Franciscan Friars of the Renewal It’s that time of year, again – the time when postulants receive their habits, and some novices make their first vows, and so forth. If you’re unclear as to what is the difference between an “aspirant”, “postulant” or “novice” see here. I’ll probably be writing a “Part II” to this one, as some of the busiest and move dramatically growing communities will likely be putting up their “vows and habits” news in September, after all... Read more
I am not sure what effect, if any, our online retreat from last week had on anyone else, but it frankly has had rather a powerful effect on me, most particularly the “3 PM Wonder Hours” of which Gerard Vanderleun’s “Frame Up” was the clear highlight, and if you missed it I urge you to read it. For me it brought the whole retreat together and helped me to understand that perfection is a natural state, and that we so... Read more
Deacon Greg has a homily up for this Sunday that is a cut-and-a-half above his usual superb offering: This week, in the Boston Globe, I read the story of an elderly couple named Sol and Rita Rogers. They’ve been married 61 years. They’ve raised a family and lived a long and happy life together. A few years ago, that began to change. Rita developed Alzheimer’s. And she is slipping deeper and deeper into dementia. Several weeks ago, she was taken... Read more
:NOTE::::Check this post (below photo) for links to latest retreat posts::::END: Welcome to our first Online Retreat! Each day of the retreat (from now until sundown, August 16) will be found on its own page, and this notice will remain at the top of the “blog proper” until the retreat ends. In the interest of promoting interior silence, comments will be turned off. RETREAT START, beginning at Sundown, August 10, may be found here. — First meditation (Sunday Night) is... Read more
Hey, the virus I seemed to pick up on our short vaca, and which has been dropping all of us in turn, has proved itself a clinging little monster, so it’s quiet around here. Sorry about that. The good news is that – while I have not been able to record the audios I’d planned on (tomorrow is another day to try) the Online Retreat that I wrote about here will be going on as scheduled. Elder Son, photo by... Read more
:::UPDATE::: Server problems all gone! Noon meditation, 6 hours late, here Thanks for waiting!:::END::: Hi Folks – if you’re looking for the noon and 3PM retreat updates, please bear with me – I’m having serious server issues and lots of downtime that is preventing me from working. My Elder Son reminded me that I should just “relax and go with it” along the lines of the retreat, and he suggested that this was the sort of ironic fun most Christians... Read more
Recaptured thanks to the wayback machine: Well, once again, I have been taken to task over an issue of food, by the Border Collie. Generally, breakfast around here is a cup of yogurt, a bowl of cereal or oatmeal and several cups of the magnificent Mystic Monk Dark Roast or Monk Blend Coffee. But I’ve been off my feed for a few days (which is no cause for alarm since I, unhappily, carry my own reserves on my Irish hips)... Read more
I’m late to the news, but then I hadn’t been following the Edwards-affair story; I generally don’t pay a lot of attention to these salacious details about a politician, because while they’re sensational, people do tend to forget that there are always hurting spouses and children involved, and it usually goes too far. I think I did mention somewhere, in passing, that once again, the press has been curiously incurious about the behavior of a Democrat when they would have... Read more
A 9 minute video is usually not my speed, but this one’s clever and fast-moving. The light sabers and “Kentucky Fried Analogy” cracked me up. (H/T Bookworm, who features another – succinct and entertaining – vid by one of the players, here.) I don’t know who this guy is, but he’s smart, charismatic as hell, and has beautiful eyes and a great smile. Bookworm is also calling olly-olly-oxen-free to “secret conservatives” in Marin County and elsewhere. It’s a sad thing,... Read more
My site has been going down intermittently, and here at home we seem to be battling a fatiguing bug in the household. Will be back in biz tonight, hopefully. Meanwhile, another little excerpt from Why We Hate Us: Balkanization…is just part of the landscape. On very basic civic and political values, there is a vast common ground hidden by a few stands of towering pines. The exceptions always get the attention; the negative often wins campaigns. Moderate, independent and eclectic... Read more
The Anchoress
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In