On Seeking Silence One of the most comforting aspects of a church is its silence. A holy, inviolate silence that is overwhelming: when one steps
On Lent’s Invitation to Silence and Fasting The choir hums, but does not burst in glorious refrain. The music is subdued, the organ absent. The
Advent is a dark season. Here in New England, the sun sets at four in the afternoon. It’s fully dark before five. The early mornings
So now we are in the holy season of Advent, which looks forward to the second coming of Christ. All of the scary readings of
It happened again. My words upset the one who heard them. Why is it so? That I am unable to control my emotions and my
The 24-hour news cycle, the multitude of TV and movie channels, music, smartphones, plus traffic congestion and all the other noises, fill our days and
The speech of God is silence. His word is solitude (Thomas Merton). Most of the Gospel readings during Advent are from the accounts of Mathew
Have you ever been on a retreat? The word may call to mind a quiet monk’s cell or a sunny beach. If not, perhaps you
The beauty of silence is that it lets us hear that “still small voice” (cf. 1 Kings 19:12) of God directing us, inspiring us, pulling
For starters, it is true that “leisuring” isn’t a word, but it ought to be; sort of a kissing-cousin to worshiping and meditating. Leisure is
Tolerance. According to Webster, it’s a willingness to accept behaviors and beliefs that may be different from your own. At first glance, that would appear
As a spouse and father of three, it can sometimes feel like a guilty luxury to get away to attend to your spiritual needs. If
We live in a busy, noisy world. Until recently, I was one of those people who needed to do many things, filling my day with
Ten years ago, on the fourth of July, my husband and I spent our first night in our new home: an off-grid yurt tucked in
Again Pilate questioned Him, “Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of.” Jesus gave no further answer, so that Pilate was
So many things in our lives are necessary but challenging, and perhaps none more so than prayer. Prayer sustains the life of our souls, yet
Every year at Lent, the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent tells us the story of Christ’s time in the desert. Jesus began His
“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees,
In his wonderful book, The Power of Silence: Against The Dictatorship of Noise, Cardinal Robert Sarah tells us Without silence, God disappears in the noise.
Like you, Dear Reader, I was angered and sickened by the Pennsylvania grand jury report. But the lynch-mob mentality that quickly formed among the
If you ask me what I know of the accusations against the archbishop emeritus of Washington, D.C., Cdl. Theodore McCarrick, I must reply, very little.
There’s probably a good chance there are others, like me, who get bogged down in their everyday attempts to pray. But not giving up on
