Lent with St. Clare: Fifth Friday
March 31, 2023
It’s Complicated
When I was a young man, I took a trip to the Grand Canyon and rode from the top to the basin on a mule. We reached the bottom in the late afternoon. I had supper, a really good cup of coffee, and I strolled by the Colorado River.
There’s something unique about watching the sunset from there at the bottom. You’re looking up the canyon wall and, high above, the sun drops lower and lower. Then the sun is gone. You move from light to shadow in a heartbeat. In the space of a breath, the summer air goes cold.
For me, losing a parent was like that.
Beyond Thoughts and Prayers
Thoughts and prayers are always immediately offered following a mass shooting or other deadly event. But how do we turn that into action to help prevent the next incident?
The Flip Side of the Joyful Mysteries
I find the joyful mysteries of the rosary to be, well, joyful. Their focus, of course, is on the wonderful, happy events in Jesus’ earthly life.
A Voice for Justice
Patty Crawford went up against Baylor University after hundreds of women bravely came forward with sexual assault allegations. Her faith is what got her through.
Mary, Our Muse
On the night the angel Gabriel visited Mary, as the biblical story goes, he asked her to bear a child who would be called Emmanuel, a name that means “God is with us. “
Saint Thomas, Beyond Doubt
Traditionally, he is called “Doubting Thomas.” Yet doubt is a wound that each of us shares. It is not necessarily a fatal wound, nor is it a flat-out rejection of our faith. I can picture myself that evening having a similar doubt. Maybe you can as well. We certainly have experienced doubt in our efforts to explain the faith to others. Sometimes we are rejected. More often, we have to unveil the beauty of our faith over time and with utmost patience.