Spirituality

When another makes you suffer

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“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh Just what I needed to read today. Another did make me suffer at least for awhile and then … Read more

Incarnation and Resurrection

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Too often incarnation and resurrection are just words and thoughts that are too abstract for most of us to get a handle on. For Franciscans the incarnation is about the primacy of Christ. The universe exists for Christ not Christ existing for the universe. The universe and therefore all creation is for Christ. It’s not … Read more

Thank you

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My wife’s surgery went well today and she was very grateful for the many prayers offered on her behalf. She’s on the road to recovery. My father-in-law’s surgery did not provide such good news. He has cancer which we hope is treatable. Please pray him if you are of a mind to do so.  This … Read more

Waking up

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I’m in the process of waking up. It’s a journey and not a destination. I’ll never be fully awake but I hope that I continue to awaken to the reality of the world that has been created for all of us. This isn’t the Madison Avenue marketing world or the world as described on the … Read more

Wholeness

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Religion is about ritual, about morals, about systems of thought, all of them good, but all of them incomplete. Spirituality is about coming to consciousness of the sacred. It is in that consciousness that perspective comes, that peace comes. It is in that consciousness that a person comes to wholeness. –p.16, Illuminated Life–Joan Chittister, OSB

Angels in our midst

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I was on Route 1 nearing the turn for Mt. Irenaeus when suddenly I spotted three deer entering the roadway about a tenth mile ahead. One looked normal and the other two looked different. From a distance they almost looked like fawns, but then as I got closer I realized that two of the deer were albino. I have never seen anything like that, but here on Sunday morning as I neared Mt. Irenaeus I saw three deer.

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Third Jesus

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A couple of days ago I spied a title at Changing Hands bookstore that invited me to pick it up. On the bookshelf was a book written by Deepak Chopra. It’s title, “The Third Jesus,” really captivated me. I read a few paragraphs and put it down. Yesterday, while visiting the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale I saw the book again. This time it was in the center’s bookstore. After I got back to my sisters home, I mentioned to my hosts that wanted to return to Changing Hands and get the book.   Little did I know that later in the afternoon, my Mom would drive over to the store and pick it up for me.

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So unlike your Christ

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I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.–Gandhi

Earlier in the week I wrote about an archbishop’s decision to withhold a sacramental rite from a politician got me to thinking again about some of the apparent contradictions between the prophetic church and the pathetic church.

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