Competing to Win Years ago, as a basketball camp counselor, I was assigned to room with another counselor. He was a few years younger than I; he was also black, taller, stronger, and far more athletic than I. At the time, I might have dismissed his superior physique and athleticism as genetics and talent. His…
Holy Saturday is perhaps the most mysterious day in the liturgical calendar. On this day, God is silent; He is in the tomb. The Church is silent as well; no liturgies are celebrated for the day. From the end of the Good Friday liturgy to the beginning of the Easter Vigil, the Church contemplates the…
“Water is going to be the death of me,” I said to my husband. “What do you mean? Like a water sport accident?” “No, not like that. I mean pouring glasses of water and I am certain that if I clean up one more spilled glass of water then I will surely die.” The minute,…
The world has become an angry place. In some cases, a dangerous place. In many situations a place of harm and damage and injury, more than many of us can remember. I speak not only of what we hear in the news. Everyone experiences anger and harm and injury and loss sometimes. The Bible says…
Every day people are faced with making many decisions. Big or small, important or unimportant, this is part of life. And in life, we have to choose some things in preference to others. But choosing doesn’t always involve just “things”. Choosing also involves philosophies. Ways of living. Ways of being. Ways of believing. And often…
I just returned from a vacation spent in the company of an old friend. Because it rained during much of our trip, we ended up talking quite a bit over the course of a week. We talked about our lives. Our families. And our love for God. Turns out, we have a lot in common. One…
I have developed a spiritual routine over the past few years that serves me well. It has helped to keep me focused, driven and on track. But, lately I have been reduced by my own willfulness. I was definitely not a shining example of penance and mortification this past Lenten season. I did manage to…
