There is a Longing

There were some vicious winds that swept through Ohio this past Saturday. They caused power outages for over 350,000 residents & businesses across the state. Gutters, siding, & shingles were ripped from many homes. Trampolines not anchored were blown into neighboring yards & fields. Trash cans were toppled over, spreading garbage all over yards & streets. Tree limbs, & in many cases, whole trees were downed. On a walk around our neighborhood Sunday afternoon, we had to step carefully around twigs & branches strewn across the sidewalks. I kept apologizing to my son because I kept kicking branches into his leg by accident.  Two days later, on my way to work, I passed a yard where two tall, mature trees had fallen, completely uprooted. Both were near the road & had fallen across the yard, thankfully not near the house itself. The root system on both trees had to have been at least four feet in diameter.  The strength of trees has always amazed me. As t...

"We give glory to you, Lord, who raised up Your cross to span the jaws of death like a bridge by which souls might pass from the region of the dead to the land of the living. We give glory to You who put on the body of a single mortalman and made it the source of life for every other mortal man."    (St. Ephrem of Edessa)

John 11:1-45   T he disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?" (vs. 8) So, Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go to die with Him." (vs. 16) Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (vs. 21) When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said to Him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (vs. 32) But some of them said, "Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died." (vs. 37) Martha, the dead man's sister, said to Him, "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days." (vs. 39) My Goodness! Don't they all sound like a bunch of Negative Nellys? Despite all the miracles Jesus had already performed by this point, they still doubted & questioned His actio...

From a young age, Blessed Jeanne Marie de Maille cherished a tender love for the Blessed Mother. She practiced acts of charity, prayer, and mortification as a means to attain perfection. Her father, a wealthy baron of Maille, died when Jeanne was just fifteen, leaving her under the guardianship of her grandfather. Already advanced in years, her grandfather saw fit to have her married, choosing as her husband the Baron Robert de Silly. Both remained chaste throughout their marriage and ordered their household in Christian fashion.  Later, when war broke out in England, the Baron was captured. Jeanne sold all of their possessions hoping to raise enough for his ransom. However, the Baron died shortly after obtaining freedom. Left with nothing, Jeanne withdrew from the world, embracing complete poverty. Devoting herself to prayer and care for the sick, Jeanne offered her life especially for priests and the universal Church. She moved into a small room near the Fransciscan church of Tou...

This past week, we watched an 8 part series on Formed about St. Teresa of Avila. Today's quote comes from the 6th episode. St. Teresa is speaking to Fr. Jerome Gracian, her spiritual director. During one of their conversations, he brought up the site for the next convent...Seville. She did not want to go there & expressed the desire to found the next convent in Madrid, adding that God called to her the night before. Fr. Gracian questioned whether it truly was God's call or something she had been planning.  The quote I'm sharing is his response to her honest reply that she had been planning a convent in Madrid for a while, but also felt it was a call from God. ********* "We should always mistrust the voice of God  when it fits our desires so suspiciously." (Fr. Jerome Gracian)

For today's Gospel reflection, I am revisiting a reflection I wrote three years ago, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. ************** March 22, 2020 At the beginning of today’s Gospel (John 9:1-41) , Jesus’ disciples ask Him, in regards to the blind man, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus’ reply, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” I was struck while listening to the homily during a televised Mass this morning, that a similar question can be raised in the uncertainty amid the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. We may be tempted to ask why this is happening in the world? Is it a punishment from God & if so, who sinned? I see all the criticisms of our government leaders either not doing enough early on or imposing unnecessary restrictions. I see the empty shelves in grocery stores & extra money being withdrawn from bank accounts, signs of fearful citizens not know...

                Born on August 11, 1888, Blessed Miguel Gomez Loza spent his early years tending to livestock and agricultural duties with his brother. He actively participated in Church activities and fostered a tender love for God and the Blessed Virgin. In 1912, he entered seminary, but finding he did not have a priestly vocation, Miguel decided to study law. In 1916 he began at the Catholic School of Law and later completed his studies at the Guadalajara School of Jurisprudence. In 1922 he married Maria Guadalupe Sanchez Barragan, and the couple conceived three children.  Throughout his life, Miguel partook in Catholic action, which included participating in the founding of multiple organizations, such as the Catholic Association of Mexican Youth and the National Catholic Party. He also joined the National League for the Defense of Religious Freedom. However, when religious conflict grew worse as Plutarco Elias Calles came into power...