Back in 2008, I remember being on a retreat in the foothills of California. Before being sent off to spend 8 hours by ourselves in nature, we were given a few instructions the night before. Since this was supposed to be solitary time, we were to go far enough into the forest and mountains that we couldn’t see another person. We were to draw a circle in the dirt with the heel of our shoe or with a stick, and ...
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What Advent Offers Us
We blinked, and it happened. The year has ended, and a new one begun, because for the Church, the arrival of the season of Advent marks the beginning of the new liturgical year. The Church asks that we live Advent in anticipation of and preparation for the arrival of the Christ child, born again as the Child in the Manger, even as we know Christ is with us now, even as we continue to await Christ’s second ...
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I remember being at a talk 30 years ago, given by John Shea, who was invited to speak at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa. John Shea is a theologian from Chicago, and the best storyteller I have ever heard. One of the things he said–and for some reason I remembered it 30 years later–was, “The key to gospel spirituality is not to look at Jesus but to look with Jesus. You’ll learn very little, if anything at all, by looking ...
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