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  • Illumination

    Illumination

    Remember that scene at the end of Castaway where Tom Hanks pulls over at a four-way intersection, gets out and flips open his map? And then, a woman in a red pick-up truck pulls up and says, “You look lost,” and then proceeds to educate him about precisely where each road will lead.  The roads,…

  • Statues

    Statues

    As a lifelong Catholic, statues have been a part of my faith experience from the beginning.  I have worshipped in spaces with statues, watched them paraded on feast days, and seen them adorned with flowers.  I have stood in front of dozens of Mary statues and prayed to Our Mother, holding hands of stone and…

  • Hope

    Hope

    On December 31, 2019, I had a lot of hopes.  At our sweet friends’ New Year’s Eve party, I shakily wrote my resolution on a thin piece of cardboard: ‘attend my first writer’s conference’ and then I paused and added something like, ‘pursue publishing’.  In the weeks that followed, I applied for and received a…

  • Psalm 20:7

    Psalm 20:7

    As it often does, my Jesus Calling devotional pointed me to a verse today I’d heard multiple times, but never really considered.  Today, it was Psalm 20:7: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. The times I’ve trusted in a horse are limited…

  • Discern

    Discern

    In the past several weeks, it has become clear that American Catholics have both a new opportunity and responsibility to do something with which they may not have a lot of practice: spiritual discernment.  In the time since the obligation and practice of mass attendance was suspended in March, individual Catholics have relied on their…

  • Hospice

    Hospice

    “In all honesty, I have to say she was sent to me by the Holy Spirit.” My friend, Bob, was talking to me about the incredible care he’s receiving in hospice, and specifically the care he’s receiving from his CNA, Paulette.  Paulette came here from Jamaica 33 years ago, raised five children, and worked hard…

  • Breath

    Breath

    I sang a recorded mass for Pentecost, the first mass at which I’d ministered in months.  In choosing the music, I considered all of my favorite Holy Spirit songs, but kept one on the shelf: O Breathe on Me, O Breath of God.  In a time of pandemic, we’re keeping our breaths to ourselves, or…

  • Pentecost

    Pentecost

    I was walking in one of my favorite places just now when I saw this wooden chapel birdhouse. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed it. In fact, I’ve taken hundreds of pictures of it over the years, in every time and season. Sometimes the leaves are green and full as they are today. Sometimes…

  • Next

    Next

    I spent the afternoon away from home, walking and praying and asking God to speak into my next steps. There is so much up in the air.  I’m a preschool music teacher who doesn’t yet know if the schools will open in the fall, or whether there will be funding for my programs, or whether singing…

  • Phlox

    Phlox

    I am astounded by phlox.  You know, the tiny little perennial flower that pops up in bright pink, purple, and white this time of year on hillsides and rock walls.  We planted a couple of small bits on our patio around some larger planters four or five years ago and each year it comes back…