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Advent: A Time to See the Incredible in the Ordinary
Advent is a time to lose our skepticism and see ‘incredible things’ every day.
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How to change regular waiting into holy waiting
I volunteer as a case manager at a Strong Life Rescue Mission one day a week. The non-profit assists the homeless with their basic needs. One of my assignments is to help them acquire proper identification and a social security card. These are often the first steps to help a person transition from homelessness into a job and ultimately find adequate housing. As such, I frequent the DMV and the Social Security offices, two governmental agencies synonymous with long waits. I sometimes wait for an hour or more. The check-in process is modernized but still involves lining up to get a number, watching the screen, and anxiously waiting for your number…
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How to prevent spiritual erosion during the holidays
I’m spending the week on the coast of North Carolina with my family for Thanksgiving. I love being with friends and family, but it takes its toll on my spiritual life. It’s hard to maintain my normal rhythm of prayer and meditation. I hear many who meet with me for spiritual direction say the same. This week will be especially challenging. In our travels, I’ll be sleeping in three different locations. On my first walk down the beach, I saw sand fences. They are built to prevent erosion of the sand dunes. As I considered the week ahead, I realized that I might need some spiritual ‘sand fencing’ to avoid the…
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How to steal the heart of Jesus
I saw an interesting tree on my hike around Lake Norman State Park. A portion of the tree was growing horizontally, about eye level, probably bent over as a sapling by a fallen tree, now long gone. It provided a perfect woodsy billboard for someone to carve, “He stole my heart.” This is a term of deep affection. The ‘thief’ has caused another to fall madly in love with him. In the beautiful love story described in the Song of Songs, the term comes up again: You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eye. (Song of Songs, 4:9, NIV)…
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An unusual scripture to find hope
What’s the point of apocalyptic writings? To give hope. It is specially written to provide hope to people undergoing some trial. Apocalyptic language is written for the dispossessed, the oppressed, the persecuted, the suffering, the people crying out for relief. There are two hopes – one future hope and one present hope.
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Extending God’s Care to the One in Charge
Last week at the Lanteri Center for Ignatian Spirituality I completed training to learn how to be a supervisor of spiritual directors. In spiritual direction, a supervisor is not what you might think, i.e. a ‘boss’ to oversee and critique the spiritual director. The supervisor is more like another spiritual director, there to help the actual spiritual director explore and deepen his or her awareness of God during a particular spiritual direction session. Having a supervisor is a ‘best practice’ for all spiritual directors. In the opening remarks, the instructor said something that stuck with me, not only as a spiritual director but as one who spends a lot of…
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Finding love in the to-do list
This time of year, blowing leaves seems to be a never-ending task. I live on four wooded acres. I spend more time blowing leaves in the Fall than cutting grass throughout the growing season. “Blow leaves” is one of the items on the to-do list my wife wrote out for me today. I’ve been a homeowner long enough to know to blow the leaves, cut the grass, and clean the gutters. All of which can be drudgery. I’ve discovered, however, that when my wife writes these activities on a to-do list, they take on a new significance. I’m doing them for another person. I am doing them out of love. With love…
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What do want me to do for you?
“What do you want me to do for you?” This is a question that Jesus asked the blind Bartimaeus. Not surprisingly he answered, “Master, I want to see.” It’s a question that runs through my mind at Strong Life, a rescue mission for homeless people. “What do you want me to do for you?” I volunteer as a case manager on Wednesdays. I thought this was a good way to use my skills and felt the Lord calling me to serve marginalized populations. After a couple of weeks, I realized that ‘case manager’ also means I drive the bus. I make a trip to the Salvation Army shelter…
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¿Qué necesitas dejar atrás?
sa es una pregunta muy interesante de Jesús: ¿Qué quieres que haga por ti? El ciego Bartimeo respondió: “Maestro, que pueda ver.” Si Jesús te hiciera la misma pregunta, ¿cómo responderías?: ¿Qué quieres que haga por ti? Piensa en esa respuesta por un minuto o dos mientras hablo sobre la pregunta. La pregunta revela tres puntos sobre cómo se relaciona Jesús con nosotros. El primer punto, la pregunta muestra vulnerabilidad. Jesús no sabe cómo responderá el ciego. Al hacer la pregunta, muestra una disposición a ir a donde la otra persona quiere ir. ¿Qué quieres que haga por ti?
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What do you need to leave behind?
Homily for the 30th Sunday: Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mk 10:46-52) That’s quite a question from Jesus: What do you want me to do for you? The blind Bartimaeus answered, “I want to see.” If Jesus were to ask you the same question, how would you answer: What do you want me to do for you? Think about that answer for a minute or two while I talk about the question. The question reveals a few things about how Jesus relates to us. First of all, the question…
