True confession: I’m not a big fan of Lent, mostly because I rarely come up with a Lenten practice that feels like it’s going to make me a better person. That might sound like a heresy when I see it in print, but it’s true. It’s also a little embarrassing. The question, “What are you going to give up for Lent?” reminds me of New Year’s resolutions – all good intentions with little hope of actually having an impact. Continue reading →
I won’t argue about who had this thought first – Pope Francis or me – but I suggested this to the parishioners of Good Shepherd Parish in Shawnee, KS, at the close of their parish mission, and in the spirit and sparkle of Mardi Gras.
This Lent, let’s all give up GIVING UP. Let’s replace this preposition UP with a few others that might lead us into a less self-centered piety, a less individual practice of discipline. Lent is far more about our entering into the heart of Christ and his passionate saving love for humankind, our stepping out of personal penance to be more loving, merciful and compassionate.
How about Giving TO? Or Giving FOR? Or Giving OF? Or Giving IN? Or Giving BY? Or Giving THROUGH? Continue reading →
A priest friend of mine once told me that more people go to church on Ash Wednesday than any other day except Christmas. Not just Catholics but people of all different faiths. They all come to get ashes on their foreheads. Why would they do this?
This visible symbol of our humanity reminds us that we are imperfect…that we make mistakes…that we need mercy and forgiveness. They also remind us that we must extend mercy and forgiveness to others for their imperfections also. Continue reading →
Are you still stressing over the new government in America? How many emails, snail mails, Facebook posts have you received telling you, commanding you, to write your Congress people, local government leaders, neighbors and anyone else who make decisions, to end this craziness; to tell Washington you are tired of the lies and the lack of justice. Continue reading →
I saw the film Hidden Figures recently. You should go see it too.
The film tells a story about Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), who were only a few of the many African-American women who worked at NASA’s space program, making possible the first orbital flight of John Glenn.
It is also a story about how personal humiliation perpetrated by NASA engineers draws out the resilience of the three women – and their resilience leads to a breakthrough by the engineers. Katherine, Dorothy and Mary were employed to do the computations needed for space flight before computers had names like IBM. In fact, they were called “computers.” Continue reading →