Stillpoint retreat Sept. 10-12 open for registration

Registration is now open for the third-annual Stillpoint retreat at Pyramid Life Center to be held Friday, Sept. 10, through Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021. Spots are filling up fast, so don’t wait to hold your space for this retreat that will allow you find calm amid life’s chaos, spend time in silence, build community, eat great food with great people, laugh (a lot), kayak, practice yoga, hike, pray, and just be.

(more…)
Cravings Tribe: Transition week has arrived

Cravings Tribe: Transition week has arrived

We started out on this revolution-not-resolution journey of inner transformation at the beginning of the new year. The plan was to bring some new habits into our lives — things that might foster peace, balance, and a sense of gratitude despite the craziness of the world around us. I can tell you that, for me, it was definitely a dance of moving forward a little bit, slipping back now and then, and standing still more than I would have liked. And that’s okay. After all these years of trying to make spiritual “progress,” I know this is par for the course, and I’ve come to accept the slowness of this work. This is not the kind of thing that can be rushed.

(more…)
Lent: Are you willing to be surprised by God?

Lent: Are you willing to be surprised by God?

Flannery O’Connor, the American Catholic southern gothic writer, once said, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”

That line has always resonated with me, but never more so than when I sit down to write reflections on Scripture readings, verses that can feel so familiar there seems nothing new to uncover. My latest book of reflections, Not by Bread Alone 2021: Daily Reflections for Lent (Liturgical Press), is my third book of Lenten meditations and prayers, and so the challenge is real — but realer still is the truth that lives within Scripture. Old passages can speak new hope to us at any particular moment of our lives if we are willing to open ourselves up to the work and words of the Spirit. Even the familiarity of Lent itself can turn a season of growth into a rote spiritual exercise if we are not prepared to be surprised by God, sometimes in uncomfortable ways.

(more…)
You Can’t Fail Lent

You Can’t Fail Lent

The column originally ran on Huffington Post in 2015, but it’s a favorite so here it is one more time, just in time:

Lent is one of those seasons that always begins with the best of intentions and rapidly goes downhill, at least that’s how it usually plays out for me. I plan to pray more, eat less, and find creative ways to make my favorite time in the Church year more meaningful. Unfortunately, the ashes hardly have time to settle into the wrinkles on my forehead before I’m feeling like I’ve already failed.

(more…)
Feast of St. Blaise: Do-it-yourself throat blessings

Feast of St. Blaise: Do-it-yourself throat blessings

These days — especially in the time of COVID — throat blessings are hard to come by. No, make that near impossible. It’s just not that common anymore, even in the best of times. Years ago, I took it upon myself to do the blessings. And, yes, that’s allowed. The first time I blessed throats for my class of fourth-grade faith formation students, they looked at me in fear and asked if I was going to light those candles before holding them up to their throats. Ah, how sad that these kids don’t know some of the more interesting traditions of our faith. But once I told them about St. Blaise, a bishop and martyr who is said to have healed a boy who was choking on a fish bone, they were all in, and eagerly so.

(more…)

Pin It on Pinterest