And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28 That verse and the thought of it is has been with me. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and I don’t think that God fore ordains those … Read more
The so-called progressives in this country are going nuts about President-elect Obama’s choice of Rick Warren for the invocation at his inauguration. Rick Warren’s not my kind of guy, but give Obama credit for doing what he promised and attempting to change the culture. We are not a gay America, nor a straight America. We … Read more
Last night my wife left for an overnight with our daughter. The mission for them is Christmas shopping. Whenever I ask my wife what she’d like for Christmas, the answer is, “don’t buy me any clothes,” or “I don’t need anything.” Truth of the matter is neither of us really needs anything. We’ve got our … Read more
Today is my birthday and I’m fortunate to have so many friends with whom to celebrate. Birthdays are events for looking forward and sometimes looking back. Today I did a little of each as I wondered how much longer I get to hang around here. Fifty-six is only four years from sixty and that used … Read more
Tomorrow is my birthday and I’m very happy to be celebrating another year of life. This weekend I was able to join my mother, my wife and two children for a basketball game and dinner. It was great to be together again. I suppose the one cause to which I’ve devoted much of my life … Read more
Tomorrow is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It’s a holy day and in my earlier life it was a holiday. I’ve often thought of the coincidence of my birthday with the holy day. Even in my early years I had a special connection with Mary. Perhaps it came from my Mom. She … Read more
On Sunday I noticed that Fr. Lou McCormick, OFM was reading a new book. It had a curious title, “The Shack.” He said, “I want to talk about it at our fraternity meeting.” He gave the book a strong endorsement and said it was very Franciscan in its spirituality. Today, I found myself in Borders … Read more
This came by way of Gerry Straub’s blog and like much I’ve read of Anthony de Mello it is right on target. Ideology from left, right, center, or whatever all miss the point. As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond … Read more
The topic today at our Secular Franciscan meeting was Mary. There was a lot of sharing and discussion among our members. I said that this painting was one of my favorites and Fr. Lou McCormick, OFM our spiritual assistant knew exactly where it was and brought it into our meeting and placed it on the … Read more
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Today we begin the journey to Bethlehem once again. Later I’ll drive to Mt. Irenaeus for Mass and then our monthly Secular Franciscan meeting. This will be my first meeting since May. I’ve managed to be ill for the past two meetings this fall. Today, the first candle … Read more
