What is serious to men is often very trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as “play” is perhaps what He Himself takes most seriously. At any rate the Lord plays and diverts Himself in the garden of His creation, and if we could let go of our own obsession with what we think is the meaning of it all, we might be able to hear His call and follow Him in His mysterious,... Read more

Note: This is the seventh in a series of eight reflections over the season of Easter on the practice of resurrection. The gospel reading for the seventh week of Easter shows us Jesus’ ascension, which is ultimately a journey home again. Our own practice of resurrection calls us home, but we may wonder how we know if we have reached the destination. In our endless seeking and searching, sometimes we miss the reality: home has always been with us. The path was to... Read more

Note: This is the sixth in a series of eight reflections over the season of Easter on the practice of resurrection. In the gospel reading for the sixth Sunday, Jesus invites us to abide in love and peace. Certainly this is a process, a pilgrimage journey toward the resurrection gifts of love and peace Think of all of the love songs, movies about love, poems about love, romance novels, paintings of love, and other expressions of what love is. In many... Read more

Note: This is the second in a series of eight reflections over the season of Easter on practicing resurrection. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” ~ John 20:24-25 “Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. We joyfully announce it. [And yet] I realize that my faith and unbelief are never far from each other. Maybe it is... Read more

This is the first in a series of eight reflections over the season of Easter on practicing resurrection. Lent is such a powerful season of pilgrimage through the desert, calling us to return to God with our whole hearts. We arrive at Easter eager to celebrate the reality of new life out of death, but sometimes forget this is another, even longer season, rather than a single day of celebration. What does 50 days of practicing resurrection look like? What would... Read more

Don’t surrender your loneliness so quickly. Let it cut more deep. Let it ferment and season you as few human Or even divine ingredients can. Something missing in my heart tonight Has made my eyes so soft, My voice so tender, My need of God Absolutely clear. —Hafiz Holy Week invites us into a world full of betrayal, abandonment, mockery, violence, and ultimately death. The Triduum, those three sacred days which constitute one unfolding liturgy, call us to experience communion,... Read more

  Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole soil with the plowshare of self-examination, but leave a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the winds may bring, and reserve a nook of shadow for the passing bird; keep a place in your heart for the unexpected guests, an altar for an unknown God. — from Amiel’s Journal, translated by Mrs. Humphrey Ward John Cassian, one of the ancient desert... Read more