Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this, The intelligence that moves, devotion is, And as the other Spheares, by being growne Subject to forraigne motion, lose their owne, And being by others hurried every day, Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey: Pleasure or businesse, so, our Soules admit For their first mover, and are whirld by it. Hence is’t, that I am carryed towards the West This day, when my Soules forme bends toward the... Read more
We are meant to feel that his life was in that sense a sort of love affair with death, a romance of the pursuit of the ultimate sacrifice. From the moment when the star goes up like a birthday rocket, to the moment when the sun is extinguished like a funeral torch, the whole story moves on wings with the speed and direction of a drama, ending in an act beyond words. Therefore the story of Christ is the story... Read more
“Who do you say I am?” – Jesus of Nazareth “What will you give me to betray him?” – Judas Iscariot Both are diagnostics of our deepest hearts. Both should make us tremble. They open up to us the reality that the universe is not a hobbit hole, but that every road leads, sooner or later, to heaven or hell. Read more
Forgiveness, Lord’s a morsel dipped in wine and handed, sopping, to he who betrays you, who can’t see the gift of you that’s placed in hands that many times have compassed yours and shared your work and those of whom, though near you now, too soon will run when garden depths of olive peace are broken by the tramp of feet and fire brands and weapons’ clash that — angry turn-coats — heal no harms, or one who in his... Read more
You came into our life on feet like dusty heartbeats, beating bare, your human heart out-pouring love and life for one whom even death itself could not keep back from you. And I have nothing worth your gift; incomp’rable, to place into your hands but my most costly thing; a poor excuse compared with All. This earthen vessel, feminine, I break before your dusty feet and pour its oil, perfumed and rich, to cleanse the dust from calloused toes and... Read more
When she died in 2013 at the age of 20, she was what she had been for the previous 18 years: a toddler in mind and body. And nobody really knows why. Say a prayer for her little soul. May she know eternal rest in the arms of the God of Abraham: Read more
Lent is a good time for facing hard things and Fasting Fridays seem to me to be especially good days for that. When Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray, he spent his time there facing the realities of sin, hell, and death, not twirling buttercups. He did so for the same reason a doctor spends years watching people die from cancer, suffering anguish, and grapple with despair: because that’s what he is there to cure and you... Read more
The common mother of art, philosophy, science, and religion is Wonder. The world pours out torrents of wonders upon us and it is the most human thing in the world to ask, “Why?” In antiquity, nobody had set up walls between these four different ways of exploring the wonders of the world. Consequently, Solomon could write Proverbs and meditate on the ways of God and see no conflict between doing that and learning about plants, birds, and bugs. Likewise, Pythagoras... Read more
I’m a huge fan of Mercy for Life, a delightful little apostolate in Uganda run by my friends Fausta Nalubega and her husband Ross Earl Hoffman. It’s a beautiful little Catholic community that takes care of the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the sick, the unborn, and the elderly. They praise God, run a school, help get people medical care and do all kinds of good things for all kinds of people. Click the link above and invest in the... Read more
Do you know what John Wayne’s last film was? Wrong! It was Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: John Wayne (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979) was an American actor. He provided the voice of Imperial spy Garindan in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope via stock audio, making this his last role in a film before his death. Wayne’s voice was processed greatly for the movie. His voice for Garindan would be recycled in LEGO Star... Read more
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