February 16/Friday after Ash Wednesday For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always: “Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight.” ~ Ps 51.5-6 One of my favorite New Yorker cartoons depicts a man and a woman facing each other. Her arms are folded, forbiddingly, across her chest. The man is…
February 15/Thursday after Ash Wednesday Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. ~ Ps 1.1-2 In the past several years, a number of surveys…
February 14/Ash Wednesday Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion, wipe out my offenses. ~ Ps 51.3 On this Ash Wednesday, which by a whim of the calendar is also Valentine’s Day, we are called to turn from the sweet delights of the world to the dust and ashes of the penitential season. …
SONGS FOR LENT 2018: Podcast Information Dear Friends, Starting tomorrow, America Media will be running podcasts of the daily reflections. Here is the information for those who are interested. — — — — — — — — — — — — — To subscribe to “The Word” from an Apple device visit: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-word/id1320295636?mt=2 To subscribe from “The Word” from an Android…
This year’s Lenten reflections will begin on Ash Wednesday, February 14th. There will be a reflection each day of Lent except Sunday, which is a feast day. If you wish to receive reflections this year and are not already on the e-mail list, or if you have friends or colleagues who might be interested, the sign-up form is in the box to the…
December 24/Fourth Sunday of Advent “I have been with you wherever you went.” ~ 2 Sam 7.9 Some people have a knack for picking out wonderful gifts — a book that delights, a scarf that adorns, a kitchen gadget that saves time. Others of us worry, as we put the last presents under the tree, whether we have chosen well. Will…
December 23/Third Saturday of Advent And all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. ~ Luke 1.65 Several years ago, a poem appeared in the New Yorker, composed by the Italian Giovanni Pascoli and translated by the late, great Seamus Heaney, that reads: “In a huddle by the fence/Neighbour women, hard at the usual talk: About so…
December 22/Third Friday of Advent Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” ~ Luke 1.46 Decades ago, after successfully completing interviews that would propel me to the final round of a scholarship competition, I floated into the car for the long drive home and immediately popped the Hallelujah chorus from…
December 21/Third Thursday of Advent Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry . . .“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” ~ Luke 1.45 There is irony in Elizabeth’s praise of Mary’s faithfulness. After all, the older woman had experienced firsthand the ramifications of not trusting in God’s promises. At the…
December 20/Third Wednesday of Advent Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. ” ~ Luke 1.38 The culture in which we live and breathe sometimes seems to idolize the extreme and the extraordinary. Leading an ordinary life is not enough: we have to be the best,…