Earlier today I took a canoe onto the lake where we are staying and maybe it’s because I had ridden in motorized craft a lot this trip, but it was very refreshing to be paddling along in a still cove. I think there is a lot more to solitude than prayer or maybe it’s that … Read more
I’ve been enjoying a lovely summer. For the first time in almost ten years I’m not working twelve months. God has been very good to me and us and I’ve found consulting opportunities which have allowed me to make up the difference. Our weather has been very rainy and I love to see the sun, … Read more
Lately I’ve read a number of posts on Twitter and some of the more prominent blogs about secularity. Those thoughts along with some of my own have led me to speculate that it is man who has created this division. All that is created is created by a supreme being whether you call that being … Read more
This afternoon and following a nap alongside the road near Cuba, New York I decided to drive north into the Genesee River Valley and towards Abbey of the Genesee. I spent quiet time in the sanctuary. I know God is everywhere but there is something special about this place. Maybe it’s the stillness, but there … Read more
Today I was back at Mt. Irenaeus after a week away. Today was the culmination of a Franciscan Sojourners retreat and though I was not a part of the retreat there were many familiar faces among those that were there for that event. Fr. Dan Riley, OFM is an eloquent homilist and today he was … Read more
Some in our country love to point us back to the Bible upon which they say our nation was founded. Here’s a direct quote from the Bible that might not sell well with some of these same folks. Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts. And this is the manner of the … Read more
We are surrounded by scandal. It’s all over the news and the pundits are having a field day. Lately it’s been Mark Sanford and John Ensign. Before that it was Larry Craig and Eliot Spitzer, Bill Clinton and the list goes on. Politicians have been trying to score points by claiming family values and the … Read more
Today I made my way along a number of different roads and routes to Mt. Irenaeus. I haven’t been to the Mountain in a couple of weeks. Last week I found myself in Washington, DC and at a bookstore in Dupont Circle at 11:00 AM. Today, the air was sunny and warm as I pulled … Read more
Just yesterday I was having a conversation with one of the summer interns at Mt. Irenaeus when I said to him that the God of the theologians was not God as I had experienced him. Too often I/we let theologians limit our concept of God. God becomes pigeon-holed and limited by what the God scholars … Read more
Today was Trinity Sunday and I really needed to hear Fr. Lou McCormick, OFM homily which included the importance of doubt in our lives. So much time is spent defining what we are and what we believe that almost no one ever gives voice to doubt although you can hear it too if only you … Read more
