Category: Reflections

Staying Sane While Secluded by Rose Marie Dunphy
While suffering marks our character, acts of kindness go a long way in making us whole. These are the moments our humanity can shine through and a new normal, one better than the one we left behind, can emerge.
May 15, 2020/by tac
A Spiritual Sisterhood of Faithful Women by Dorothy Yeomans
As a woman I claim this profound gift: love is poured out on me; I am then empowered to pour it out on others, as the women in my life have done so beautifully.
April 8, 2020/by tac
No Greater Intimacy by E. J. Sweeney
Consuming the body and blood of Christ is a wonderful, mystical union. It gives us an intimacy with God we never would have thought possible. But it also arouses a dangerous memory.
April 8, 2020/by tac
On Guidance by Wally Swist
It is not only our responsibility to learn the practice of vigilant listening for our own benefit but also, most specifically, to learn and institute this practice for the sake of all those around us.
April 8, 2020/by tac
Faith or Fear: An Ongoing Struggle by Fran Salone-Pelletier
Both of us felt the prophetic call to be ourselves, while not wishing to suffer both the agony and ecstasy of authenticity. We wanted to speak out—and, simultaneously, were afraid to say too much.
April 8, 2020/by tac
A New Covenant and a New Way of Forgiving by Ed Burns
The kind of forgiveness that Jesus brings into our lives is rooted in the belief and recognition that all creation is good, and it takes into account the fundamental worth of each person.
April 8, 2020/by tac
Writer’s Statement: On Beauty by Wally Swist
There are times when we seem to have an overview of our lives, when we view them as a tapestry that has been woven together of apparently disparate events but which we can now see as exhibiting a pattern.
March 15, 2020/by tac
Reflections on Two Hundred Years of Herman Melville: Part III: Into the Vortex by Leonard Engel
The third and final installment of an in-depth look at the spiritual, metaphysical, and moral questions of Melville's masterpiece.
March 15, 2020/by tac
The Compassion of Jesus Is Our Greatness by Gene Ciarlo
How different would our relationship to Jesus, to God, and to one another be if we lived not to be saved from the clutches of evil and eternal death but to give our lives in service to one another?
March 15, 2020/by tac
Striking Rock-Hard Stubbornness to Find Refreshing Grace by Fran Salone-Pelletier
Wells are everywhere. In every desert place, for every desert person, we are oases witnessing to the Lord’s strength.
March 15, 2020/by tac
The Holy Family by Paul Nyklicek
There is no human being anywhere on this planet that isn’t our brother or sister. There is no animal or plant that isn’t a relative. The land, the water, and the air are members of the same family to which we all belong.
March 15, 2020/by tac
The Forgotten Work of Mercy by Hank Mattimore
The aim of prison ministry is not to admonish others for what they have done but to enter into relationship, provide compassion, and, above all, to listen.
March 15, 2020/by tac
Reflections on Two Hundred Years of Herman Melville: Part II: Questing Souls at Sea by Leonard Engel
"[W]henever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can."
February 15, 2020/by tac
Praying Is More Than Saying Words by Fran Salone-Pelletier
It takes a lot of living and dying before one begins to understand the depth of prayerfulness. It means allowing God to be the up-lifter of what we think and carry deep within us.
February 15, 2020/by tac