Catholic saints are a weird lot. Through no obvious power of their own they do great things. Today is the Feast day of a Canadian Saint - Kateri Tekawitha. She is the first Native American woman to be canonized and is often called the Lilly of the Mohawks....
When St. Ignatius invites us to pray with the Resurrection of the Lord, he invites us to consider the office of consoler that Christ our Lord exercises, and compare it with the way in which friends are wont to console each other." The office of consoler! I've always liked that phrase. It sums up so much about the ways in which we could be so present to one another, if we shared our own consolation with those around us."...
As we begin the Holy Week Triduum - Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday - Greg Kennedy, SJ, offers us this poem....
We are just nine months from Christmas! Yes, today the Church celebrates the Annunciation, the announcement of our salvation. We hear the Gospel story of the Angel Gabriel appearing to a perplexed Mary and asking her to bear a son, to be named Jesus. This fulfils the earlier prophecy of Isaiah: "The young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, for God is with us."...
On today's poetry Tuesday, Monty Williams, SJ, writes in anticipation of the Feast of the Annunciation which is celebrated tomorrow....
Which religion is the most persecuted around the world? According to the International Society for Human Rights, up to 80% of acts of persecution are directed at people of the Christian faith, even though just a third of the world's population is Christian. The Holy See reports that over 100,000 Christians are violently killed annually because of some relation to their faith. The World Evangelical Alliance estimates that over 200 million Christians are denied fundamental human rights, solely because of their faith....
On March 19, we take a pause from Lent to have a solemn celebration of Saint Joseph. The liturgy today includes the Glory to God, an additional reading, and the Profession of Faith. The presider wears white vestments. We are celebrating Joseph's faithfulness to his responsibilities as husband to Mary and foster father of Jesus. It's always good for us to hear stories of someone who is faithful....
The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent includes a verse that is arguably one of the most quoted lines from scripture: "For God so loved the world that he gave up his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." Reminders of John 3:16 appear at hockey games, football games, ads on buses and on billboards. Usually it is just presented as the phrase John 3:16. It shows up in some inconspicuous places. A popular fast-food chain in the USA prints it on the bottom rim of their paper cups. A popular clothing chain prints it on the bottom of their shopping bags....
During Lent, we often look for things we can give up. Extra snacks, sweets, and other food pleasures are popular as small sacrifices. If we make this effort without examining our soul's needs we might miss the greatest of opportunities that comes from the Lenten season....
I'm the first to confess that I am not very disciplined about taking a Sabbath day each week. I doubt that there are many of us who are so disciplined. If anything, Sunday is a day for me to catch up with projects that I hoped to get to earlier in the week. Or, scary thought, a day to do shopping errands that need attention! Most people have to acknowledge the reality that life can get full and the Sabbath – Sunday, Friday, or any other day – is a day to catch up. But is that what we really want? Couldn't we just spend the day with family and friends – inserting ourselves more fully into parish life, having a leisurely cappuccino and Danish, going for a leisurely walk, browsing a bookstore (yes, they still exist) or reading a good book!...
