Spiritual

Insanity defined

by

A popular definition of insanity is repeating the same destructive behavior over and over again expecting different results. Front page news in today’s Olean Times Herald revealed that President Bush is proposing an economic stimulus package that includes $150 billion in tax cuts. Presidents since Ronald Reagan have been proposing that “trickle down economics” will … Read more

Remembering Martin

by

We’ll soon celebrate Dr. King’s birthday. In the years since his death and especially since his birthday became a national holiday there has been a collective effort by government and the media to sanitize Martin’s message. This quote came from an article in this week’s National Catholic Reporter by Fr. John Dear and it’s attributed … Read more

WWJD?

by

Viewing Roots again in its entirety reminded me once again of the fallacy of our alleged Judeo-Christian roots. From 1619 until sometime in the 19th century before the end of our own Civil War twenty-million Africans were brought to the Americas for slave trade.  Add to that fact the millions of Native American people who were murdered as the American colonies  and later the United States expanded west.  Religion was actually used to defend the institution of slavery and manifest destiny. We have a long legacy, perhaps the greatest in the history of the world, of genocide and atrocity.

Read more

The new man

by

For the “new man” everything is new. Even the old is transfigured in the Holy Spirit and is always new. There is nothing to cling to, there is nothing to be hoped for in what is already past-it is nothing. The new man is he who can find reality where it cannot be seen by … Read more

Aerocivic and hypermiling

by

This information came from my brother. He sends me lots of interesting reading, but this funny looking car gets 95 miles per gallon which might be worth considering with spiking fuel prices.  Read about the Aerocivic here.  The mileage comes in part from Hypermiling, a technique designed to improve your fuel economy. There are some … Read more

In the beginning was the word

by

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Christmas is a celebration of the word made flesh that has come to dwell among us. The incarnation blesses the world because God loves the world and always has. Jesus was not created for the world. The world was created for Jesus.

Read more

Inner Christmas

by

A visit to Brother David’s website is always a treat and today was no exception. There was an invitation to celebrate inner Christmas. This resonates for me because it’s a sensation I’ve experienced since I was a young boy. Christmas Eve, the Easter Vigil and Holy Thursday night are the most sacred and mystical events … Read more

Namaste

by

This video captures what is in my heart for the whole earth and all of heaven too. Namaste, the ancient Sanskrit greeting literally means, “I bow to the divine in you.” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcgNJ7cgDVs]

Beautiful Solitude

by

Today my usual was interrupted by mother nature. We awoke to a blanket of five inches of snow and then freezing rain on top of that. I was to travel to Mt. Irenaeus for Mass and then a meeting our Secular Franciscan fraternity. I called Fr. Lou and then a couple of our members and decided it best to call off the meeting. Mt. Irenaeus is located at the top of 2200 foot hill in rural Allegany County. It sits astride a dirt road that can be treacherous with a coating of ice.

Read more