Three Words: Joy, Cross and Youth – Palm Sunday Homily by Pope Francis
Here is Pope Francis’ homily from earlier today. “A Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement!”
Category: Spirituality
We Must Not Be Afraid of Tenderness – Pope Francis’ Inauguration
A few moments and words from Pope Francis’ Mass of Inauguration earlier today: Pope Francis Descends Popemobile to Bless Disabled Man Before Mass Begins Pope Francis – Homily at Mass of Inauguration Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death...
Les Misérables and the Transfiguration: Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent
The Academy Awards are this weekend, and normally they don’t hold much interest for me, but this year I’m pleased to say that one of my old friends is nominated for a major award. I’ve been teaching the novel Les Misérables for almost twenty years and it has become a steady companion to me each Lent as the eighth graders and I read it at this time every year. The latest movie of the novel is a film version of the Broadway musical starring Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway,...
Like a Child Crying Tearfully for Its Mother: St. John Chrysostom on Prayer
This morning’s second reading from the Office of Readings is a beautiful meditation on prayer by St. John Chrysostom. It’s easy to forget that prayer is an orientation of the heart more than a specific act in time, but St. John reminds us that authentic prayer colors every moment of every day: Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good: it is a partnership and union with God. As the eyes of the body are enlightened when they see light, so our spirit, when it is intent...
How Is the Music of Les Misérables Like Liturgy?
That’s the question that Jeffrey Tucker looks at in an article at The Chant Café. The score is unusually text driven, just like liturgy. The singers in the film were chosen not for their singing ability but for their acting — which makes the singing more authentic in some way. Their voices were not ruined by too much training and affectation. They seemed authentic because of this — again, a point that is replicated in a liturgical context. I highly recommend that every priest and singer needs to see...
Ordination Day Prayer
Lovely God, All that I know of service I learned From your true servants in my life: A mom who always puts her family first; A dad who sacrifices his life for his children’s; Siblings who celebrate life in the midst of suffering; A wife who tirelessly gives flesh and bone daily; Children who trust that we know what we’re doing; Friends who keep in touch over years and miles; Colleagues in education who work to build your kingdom; Students who leap to volunteer at a moment’s notice....
A Playlist of Achingly Beautiful Music
Since I recently finished John O’Donohue’s book Beauty: The Invisible Embrace, I’ve been trying to actively bring more beauty into my life, and to recognize the beauty that already surrounds me. The first place I went to was my digital music collection, where I tried to put together a playlist of beautiful music. As I scanned through my collection looking for songs and pieces of music to include in the list, I was struck by how many of them dealt with sadness or longing. Songs like: “Everybody Hurts”...
Beauty and Liturgy
When was the last time you went to Mass in order to experience beauty? In his book Beauty: The Invisible Embrace, John O’Donohue explains the connection between beauty and liturgy: …whenever we awaken beauty, we are helping to make God present in the world. Consequently the rituals and liturgy of religion can be occasions where beauty truly comes alive….Thomas Aquinas and and the medieval thinkers wisely recognized that beauty was at the heart of reality; it was where truth, unity, goodness and presence came together. Without beauty they...
St. Joseph: The Saint of Little Things
St. Joseph reminds us that it’s the little things that matter — doing an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wages; reading to children at bedtime; preparing dinner for the family. The quiet, hidden life of St. Joseph stands in contrast to our culture’s obsession with celebrity. Fr. Jim Martin comments on the life of this humble model of faith from his DVD Who Cares about the Saints?:
Emptiness that Haunts the Heart: A Caution for the Digital Age
Is the digital age making it more difficult for us to recognize, appreciate and encounter beauty? Traditionally, journey was a rhythm of three forces: time, self and space. Now the digital virus has truncated time and space. Marooned on each instant, we have forfeited the practice of patience, the attention to emergence and delight in the Eros of discovery. The self has become anxious for what the next instant might bring. This greed for destination obliterates the journey. The digital desire for the single instant schools the mind...
The Faith that Banishes All Fear
In today’s gospel, the disciples wake Jesus up out of fear that they will perish at sea in their little boat. After calming the wind and water, Jesus asks them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” It has been said that the most common phrase in the Bible is “Be not afraid.” In today’s meditation from Give Us This Day, Charles de Foucauld reminds us why: Complete freedom from fear is one of those things we owe wholly to Our Lord. To be afraid...
Open the Door and Let the Spirit Get to Work
Deacon Greg Kandra has a seemingly endless supply of inspiring, funny, and/or deeply spiritual videos to post on his blog The Deacon’s Bench. Here’s one he posted yesterday about a parish that’s using its prime location to great effect in evangelizing: Sometimes it’s that simple. God doesn’t need much from us–just a little–and once we’ve opened the door, the Spirit gets to work. Read the rest of the story at The Deacon’s Bench to find out what St. John’s is doing over Superbowl weekend.
