more tragedy.” However, I didn’t give up. Nothing I make, in ...
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At the Sunday Mass, 6 ½ weeks ago at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, we celebrated a special ritual within the R.C.I.A. process with seven wonderful people who will be joining the Church at the upcoming Easter Vigil. Perhaps the most powerful part of this ritual came when their sponsors, with obvious gestures, made the sign of the cross over various parts of the candidates’ bodies, beginning with the head and ending the candidates’ feet. From their heads to the ...
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When Jesus commanded us, in last Sunday’s gospel, to “love our enemies,” it was probably the most challenging thing he could have said. Most days, loving my enemy takes more courage than I think I have. Today, in the gospel, he commands us to take the “log out of our own eye” before we even attempt to take the sliver out of our neighbour’s eye. Again, most days, removing the log from my own eye takes more honesty than I ...
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Church. Why bother?
Back in the 1st century when the Church was just getting going, St. Paul wrote, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you with a part to play in the whole” (1 Cor. 12:27). The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as the Church. Every part of our physical body is dependent on every other part. You are part of Christ’s body—that’s who you are. Only as ...
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Our starting point in anything, especially in life, is so important. Experts say that 80% of our personality is formed by the time we are five years old. That’s probably why therapists are so interested in our childhood or the household we grew up in. That was our starting point, and it was so formative. Coincidentally, 80% of your image of God has to do with parental imagery. If your parents were punitive, cold, distant, and just waiting for you ...
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Today’s reading and Gospel focus heavily on the theme of radical love and forgiveness, particularly the call to “love your enemies” as Jesus teaches in the Gospel reading urging us to do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who persecute us, essentially challenging us to extend mercy even to those who may not deserve it, mirroring God’s own boundless love. Jesus encourages us to give without expecting anything in return and ...
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You’ve probably heard about the “Sermon on the Mount” in the Gospel of Matthew. Well, this version is from the Gospel of Luke and doesn’t happen on a mountain. It happens after Jesus comes down the mountain and stood on a level place, a plateau perhaps. That’s the opening line of today’s gospel reading, “Jesus came down the mountain with the twelve and stood on a level place.” Luke tells us that Jesus spent the entire night on a mountain ...
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