Category Archives: Musings

Who knows where the love of God goes?

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Some forty-six years ago in November 1975 an intense low pressure system crossed the Great Lakes, with winds gusting to well above hurricane force, and waves the size of mountains. The forecast had been for clear sailing. Over 200 mariners were lost that day. Among the lost souls that day were the captain and crew of the large iron ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald.

Storms and loss of lives are part of life on the Lakes. This event was made famous by Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” For me, one verse stands out: “Who knows where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours.” Continue reading →

St. John Neuman

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When asked how they could possibly feed so many people, Jesus said to disciples “in reply, ‘Give them some food yourselves.’”

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of St. John Neumann, Bishop of Philadelphia and the first male US citizen canonized. Neumann began life in Bohemia. He was a good son and excellent student. He entered the seminary in 1831 for his local diocese. But in his second year he was enthralled with the call for priests to serve in the United States – especially among the German-speaking peoples. Continue reading →

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

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“…the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.”

Today the Church in the United States celebrates St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born American to be named a saint. Born in 1774 she was born into privilege among the prominent people of New York City. She was not born into a Catholic family, but was raised in a dedicated Episcopal family. The practice of the faith was sustaining for her family and Elizabeth. Which was good, as her story is one of a slow unraveling of privilege, security, and family. Her mother died when Elizabeth was three years old. Her father remarried and her new stepmother introduced Elizabeth into social outreach to the poor and sick as a ministry of the church. But that marriage eventually failed. The stepmother left with her own children as Elizabeth’s father moved to London for further medical studies. Elizabeth entered a time of great darkness in her life, grieving the loss of father and a second mother.

“…the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.” Continue reading →

When the carols are stilled

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In today’s gospel, Jesus shows compassion for the multitude in the desert likening them to sheep without a shepherd – and He began to teach them many things. There are many lessons to be learned but perhaps the first lesson is compassion. The last two years have been years in which one only needs to look around and in the midst of political division, acrimony, and worse there are stories of great compassion. Stories which remind me of this first lesson.

As the Christmas season winds down, I am reminded of a poem by the theologian Howard Thurman:

When the carols have been stilled,
When the star-topped tree is taken down,
When family and friends are gone home,
When we are back to our schedules
The work of Christmas begins:
To welcome the refugee,
To heal a broken planet,
To feed the hungry,
To build bridges of trust, not walls of fear,
To share our gifts,
To seek justice and peace for all people,
To bring Christ’s light to the world

When the Song of the Angels is Stilled

I wish it were that easy….

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In today’s first reading we have: “Beloved: We receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.  And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.” I am not perfect, but mostly have “part one” in hand… it’s part two. I wish it were that easy. Continue reading →

reSOULutions

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If you search the internet for 2022 resolutions you will receive about 6 billion results. Granted there are ways in which one’s list can make it to the top of the list, nonetheless, it was interesting to see the source of some of the top returns: Good Housekeeping, Wall Street Journal, CNN/Dr Sanjay Gupta, NY Times, FoxNews, The Pioneer Woman and lots of other lesser known sources. Some were serious, others were tongue-in-cheek (“I am going to stop getting into arguments with the neighborhood dogs. It’s unproductive, and I don’t understand what the dogs are saying half of the time”) – good advice nonetheless. Continue reading →

Creatures of Habit

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One of the podcasts I listen to regularly is “Hidden Brain” hosted by Shankar Vendatam. It is a podcast that “explores the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior and questions that lie at the heart of our complex and changing world.” The December 27th podcast is called “Creatures of Habit.” I listened to it again today. It’s premise is “At the beginning of the year, many of us make resolutions for the months to come. We resolve to work out more, to procrastinate less, or to save more money. Though some people stick with these aspirations, many of us fall short. This week, we revisit our 2019 conversation with psychologist Wendy Wood, who shares what researchers have found about how to build good habits — and break bad ones.” I think it fits well with my earlier post “Resolutions and Habits.” Enjoy

The Prologue

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Today’s gospel is the Prologue from the Gospel of John (1:1-18). The words are familiar and are the gospel for Christmas Mass during the Day. When musing about what to write, I kept coming back to opening lines of books or first chapters that made me want to read the rest. For me the most memorable comes from Norman Maclean and his masterpiece  A River Runs Through It:  Continue reading →

What we thought we knew

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Cue the music marking the entry of Indiana Jones on horseback (replete with leather jacket, hat tilted at a rakish angle, whip at the ready) accompanied by skilled Bedouin horsemen all at a mad-dash gallop – and all we need is an amazing backdrop. The Nabatean world historical site at Petra, Jordan was happy to supply the setting for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Part of my summer pilgrimage was a two-day excursion into Jordan visiting the place of Jesus’ baptism, Mt. Nebo, where Moses overlooked the Jordan River into the Promised Land; and Petra. Petra is an amazing place for which my photographs do not do justice. But other than “how I spent my summer vacation,” why would I bring it up in this column? Continue reading →