Awkward: A Holy Thursday Reflection
This year, our Holy Thursday liturgy will be missing a familiar component—the Washing of the Feet. A small if unholy part of me is somewhat relieved. The liturgy is long enough. Surely we’ve sanitized sufficiently this year! And quite frankly,…
Blessed Is She Who Believed
As a child I loved Holy Saturday. It was a day of Much Anticipation. The more sad and somber liturgies were completed, as was the long Lent and the fasting of Good Friday. Night would bring the wonderful Easter Vigil.…
Patron for the Pandemic
About six years ago I was sitting on the beach with my friend Monica when I had a startling idea. “Why is there no 24-hour adoration chapel in Manhattan?” Surely a city which hosts eight million people on any given…
The Egg and the Rock
Today’s Gospel seems to tell a Tale of Two Peters. Jesus asks His disciples the pivotal question: “Who do you say that I am?” It is Peter who proclaims in reply: “You are the Christ!” Peter is able to see…
What Kind of God
Recently it seemed that a wish was about to come true. It was the wish that I made the last three years while blowing out birthday candles. The wish that I had been working tirelessly for and praying for on…
Not Dumb Forever
“God wounds only to heal.” His eyes were filled with compassion, as he spoke these mysterious words. Moments ago, this priest had told me that God was going to answer my prayer for joy (fulfilled first here); now he seemed…
Flowers in the Desert
“Flowers in the desert” my friends and I would call these little graces, gifts of hope or promise during times that seemed dominated by absence. They varied in nature or significance: A chance encounter on a plane. An intriguing new…
Honest to God
Years ago, I was struggling in my faith, longing for the experience of God that others seemed to have but that was lacking in my life despite years of Catholic practice. I knew by faith that God was there the…
Parented By Gratuitous Love
There are many beautiful flowers in the nursery garden, but I am drawn at once to Baby M*. Only a few weeks old, he is the smallest of all, weighing in at only 2.5 kilos—the equivalent of a small sack…
Tea Bags
“I do it myself!” On our family vacation over the 4th of July, two-year-old Zippy is declaring her independence. Her independence produces a lot of work, particularly for my brother Joe, who is a good and attentive father. “I do…
