Hi. My name is Carl and I’m a Facebook addict. (“Hi, Carl!”) This past weekend, against my better judgment, I got into an unpleasant debate in a Facebook group with a young person whom I do not know. No need to go into details here — let’s just say that by the end, nobody was edified. Much of my weekend got swallowed up in a back-and-forth conversation that generated much more heat than light. I’m embarrassed that I allowed myself... Read more
I am troubled by the idea that it’s harder to be a child today than it was when I was young. Is that just my personal angst, the anxiety of someone moving rapidly through midlife? Or is there some truth to my worrisome intuition? Well, consider the following sobering statements, all culled from recent articles on respectable news websites. It is reported that one in three children is the victim of bullying at school, and with a growing number of young people online... Read more
God is an ocean of silence, mercy and love. Let’s go swimming. pic.twitter.com/GMbPdqWK57 — Carl McColman (@CarlMcColman) March 6, 2015 Enjoy reading this blog? Click here to become a patron. Read more
A mature spiritual life embraces paradox. And paradox lies at the heart of Sister Joan Chittister’s newest book, Between the Dark and the Daylight. The subtitle of the book is “Embracing the Contradictions of Life” but I think paradox would be a better word here. As physicist Niels Bohr put it, “The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.” It is profound truths which Chittister explores in this... Read more
Vatican Radio announced earlier this week that Pope Francis has declared a tenth century Armenian saint and mystic, Saint Gregory of Narek (Grigor Narekatsi), a Doctor of the Universal Church. St. Gregory of Narek is the first new Doctor of the Church appointed by Pope Francis. The last saints to be given this title were Sts. Hildegard of Bingen and Juan of Avila, conferred by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. Before that, the last Doctor of the Church was St. Thérèse... Read more
Every January, lots of folks make New Year’s Resolutions. This year I will lose weight, exercise more, improve my diet, pay off my credit cards. Sadly, though, it seems that by Valentine’s Day (if not before) most New Year’s Resolutions are long forgotten. New Year’s Resolutions point to two basic truths about being human. First, to be alive is to seek to grow, to improve, to make improvements in our health, our relationships, our quality of life. But the second truth... Read more
Several months ago I joined Planet Fitness. I won’t bore you with my adventures learning how to operate the treadmills (they’ve gone hi-tech since the last time I was on one), figuring out how to get on and off the elliptical without falling, or dealing with the sensory overload of the blaring music and rows of TV screens, each displaying a different program (let’s just say my iPhone, earbuds, and a daily prayer app are my new best friends). Rather, I’ll... Read more
“There is in God (some say) A deep, but dazzling darkness” — Henry Vaughan “Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” — Isaiah 45:15 “Your brightness is my darkness. I know nothing of You and, by myself, I cannot even imagine how to go about knowing You. If I imagine You, I am mistaken. If I understand You, I am deluded. If I am conscious and certain I know You, I am crazy. The darkness is enough.” — Thomas... Read more
Mardi Gras can be a lot of fun, but when Fat Tuesday ends, Ash Wednesday begins. Clean up the mess from the party, and recycle the empty bottles. Welcome to Lent. If you’ve never observed Lent before, or if it means nothing more to you than “forty days without chocolate,” then here are a few thoughts to introduce you to this ancient Christian season. Lent is more than just a time of year — it’s a spiritual practice. The word Lent comes from... Read more
It’s been fifty years since Karl Rahner wrote his important book “The Christian of the Future.” In a different work, Concern for the Church, he made his classic remark “the Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all.” But in 1965 the Jesuit predicted that in the not-too-distant future Christianity will become marginalized, in many parts of the world would face persecution or at least the loss of social prestige, that “there will be no earthly advantage in... Read more
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