faith
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I pray a lot of different prayers. I’ve got a whole lineup of them in the morning and in the evening and at points during the day and week. Some are scheduled, some are accidental. Some are scripted and beautiful, some are sighs and include some not-very-holy words. Some are questions and some are requests.…
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This week is a good reminder: Be careful what you ask for. Last week, I was at a conference and saw a guy who was wearing an American flag cross pin on his lapel. I didn’t get a chance to talk with him about what he was communicating with that choice, so I don’t mean…
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I’m hoping God prefers his prophets to be reluctant and conflicted. There’s a story from Jeremiah 28 that came up in Monday’s Mass readings and has stuck with me since. I’m no expert on the Old Testament, especially not the prophets, but I’ll do my best to give you an overview. We tend to think…
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Why are the disciples different from the crowd? There is a section from the Gospel of Matthew (13:10-17) in which the disciples ask Jesus why he talks to the crowd in parables, and Jesus’ answer has never really been that satisfying to me. Basically he says, you guys are special, so you get the decoded…
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Who’s really family? +++ “While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.’ “But he said in reply to the one who told him, ‘Who is my mother? Who…
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“As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free.” – Battle Hymn of the Republic, adapted from Julia Ward Howe’s 1861 poem Of all I’ve seen and heard over the last weekend, in which the United States of America celebrated the 250th anniversary of its independence, the line above continues…
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“Jeff! Ti aspetto da due anni!” Jeff! I’ve been waiting two years for you! Whenever we go to Assisi, we start each day with Mass. Six days a week, we walk down the hill from our hotel through town to the Basilica of Santa Chiara and settle into the intimate Chapel of San Giorgio (which…
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A good friend asked me, “Do you look at your faith differently – decades on – now that you have raised a girl child into a woman?” That seems like an appropriate topic for Father’s Day. It’s a great question, and unfortunately I need a running start to answer it. Lesser loves either prepare us…
Reading Francis 