This morning on my daily walk, I finally listened to the March 31 installment of the Catholic Stuff You Should Know podcast. The young man, Jacob, (a seminarian) who joined Father John (a regular host for years) did a great job telling the audience about Max Scheler and ressentiment. Ressentiment, basically, has to do with … Continue reading The antidote to resentment
No Condemnation
Yesterday's Gospel reading was the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Ultimately, it's a story about God’s mercy and about our compassion for one another. And the idea that, if God can forgive us and be merciful toward us and our many faults and many failures, surely we can be the same … Continue reading No Condemnation
Drop the cup
https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/liturgical-year/lent/perspectives-on-lent/articles/looking-at-lent-through-the-lens-of-grace/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Living+Lent+Daily%3A+March+21%2C+2022&utm_campaign=living-lent-daily22-week-3-7074-yoc-mar21&vgo_ee=bb83POd3yq3Dybqtr0jyP2QOP8ZXmRzMvz3Yw%2BcA7gI%3D I'm sharing the link above because the excerpt talks about an openness to God's grace. Those two word - God's grace - are my watchwords for 2022 and, I hope, the rest of my life. I have written about grace many times, but right now it is becoming clearer to me that I need … Continue reading Drop the cup
An old tune with new words
https://youtu.be/yazxxkbSkZE This beautiful song that many may recognize (the tune anyway) as "Danny Boy" has some wonderful new lyrics that I find very moving. And the singer, Krysten Getty, is quite gifted. Give it a listen and remember that, on this St. Patrick's Day as any other, a good old Irish melody and some poignant … Continue reading An old tune with new words
Who Else Is In the Field?
“Pray do not imagine, that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field.” - Edmund Burke Often in life it seems it really is true that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." We may infer from this old proverb that the squeaky wheel is in need of grease. But in real … Continue reading Who Else Is In the Field?
St. Valentine’s Day
In honor of Valentine’s Day and World Day of Marriage (on Sunday), I decided to contemplate this very famous verse from Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians. I’m sure you’ve heard it if you’ve ever attended a Christian wedding. It’s often one of the readings. And it’s easy to see why. It’s a beautiful bit … Continue reading St. Valentine’s Day
What if?
What if we just say Jesus, our Lord & Savior, was Jewish and that He said we should love our neighbor which means everyone? God loves us and wills us into being so every life matters to God. Jesus also tells us we should treat others as we want to be treated. That means we … Continue reading What if?
Scraps from the table…
Today’s reading in the Church’s liturgical year is from Mark’s Gospel, not Matthew’s, but it’s a version of the same account. Mark identifies the woman as Syro-Phoenician; Matthew as Canaanite. She is both. The first description is about her nationality; the latter is her ethnicity. But the main point is, she is not Jewish like Jesus…Please open and read for more! God bless you.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 15, verses 21-28, we read of the faith of the Canaanite woman. She begs Jesus to deliver her daughter from an evil spirit and the suffering it is causing her. Jesus explains that He came for the sake of “the lost sheep of Israel.” That seems rather harsh and also not the whole story as Jesus helps more than one person who is not from the House of Israel. I think his reply has more to do with His foreknowledge that she’s a woman who is clever, has her wits about her, and that she is obviously a woman of great faith in Jesus’ power to defeat evil.
The proof of Jesus’ knowledge of the Canaanite woman’s quick wittedness is in her response to His remark about who He came to save. He uses the example of masters withholding the food meant for their…
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A Prayer to the Romans
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13 What an absolutely beautiful prayer from St. Paul for the Romans. And for us, too. That joy and peace of Christ is only possible … Continue reading A Prayer to the Romans
What the world needs now is…meaning
People need something to live for. Meaning comes with a higher purpose in one’s life. Maybe it’s loving your child and getting them to responsible adulthood. Maybe it’s a spouse who would truly be lost without you. Maybe it’s a career that no one else could navigate as well as you for the sake of … Continue reading What the world needs now is…meaning
Drowning in Lemonade 
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