February 2006
New fervor among young Italian Catholics: “I experimented with everything you can experiment with to find happiness. Now that I’ve left everything, I’ve found everything.” So says a 31-year-old Italian woman who took her final vows to become a cloistered nun. Sounds remarkably like Matthew 16:25: “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (from csmonitor.com)
Surprise me with some moment of beauty or pain
So that at least for the moment
I may be startled into seeing that you are here in all your splendor,
Always and everywhere,
Barely hidden,
Beneath,
Beyond,
Within this life I breathe.
I read the second piece in Ratzinger’s God Is Near Us; this one is called “God’s Yes and His Love.” I’ve not had time to process a coherent, complete response to it, so in the meantime, I’m simply going to present some passages that stood out to me:
On Jesus washing the disciples’ feet (John 13):
In this scene, the evangelist sums up, as it were, the whole of Jesus’ message, his life, and his Passion…
We went to the Upward basketball celebration tonight; Isaac, our first-grader, played a team sport for the first time and loved it. He told me yesterday, after his last game (in which he made his first basket!), that he would play Upward basketball every year until he graduates from high school and goes to college to become a zoo keeper. Zack played Upward basketball and soccer several years ago, and Anna is looking forward to serving as a cheerleader when she is old enough.…
Dilbert: “work-life balance”: Today’s comic offers a wonderful picture of the struggle to find balance. Dogbert offers a list of 11 priorities and tells his seminar participants that they can do only 3; work and holidays are two, and they can choose the remaining one.
In Vietnam, Christianity gains quietly: “Catholics are enjoying greater freedom in Vietnam. Some say the country’s economic liberalization is helping by opening the country to a free flow of ideas and information that is part and parcel of a modernized society. ‘Integration into the world means opportunities for dialogue with each other…’ ” (from the Christian Science Monitor)
Benny Tabalujan makes a compelling argument for honoring the sabbath in “Re-discovering Sabbath” in the most recent issue of Regent Business Review. Tabalujan explains that sabbath is not so much about resting as reflecting:
God used the sabbath to look over, reflect upon, enjoy and celebrate the work he performed. It follows that if work is about results, then sabbath is about reflection; if work is preoccupied with mission, then sabbath delves into meaning.…
Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.—Pope John XXIII
Kids Harmed When Parents Fight says that unresolved conflict between parents harms children. It’s not so much the presence of conflict between parents as the continuation of conflict that parents can’t or won’t resolve.
Yesterday, Creflo Dollar made reference to Isaiah 54:13, “All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace” (NIV). I read through the entire chapter today—several times—and I’m deeply moved. There are so many wonderful promises in this chapter:…
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Bible Translation
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.
Planned books:
- Reduce Me to Love: Unlocking the Secret for Lasting Joy by Joyce Meyer
Current books:
-
If You Will Ask: Reflections on the Power of Prayer by Oswald Chambers
-
The Illumined Heart: The Ancient Christian Path of Transformation by Frederica Mathewes-Green
-
The Divine Hours, Volume II: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime (Divine Hours) by Phyllis Tickle
Recent books:
- The Little Book of Hours: Praying With the Community of Jesus by The Community of Jesus
- Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness by Andrew Murray