Jesus declares that this woman, who knows nothing of the tradition which forms Jesus and his own self-understanding, has great faith. She is able to recognize the truth of Jesus that so many others who have been raised and formed in the same tradition as Jesus cannot begin to really grasp.…[read more]
As I video-chatted with my friend last evening, I could see that he looked as young as he had when we first met in our very early 30’s. With but the little rest he needed to restore his physical strength, he was ready to serve the possibility that he saw in so many of the young people he had spent the past weeks with, and he longed to discern how best to serve that possibility.…[read more]
Particularly as Euro-American culture has become more and more work-fixated and product and finance-oriented, much of our work lives have become more and more burdensome and debilitating. This is true not only in the secular sphere but even in the so-called religious one.…[read more]
What is our greatest obstacle to change, reformation, and transformation in both our personal and shared lives? One of the ways we navigate the mystery of life is by an arrogant presumption that we know and understand. This is most at work in us in the most familiar settings of our lives.…[read more]
And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. And Moses could not come into the Tent of Meeting, for the cloud abode upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. And when the cloud went up from over the Tabernacle, the Israelites would…[read more]
Over time I’ve discovered that one of the most difficult questions for us to answer is “What do you really want?” We have plenty of wants, and, like the merchant in the parable, we search the world seeking to satisfy them. The very engine of our economy runs on our having wants, and often what we even feel as needs, that we’ll pay to fulfill.…[read more]
Our formation is sourced from multiple directions. It is, perhaps, most largely influenced by our early formation situations in our families and local situations. There, the values by which we are to live are communicated to us through almost every aspect of our lives.…[read more]
Today is the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. From its beginning as the Company of Jesus, the members of the Society were to see themselves as companions and disciples of Jesus. According to Ignatius, in every word and deed they were to seek “the greater glory of God.” To serve the glory of God is to be a servant of the hidden kingdom of God that Jesus describes in today’s gospel.…[read more]
Belief in the one, true, and jealous God is hard work. To be “owned” by God and to be a trustee of God’s truth is difficult to maintain in the everyday. Even as believers we tend to forget whose we are. In our laziness we unconsciously lay claim to an autonomy that is not ours, and, in its service, we tend to relinquish our freedom by speaking and acting out of our many unconscious idolatries.…[read more]
In the United States the citizenry is currently living in a very polarized time. The polarization is fed by a cynical and manipulative fostering of the sense that there is no actual reality to be seen and understood. There is nothing beyond what each person or collective identity purports to see and to understand.…[read more]
Jesus declares that this woman, who knows nothing of the tradition which forms Jesus and his own self-understanding, has great faith. She is able to recognize the truth of Jesus that so many others who have been raised and formed in the same tradition as Jesus cannot begin to really grasp.…[read more]
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