Ordinary Time – Season of Stability Familiarity breeds contempt–maybe so. But it also breeds contentment, a sense of stability and security. In a rapidly changing world, a world threatened with violence and terrorism, it’s nice to have some things, some people, some beliefs, that you can hold on to and count on. Friends, family members, […]
Read More
Teresa of Avila, October 15 Teresa, saint, mystic, and doctor of the Catholic Church, this simple unlearned woman whom God taught to read, now is read by millions and considered learned, a doctor, by the church. An ordinary woman with ordinary failings. A passion for life and for friendships, she struggled through bouts of illness […]
Read More
Ordinary Time – Season of Stability Kids routinely test their teachers, especially middle-school aged students with new teachers. They want to see how far they can go, what they can get away with. Often they ask questions not out of genuine interest but to see if they can stump the teacher or undermine their authority. […]
Read More
Ordinary Time – Season of Stability What is ordinary anyway? Ordinary, run-of-the-mill, normal, status quo? Who determines what is status quo? He gets up every day. She goes to a job where she is surrounded by people and all of the small milestones and major and minor crisis that are part of their lives. He […]
Read More
Ordinary Time – Season of Stability I’ve always preferred leaving parties while they are still going strong rather than waiting until the last minute. That way I can leave with pleasant memories intact, wanting more rather than having had my fill. But there is something to be said about waiting until the last moment. When […]
Read More
Our Lady of the Rosary, October 7 Anxiety, creeping up on me, sneaking up till it grabs me by the throat, like a lion on the prey, swooping in to attack. Little fears and worries grow bigger in an instant. I find myself beset by worries and I don’t know what to do. So I […]
Read More
Ordinary Time – Season of Stability Fall colors everywhere, busting out in a blaze of color, one last hurrah before dropping to the ground. The white of winter has given way to the green of summer and now, the colors long hidden have finally found their chance to burst forth, rich reds and yellows, all […]
Read More
Francis of Assisi, October 4 They come bringing their animals, pets, farm animals, that they might be blessed on the feast of St. Francis, but Francis is about so much more than blessing animals. He is a saint of radical poverty, radical abandonment to God, giving all he had to the poor and sharing their […]
Read More
First there was Hurricane Harvey, leaving a path of destruction in Texas. Then Hurricane Irma in Florida, followed by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and earthquakes in Mexico. Then while driving the other morning I heard about the massive shootings in Las Vegas. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I drove. Enough already! I had […]
Read More
Feast of Guardian Angels, October 2 Angel of God, my guardian dear . . . thus begins the prayer to our guardian angels. The thought that there is an angel watching over each one of us, guiding us in right paths, is a comfort. Like Jiminy Cricket in the Disney version of Pinocchio, this angel […]
Read More
