Category: mercy
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Pope Francis’ Urbi et Orbi: A Lenten Examination of Conscience
We are careening toward a very different Holy Week. Traditionally, Lenten disciplines have been an exercise in additional self-control: we commit to pray a little extra, fast from something, give a little more. And we measure our Lent by how much self-control we exert in keeping those commitments we made. Maybe even in the face…
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Fortress or Field Hospital?
I’ve been reflecting on the current stage of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church as seen through the lens of moral foundations theory, because it seems to me that one of the dimensions of dissonance in the responses of Catholic factions to what’s been unfolding since the summer of ‘18 relates to the…
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On sin, love…and sisters
Today I had the honor and responsibility to lead a very informal service for my family in remembrance of my sister, Sharon. I’m not an ordained…anything, really, but it was a family-only thing at one of her favorite places, Whitey’s Fish Camp, and I was as qualified to lead a service as Whitey’s was to…
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Simpleton
I think the last time I blogged about anything, I banged out some lyrics to songs that had come up in my playlist, but I only referenced one song – Derek Minor’s Change The World (with guest Hollyn). Here’s the song with lyrics for the uninitiated. (I’m not typing it out.) It came up again tonight…
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The Most Jesus-y Thing My Church Does
Our church held it’s annual festival last weekend. Now, I grew up in a respectable Southern Protestant household, so this was foreign to my childhood. If we wanted to ride marginally safe spinny rides, our only outlet was the county fair. On its face, the festival is a pure sellout to the devil, raising money…
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The difficult grace of the passive voice
My wife is truly a saint in the making, and not only because she puts up with me. She has an unquenchable thirst for God – prioritizing prayer and study. She’s great at something I am horrible at – praying for others in her life, not only when they ask for it but just as part…
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What a hairless Mexican dog taught me about mercy
My first lesson in this Jubilee Year of Mercy came from a hairless Mexican dog and her owners over the New Year’s weekend. Chica, the dog in question, is owned by friends of ours. Over Thanksgiving, we house- and dog-sat for them, and my daughter, always passionate about dogs, bonded with Chica and her brother…
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What does mercy look like to…
What does mercy look like to me? Every time I’m confronted with my own failings, which is a lot, it’s remembering that God loves me more. It’s also every small kindness I receive and every chance to offer one to others. What does mercy look like to my family? It’s every person who lets on…
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What do we do with mercy?
Today, Pope Francis inaugurated the Jubilee Year of Mercy to help us bring to the forefront the role of divine mercy in our life and to “rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them.” Mercy is the place where God’s perfect love meets our…
Reading Francis 