22 Mar

Who is the new Bishop of Rome? The camino or path he followed until now, where does it lead? One of the Jesuit broadcasters at Vatican Radio told me that, while waiting for the white smoke, he had prepared sketches or mini-biographies of the 20 Cardinals he thought most likely to be elected. But the name actually proclaimed, "Jorge Mario Bergoglio", was not among them, and like many other journalists, he found himself scrambling to discover who the 266th successor of St. Peter was, the one who began, "Fratelli e sorelle, buonasera! Brothers and sisters, good evening!"...

20 Mar

these days the soul laid open salted stretched nailed?to winter wood the wonder of it gutted wolf-mask thin disfigured breath wolf spirit?stalking its hooded kind...

19 Mar

Every three weeks or so, I drive to Abbotsford to visit my spiritual director. I enjoy getting out into the valley for a short visit. The 3-hour return trip is well worth it - at least for my soul. My director will usually leave me with a theme or scriptural passage to guide my prayer in the ensuing weeks. This last time he suggested that I focus on the theme of thanksgiving in the context of the Lucan story of the ten lepers. Ten lepers are healed by Jesus, but only one, a Samaritan, we are told, returns to Jesus to give thanks....

18 Mar

The Life of Pi – the best-selling novel by Yann Martel adapted by Ang Lee – is a compelling and beautiful film. It is a visual delight and its magnificent score is a lovely lullaby – it soothes the soul. The film portrays the story of Piscine Molitor Pi Patel, the son of an Indian zoo keeper, adrift after a shipwreck that claimed the life of his family. The incident acutely affects Pi; a teenager who has striven his whole life to understand the world around him, the emotions of those who live in it and the various beliefs that exist in that world. Pi survives the wreckage, but his life remains endangered. Not only is he adrift at sea, but also the other inhabitant of the lifeboat is a dangerous and hungry Bengal tiger – Richard Parker....

17 Mar

Francis little one the whole wide world is a little weary of big things. Teach us to take the bus to fry an egg to play the charming child before a crowd....

15 Mar

WHAT ARE WE PREPARING, IN LENT, TO RENEW? We're preparing to renew our Christian covenant, that is, to renew our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ....

14 Mar

The day we get a Jesuit Pope, hell will freeze over! So it has been said, perhaps even by me. Well, it must be awfully chilly in the netherworld today because we do indeed have a Jesuit Pope. Francis I, S.J. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? It's a good thing that I'm not a gambler, because I would waste a whole lot of money. I was so far off on this one. I didn't expect a new pope before Friday. And I was sure, when the decision came so quickly, that it would be someone from inside the Vatican. In fact, I was betting on Cardinal Scola as we raced to the Vatican for the announcement....

14 Mar

for Vespers: all these things they say foretold the air gathers up this Lenten season the tiny voices of children : a choir of Sundays unburdened by bells scattered across a cloistered sky:...

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