Church Life
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The Most Catholic Thing
Tomorrow I will embark on the most Catholic thing I’ve done to date: I will begin the 33-day preparation for a consecration to Mary on the Feast of St. Loius de Montfort. I’m looking forward to the focus and the discipline of this preparation. So many of the events swirling in the air today have reminded me of exactly why I began to be drawn to traditional Roman Catholicism some years ago, setting in motion a series of broken friendships and relationships that still grieve and perplex me to this day. *** I saw my bicyclist friend on the side of the road yesterday morning, in the rainy dark. I…
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A Gift On Saint Patrick’s Day
Daily I expect to be murdered or betrayed or reduced to slavery if the occasion arises. But I fear nothing, because of the promises of heaven. — Saint Patrick of Ireland Contemplating this quote, I thought this morning of how real St. Patrick’s expectations were. At any moment, he could have lost his life or his liberty at the hands of those among whom he lived, by those whom he served. I doubt that he would have wasted a second wondering if the village market had sufficient hand sanitizer or toilet paper, even if such things had existed. He saw the opportunity to completely expend his life for Christ as…
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The Beginning Of March
The coffee tasted especially good this morning; my wife found a new variety at a local store and it is now a favorite. I stepped outside to clip my fingernails, careful to keep the sun behind me as it slashed across the needle points and glass shards of frost on the grass. While I was about my business, I listened to the birds calling to each other across the hollers. Are the back-and-forth songs merely a “Hello! How are you this morning?” or are they a communication of important information, the inflection and tone and volume carrying nuances that only an avian heart can catch and decipher? The feeders were…
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Contemplating Foolishness
Christian history and tradition are rich with stories of the “holy fool” and the mendicant religious pilgrim. I possess neither the inclination nor the mettle to say goodbye to my wife and family and life to pursue such a course. And yet… There is a facet of my spirit’s personality, obscured usually even to myself, that is drawn to the idea of solitude and wandering and abandoning the things of this world. I have known a handful of people whose lives have been so marred by sudden and devastating tragedy that I cannot imagine how they found the grace and strength to soldier on until the end of their own…
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Prayer Request — With Update
My dear friend and spiritual adviser Father James Conner, who lives at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, advised me this morning that he has sustained an injury. He apparently blacked out for no discernible reason and struck his head, causing a gash that required 12 stitches to close. He’s now on a heart monitor for a couple of days so that the cardiologist can try to ascertain the cause of the syncope and the best course of treatment. If you pray, please intercede for Father James. He is one of the kindest, deepest men I have ever met. He is very much at peace over these events, but…
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Ash Wednesday
God has given different gifts to different people. There is no basis for feeling inferior to another who has a different gift. Once it is realized that we shall be judged by the gift we have received, rather than the gift we have not, one is completely delivered from a false sense of inferiority. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen And the season of Lent begins. May our loving Father bless all those who sincerely use this season to seek a more intimate knowledge of Him and His ways. ~ S.K. Orr
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Waiting For The Ram
I didn’t know Terry well, but what I did know of him I liked. He was gentle, good-humored, a careful listener, and had large, expressive eyes that watched the world without cynicism. I also knew that he was troubled, with a history of admissions to psychiatric wards and rehab facilities. I used to watch him and wonder how one so young could be so weary. Terry always seemed to be fighting to suppress a wince, as if his interior bruises were being palpated by an unseen and uncaring hand. And so while I was dismayed, I was not very surprised when I learned of his death by suicide. The day…
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The Epi-Tome of Coziness
Full disclosure here — the photo above was taken almost five years ago…we have no snow on the ground here today. I use it here because when I stepped outside this morning, the weeping willow — larger now — was festooned with cardinals just like in this photo. I didn’t have my phone with me, so I have no photo, and it wouldn’t have been as dramatic as the one from 2015. Male cardinals have an endearing habit. They cock their little scarlet heads to the side when looking at something. You can see them doing the math. You can almost see their nonexistent eyebrows knitting together in concentration. You…
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Like Cold Water To A Weary Soul
On a day when I had been debating about whether this blog is a waste of everyone’s time, I received two emails from readers, emails that occupied my mind through much of the last few hours. The first email was from a gentleman who wishes to remain anonymous. His words were generous and uplifting and so very, very timely. What he expressed about this blog made me feel that perhaps it serves a purpose after all, at least for the time being. So my friend — and you know who you are — thank you. The phrase “You made my day” is overused, but in this case, it is quite…
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On All Saints Day
“One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer.” – Saint Teresa of Avila. To Roman Catholics, saints are super-Christians, marked out by their devotion, piety, and service to Christ. To Protestants, everyone who believes in Jesus is a saint. I’m not sure what I believe. This is a sentence that can apply to about 90% of my own interior life. What I…