I had occasion in recent days to spend a little time with a priest whose debilitating neurological disease has almost entirely robbed him of the ability to speak.
Author Archives: John Schroeder
Today’s find: Stammer
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Helpless, Helplessness, Holy Family, Simeon, Stammer, Vocations
Today’s find: Mary’s Song
Just before dawn this morning, I heard a prayer that took my breath away.
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Tags: Advent, Did You Know?, Hannah, Magnificat, Mary, Mary's Song, Samuel
Today’s find: An Advent minute well-spent
If the busy-ness of these final few days before Christmas has you feeling stressed out…
Or: if you have reason this year (or every year) for not feeling the joy that most of those around you seem to feel…
Or: If you have a sneaking suspicion that something’s missing from the “holiday season” as it’s celebrated in our culture today…
Or: If you could simply use some soothing, quiet time with the Lord…
Then you’d do well to meditate, along with the rest of the church, on the O Antiphons — one a day for the next seven days.
Here’s a link to help us do just that: the texts of the Antiphons, in Latin, English…and Gregorian chant:
Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.
IHS
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Today’s find: Impossible
Does anyone read ‘Letters to the Editor’ anymore? Once upon a time, I myself wrote them frequently…but have largely abandoned the practice, figuring that the explosion of social media outlets has more or less rendered obsolete such editorial epistles.
So it has intrigued me in recent days to see the flurry of public reaction – published by the local rag – following a story that appeared a week or so ago about the ‘hipster nativity scene’ displayed (along with many others) at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Belleville, IL.
Today’s find: Earnest
After spending a little time in the backyard with our grandson the other day, I’m thinking about giving him a new nickname: “Earnest”. (Ernie, for short).
At 15 months old, he’s turning out to be quite the hard worker—perhaps more diligent than his Gramps will ever be!
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Advent, Advent 2017, Earnest, Ernie, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Liberate, Liberation, Participate, Perspective, Power, Responsibility, Second Week of Advent
Today’s find: Firm
As one liturgical year ends and another begins, the Lectionary seems to strike a redundant note.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Advent, Firm, First Sunday of Advent, Fretting, God With Us, Gospel of Mark, Hope, kenosis, Lectionary, Liturgical Year
Today’s find: Soup
Encountered a little hiccup on the path toward the savory pot of turkey soup I had envisioned.
When I pulled open the produce drawer, it was practically empty: No celery. No carrots. And only the lame remnants of a Vidalia sweet onion. (It had seen better days.)
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Christ The King, Essential Ingredients, Feast of Christ The King, Matthew 25, Soup, Turkey Soup
Today’s find: Outsider
I’ve been listening to political promises long enough to know better. Still, this time of year tends to stir up in me a particular angst over one such promise in particular.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: ACA Open Enrollment, Affordable Care Act, Five foolish virgins, Five wise virgins, Healthcare.gov, Outsider, Patient Trust
Today’s find: Father Fix-It
I guess I wasn’t overly surprised at the crowd that showed up for the “social justice” lecture series at Saint Louis University the other day. The speaker, Fr. Gregory Boyle S.J., is a bit of a rock star as Jesuits go – the author of a New York Times bestseller, Tattoos On The Heart.
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Tags: Catholic Charities of St. Louis, Homeboy Industries, Lally Lecture, SLU, Social Justice, Tattoos On The Heart
With Us Still 