Franciscan Spirit
Maternal Wisdom on the Mother Road
Perhaps the most iconic emblem of Americana is the nostalgic and, at one time, singularly essential stretch of highway known as Route 66. Known universally as the “Mother Road,” I often wondered how this namesake came to be. In bucket-list ...
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Elizabeth of Hungary: Beloved Sister in a Troubled World
May I tell you the story of a woman who was married at 14 and dead at 24? Does that sound like the making of a tragedy? What if I told you she left home and family not once but ...
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Being and Making Peace Today
It may be my personality; it may be my mistrust of “righteous causes,” but I’ve never been one to join protest groups or to “work for peace,” as Franciscans are supposed to do. Yet, at the same time, my whole life ...
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All Souls’ Day: The Beauty of Each Life
On my first visit to Rome, I rushed to see St. Peter’s. It was a church I had drawn when I was in third grade after I read This is Rome by Miroslav Šašek. Of all the pictures in that ...
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The Unfolding of Peace
Often, I am haunted and healed by the words of the Spanish mystic Unamuno: “May God deny you peace but give you glory.” Unamuno’s tragic sense of life suggests that what too often passes for peace in our world is ...
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Five Truths to Remember as Political Tensions Intensify
Franciscans believe that God’s trajectory in the world is a humble one. God poured God’s very self into the universe, setting it into motion, and also became human through the person of Jesus Christ. So, what are the implications of ...
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Includes Saint of the Day, Minute Meditations, and Pause + Pray.
A Sacred Invitation: Laying Down our Power Before the Manger
It was mid-November when I began unpacking holiday crates and adorning our home with Christmas decorations. Perhaps it was the ongoing surge of dizzying news that made decorating for Christmas so early sound so enticing—a small bit of joy I could control amidst the uncontrollable chaos of the world…