Most of us have encountered situations we try to avoid for fear that we will come away creased, torn and weary. The temptation always is to detour around the issue and retreat to our privacy. We’re generally good at building walls, as is someone else in the news these days, in the not selfless … More GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY!

Confidence can be described as a feeling of self assurance. Hope can be defined as a want or a wish combined with a feeling of confident expectation. The existence of confidence does not come by chance nor does hope. Both are a by-product of faith. In the Christian realm, the “f” of Faith should be … More CONFIDENCE THAT ENDURES

The ingenuity of the enemy in redirecting our efforts at spiritual growth is legion. That is why healing in the spiritual life is so important. For the Disciple of Jesus, who is called to reach out to others no matter the nature of the wounds apparent in the life of a person, the Disciple must … More ADOPTING THE RIGHT SPIRITUALITY

In the context of our human nature unassisted by the promptings of the Holy Spirit we are exposed to the vagaries of natural life as we stumble along perhaps with good intentions but without the assistance we truly need to shake off the vestiges of our attachment to things natural and worldly. It is a … More HALF A SAINT? THE LOSS OF IDENTITY

When is the last time that you thought about your “identity” as a person? Perhaps that thought, when it came, led you to the question of “why you were created?” If we look at inanimate things we can generally determine the purpose for which the item was created. A motor vehicle is created to transport … More DUSTING UP THE “LIKENESS”

Today, the feast of the Holy Family is a good day to reflect on our own family life. The example provided to us by Jesus, Mary and Joseph is a good starting point because the Holy Family, like all families, faced the many perils and uncertainties of life and in their case the difficulties of … More OH, FOR THE LOVE OF FAMILY

  Some of us in pursuing life’s journey have been terribly hurt, often by the actions of others. Whether that hurt comes about as the result of warfare, betrayal, physical or sexual abuse, the willful defaming of our good name, chronic bullying, neglect, or some other unfathomable injustice we tend to retreat into a defensive … More CLINGING TO THE CREATOR

When we think about our important inter-personal relationships we draw on our heart to frame a relationship that, to the extent that we are able, reflects our emotional commitment to that relationship. Ideally, love in the Agape sense of the word, is what we strive for in all our relationships. Agape love has been described … More DRAWN FROM THE HEART

  The scriptural reading from Isaiah today [Isaiah 11: 1-10] is instructive. We might ask: How is God speaking to me in this verse today? Isaiah, of course, speaks of a bud rising from the stump of Jesse blossoming into Jesus. If we look at this reading allegorically and paint a picture of stumps that … More NEW LIFE FROM THE STUMP

How often have any of us been tempted to take the short cut knowing implicitly that the longer route held much more promise? We elect frequently to settle for momentary gain at the expense of long term growth. We can then settle into patterns that inhibit our growth indefinitely. It’s not meant to be this … More SETTLING FOR LESS