“Why do you not leave the Catholic church?” At this debilitating and demoralizing time within our church, I decided to take a small survey on why some people choose NOT to leave the Church, why they don’t do as so many refugees do as they run away from what is harmful, abusive and a tremendous […]
During these harvesting months, it’s easy to think about the smell of homemade bread, and if you are from Minnesota, you perhaps have the memory of delighting in the hearty taste of Minnesota harvested wild rice soup. This grain has been harvested from the river grasses for many centuries by the Ojibwa/Chippewa peoples (they refer […]
James Bowey, photographer and oral historian for refugees running from their native “homes that won’t let them stay,” recently provided an exhibit at the Paramount. The documentary hopes “that portraits and vignettes are universally humanizing” (St. Cloud Times, 7/8/2018), that refugee stories and experiences might touch our hearts while endless debates seem to not only […]
One of the sanctuary candles in Sacred Heart Chapel was bathed in sunlight on a recent summer afternoon. Its beauty caught me immediately by surprise as I was walking through the chapel. One candle was lit by the sun while the other three remained in the darkness of shadows. I had to slow down my […]
During the quiet of summer, when the sun shines brightly on everything I look at, I keep wanting to find words to express the gratefulness I feel for the people and nature around me. The words of Rabbi Rami Shapiro, which I recently became familiar with [Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent: Sacred Teachings—Annotated & […]
Our daily breaking news reports often invite despondency! And I? After too many minutes of angry responses, I turn to Pope Francis for his ability to see the bigger picture and to suggest ways to get back into balance: “We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread […]
Pope Francis can’t be beat! Recently, he traveled to Krakow, Poland, to participate in the World Youth Gathering, with upwards of 1 million people. It was a Sunday when he addressed the gathering and the Gospel was that of Zaccheus (Lk 19: 1-10). We remember, of course, this Roman tax collector of ill repute who […]
Earlier this spring, I was driving to a meeting in St. Cloud. It is our custom at the monastery to pray for safe travel whenever we get into a car, so my travel companion said a spontaneous prayer to give us a safe journey, adding “May the angels protect us.” As I turned onto a […]
“There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness; and this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much.” I read this quote of Mother Teresa of Calcutta while hearing daily reports of the soccer players and their leader trapped in a cave awaiting rescue from […]
Sarah Young, in her daily reflection book, uses the first-person pronoun as she opens a dialogue between Jesus and a reader. Today’s message was surely meant for me…and perhaps for you who hear Him speaking in your heart, too. Jesus says to us: I speak to you continually. My nature is to communicate, though not […]
