“Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness: for there is no gloom where but now there was distress.” – Isaiah 9:1 Imagine you walk into a completely dark room. You turn on the light, and the darkness is gone. Where does it go? Darkness doesn’t go anywhere, because it is not a thing. Darkness is a lack of light. The darkness is dispelled by the light. Wherever the light is, darkness cannot exist. Our Sunday…
“Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.” – James 5:7 Let’s focus on patience this third week of Advent. The type of patience St. James is exhorting us to in the second reading this Sunday is patience as we wait for the second coming of Christ. This type of patience is about persevering with faith in this imperfect world. It’s the patience that allows us to suffer here on earth without…
Happy Easter! Our Lord is risen, indeed, He has truly risen! Easter is a time of newness of life. There’s a freshness in the air. A renewed energy and hopefulness. Pope Francis has declared this a Jubilee year of Hope. As Christians, nothing could bring us more hope than Jesus’s empty tomb. Take a moment and imagine if St. Mary Magdalen had found the tomb sealed with Jesus’s body remaining there. Everything would be different.…
To You, oh Lord, I lift up a songfrom a place deep dark in my soul. It sings itself, this Advent song, quiet and humble and pure. My heart opens from within;it streams out in peace.From a silent place it sings its notesof longing and stillness and grief. Grief that the world is dark at times,and for the things I’ve lost this year.Stillness and silence I yearn to hold,frenzy and noise break piece by piece.…
Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it (Mark 8:35). This Sunday’s Gospel reading is the heart of discipleship: deny yourself and lift up your crosses every single day in imitation of Jesus. To follow Jesus—to truly be His disciples, day-in…
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 This time of winter is always a little “low” for me. Can you relate? The weather is often cold and dreary, although we’ve had some really nice days lately. Illnesses, stress, and grief seem to weigh on our hearts a little harder in February. It leaves me wondering what happened to all that Christmas joy from just a few weeks ago? It seems to…
“You, Lord, are our father, our redeemer you are named forever.” – Isaiah 63:16 Happy Advent! I love this time of year, a time of quiet, watchful waiting. It’s a beautiful time to focus on and pray for God to fill us with the Advent virtues of hope, peace, joy, and love. Then when Christmas comes, we are like an overflowing reservoir that spills these fruits of the Holy Spirit out to those we encounter,…
Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope… (1 Peter 3:15) Easter is a season of joy and hope. During Lent I was focused on allowing God to bring me to healing in a couple of areas, but as Easter approached I felt Him moving me away from that work and toward joy and hope. I think He knew I needed a break from the…
Imagine walking with the two disciples on the way back home to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). It was the day of the Resurrection, a mere three days after Jesus was crucified. He had indeed risen, as He had promised, but these two disciples had already given up hope. They were downcast and they had lost hope. Notice the past tense: “But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel” (21). How strange:…
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. – Matthew 17:1-2 Our Lenten adventure includes a mountain hike this Sunday! We follow Jesus, Peter, James, and John as they climb the mountain of encounter with the Holy Trinity. A theophany is a manifestation of God, a direct…