Category Archives: Musings

St. Mary: another look

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Today is the feast of St. Martha, a woman who listened to what Jesus said to her and corrected herself. We know St. Martha as the distracted host who complained to Jesus that no one was helping her. We met Martha just recently when she and Mary, Lazarus’ sisters, had Jesus over to dinner. Mary sat at the feet of the Lord listening to him speak, while Martha did all the work. She couldn’t help but be annoyed, and she couldn’t stop herself from complaining about it. “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do the serving?” she asks. “Tell her to help me.” Jesus’ reply is famous: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. … Mary has chosen the better part.” Continue reading →

Having a bad day

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In today’s first reading, Jeremiah is having a bad day – maybe a bad year. He is at the end of his rope in dealing with the people of Judah and Jerusalem in his role of prophet. Jeremiah was not a flash-in-the-pan prophet who showed up like Jonah in Nineveh and everything got done in one day. Jeremiah’s ministry lasted 30 years and was ultimately unsuccessful. Jerusalem did not return to the ways of the Lord and as a result God allowed Babylon to utterly destroy Jerusalem, the Temple and take the people into captivity. Continue reading →

Eternal

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Before a baby is born, they are such a wonderful mystery. Though we can get a “peek” at them through ultrasound images, hear their heartbeat with a doppler, and speculate about what they might look like by forming a composite in our imaginations of their mom and dad’s features, we can’t really know them until they are born. And even then, though we may have dreams about what they could do and who they could be, we can’t accurately predict their futures. Continue reading →

Apollo 11 and Faith

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[This is a re-post from 2019 – which seemed appropriate for today]
As you no doubt are aware, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I certainly remember where I was on July 20, 1969. Amazing does not do justice to the feeling of that moment. We had just arrived at the front door of the universe. Who knew what was to follow? Yet, it is 50 years later, and we have time, experience, and perspective. Continue reading →

To the moon

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On this day in 1969, Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on the first manned mission to the surface of the moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon’s surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later, and they spent about two and a quarter hours together exploring the site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing. Armstrong and Aldrin collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth as pilot Michael Collins flew the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit. After rejoining Columbia, they returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space.

The Feast of St. Bonaventure

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In many ways St. Bonaventure is a Saint for the times in which we live – when divisions are ripe and the unity of a nation is being sorely tested. In the years while St. Francis was alive, the Franciscan Order experienced rapid growth – which only accelerated after St. Francis’ death and canonization – each friar and local fraternity trying to discern what it meant to follow Christ in the “tradition” of Francis of Assisi. They came to several differing conclusions and the opinions were not always offered “humbly.”  Over simply, one group called for poverty to be the mainstay while another called for obedience. A third group was in the middle just wanting everyone to get along because fraternity and minority were the hallmarks of Franciscan life. The Order was beginning to come apart at the core. Continue reading →