Psalm 38 – do not punish me in your anger. So begins Psalm 38. What does this psalm have to teach us about prayer? And what does it teach us about God? Psalm 38 – For Remembrance Psalm 38 is a penitential psalm, attributed to David. The superscription for Psalm 38 is for remembrance, or […]
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On the cross, Jesus cries out the words from Psalm 22 – My God, my God. He then goes on to ask, “Why have you forsaken me?” Is it a cry of abandonment or the ultimate statement of faith? Psalm 22:1-21 In the first verses we hear the writer crying out to God in despair: […]
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People new to the Catholic faith are often fascinated by the “extraordinary” – tales of saints that lived outstanding lives, stories of miracles. They often ask about stigmata, such a tiny part of the beautiful history of the faith. But I’ve discovered a newfound appreciation for stigmata recently through the life of Francis of Assisi, […]
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We all experience sorrow and suffering in life. Many are suffering now because of losses brought on by COVID19—losses of loved ones, livelihood, way of life. Paul, in Second Corinthians 7:10-13, speaks of worldly sorrow and Godly sorrow. But what makes one sorrow Godly and the other worldly? How do you tell them apart? What […]
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I’ve been fortunate. I don’t know what it is to go hungry. Nor do I know what it is like to live in exile from all you know and love. The writer of Psalm 137 knows what it is like to live in exile. Statue of Liberty One of the myths about our current immigration […]
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Have you ever awoken from a nightmare, relieved to know it had only been a dream? You may be disoriented for a while as you adjust to reality. Imagine Mary Magdalene on Easter morning, how confused she must have been when she first saw Jesus. Was this a dream? Or was this reality and the […]
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There are days I feel like a worn-out piece of clothing, worse for wear but not ready to be thrown away just yet. Like everyone and everything on this earth, I am getting older and with that territory comes a certain amount of wear and tear. I struggle with indigestion, me, whose favorite lunch used […]
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This post was first published in July of 2014. Back then the immigration crisis involved unaccompanied children coming to our country, now we have whole families. The words remain relevant. Immigration Crisis of 2014 From blog post of 2014 – With all of the news recently about the situation of thousands of children coming to […]
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Where was God when the Twin Towers fell? When the tsunami swept away thousands of lives in Indonesia? When the woman was brutally raped and murdered? The child abused? Christians beheaded by ISIS? Where was God? Psalm 74 is a lament of the community that asks this question. Where was God when the Temple was […]
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“Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.” (1) Thus begins Psalm 73. The psalm ends with words of confident trust, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.” (26) But the path to reach this faith […]
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