One Catholic Life: Recent Episodes
One Catholic Life
One of the funniest and most famous scenes in all of literature
comes near the beginning of the novel Don Quixote.
Don Quixote and his faithful companion, Sancho Panza,
are riding across the plains of Spain,
a knight and his squire,
out to right wrongs and protect the vulnerable.
Suddenly Don Quixote points into the distance.
“Look there!” he cries. “Monstrous giants!”
Sancho squints into the sun.
“Giants? Those aren’t giants. Those are windmills.”
But Don Quixote is convinced.
He lowers his lance, charges across the field,
and is promptly knocked head over heels off his horse
by one of the windmill’s rotating sails.
We can imagine poor Sancho
helping his bruised and battered friend back onto his horse,
shaking his head and wondering,
“Why in the world did I ever decide to travel
with this impossible old man?”
It’s a famously funny scene,
but it’s also the beginning of one of the greatest friendships in literature.
That friendship came to mind when I read today’s Gospel.
Because Jesus says something that can sound almost impossible:
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
Those are strong words, and they can be hard to make sense of.
Is Jesus really asking us to love him more than our families?
Doesn’t that seem to contradict everything else we’ve been taught
about honoring our parents and loving our neighbors?
But I think the key to understanding this line
is found in a single Greek word that gets translated as “love.”
In English we use the word “love” for lots of different purposes:
We love pizza, and baseball, and music.
But we also love our spouses, our children, our friends.
Those are very different kinds of love.
The New Testament was written in Greek,
and the Greek language actually has several different words
for the several different kinds of love.
The Greek word for love that we may have heard before is agape—
God’s self-giving, sacrificial love.
We often hear that in the context of Scripture.
“God is love,” says the first letter of John.
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.”
The word for love in that passage is agape – God’s self-sacrificial love.
But that’s not the word for love used in today’s Gospel.
Instead, Matthew uses the Greek verb phileō,
which means ‘to love as a friend,’ ‘to cherish,’ or ‘to be fond of.’
It’s the same family of words that gives us “Philadelphia”—
the City of Brotherly Love.
Today Jesus is speaking about friendship.
He is saying, in effect,
“Whoever prefers the friendship of father or mother to my friendship…”
“Whoever prefers the friendship of son or daughter to my friendship…”
This Gospel reading is less about what Jesus demands from us
than about what Jesus desires for us:
a friendship so deep that every other love finds its proper place.
The spiritual writer Fr. William Barry spent much of his life
reflecting on prayer as friendship with God.
He believed the deepest question of prayer isn’t,
“What do I want from God?”
The deeper question is:
“What does God want?”
And Barry’s answer is remarkably simple.
God wants our friendship.
Sometimes we imagine that what God wants most is our obedience.
Or our worship.
Or our moral improvement.
Certainly those things matter.
But before all of those, God desires relationship.
Jesus doesn’t simply want followers.
He wants friends.
That is exactly what he tells the disciples at the Last Supper:
“I no longer call you servants… I have called you friends.”
Friendship has a remarkable power.
The people we spend our lives with slowly shape us.
We begin to laugh at the same things.
We borrow one another’s expressions.
We begin to care about the things our friends care about.
Not because we lose ourselves.
But because friendship transforms us.
That is exactly what happens to Sancho Panza.
At the beginning of the novel, he is the practical one.
He rolls his eyes at Don Quixote’s impossible dreams.
He sees windmills where Don Quixote sees giants.
He sees dusty roads where Don Quixote sees glorious adventures.
He spends much of the story trying to bring his friend back to reality.
But something quietly happens over the course of their years together.
Without even noticing it,
Sancho begins to see the world through his friend’s eyes.
He starts speaking Don Quixote’s language.
He becomes more generous.
More hopeful.
More willing to believe that the world might be larger and more beautiful
than he once imagined.
The greatest gift Don Quixote gives Sancho isn’t wealth or success.
It’s a new way of seeing.
William Barry would say that this is exactly what happens
in friendship with Christ.
Prayer isn’t simply reciting words.
Prayer is spending time with someone.
Someone who already loves us.
Someone who delights in us.
Someone who wants to share his life with us.
Sometimes prayer is beautiful.
Sometimes it feels dry.
But think about your oldest friendships.
Not every conversation is profound.
Not every visit changes your life.
Friendship isn’t built on extraordinary moments.
It is built by showing up.
Again and again.
Jesus doesn’t ask us to admire him from a distance.
He asks us to travel with him.
Every time we open the Scriptures…
Every time we receive the Eucharist…
Every time we spend a few quiet minutes in prayer…
Jesus is saying,
“Walk with me a little farther.”
And if we keep walking with him, something begins to happen.
Little by little, almost without realizing it,
we begin to dream Christ’s dreams.
We notice people we once ignored.
We forgive people we never thought we could forgive.
We become more patient.
More merciful.
More generous.
Jesus’ heart slowly becomes our heart.
That is why today’s Gospel is not asking us to love our families less.
It is inviting us to love Christ so deeply
that his friendship becomes the center
from which every other relationship flows.
What Jesus is saying today is:
the single most important friendship of our lives
is friendship with Him,
and without it we may as well not even call ourselves his disciples.
Because friendship with Christ doesn’t compete with human love.
It perfects it.
It enlarges it.
It teaches us how to love.
Near the end of Don Quixote, there is another unforgettable scene.
The old knight has come home.
His adventures are over.
He is dying.
His dreams seem to have ended.
And suddenly something unexpected happens.
The practical Sancho—
the same Sancho who once insisted that windmills were only windmills—
is now the one pleading with his old friend not to give up.
“Come,” he says. “Let’s go back out into the countryside.
Let’s have one more adventure.”
Somewhere along the journey,
Sancho had begun to dream his friend’s dreams.
That is what friendship had done.
Not because Don Quixote forced him.
Not because he argued him into it.
Simply because they had walked together for so long.
That, I think, is what Jesus is talking about today.
He is not asking us to admire him from afar.
He is inviting us to walk beside him, day by day, moment by moment.
To let his friendship quietly shape the way we see everything else.
And perhaps that leaves us with one simple question.
Not first,
“Do I believe in Jesus?”
Not even,
“Do I love Jesus?”
But,
“Am I becoming his friend?”
Because if we keep walking with him…
if we keep praying…
if we keep listening…
if we keep returning to this table…
then one day we may discover that,
almost without noticing it,
we have begun to dream Christ’s dreams.
And when that happens,
every other love in our lives will have found its proper place.
Happy New Year! As has been my practice for over 17 years, today is the day I take to reflect on the past year of reading, list my favorite books of the year, and look forward to the year ahead.
As I look back on 2025, I see a change in my reading habits due to two separate factors. First, I made the deliberate decision to move away from an annual reading goal based on number of books read, and instead began a more intentional focus on reading more slowly and deeply. This is part of a larger goal to live a more contemplative lifestyle, savoring the present moment and appreciating things in more detail. In other words, to live more deeply and less hastily. In the case of reading, what this means is summarized beautifully by Mortimer Adler: “It’s not how many books you get through, it’s how many books get through you.” As 2026 begins, I will not be making an annual goal on Goodreads to finish a certain number of books. In fact, I will not be using Goodreads anymore to track reading progress or books read. For years I have used both Goodreads and LibraryThing, and I have decided to simplify things by only using LibraryThing. In April I will be celebrating my 20th year using LibraryThing to catalog my books, and it has everything I need to organize my reading life. So, farewell Goodreads and the self-imposed pressure of trying to read a certain number of books per year.
The second factor that had an impact on my reading was a major job change. After seven years as a school administrator, I have returned to the classroom as a high school theology teacher. I love teaching, and it is so fulfilling to be back in the classroom in direct contact with students. The transition, however, has required a lot of preparation outside of the school day, and this has heavily impacted my available time for reading. But I am confident that as I move through the rest of the school year the impact will decrease and I will once again have the time I need for the kind of deep reading that is so crucial to my well being.
Even with those two changes in my reading in 2025, I still had a very productive year. According to LibraryThing, I read over 9,000 pages, which averaged out to 25 pages per day. That gives me a good sense of how much time to carve out each day in order to prioritize reading. And when I look back on the books I read in 2025, I wasn’t disappointed in their ability to inspire, inform, and transform.
Favorite Reads of 2025When compiling my list of favorite reads, I primarily consider those books that moved me the most in this particular year, rather than which ones I think are of the highest quality. The two criteria often intersect, but not always. With that in mind, here are my top ten books of the year:
- Roots by Alex Haley
- Metamorphoses by Ovid
- Henry David Thoreau: A Life by Laura Dassow Walls
- He Leadeth Me by Walter J. Ciszek
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
- The Tears of Things by Richard Rohr
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
- King Henry V by William Shakespeare
- Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
- Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Looking Ahead to 2026 – The Year of TolstoyI am very excited for the coming year in reading. I am calling 2026 the Year of Tolstoy. A few years ago I hosted the War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-Along, and since then I have wanted to delve more deeply into Tolstoy’s body of work. That’s one of the reasons that I am hosting the 2026 Leo Tolstoy Chapter-a-Day Read-Along, featuring the books Anna Karenina and Resurrection. I look forward to savoring these books slowly, taking them one chapter a day. But that’s only the beginning. In addition to the read-along, I will also be reading the following by Tolstoy:
- A Calendar of Wisdom: This is a sort of daily devotional edited by Tolstoy that collects “the wisdom of the centuries in one book.” In his introduction to the English translation of the book, Peter Sekirin writes, “It was [Tolstoy’s] own favorite everyday reading book, a book he would turn to regularly for the rest of his life.” Each day it features several quotes by the world’s most profound thinkers, organized around a particular theme, and which includes commentary by Tolstoy. I will be reading this book daily in 2026 in parallel with Anna Karenina and Resurrection. If you’re curious about its contents, check out the online version created by Rory Flint.
- What Is Art?: I have just started this book that Tolstoy wrote in 1897, one of his last works. In it, I hope to better understand Tolstoy’s own view of art and how it might shed light on his other works.
- Collected Shorter Fiction in 2 Volumes: This boxed set from Everyman’s Library contains most of Tolstoy’s short stories and novellas. Notable stories include “God Sees the Truth, but Waits,” “What Men Live By,” “Where Love is, God is,” “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” and “Hadji Murad.”
In addition to the Year of Tolstoy, I am also looking forward to participating as much as possible in the Hardcore Literature Bookclub schedule of books for 2026, especially the following:
- Ancient Greek tragedy by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides
- The Idiot by Dostoyevski – Should make for interesting comparison to Tolstoy
- The poetry of William Blake
- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
- The Bhagavad Gita – Especially interesting to me because of Thoreau’s interest in it
- Volumes One and Two of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
- Confessions by St. Augustine
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- Beowulf
- On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
- The annual secret Dickens novel
This is an ambitious list, and I may not get to all of these, but these are the titles I am most interested in.
Finally, I am aiming for a slight change in the format of the books I read. I am going to experiment with reading more of my Everyman’s Library and Britannica Great Books of the Western World volumes this year, rather than trade paperback editions like Penguin Classics. I will also be mixing in some Kindle editions, too, to see how that affects my goal to read slowly and deeply.
I hope 2025 was a good reading year for you and I wish you a Happy New Reading Year, along with many blessings to you and your family!
Today is Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday.
We light the rose colored candle.
We hear words like rejoice and be glad.
And yet, maybe many of us arrive here a little tired.
Advent days are dark. The world is loud.
This season that’s supposed to be joyful
is often when things feel the heaviest, the most stressful.
Which makes today’s readings comforting.
Because every one of them speaks to us right where we are.
Not to people who have it all figured out,
not to people whose lives are all put together and perfect;
but to people who are waiting, struggling,
and wondering how God really is at work in our lives.
Isaiah is speaking to a weary people in exile
who have been disappointed too many times.
The Israelites are in Babylon,
uprooted from their homes,
900 miles away from the Promised Land,
wondering why this is happening to them.
James writes to a suffering community under strain,
and says—not “be cheerful,” but be patient.
And John the Baptist, Advent’s great prophet,
is sitting in prison with time to think—and doubt.
John sends messengers to Jesus with a very human question:
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
This is not a casual question.
This is the question of someone who worked tirelessly for God—
and now finds himself imprisoned,
and unsure of what has happened to him.
And I think that’s where many of us live,
as we look at the events of our lives.
There’s an old story that captures this experience perfectly.
It’s something I use with my freshman Old Testament classes,
and it goes like this:
There once was a wise old farmer who owned a horse.
That horse was his entire livelihood.
One day, the horse escaped its corral and fled into the hills.
“Bad news,” his neighbors said.
“Bad news, good news—who can say?” the wise old farmer replied.
The next day, the horse returned, leading back ten wild horses.
“Good news!” the neighbors said.
“Good news, bad news—who can say?” the wise old farmer replied.
The next day, the farmer’s son was thrown by one of the wild horses,
and broke his leg.
“Bad news!” the neighbors said.
“Bad news, good news—who can say?” the wise old farmer replied.
The next day an enemy attacked the village
and took away all the able-bodied men.
The old farmer’s injured son was left behind.
This time the neighbors said nothing.
This story reminds us that we don’t see the whole arc of our life
as we’re living it,
and we do not know how everything turns out.
The Advent Scriptures are full of these moments.
Think about Zechariah, who hears from an angel
that he and Elizabeth will have a child in their old age. Good news!
But then he is struck mute. Bad news.
Or think of Joseph, excited about his engagement to Mary. Good news!
Then he hears that she is pregnant.
Bad news.
Then he finds out that she has been chosen as mother of the Messiah.
Good news!
John the Baptist himself is in a similar situation today.
He has prepared the way for the Messiah.
He preached courageously. He baptized Jesus. Good news!
And where does that faithfulness lead him?
A prison cell. Bad news.
From there, John asks himself:
Did I misunderstand the story?
Did I think this was good news,
only to have it turn out to be bad news?
He can’t say.
He recognizes that he does not have the perspective
to know how this will all turn out.
So he turns to Jesus and asks him,
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
Jesus doesn’t answer John with explanations, but offers signs:
The blind regain sight.
The lame walk.
The poor hear good news.
In other words: yes, God is working—
but not according to our timelines
or our expectations.
Good news, bad news—who can say?
That’s also what the letter of James says to us today:
“Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.”
Patient doesn’t mean passive.
It means trusting that God is at work even when outcomes are unclear.
Patience says, “I don’t yet know what this will mean.”
Patience says, “I will not rush to despair—or false certainty.”
That’s deeply countercultural.
We live in a world that demands instant judgments and quick conclusions.
Advent trains us differently.
It teaches us how to live in the middle.
In the space where we don’t yet know
whether something will turn out the way we hoped—or not at all.
In the space where faith is less about answers and more about trust.
This is why Gaudete Sunday matters.
We rejoice—not because everything is resolved—
but because God is faithful in our unresolved places.
The prophet Isaiah doesn’t promise immediate relief.
He promises strength for feeble hands and firmness for knocking knees.
He promises that God comes—not always quickly, but always truly.
Some of us, maybe most of us,
are carrying questions this Advent that have no quick answers.
We’re waiting for clarity.
We’re waiting for healing.
We’re waiting for reconciliation.
We’re waiting for something to make sense.
And the wisdom of Scripture today is very gentle, but very clear.
It says: Stay awake. Stay faithful. Stay patient.
God’s story with you is not finished yet.
And that’s why Gaudete joy is quieter than Christmas joy.
It’s the joy of someone who knows that God is near—
even when they can’t see the ending.
It’s the joy of trusting in the slow work of God.
Jesus is our model of patient trust.
The Son of God came into this world. Good news!
He was put to death on the cross. Bad news.
But he rose again on the third day. Good news!
In just a few moments,
we will come forward to receive Christ in the Eucharist—
hidden and humble.
He is the same One who comes into our unfinished stories.
When we leave this church today and face the week ahead—
with its mix of reliefs and disappointments—
let this be enough to help us rejoice on this Gaudete Sunday.
Not because everything is perfect,
and not because we have all the answers,
but because God is at work in every chapter of our story.
We rejoice because the Lord is close.
We rejoice because Christ is already healing,
already coming, already saving.
We rejoice because the deepest truth of our lives is not our hardships,
but God’s faithfulness in the middle of them.
So maybe this week, when life brings us something unexpected—
something that feels wonderful, or terrible, or confusing—
maybe we can pause and whisper a little Advent prayer:
“Good news, bad news…
Lord, only You can say.”
Did you hear about the treasure buried in the Spokane area?
About a month ago I was driving out in the valley
and I saw a big billboard that said
there was a $10,000 treasure chest buried nearby.
The billboard gave a web address,
and each day a clue was posted to help lead you to the treasure.
You could even see a livestream of the big X on the ground
where the treasure was buried.
Now before you go out looking for it,
the treasure has already been found.
It was real.
There really was $10,000 buried in ground just outside Rockford.
A father-and-son team found it after about five days of searching.
I mention that because in today’s gospel Jesus talks about treasure and money bags.
Money has been part of the human condition for a long time,
in many different forms.
First people would barter—trading livestock or sacks of grain—
but that was bulky, heavy, and hard to carry.
Then came metal coins,
easier to store but they could still weigh down a purse.
Paper money made our treasure even lighter,
and checkbooks meant you didn’t have to carry cash at all.
Plastic cards made it even easier.
And now digital payments let us access our money from our phones,
protected by passwords and fingerprints.
And what the heck is cryptocurrency?
As money has evolved, so have the various ways we work
to make our “money bags” more and more secure.
In the old days Pirates buried treasure in the ground on remote islands,
and apparently we still like searching for the X that marks the spot.
People hid money under mattresses.
Nations built vaults like Fort Knox.
Now that our wealth is mostly digital,
we have things like two-factor authentication.
Whether it’s the kinds of money we have,
or the ways we’re trying to secure it,
we’re constantly thinking about our treasure.
My friend Larry was a guy who thought a lot about treasure, too.
Larry was a colleague of mine,
and he was in charge of all the assets at his organization,
all of its treasure, you might say.
It was one of his primary responsibilities.
But one day there was a hostile takeover at the top,
and the new boss was ruthless.
He got rid of all the higher-ups.
Then he demanded that Larry hand over everything to him.
All the assets.
Every piece of property.
Every last coin.
He wanted all the treasure, you could say.
That treasure was his sole focus.
But as we hear in today’s Gospel,
“…where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
His heart was on all of that treasure.
Which brings us to the questions Jesus invites us to consider today:
“What do I treasure most?”
“Where is my heart right now?”
Jesus tells us, “The Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”
An “inexhaustible treasure.”
He says, “Get a bag ready, a bag that will not wear out.”
Why a bag that will not wear out?
Because God keeps giving and giving and giving,
and you don’t want to miss any of it.
God’s treasure is given constantly.
Every new day is a treasure.
The oxygen we breathe.
The warmth of sunshine, the food on our tables,
the love and support of friends and family,
the work we’re able to do,
the roads we travel on, (even during construction season!),
and countless other blessings we barely notice–
all of these are part of God’s treasure for us.
And God’s treasure doesn’t only arrive in bright, happy packages.
Some of the deepest treasures come wrapped in challenges,
in moments that stretch us,
in times when we can’t see the whole picture yet.
God is present in both the sunlight and in the rain,
in the gentle breeze and in the stagnant or smoke-filled air.
The treasure is there for us,
we just need to open our “money bag” to receive it,
to gather it in.
One practical way to do this is to make a regular practice
of reviewing each day in prayer,
noticing what treasures God has given you lately,
how he has “filled your bag.”
You’re probably familiar with one of the most popular of those practices,
what St. Ignatius of Loyola called the Examen.
If you’re not familiar with the Examen, not to worry.
As most of you know, I am an educator,
and school is approaching,
so I feel it is my moral obligation to give you some homework.
When you leave here today,
I invite you to take a handout of instructions for praying the Examen.
Or you can also look up an Examen online
or in apps like Hallow or Pray As You Go.
Now, I have no way of checking your homework,
but God will know.
Doing a practice like this daily will help us
when our heart gets locked on other treasures,
and when we miss out on seeing the real treasure.
But that’s not what happened to my friend Larry.
Larry’s heart was right where it should be.
When the new boss asked for all the treasure,
Larry asked for three days to gather it up,
and the new boss agreed,
after all, he wanted everything.
So Larry went to work.
He gathered up all the assets,
but instead of giving them to his new boss,
Larry did something else with it.
Larry gave it away to those who were in need.
All of it.
And on the third day,
Larry returned to his boss.
The boss was ready, greedy, impatient.
“Where is the treasure?” he demanded.
Larry stepped aside,
and through the doorway they came:
the poor, the blind, the sick, the suffering.
Larry pointed to them and said,
“These are the treasure.”
Well, of course the boss was furious,
and he had Larry axed.
Literally.
Well, not axed exactly,
but placed on a grill over coals
where he died a martyr’s death.
For Larry was St. Lawrence, Deacon of Rome in the 3rd century.
As deacon, Lawrence was responsible
for all the material goods of the Church in Rome.
And it was the Emperor Valerian who had come to power,
and ordered the deaths of all bishops, priests, and deacons,
and who had had Pope Sixtus killed,
and who had demanded all the treasures of the Church.
And St. Lawrence knew that the treasures of the Church were the people,
especially the most vulnerable.
St. Lawrence refused to give the material treasure to Valerian,
and he paid for his defiance with his life.
This weekend is the feast of St. Lawrence the Deacon, August 10,
the anniversary of his martyrdom, his heavenly birthday.
Valerian might have taken Lawrence’s life,
but his treasure?
His real treasure?
Safe.
Where no thief could reach or moth destroy.
Today we are called to check that our bags are prepared
to receive the treasure that God has in store for us,
and to look at where our heart lies.
March is a restless month.
One day it feels like spring,
the next, winter comes roaring back
with a sudden snowstorm, like this weekend.
Across the country, the weather has been wild:
tornadoes, windstorms, wildfires.
In many ways our world feels like a storm right now.
The headlines change by the hour—
inflation on the rise, financial markets dropping,
people being detained,
protests in the streets, arguments online.
Some are afraid of what’s happening,
others don’t mind so much,
and still others just feel exhausted by it all.
And in the middle of this storm,
we gather here, in this church,
on this Second Sunday of Lent,
and we hear this Gospel—
this mysterious moment on the mountaintop
when Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James, and John.
At first, this scene might not seem to have much to say
about our world today.
But actually it speaks to us precisely because we are feeling shaken,
uncertain, and divided.
Because in the middle of all the dazzling light
and the appearance of Moses and Elijah,
there is one voice that breaks through the noise,
through the dark cloud.
The voice of the Father, saying:
“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
The world is very loud right now.
There are voices from every side telling us what to believe,
what to fear, who to blame.
Some voices say we should be outraged.
Others say we should be celebrating.
Some voices cry out in pain and fear.
Others dismiss those concerns.
And if we’re honest with ourselves, really honest,
most of us don’t just hear the noise—we add to it.
We argue, we react, we post, we judge.
It’s easy to get caught up in the storm,
to pick our side, to raise our voice,
to believe that if we shout loud enough,
we can fix the world or win the argument.
But today, on this mountain,
God the Father speaks through the noise and tells us:
Listen.
Not to the politicians.
Not to the media.
Not to the voices of fear or anger or division.
Listen to Him.
Listen to Jesus.
And what does Jesus say?
A quick review of the Gospel reminds us:
He tells us to love our enemies.
To welcome the stranger.
To care for the poor.
To seek the lost.
To be peacemakers.
To take up our cross.
That is not the voice of the world.
That is not the voice of social media.
That is not the voice of power or ideology.
But it is the only voice that will lead us through this storm.
Listen to Him.
Listening sounds simple.
But it is not.
Because real listening changes us.
It forces us to put aside our own assumptions.
It humbles us.
It makes us slow down when we want to react.
We see this in Peter today.
Peter, who always has something to say.
Peter, who, at this moment, is so overwhelmed
that he just starts talking:
“Let’s build three tents! Let’s stay here!”
He’s doing what we all do
when we don’t know what to do—
he fills the silence with words.
But God the Father interrupts him.
“This is my Son. Listen to Him.”
Stop talking.
Stop reacting.
Just listen.
That’s a hard thing to do.
Because sometimes listening to Jesus
means hearing things we don’t want to hear.
Forgive that person.
Let go of that resentment.
Trust me even when you’re afraid.
Speak truth even when it costs you something.
Choose love when anger feels easier.
This is hard to hear.
But this is the Gospel.
And the only way to hear those things
the only way to listen to Jesus
is if we make space for silence.
For prayer.
For reflection.
If we’re constantly filling every moment with noise—
scrolling, talking, reacting—
we may never hear the voice of Jesus at all.
This moment on the mountaintop
is a glimpse of clarity before the road gets dark.
The disciples don’t know it yet,
but soon Jesus will lead them down from the mountain
and begin his journey to the cross.
The Transfiguration is not an escape from suffering—
it is a preparation for it.
Jesus gives Peter, James, and John this moment of light
so they can hold onto it when the darkness comes.
And we need that, too.
Because no matter where you stand politically,
no matter how the headlines make you feel,
the truth is that we are all walking forward into an uncertain world.
And we have a choice.
We can let the noise and the fear and the division define us.
Or we can listen to Him.
We can listen to the one who calls us to be different.
To be people of peace in a world of anger.
To be people of compassion in a world of cruelty.
To be people of mercy when the world only offers justice without love.
There’s a story about the great composer Beethoven.
Near the end of his life,
he was completely deaf.
He could no longer hear the music he wrote.
But he would sit at the piano and press his ear to the wood,
feeling the vibrations of the notes as he played.
He couldn’t hear the music with his ears,
but he could still sense it.
Think of how much time and effort and energy and patience that took.
Do we have that kind of commitment to hearing the voice of God,
that kind of time and effort and energy and patience?
Because the world is loud,
and it is easy to let all the other voices drown out the voice of Jesus.
This week, can we take an honest look at what voices we listen to?
Who gets our attention?
How much time do we spend scrolling through the news,
social media, podcasts, TV?
How many hours do we give to voices that make us anxious,
angry, distracted, or just numb?
And then,
How much time do I give to Jesus?
Not only in church,
but in dedicated, quiet moments of listening.
Beethoven longed so much to hear his music
that he pressed his ear to the wood of the piano.
Can we press our ear to the wood of the Cross?
Because if we focus our hearts on Him,
if we listen—
not only in church but all throughout out days—
then even while the storm rages,
we will still hear His voice.
So that’s the challenge this Lent.
Not only to give up chocolate.
Not only to pray more.
But to listen.
To listen in Scripture.
To listen in prayer.
To listen to the voice of Christ
in the people who are hurting, afraid, or in need.
And then, to come down from the mountain—
not to stay sheltered, not to isolate ourselves,
but to carry what we’ve heard into the world.
Because the world doesn’t need more noise.
It needs people who have truly listened to Jesus.
“Many years later as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”
This week I started reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, through the Hardcore Literature Book Club with Benjamin McEvoy. This will be my first novel of magical realism and my first real foray into Latin American literature. It’s refreshing to have this new literary territory to explore.
My initial plan is to simply let the novel do its work on me, without giving in to the temptation to analyze everything, but to simply enjoy and savor it. John Gardner says that a true work of fiction “creates a vivid and continuous dream in the reader’s mind.” I am going to try to abandon myself to the fictive dream that is One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Ben often recommends complementary readings to go along with the novels we read, and one of the things he suggests for beginning to appreciate the Latin American literary tradition is to read the short story “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges. I read it last night and, wow, what an experience. I don’t want to say much about the story in case you haven’t read it, but it touches on books, knowledge, chaos, meaning, and infinity, to name a few of its themes. I came away from it grateful for a world in which stories like this exist. But at the same time it made me a bit melancholy as I thought about how many great books there are that I will never get to read because of the brevity of life. “So many books, so little time,” right? But it’s not only books: there is so much to experience in this world and so little time to experience it. “The Library of Babel” serves as both a celebration and a reminder of the vastness of creation, prompting us to appreciate the moments and encounters of our lives while acknowledging the infinite possibilities we will never fully explore. In the end, it’s the journey itself—through stories, experiences, and understanding—that makes life meaningful.
Welcome to 2025, and a new year of reading. Before moving forward into a new year I like to reflect on last year’s books, looking for patterns, appreciating blessings, and choosing my ten favorite reads.
As I look back over the books I read in the last twelve months, what stands out more than anything else is that, for me, 2024 is a testament to the value of rereading. Half of the books I read last year were rereads. And among my top ten books of 2024 are several books I initially didn’t connect with when I first read them years ago, but which I now love. The rest of the top ten is filled with a mixture of old favorites and new favorites.
First, the old favorites that continue to claim a spot in the library of my heart include Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the Aubrey/Maturin series. These books are old friends, and I never tire of reading them.
New favorites include books on spirituality: The Ignatian Adventure by Kevin O’Brien and Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr; a book on mindfulness: Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn; and the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling.
But as I mentioned earlier, I reread three books last year as part of Benjamin McEvoy’s Hardcover Literature Book Club that I was previously lukewarm toward, but which now I love: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. Why do I appreciate them so much more now than when I first read them? To begin with, I am a different person today than I was then. Next, I was already somewhat familiar with their stories, so I could concentrate more on the writing than on the plot. Third, I took my time and gave the books more of a chance to work on me. And finally, Benjamin McEvoy’s lectures for each book helped open up them up in new ways. It is such a blessing to be able to see the beauty of a finely written book that I had previously overlooked. Rereading is a sheer joy, and I encourage all readers to make it a regular practice.
And so, here are my favorite reads of 2024, counting down to my favorite read of the year:
- The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
- Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, with a special nod to The Last Battle
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
- The Ignatian Adventure by Kevin O’Brien
- The Aubrey-Maturin Series by Patrick O’Brian, books 16-21: The Wine-Dark Sea, The Commodore, The Yellow Admiral, The Hundred Days, Blue at the Mizzen, Twenty-One
- Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
I have to mention another book that I began in 2024 and which is still having a profound effect on me, even though I have not finished it yet. It will likely take me years to read it, since I am savoring it as much as possible. And after I finish, I will likely turn back to page one and start right back into it. I am talking about The Complete Poems of Walt Whitman from Penguin Classics. I have read quite a bit of Whitman’s poetry over the course of my life, going all the way back to high school, but I have never read a book of his poems from beginning to end. I started the book in January of 2024 and am only about a quarter of the way through, but it has been a profound experience so far. Whitman’s poetry is so full of life, and each poem begs to be read aloud with the energy of the wind. As an example, here are the glorious final two stanzas from the poem I read most recently, “A Song of Joys”:
O to sail to sea in a ship!
To leave this steady unendurable land,
To leave the tiresome sameness of the streets, the sidewalks and the houses,
To leave you O you solid motionless land, and entering a ship,
To sail and sail and sail!O to have life henceforth a poem of new joys!
To dance, clap hands, exult, shout, skip, leap, roll on, float on!
To be a sailor of the world bound for all ports,
A ship itself, (see indeed these sails I spread to the sun and air,)
A swift and swelling ship full of rich words, full of joys.
“A swift and swelling ship full of rich words, full of joys.” — a perfect description of Whitman’s poetry. As I look toward 2025, I still hope to continue savoring this collection from Penguin.
I am also looking forward to several of the books scheduled for the Hardcore Literature Book Club, especially these titles I have never read:
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez – I am excited to read my first novel of Magical Realism and explore this genre
- Metamorphoses by Ovid
- Madam Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
- The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
And of course, I am super excited about the American Masterpieces Chapter-a-Day Read-Along! Today we started Roots by Alex Haley, and I am already hooked by the first sentence:
“Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of the Gambia, West Africa, a man-child was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte. Forcing forth from Binta’s strong young body, he was as black as she was, flecked and slippery with Binta’s blood, and he was bawling.”
To participate in the read-along, visit ChapteraDayReadAlong.com, where all future read-along posts will be published.
I hope you had a great year of reading in 2024 and I wish you a Happy New Reading Year, along with many blessings to you and your family!
I am rereading Walden by Henry David Thoreau, and this line jumped out at me today as Thoreau was describing the house he built for his time at Walden Pond:
I have thus a tight shingled and plastered house, ten feet wide by fifteen long…
Ten feet wide by fifteen long.
150 square feet.
I got curious about how big that was, so I measured the room I am in right now, my home office/library. It measures twelve feet wide by thirteen feet long, or 156 square feet — more or less the same size as Thoreau’s home for two years. That realization moved me more than I can express. Walden is one of those books that has had a profound effect on me, as it has for millions of others. And Thoreau wrote it in a one-room cabin about the size of my home office.
Even though I live in a nondescript house in a nondescript city that looks out onto a nondescript front yard, I almost feel, in this moment, that I have my own house on Walden Pond. As Thoreau himself wrote, it is not the architectural style of a house that makes it interesting, but the life of its occupants:
The most interesting dwellings in this country, as the painter knows, are the most unpretending, humble log huts and cottages of the poor commonly; it is the life of the inhabitants whose shells they are, and not any peculiarity in their surfaces merely, which makes them picturesque; and equally interesting will be the citizen’s suburban box, when his life shall be as simple and as agreeable to the imagination, and there is as little straining after effect in the style of his dwelling.
This room, this “suburban box” I am sitting in right now, is the place where I do my praying, reading, contemplating, and writing. Here is where I journal in the dark each morning while the world sleeps; here is where each day unfolds and where I try to open my heart to the Divine in solitude and silence. In this room the spirits of authors like Henry David Thoreau whisper their wisdom to me from within the pages of their books and I whisper back to them. For over twenty years this room has been my Walden Pond cabin, though I am only now realizing it.
150 square feet.
So tiny and yet so boundless.
Do you have your own Walden Pond cabin? Leave a comment and share your story.
The 2025 Chapter-a-Day Read-along has been announced at its new home! Be sure to visit ChapteraDayReadalong.com to get all the details about the 2025 American Masterpieces Chapter-a-Day Read-Along. It’s going to be epic!
The Chapter-a-Day Read-Along has a new home! After seven years of hosting the read-along here at One Catholic Life, I’ve decided to give it its own home at ChapteraDayReadAlong.com so that people can find it and follow along more easily, especially considering that the 2025 Chapter-a-Day Read-Along will be announced soon.
ChapteraDayReadAlong.com will be the new main hub, and you can always find the latest reading schedules and articles there. I’ve transferred all the past read-along articles from One Catholic Life to this new website, so everything is now in one dedicated place on the web.
The new Chapter-a-Day Read-Along logo!
Once the 2025 Chapter-a-Day Read-Along begins, I will be posting daily quotes to various social media sites, as I have in the past. However, these will be much easier to follow from now on, because I have set up dedicated read-along accounts, instead of using hashtags. I encourage you follow Chapter-a-Day Read-Along at any of the following services:
- Chapter-a-Day Read-Along on Instagram
- Chapter-a-Day Read-Along Facebook Page
- Chapter-a-Day Read-Along on Threads
- Chapter-a-Day Read-Along on Bluesky
- Chapter-a-Day Read-Along on X (formerly known as Twitter)
I have some great reads planned for the 2025 read-along, so stay tuned for the big announcement coming VERY soon! And be sure to visit ChapteraDayReadAlong.com and subscribe!
Maybe it’s just me,
but this autumn seems to have been especially glorious:
colorful, vivid, bright, and seemingly lasting forever.
Lately the trees have lost some of their color,
what with the rain and the wind,
but overall it’s been a beautiful autumn.
I notice it most when I am commuting back and forth to work.
To get to St. John Vianney School in the Spokane Valley
I usually take 29th Avenue to Carnahan,
Carnahan to 8th Avenue, 8th to Park and so on.
It usually takes about 15 or 20 minutes, depending on traffic.
But this year, because of the beautiful autumn,
I have been taking the back way more often.
I start by driving south up Freya and catch the Palouse highway,
and drive across the Palouse through Valleyford,
and then on to Highway 27, where I turn left and go through Mica
and then left onto Dishman-Mica Road.
It adds about 15 minutes to my commute,
but it has been so worth it.
The farm fields have that golden glow that is so magical this time of year;
the sky is ever-changing, like the depths of the sea.
Those of you who live up there know what I’m talking about.
It has been absolutely magnificent.
Granted, for the last week or so winter has been rapidly coming on,
so it might not have quite the same character it did a couple of weeks ago,
but if you haven’t been on the Palouse Highway yet this fall,
it’s definitely still worth seeing.
If you take an hour out of your day to drive that road.
you might even find that it touches your soul.
Because that’s what nature does, right?
Whether it’s a beautiful autumn field or a backyard garden;
a snow-covered mountain, or the wild ocean,
nature can touch us deeply.
It speaks to us—to our hearts and to our souls.
And that’s because nature carries inside itself the imprint of the divine.
Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote,
“The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”
Pope John Paul II said that through nature
people can “contemplate the mystery of the greatness and love of God.”
The natural world is a place to encounter the divine,
especially when we take the time to pause and notice and savor.
God speaks to us through nature.
That’s why our church calendar lines up with the seasons.
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe,
the final feast of the church year.
Have you ever wondered why the church year ends now, in November,
instead of on December 31?
Why is Christmas on December 25?
And why on earth does the date of Easter keep moving?
The reason has to do with the natural world, with the universe.
Our liturgical year, our Church year, is not an arbitrary calendar;
it is intentionally designed to mirror God’s creation,
where time flows in patterns and cycles.
The liturgical calendar invites us to see spiritual truths
reflected in the seasons of the natural world,
this universe over which Christ reigns as King.
Looking outside at what is happening in nature—
at the sky, the clouds, the trees, the wind, the rain—
all of these natural events complement and enhance
our experience of the sacred in our lives.
As we stand at this threshold—ending one liturgical year
and preparing to enter another—
it is a good opportunity to think about how the natural world
helps us enter into the rhythm of our spiritual lives.
The Church’s year begins in Advent,
a time of waiting and preparation.
Advent always begins four Sundays before Christmas.
During Advent we are invited to think of all the long years
the world was in darkness, waiting for a Messiah.
Outside our windows during Advent,
the days grow shorter and darker and colder as winter approaches,
until we finally reach the winter solstice—the darkest day of the year,
around December 21.
The winter solstice is the day which has the fewest hours of sunlight,
it is the year’s darkest moment.
And this is why Christmas is celebrated on December 25.
Just as the world is at its darkest,
at a time when all seems most hopeless, black, and bleak,
Jesus, the Light of the World is born,
and the light begins to grow.
Each day after Christmas becomes brighter and brighter,
day by day, little by little.
Just as the physical light begins its return,
so too does Christ’s light begin to shine in the darkness of our human condition,
bringing hope to banish fear and sin.
From Christmas, we journey toward Easter.
In the natural world, the light continues to grow steadily,
more and more daylight each day,
but still, there is more darkness than light each day.
We enter the season of Lent,
forty days of trying to overcome the darkness of sin in our lives
through praying, fasting, and almsgiving.
The light slowly makes ground against the darkness
until, finally, we reach the Spring Equinox.
What is an equinox? Do you remember your science class?
The Spring Equinox is that day
when the amount of light equals the amount of darkness.
Easter is always on the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.
Why?
Because after the equinox, there is more light than darkness.
Light has conquered the night.
Easter proclaims that Christ, the Light of the World,
has conquered the greatest darkness—sin and death—through His Resurrection.
For fifty days we celebrate the Resurrection
in a world in which life and light bursts forth:
flowers bloom, trees bud, and nature declares the triumph of life over death.
Just as the universe tells the story of light overcoming darkness,
Easter reveals the truth that Christ is the victorious King
who reigns over all creation.
What a beautiful parallel between nature and salvation!
Our faith teaches us to look at the natural world
not as something separate from God
but as His creation, filled with signs that point to spiritual realities.
Creation is not just a backdrop to our lives but a living testament to God’s glory.
The cycles of day and night, of seasons and years,
these rhythms teach us about the nature of God’s kingdom.
The return of light after the winter solstice echoes the Incarnation,
when God enters our world to redeem it.
The bursting forth of life in spring parallels the Resurrection,
when Christ triumphs over the grave.
Our liturgical year, grounded in these natural rhythms,
reminds us that the Creator is also the Redeemer.
Every moment of the year whispers the truth of Christ’s kingship,
calling us to see His presence in the rising sun,
the changing leaves, and the cycles of life and death.
As we reflect on the power of nature to reveal God’s presence
we are challenged to ask ourselves, “How do I reveal God’s presence?”
After all, we, too, are a part of the natural world.
God created us, just as he created clouds, trees, oceans, and mountains.
I am a part of God’s creation,
you are a part of God’s creation.
In fact, humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation.
We are made in the image and likeness of God.
Victor Hugo writes,
“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky;
there is one spectacle grander than the sky,
that is the interior of the soul.”
If the stars, the trees, the wind, the rain, the seasons
can help us “contemplate the mystery of the greatness and love of God,”
how much more can we human beings reveal God to others?
Just as creation reflects the glory of God, so too do our lives.
In a world darkened by fear, division, and sin,
we are called to shine with the light of Christ.
As we prepare to enter Advent and begin a new liturgical year,
this is the perfect time to observe and savor the movement of nature around us,
and embrace the rhythm of the Church’s calendar as a gift.
It reminds us that Christ, the King of the Universe,
is present in every season, every moment, and every part of creation.
The story of the liturgical year is the story of light overcoming darkness,
of love conquering fear, and of life triumphing over death.
It is the story of Jesus Christ, our King,
who reigns forever and ever.
Amen.
You might remember the movie The Shawshank Redemption,
the story of Andy Dufresne, a man unjustly imprisoned for many years.
In the course of his time in prison,
he gains the trust of the prison staff by helping with various tasks,
like handling the finances and overseeing the prison library.
One of the most powerful scenes in the movie happens
when Andy finds himself unsupervised in the warden’s office.
He is sitting in the warden’s office in a chair, all alone,
and he notices a crate on the floor.
He notices the crate is full of vinyl records.
He notices that one of the recordings is an opera by Mozart.
He notices that there is a record player in the office.
And he notices that the prison PA system is in the warden’s office.
So what does Andy do?
He locks the door.
He takes the opera record out of the crate and out of its sleeve.
He puts the vinyl record on the turntable.
He connects the turntable to the PA system.
And in clear defiance of the rules,
and risking certain punishment,
he broadcasts a beautiful duet from the opera
to the entire prison.
For one brief moment, the music transcends the walls of the prison,
reaching the ears and hearts of every inmate,
lifting them out of their harsh reality.
For this act of defiance, Andy is put in solitary confinement,
and when he finally gets back to the general population,
his friend Red asks how in the world he survived the isolation.
Andy replies, “It was easy, I had Mr. Mozart to keep me company.”
“They let you have the record player?” Red asks.
“It was in here,” Andy says, tapping his heart.
“That’s the beauty of music. They can’t get that from you.”
That scene captures something profound:
In the darkest, most confining moments of life,
something deeper—a song, a truth, an awareness—
can lift us out of our suffering.
It’s something that no prison, no circumstance can take away.
It is, in the words of spiritual writer Thomas Merton,
the divine presence within us—the part of us that longs for freedom,
for connection, for healing.
And it’s always there, waiting for us to tap into it.
In today’s Gospel, we meet Bartimaeus,
a blind man begging by the roadside.
In his own way, Bartimaeus is imprisoned—
confined by his blindness,
confined by the limitations placed on him by society,
confined by his circumstances.
But something inside him, deep within, longs for more.
He knows there is a presence, a light,
a healing that can lift him out of his suffering.
And so, when Jesus passes by, Bartimaeus cries out,
“Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”
The crowd tries to silence him.
How often do the voices around us,
and even the voices within us,
try to quiet that deeper longing?
They tell us to accept things as they are,
stop hoping for something better,
stay in the dark.
But Bartimaeus refuses to be silenced.
He cries out all the louder,
“Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”
His blindness is real, but so is his faith,
his deep awareness that something greater is possible.
And Jesus stops.
Jesus always stops when we cry out from the depths.
He stops, and he asks Bartimaeus a question that seems so simple,
yet is so profound:
“What do you want me to do for you?”
That question is not just for Bartimaeus;
it’s for all of us.
What is it that you truly seek?
What is the deeper healing, the deeper freedom,
that your heart longs for?
Take some time this week to uncover that for yourself, and tell Jesus.
Healing isn’t always about fixing what’s on the surface.
It’s also about transformation.
The healing Bartimaeus seeks isn’t just about physical sight.
In his blindness, he sees more clearly than the crowd around him.
He knows that the healing he seeks
can only come from the One who is the light of the world,
the One who gathers the broken, the lame, the blind—
just as Jeremiah prophesied in the first reading.
We all have our own form of blindness.
Maybe it’s the blindness of fear, of doubt, of shame, or of distraction.
We live in a world that constantly tells us to look outside of ourselves
for meaning, for healing.
But the answer isn’t out there somewhere.
It’s in here, in the heart that longs for God,
in the cry that won’t be silenced,
in the divine presence that dwells within.
And as Andy says, “They can’t get that from you.”
When we have the courage to cry out like Bartimaeus,
to name our blindness, to ask for healing,
we find that God is already there, waiting for us, asking us,
“What do you want me to do for you?”
It’s not a question that comes from a distant, uncaring God.
It comes from a God who is close, who is always near,
and who longs to bring us to a place of deeper freedom and joy.
“For in him we live and move and have our being.”
Notice that after Bartimaeus receives his sight,
he doesn’t go back to his old life.
His old life was all about sitting by the roadside, alone,
disengaged from the world.
Now, he follows Jesus on the way.
His healing leads to a new journey,
a new way of seeing and being in the world.
It’s a reminder that God’s healing always calls us forward.
It’s not just about restoring what was lost;
it’s about opening us up to something new, something deeper.
And so, the question to meditate on this week
is the question Jesus asks each of us:
“What do you want me to do for you?”
Like Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption,
there’s a part of us that longs for something beyond the walls
of our daily struggles—
a beauty so profound it can’t be described,
a love so powerful it breaks through all darkness.
When Andy played that opera duet
and it soared throughout the prison,
his friend Red described it this way:
“I have no idea what those two Italian ladies were singing about…
some things are left best unsaid.
I would like to think they were singing about something so beautiful
it can’t be expressed in words
and makes your heart ache because of it…
It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage
and made these walls dissolve away.”
Jesus is that beautiful song for us.
He comes into our lives
to lift us beyond the prison walls we’ve built for ourselves,
dissolving them with the beauty and freedom of his healing love.
Like Bartimaeus, we only need the courage to cry out
to the divine presence within us that nothing—
not even life’s hardships—can take away.
As Catholic Schools Week begins this year,
today’s Gospel reminds us of a very important truth—
Jesus was a teacher:
“…on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.”
Jesus was a teacher.
He taught in synagogues,
he taught in the temple,
he taught from hillsides,
and he taught from boats.
Jesus was a teacher.
Jesus taught in a way that was different from other teachers.
And the people recognized that.
In contrast to the scribes who merely recited laws,
Jesus’ teaching was marked by a connection
to the heart of the Law – love of God and love of neighbor.
His teaching had authority because he was authentic.
He lived what he taught.
And the people could see it,
even though he did not have the title the scribes had.
He was authentic,
even to giving his life on the cross to demonstrate the love he taught.
There was once a teacher named Sharon.
She, too, was an authentic teacher.
One day she became the most famous teacher in all the world,
and she ended up giving her life in the service of teaching.
She was born into a Catholic family and went to a Catholic high school.
Her mother was a substitute teacher
and when Sharon grew up
she became a 7th and 8th Grade teacher.
I was a junior high teacher for over 25 years,
and I can tell you that 7th and 8th graders are experts
in spotting what is false and phony.
To be an effective junior high teacher you have to know your stuff,
you have to be authentic.
Sharon was authentic.
She took her class on field trips,
she brought in guest speakers,
and she “emphasized the impact of ordinary people on history,
saying they were as important to the historical record
as kings, politicians, or generals.”
Her passion and knowledge of her subject matter
gave her the authenticity that she needed to be a great teacher.
I have seen many new teachers who thought that
just because their name was posted outside the classroom door,
or just because they wore a whistle or an ID badge,
the students would automatically listen to them
and do what they were told.
Well, it didn’t take them long to find out
that it takes more than an ID badge.
It starts with being authentic.
And that’s why it’s so important in a Catholic school,
where we teach the Good New of Jesus Christ,
to have an authentic relationship with Jesus.
We need our students to see that our relationship with Jesus is real,
so that there is no phoniness in what we teach.
And that is something that takes constant nourishment.
That’s why at SJV we begin each school year
with a day-long faculty retreat at Immaculate Heart Retreat Center,
focusing on our faith, our relationship with Jesus Christ.
It’s why the teachers gather for prayer every morning
right before school starts.
We read a passage of Scripture,
we meditate on it,
we share with each other what it means in our life,
we offer intentions for ourselves and for the world,
and we end by praying the Prayer of St. Francis.
We do this as a faculty each and every morning
because regular, sustained prayer
is essential in building our relationship with Jesus,
and we must have a real and authentic relationship with Jesus
if we are going to effectively teach about Jesus to our students.
But I’m not just sharing this with you
to explain how we do things at the school.
I share this with you because you are teachers, too.
The call to teach is not reserved for a select few,
but is a universal commission given to all followers of Christ.
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he said,
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Jesus was a teacher.
And so, we that dare to call ourselves Christians,
“little Christs,”
are to be teachers, too.
We are all called to be teachers,
sharing the Good News
and instructing others in the ways of love.
It is not easy.
That’s why Catholic schools exist.
The Church recognizes both the importance and the immensity
of the task of teaching the Faith to our children,
and so Catholic schools were instituted to assist parents
in their role of educating children in the Faith.
That’s why we celebrate Catholic schools at this time time each year.
Catholic schools have an essential role in the life of the Church.
This is how the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops puts it:
It is the responsibility of the entire Catholic community—
bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and laity—
to continue to strive towards the goal
of making our Catholic elementary and secondary schools
available, accessible, and affordable
to all Catholic parents and their children,
including those who are poor and middle class.
We are convinced that Catholic schools continue to be
“the most effective means available to the Church
for the education of children and young people”
who are the future of the Church (To Teach as Jesus Did, no. 118).
That is why your parish school exists,
and why your support of the school is so important and appreciated.
St. John Vianney Catholic School and all Catholic schools
exist to assist you in fulfilling your call to teach as Jesus did.
Catholic schools play a crucial role in this mission,
but each one of us,
as baptized disciples of Jesus,
regardless of our profession,
regardless of our vocation,
is called to be a teacher.
Opportunities to teach the Gospel abound in our everyday lives.
In our families,
we teach the Gospel by the way we prioritize faith, prayer, and love.
In our workplaces,
we teach the Gospel by the integrity with which we conduct ourselves
and the respect we show to our colleagues.
In our communities,
we teach the Gospel by our acts of service and compassion toward those in need.
Sharon used her teaching abilities beyond just her classroom.
She became a catechist
and taught confirmation classes in her parish.
After all she was a teacher.
Jesus was a teacher.
Sharon was a teacher.
We are teachers.
And that means that each of us also has the responsibility
to teach with authenticity, like Jesus did,
and not like the scribes.
Just as a title or an ID badge is not enough
to be an effective classroom teacher,
so, too, our baptismal certificate is not enough
to be a teacher of the Gospel.
To be an authentic teacher for Christ,
we need to be authentic disciples of Christ,
and not disciples in name only.
We know that if we are not living the life we teach about,
we become like the scribes.
Sharon was not like the scribes.
She lived what she taught.
She had the opportunity to do something no teacher in history
ever had the chance to do,
something that she knew would make her an even better teacher.
She applied for the opportunity along with 11,000 applicants,
and she alone was chose by NASA to be the first teacher to fly into space.
She was born with the first name Sharon,
but she always went by her middle name Christa.
Christa McAuliffe.
She trained for an entire year to be a payload specialist
on the Space Shuttle Challenger.
She went on Good Morning America, CBS Morning News,
and the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Talk about an authentic teacher.
She taught the world.
Many of us remember what happened on this day 38 years ago.
Christa and the rest of the astronauts boarded the Challenger,
and after only 73 seconds in the air, the shuttle broke apart,
and no one survived.
Just as Jesus gave his life
to be an authentic teacher,
Christa gave her life to be an authentic teacher.
During this Catholic Schools Week,
we are challenged to renew our commitment
to our own vocation of teaching.
We are reminded that, in various ways,
we are all called to be teachers like Christ –
not just imparting knowledge
but embodying the transformative love of the Gospel.
As parents, as educators, as friends,
and as members of this faith community,
we share in the mission of making disciples.
Christa McAuliffe used to say,
“I touch the future, I teach.”
Our call is to be able to say,
“I touch eternity, I teach the Gospel.”
When 2023 began, I did not expect that two books I read would become two of my favorite books of all time. But that is exactly what happened. I also did not expect to read so many books, since my resolution last year was to slow down and savor books more deeply. But sixteen of the books I read were plays by Shakespeare as I began an attempt to read all of his plays in the order in which they were written. I was not as pleased as I had hoped with the George Eliot chapter-a-day read-along, but all in all, 2023 was a very good reading year.
Here are my favorite reads of 2023, counting down to my favorite read of the year:
- Romola by George Eliot
- Silas Marner by George Eliot
- King Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare
- Orlando by Virginia Woolf
- These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon
- Toward God: The Ancient Wisdom of Western Prayer by Michael Casey
- The Aubrey-Maturin Series by Patrick O’Brian, books 10-15: The Far Side of the World, The Reverse of the Medal, The Letter of Marque, The Thirteen-Gun Salute, The Nutmeg of Consolation, and The Truelove (or Clarissa Oakes)
- A Spring Within Us by Richard Rohr
- The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
One of my favorite reading experiences of 2023 was driving across the United States while my wife Brenda read The Universal Christ aloud to us. She would read a section at a time and we would have deep discussions about what author Richard Rohr was saying, and what we thought about it. We read the book through Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska, as we took our youngest daughter to Creighton University for her first year of college. Reading the book together was a contemplative, deep experience that neither of us expected, but which both of us will treasure for the rest of our lives.
The other book that had a profound impact on me was Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. I took my time with this great American novel, reading it over an entire year, from May of 2022 to May of 2023. After spending so much time with it, I can say that it has taken its place among my top novels of all time, joining Don Quixote, Lord of the Rings, Les Misérables, The Three Musketeers, and The Aubrey/Maturin series. I even added it to the collage of book covers on the header of this blog. I look forward to reading Moby-Dick many more times in the coming years.
As I look toward 2024, I still hope to continue savoring my reading by slowing down and not focusing so much on how many books I read. I have a few reading goals for this year, including finishing the Shakespeare Project, hosting the Fantasy Classics Chapter-a-Day Read-along, and completing the fourth and final year of the Aubrey/Maturin Chapter-a-Week 4 Year Read-along Odyssey.
I also hope to read the following books along with Benjamin McEvoy’s Hardcore Literature Book Club:
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
- The Essays of Michel de Montaigne
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
- Inferno by Dante Alighieri
- Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
I hope 2023 was a good reading year for you and I wish you a Happy New Reading Year, along with many blessings to you and your family!
Today marks the end of our year-long reading of nearly all of George Eliot’s novels. By reading a chapter a day, we finished Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Middlemarch, and Daniel Deronda. Looking back over the past year, I have to admit that this year’s challenge was more difficult for me than past years. Eliot is a more challenging writer than I expected, and some of the chapters were a bit too long for a daily reading. Still, now that I have read them all at least once, I feel prepared for a more in depth reading of them in the future. My three favorites were Romola, Silas Marner, and Daniel Deronda. I was disappointed in Middlemarch, mostly because I had looked forward to reading it for so long and I had very high expectations for it. For a book that is so acclaimed, it was a struggle for me to appreciate, and I will definitely have to revisit it in the future at a more leisurely pace.
Thank you to everyone who joined me this past year for one, some, or all of Eliot’s books! I invite you to participate in the Fantasy Classics Read-along that starts tomorrow!
The 2024 Fantasy Classics Chapter-a-Day Read-along begins in just a couple of days and it’s time to get ready to enter our first fantastical world, the enchanted land of Narnia. I hope you’ve been able to track down a copy of The Chronicles of Narnia either in the single volume edition or as a box set of individual books.
Our journey to Narnia begins with The Magician’s Nephew, a prelude to the series that unveils the origins of Narnia and sets the stage for the rest of the series. As we read chapter by chapter each day together, I encourage you to not only appreciate in the magic of Lewis’ storytelling, but also to explore the layers of Christian symbolism woven throughout the narrative.
If you are reading along with children, you might like this Chronicles of Narnia Classroom Activity Guide from HarperCollins. It has background information, discussion questions, and suggested activities for each book.
The Unique Reading Schedule for The Chronicles of NarniaRemember that in order to fit all our books in this year, we will be reading the first two chapters of The Magician’s Nephew on January 1st. This will also happen with the next four books of the Narnia series. It’s easy to stay on schedule by using the 2024 Fantasy Classics Chapter-a-Day Reading Schedule. But remember, if you get behind or ahead, no worries!
Also, I will be posting a quote each day from the current chapter on Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter) using the hashtag #FantasyReadalong. I invite you to do the same!
Discussion PromptsAlways feel free to leave comments on any read-along posts. Post your reactions, ask questions, and/or respond to other comments. Remember, no spoilers!
To get the discussion started, here are a couple of questions for you to consider as we prepare to begin:
- What draws you to fantasy literature or what prevents you from reading more fantasy literature?
- Before diving into the book, what do you know about C.S. Lewis as an author? Have you read any of his other works, and if so, how do you expect The Magician’s Nephew to compare?
Share thoughts by commenting on any of those questions, and then get ready to grab your copy of The Magician’s Nephew and start our journey together on January 1st!
Today we heard the prophet Isaiah say,
“I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul.”
The word “rejoice” is repeated over and over in today’s Gaudete Sunday liturgy,
from that reading of Isaiah,
to the responsorial psalm,
“My soul rejoices in my God,”
and in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians,
“Rejoice always.”
We’re only about a week away from Christmas,
and today we are reminded
that Christmas is a time of rejoicing.
There are many people whose faces shine with that spirit of rejoicing,
and who are filled with Christmas joy.
But I’ve talked with many other people this year
who are struggling to rejoice right now.
They are tired, they are weary.
Some are weary of the situation the world is in:
violence and war, politics and division, natural disasters.
Other people I talk with are struggling to make ends meet,
worried about loved ones,
facing difficult health issues,
struggling with anxiety and depression.
Some people are simply weary from all the busyness of the season:
getting the house ready for guests,
trying to get all the shopping done or the presents wrapped,
tracking down that special gift that is out of stock everywhere.
For many right now, they are too weary to rejoice.
When I think of those who are weary and maybe just a bit beaten down,
I am reminded of one of our most beautiful Christmas carols—
more of Christmas hymn, really, it is so beautiful.
And whether you are struggling to rejoice,
or finding it easy to have a joyful spirit,
I think this Christmas hymn has a lot to offer all of us
as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ.
The Christmas hymn I’m talking about is “O Holy Night,”
and one line that really stands out,
when I think of all those who right now are struggling and tired,
is, “the weary world rejoices.”
If you are feeling weary right now,
then this Christmas hymn is for you.
Even if you already have that Christmas joy,
“O Holy Night” can only increase it,
and it make it that much more real.
“O Holy Night” was originally a poem,
written in French by Placide Cappeau,
and as many of you know,
it begins like this:
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth;
Even though Christmas is still a week away,
let’s visualize Christmas as it was in Bethlehem so many years ago,
the sky filled with stars.
Imagine what is was like in the long years before Christ was born:
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
The Israelites waited centuries for their savior, their Messiah.
They suffered through slavery,
they were exiled to Assyria and Babylon,
they were conquered by the Greeks and the Romans,
and still they longed for their deliverer.
To this day we pine for God
in sin and error.
In our selfishness and in our pain
we turn away from God.
And yet, in all that sin and error,
there is a seeking, a yearning,
a restlessness,
a pining for meaning, for purpose,
for God.
As St. Augustine put it so beautifully,
“Our hearts are restless, O God, until they rest in thee.”
And so the hymn proclaims,
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
‘Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
That may be the most beautiful line in the entire hymn.
…he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
He appeared, Christ appeared.
And what happens next?
The soul feels its worth.
The coming of the Messiah makes our soul feel its worth.
The prophet Isaiah tells us today,
“in my God is the joy of my soul.”
With the coming of Christ,
the soul now feels how beloved it is.
Because of the birth of Christ,
we know who we are,
and we know that we are loved.
It is Christ who is the Good Shepherd,
who leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one who is lost.
It is Christ who fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah
we heard in the first reading,
when he stood up in the synagogue and read from the scroll:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free…”
He appeared, and the soul felt its worth.
And so I would invite you to ask yourself today,
Do you feel your worth?
It doesn’t matter if you are a slave to addiction, or if you are free;
it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, broken or whole.
You have worth.
You belong.
You matter.
You are loved,
each one of you.
And each of the people sitting next to you, and across from you,
and each of the people who aren’t here,
for whatever reason.
They, too, are loved,
wherever they are on their spiritual journey.
They have worth.
They have dignity,
they are loved.
Because on Christmas night,
Jesus Christ was born,
and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;
Can you see it now, that new and glorious day?
Can you see beyond the weariness,
beyond the doubts and fears?
There is hope, a thrill of hope, and we can rejoice!
That’s what Gaudete Sunday is about.
It’s about giving us a glimpse,
an early experience of Christmas joy.
And so, in this remaining week before Christmas,
one thing you might do
is find yourself a beautiful rendition of “O Holy Night.”
There are versions for every musical taste: classical, country, pop, jazz,
by musicians as diverse as
Josh Groban, Martina McBride, Mariah Carey,
Ella Fitzgerald, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Faith Hill,
you name it,
there are over 1,000 recordings of this Christmas hymn.
Find a version on YouTube or Spotify or Apple Music,
and listen to it every day leading up to Christmas.
Or maybe you could listen to a different rendition each day.
And after prayerfully listening to it,
contemplate that line,
’Til he appeared, and the soul felt its worth,”
and try to feel your own worth.
It’s one thing to know it intellectually:
“Yes, I understand, I am a child of God,
God created me,
I know that.”
It’s one thing to know that in the mind.
It’s quite another things to feel it in our souls,
to be able to say with the prophet Isaiah,
“in my God is the joy of my soul.”
So maybe each day between now and Christmas,
you can take some time to pause in your day,
maybe five, ten, or even fifteen minutes,
close your eyes,
and feel God looking at you with the eyes of love.
A love so great that he became a little child,
that he walked this earth
bringing glad tidings to the poor,
healing the brokenhearted,
going to the outcasts and the oppressed,
and loving them.
Until finally he accepted the cross,
doing all of this so that our soul would feel its worth,
so that we would have a thrill of hope,
and a weary world could rejoice.
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born.
O night, O holy night, O night divine.
Welcome to the official sign-up post for a very special 2024 Chapter-a-Day Read-along! This year we we will be reading some of the most beloved modern classics in all of literature: The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and the entire Harry Potter series. All three series are in the top ten of the PBS list of America’s 100 most-loved books, and are adored by readers the world over. And, since 2024 is a leap year, we get an extra day to read!
Long-time participants will notice a couple of changes to this year’s read-along. First, I normally like to choose books that are in the public domain, so that readers can find them free online. But this year marks the 70th anniversary of the publication of Lord of the Rings, and I wanted to mark the occasion in a special way. I also wanted to create a read-along that families could participate in if they choose, and pairing Lord of the Rings with The Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter books seemed like a perfect fit. Though none of these books are available online for free, they are all so popular that those hoping to save money can probably find them in a local library or thrift store. You probably even already own some or all of them, which brings me to the second change this year.
One of the purposes of the chapter-a-day read-along over the past six years has been to introduce challenging classics to those who might not otherwise read them. The idea has been that by taking these long or obscure classics in chapter-sized bites, they become more readable. This year, however, I hope to encourage readers to re-discover and re-read classics that they might have read when they were younger, or that they only know from watching the movie versions.
So dig through your childhood library, scour the thrift stores, or splurge on some new editions, and join me in reading these enchanting classics. Maybe you could make it a family affair and read a chapter a night with your children or grandchildren. You could read it aloud to them yourself or listen to an audiobook version.
I look forward to my own re-reading of The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, and I can’t wait to read the entire Harry Potter series for the first time ever! I read the first two books to our boys over twenty years ago, and then they finished the rest of the series on their own, so I never finished it myself. I’ve also made it a point not to watch any of the movies past the first two, so this will be a great new adventure for me!
How to Participate in the 2024 Chapter-a-Day Read-along* Get a copy of any of the books you don’t already own. Get them from the library, your local bookstore, a thrift store, or online. (See below for affiliate links to purchase them online.) * Leave a comment below introducing yourself, sharing where you are from, and explaining why you are joining the read-along. * Download the daily schedule: Nick’s 2024 Fantasy Classics Chapter-a-Day Reading Schedule * Commit to reading a chapter a day, savoring the words, characters, and events of the stories. If you get behind or race ahead, no worries. Life happens. * It’s purely optional, but I encourage you to join me in posting a quote from the current chapter each day on either Facebook, Instagram, or X (Formerly known as Twitter). I will be posting on all three, using the hashtag #fantasyreadalong. My social media posts will stay on track with the reading schedule, and I only ask that you please respect the reading experience of those who may not know the full stories. In other words, no spoilers! * You will find the official 2024 read-along graphic next to this list. Feel free to use it on your website if you wish. * Subscribe to One Catholic Life so you don’t miss any read-along posts throughout the year. You can get updates via email by using the form in the sidebar.
And now, here are the specific details about what we will be reading in 2024!
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis(Purchase the Single volume or Box set)
We begin the year by traveling to the land behind the wardrobe, the magical realm of Narnia. I absolutely love this series, especially because it can be read on several levels. It is a grand adventure, a spiritual allegory, and a feast for the imagination.
This seven-book series was published between 1950 and 1956, and consists of the following titles:
- The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
- The Horse and His Boy (1954)
- Prince Caspian (1951)
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
- The Silver Chair (1953)
- The Last Battle (1956)
I have made the decision to schedule these books in internal chronological order. Some fans and scholars would say that they are better read in publication order, but I have chosen this order because C.S. Lewis seemed to approve of it, and because the books appear in this order in the single-volume editions of the series. There are 110 chapters in The Chronicles of Narnia, and we will be reading them from January 1 to April 14.
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien(Purchase the Single volume or Box set)
After our sojourn in the land of Narnia, we accompany Frodo and Sam on their epic journey across Middle-earth. Anyone who knows me or who has read this blog knows how important this work is to me. I have read and reread Lord of the Rings countless times over the last 40 years, and I enjoy it deeply every time. I have previously written about the influence Tolkien and Lord of the Rings have had on my life, and I can’t wait to read it again to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its initial publication. Though Tolkien conceived of it as one large work, for various reasons it was originally released in three volumes:
- The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
- The Two Towers (1954)
- The Return of the King (1955)
The chapters in Lord of the Rings are a bit longer than in the Narnia series, so be sure to set aside enough time to read each day. The entire trilogy has 62 chapters, and we will be reading it from April 15 to June 15.
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling(Purchase the Box set)
I clearly remember the first time I heard about Harry Potter. It was during a school book fair around the year 1997, and our school librarian showed me an article in a trade magazine about a surprising little book that was spreading by word of mouth in England. It was called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and children were raving about it. The book was not yet available in the United States, and when it finally arrived it was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Of course, the rest is history. For the next ten years the story of Harry Potter not only dominated the book world, but also the film world, with the final film being released in 2011. You can now visit Hogwarts at Universal Studios, and there are Potterheads all across the globe. How have I avoided reading it for so long? Well, no more! This is the year I finally finish the series, which includes these seven books:
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
- Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire (2000)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
- Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince (2005)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
The Harry Potter series has 199 chapters, and it will take us almost half the year to read them all. We will read them from June 16 to December 31.
Reading ScheduleTo recap, here is a broad outline of the reading schedule, along with links to purchase them online (Links are affiliate links):
- The Chronicles of Narnia (January 1-April 14) – Single volume – Box set
- Lord of the Rings (April 15-June 15) – Single volume – Box set
- Harry Potter Series (June 16-December 31) – Box set
Close readers might have noticed that the number of chapters exceeds the number of days in the year, even considering 2024 is a leap year: 110+62+199=371 chapters, which is 5 chapters too many. To fit all the chapters in one year, I have doubled up on chapters at the beginning of each of the first five Narnia books. In other words, for five days this year we will be reading two chapters instead of one. (I know, I know, it’s not exactly a chapter-a-day, but that’s the way it is this year!) See the detailed schedule below for more information.
Of course, I hope you read the entire year with me, but you’re free to participate as much or as little as you like. I will try to write more often about the read-along this year than I did last year, and I will continue to post a line a day on social media. Again, I’ll be using the same hashtag for all three series, #fantasyreadalong.
Stay tuned for my introductory post for The Chronicles of Narnia toward the end of December, and leave a comment to let me know if you’re participating!
Ultimately, the goal of this year’s chapter-a-day read-along is to encourage people to revisit books that they might not have read in a long time, and to share those books with their family. I appreciate all those who have participated in the past and I look forward to reading these great fantasy classics with you this year. Reading a book in a chapter a day is great way to fit the habit of reading in each day, and it is so much more fun to do it with others. Seeing the quotes you post on social media is motivational and inspirational, and I look forward to them each day. I can’t wait to visit Narnia, Middle-earth, and Hogwarts with you!
2024 Fantasy Classics Chapter-a-Day Read-along ScheduleHere is the detailed read-along schedule, and you can also download it as a pdf here: Nick’s 2024 Fantasy Classics Chapter-a-Day Reading Schedule
| Day | Date | Book | | The Chronicles of Narnia | | The Magician’s Nephew | | 1 | 1/1/2024 | Chapters 1 and 2 | | 2 | 1/2/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 3 | 1/3/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 4 | 1/4/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 5 | 1/5/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 6 | 1/6/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 7 | 1/7/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 8 | 1/8/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 9 | 1/9/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 10 | 1/10/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 11 | 1/11/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 12 | 1/12/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 13 | 1/13/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 14 | 1/14/2024 | Chapter 15 | | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | | 15 | 1/15/2024 | Chapters 1 and 2 | | 16 | 1/16/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 17 | 1/17/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 18 | 1/18/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 19 | 1/19/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 20 | 1/20/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 21 | 1/21/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 22 | 1/22/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 23 | 1/23/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 24 | 1/24/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 25 | 1/25/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 26 | 1/26/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 27 | 1/27/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 28 | 1/28/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 29 | 1/29/2024 | Chapter 16 | | 30 | 1/30/2024 | Chapter 17 | | The Horse and His Boy | | 31 | 1/31/2024 | Chapters 1 and 2 | | 32 | 2/1/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 33 | 2/2/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 34 | 2/3/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 35 | 2/4/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 36 | 2/5/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 37 | 2/6/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 38 | 2/7/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 39 | 2/8/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 40 | 2/9/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 41 | 2/10/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 42 | 2/11/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 43 | 2/12/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 44 | 2/13/2024 | Chapter 15 | | Prince Caspian | | 45 | 2/14/2024 | Chapters 1 and 2 | | 46 | 2/15/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 47 | 2/16/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 48 | 2/17/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 49 | 2/18/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 50 | 2/19/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 51 | 2/20/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 52 | 2/21/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 53 | 2/22/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 54 | 2/23/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 55 | 2/24/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 56 | 2/25/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 57 | 2/26/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 58 | 2/27/2024 | Chapter 15 | | The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | | 59 | 2/28/2024 | Chapters 1 and 2 | | 60 | 2/29/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 61 | 3/1/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 62 | 3/2/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 63 | 3/3/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 64 | 3/4/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 65 | 3/5/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 66 | 3/6/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 67 | 3/7/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 68 | 3/8/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 69 | 3/9/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 70 | 3/10/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 71 | 3/11/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 72 | 3/12/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 73 | 3/13/2024 | Chapter 16 | | The Silver Chair | | 74 | 3/14/2024 | Chapter 1 | | 75 | 3/15/2024 | Chapter 2 | | 76 | 3/16/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 77 | 3/17/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 78 | 3/18/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 79 | 3/19/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 80 | 3/20/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 81 | 3/21/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 82 | 3/22/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 83 | 3/23/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 84 | 3/24/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 85 | 3/25/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 86 | 3/26/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 87 | 3/27/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 88 | 3/28/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 89 | 3/29/2024 | Chapter 16 | | The Last Battle | | 90 | 3/30/2024 | Chapter 1 | | 91 | 3/31/2024 | Chapter 2 | | 92 | 4/1/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 93 | 4/2/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 94 | 4/3/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 95 | 4/4/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 96 | 4/5/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 97 | 4/6/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 98 | 4/7/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 99 | 4/8/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 100 | 4/9/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 101 | 4/10/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 102 | 4/11/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 103 | 4/12/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 104 | 4/13/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 105 | 4/14/2024 | Chapter 16 | | Lord of the Rings | | Fellowship of the Ring – Book One | | 106 | 4/15/2024 | Chapter I | | 107 | 4/16/2024 | Chapter II | | 108 | 4/17/2024 | Chapter III | | 109 | 4/18/2024 | Chapter IV | | 110 | 4/19/2024 | Chapter V | | 111 | 4/20/2024 | Chapter VI | | 112 | 4/21/2024 | Chapter VII | | 113 | 4/22/2024 | Chapter VIII | | 114 | 4/23/2024 | Chapter IX | | 115 | 4/24/2024 | Chapter X | | 116 | 4/25/2024 | Chapter XI | | 117 | 4/26/2024 | Chapter XII | | Fellowship of the Ring – Book Two | | 118 | 4/27/2024 | Chapter I | | 119 | 4/28/2024 | Chapter II | | 120 | 4/29/2024 | Chapter III | | 121 | 4/30/2024 | Chapter IV | | 122 | 5/1/2024 | Chapter V | | 123 | 5/2/2024 | Chapter VI | | 124 | 5/3/2024 | Chapter VII | | 125 | 5/4/2024 | Chapter VIII | | 126 | 5/5/2024 | Chapter IX | | 127 | 5/6/2024 | Chapter X | | The Two Towers – Book Three | | 128 | 5/7/2024 | Chapter I | | 129 | 5/8/2024 | Chapter II | | 130 | 5/9/2024 | Chapter III | | 131 | 5/10/2024 | Chapter IV | | 132 | 5/11/2024 | Chapter V | | 133 | 5/12/2024 | Chapter VI | | 134 | 5/13/2024 | Chapter VII | | 135 | 5/14/2024 | Chapter VIII | | 136 | 5/15/2024 | Chapter IX | | 137 | 5/16/2024 | Chapter X | | 138 | 5/17/2024 | Chapter XI | | The Two Towers – Book Four | | 139 | 5/18/2024 | Chapter I | | 140 | 5/19/2024 | Chapter II | | 141 | 5/20/2024 | Chapter III | | 142 | 5/21/2024 | Chapter IV | | 143 | 5/22/2024 | Chapter V | | 144 | 5/23/2024 | Chapter VI | | 145 | 5/24/2024 | Chapter VII | | 146 | 5/25/2024 | Chapter VIII | | 147 | 5/26/2024 | Chapter IX | | 148 | 5/27/2024 | Chapter X | | The Return of the King – Book Five | | 149 | 5/28/2024 | Chapter I | | 150 | 5/29/2024 | Chapter II | | 151 | 5/30/2024 | Chapter III | | 152 | 5/31/2024 | Chapter IV | | 153 | 6/1/2024 | Chapter V | | 154 | 6/2/2024 | Chapter VI | | 155 | 6/3/2024 | Chapter VII | | 156 | 6/4/2024 | Chapter VIII | | 157 | 6/5/2024 | Chapter IX | | 158 | 6/6/2024 | Chapter X | | The Return of the King – Book Six | | 159 | 6/7/2024 | Chapter I | | 160 | 6/8/2024 | Chapter II | | 161 | 6/9/2024 | Chapter III | | 162 | 6/10/2024 | Chapter IV | | 163 | 6/11/2024 | Chapter V | | 164 | 6/12/2024 | Chapter VI | | 165 | 6/13/2024 | Chapter VII | | 166 | 6/14/2024 | Chapter VIII | | 167 | 6/15/2024 | Chapter IX | | The Harry Potter Series | | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | | 168 | 6/16/2024 | Chapter 1 | | 169 | 6/17/2024 | Chapter 2 | | 170 | 6/18/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 171 | 6/19/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 172 | 6/20/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 173 | 6/21/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 174 | 6/22/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 175 | 6/23/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 176 | 6/24/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 177 | 6/25/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 178 | 6/26/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 179 | 6/27/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 180 | 6/28/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 181 | 6/29/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 182 | 6/30/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 183 | 7/1/2024 | Chapter 16 | | 184 | 7/2/2024 | Chapter 17 | | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | | 185 | 7/3/2024 | Chapter 1 | | 186 | 7/4/2024 | Chapter 2 | | 187 | 7/5/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 188 | 7/6/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 189 | 7/7/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 190 | 7/8/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 191 | 7/9/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 192 | 7/10/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 193 | 7/11/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 194 | 7/12/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 195 | 7/13/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 196 | 7/14/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 197 | 7/15/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 198 | 7/16/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 199 | 7/17/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 200 | 7/18/2024 | Chapter 16 | | 201 | 7/19/2024 | Chapter 17 | | 202 | 7/20/2024 | Chapter 18 | | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | | 203 | 7/21/2024 | Chapter 1 | | 204 | 7/22/2024 | Chapter 2 | | 205 | 7/23/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 206 | 7/24/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 207 | 7/25/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 208 | 7/26/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 209 | 7/27/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 210 | 7/28/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 211 | 7/29/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 212 | 7/30/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 213 | 7/31/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 214 | 8/1/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 215 | 8/2/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 216 | 8/3/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 217 | 8/4/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 218 | 8/5/2024 | Chapter 16 | | 219 | 8/6/2024 | Chapter 17 | | 220 | 8/7/2024 | Chapter 18 | | 221 | 8/8/2024 | Chapter 19 | | 222 | 8/9/2024 | Chapter 20 | | 223 | 8/10/2024 | Chapter 21 | | 224 | 8/11/2024 | Chapter 22 | | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | | 225 | 8/12/2024 | Chapter 1 | | 226 | 8/13/2024 | Chapter 2 | | 227 | 8/14/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 228 | 8/15/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 229 | 8/16/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 230 | 8/17/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 231 | 8/18/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 232 | 8/19/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 233 | 8/20/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 234 | 8/21/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 235 | 8/22/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 236 | 8/23/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 237 | 8/24/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 238 | 8/25/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 239 | 8/26/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 240 | 8/27/2024 | Chapter 16 | | 241 | 8/28/2024 | Chapter 17 | | 242 | 8/29/2024 | Chapter 18 | | 243 | 8/30/2024 | Chapter 19 | | 244 | 8/31/2024 | Chapter 20 | | 245 | 9/1/2024 | Chapter 21 | | 246 | 9/2/2024 | Chapter 22 | | 247 | 9/3/2024 | Chapter 23 | | 248 | 9/4/2024 | Chapter 24 | | 249 | 9/5/2024 | Chapter 25 | | 250 | 9/6/2024 | Chapter 26 | | 251 | 9/7/2024 | Chapter 27 | | 252 | 9/8/2024 | Chapter 28 | | 253 | 9/9/2024 | Chapter 29 | | 254 | 9/10/2024 | Chapter 30 | | 255 | 9/11/2024 | Chapter 31 | | 256 | 9/12/2024 | Chapter 32 | | 257 | 9/13/2024 | Chapter 33 | | 258 | 9/14/2024 | Chapter 34 | | 259 | 9/15/2024 | Chapter 35 | | 260 | 9/16/2024 | Chapter 36 | | 261 | 9/17/2024 | Chapter 37 | | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | | 262 | 9/18/2024 | Chapter 1 | | 263 | 9/19/2024 | Chapter 2 | | 264 | 9/20/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 265 | 9/21/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 266 | 9/22/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 267 | 9/23/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 268 | 9/24/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 269 | 9/25/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 270 | 9/26/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 271 | 9/27/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 272 | 9/28/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 273 | 9/29/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 274 | 9/30/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 275 | 10/1/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 276 | 10/2/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 277 | 10/3/2024 | Chapter 16 | | 278 | 10/4/2024 | Chapter 17 | | 279 | 10/5/2024 | Chapter 18 | | 280 | 10/6/2024 | Chapter 19 | | 281 | 10/7/2024 | Chapter 20 | | 282 | 10/8/2024 | Chapter 21 | | 283 | 10/9/2024 | Chapter 22 | | 284 | 10/10/2024 | Chapter 23 | | 285 | 10/11/2024 | Chapter 24 | | 286 | 10/12/2024 | Chapter 25 | | 287 | 10/13/2024 | Chapter 26 | | 288 | 10/14/2024 | Chapter 27 | | 289 | 10/15/2024 | Chapter 28 | | 290 | 10/16/2024 | Chapter 29 | | 291 | 10/17/2024 | Chapter 30 | | 292 | 10/18/2024 | Chapter 31 | | 293 | 10/19/2024 | Chapter 32 | | 294 | 10/20/2024 | Chapter 33 | | 295 | 10/21/2024 | Chapter 34 | | 296 | 10/22/2024 | Chapter 35 | | 297 | 10/23/2024 | Chapter 36 | | 298 | 10/24/2024 | Chapter 37 | | 299 | 10/25/2024 | Chapter 38 | | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | | 300 | 10/26/2024 | Chapter 1 | | 301 | 10/27/2024 | Chapter 2 | | 302 | 10/28/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 303 | 10/29/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 304 | 10/30/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 305 | 10/31/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 306 | 11/1/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 307 | 11/2/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 308 | 11/3/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 309 | 11/4/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 310 | 11/5/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 311 | 11/6/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 312 | 11/7/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 313 | 11/8/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 314 | 11/9/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 315 | 11/10/2024 | Chapter 16 | | 316 | 11/11/2024 | Chapter 17 | | 317 | 11/12/2024 | Chapter 18 | | 318 | 11/13/2024 | Chapter 19 | | 319 | 11/14/2024 | Chapter 20 | | 320 | 11/15/2024 | Chapter 21 | | 321 | 11/16/2024 | Chapter 22 | | 322 | 11/17/2024 | Chapter 23 | | 323 | 11/18/2024 | Chapter 24 | | 324 | 11/19/2024 | Chapter 25 | | 325 | 11/20/2024 | Chapter 26 | | 326 | 11/21/2024 | Chapter 27 | | 327 | 11/22/2024 | Chapter 28 | | 328 | 11/23/2024 | Chapter 29 | | 329 | 11/24/2024 | Chapter 30 | | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | | 330 | 11/25/2024 | Chapter 1 | | 331 | 11/26/2024 | Chapter 2 | | 332 | 11/27/2024 | Chapter 3 | | 333 | 11/28/2024 | Chapter 4 | | 334 | 11/29/2024 | Chapter 5 | | 335 | 11/30/2024 | Chapter 6 | | 336 | 12/1/2024 | Chapter 7 | | 337 | 12/2/2024 | Chapter 8 | | 338 | 12/3/2024 | Chapter 9 | | 339 | 12/4/2024 | Chapter 10 | | 340 | 12/5/2024 | Chapter 11 | | 341 | 12/6/2024 | Chapter 12 | | 342 | 12/7/2024 | Chapter 13 | | 343 | 12/8/2024 | Chapter 14 | | 344 | 12/9/2024 | Chapter 15 | | 345 | 12/10/2024 | Chapter 16 | | 346 | 12/11/2024 | Chapter 17 | | 347 | 12/12/2024 | Chapter 18 | | 348 | 12/13/2024 | Chapter 19 | | 349 | 12/14/2024 | Chapter 20 | | 350 | 12/15/2024 | Chapter 21 | | 351 | 12/16/2024 | Chapter 22 | | 352 | 12/17/2024 | Chapter 23 | | 353 | 12/18/2024 | Chapter 24 | | 354 | 12/19/2024 | Chapter 25 | | 355 | 12/20/2024 | Chapter 26 | | 356 | 12/21/2024 | Chapter 27 | | 357 | 12/22/2024 | Chapter 28 | | 358 | 12/23/2024 | Chapter 29 | | 359 | 12/24/2024 | Chapter 30 | | 360 | 12/25/2024 | Chapter 31 | | 361 | 12/26/2024 | Chapter 32 | | 362 | 12/27/2024 | Chapter 33 | | 363 | 12/28/2024 | Chapter 34 | | 364 | 12/29/2024 | Chapter 35 | | 365 | 12/30/2024 | Chapter 36 | | 366 | 12/31/2024 | Nineteen Years Later |
The background image for the 2024 read-along graphic is from Storm in the Mountains by Albert Bierstadt
We are given very powerful readings today, powerful individually and powerful collectively. And at the heart of them all is a line by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans: “…be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” So today we’re given three challenges: transformation, renewal, and discernment. First Paul says, be transformed. This is what Jesus is trying to help Peter do in today’s Gospel. When Jesus explains what...
The George Eliot Chapter-a-Day Read-along continues this week with a book that some call the greatest novel in the English language, Middlemarch: A Study in Provincial Life. I have wanted to read Middlemarch for many years, having started it several times, but I was never able to make it very far. A book like Middlemarch is exactly the reason I began the chapter-a-day read-alongs, and I look forward to finally engaging with Eliot’s masterpiece. If you’ve been following this year’s reading schedule, then you know that tomorrow you...
It’s a sad fact of history
that the largest religious community
that ever lived together in the same place
in the history of the Catholic Church
was at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany during World War II.
Over 2,500 Catholic priests became prisoners in Dachau,
in Cellblock 26, known as the Priestblock.
They were from 144 dioceses and 25 countries,
and they made up about a third of Dachau’s total population.
While they were there at Dachau,
the priests ministered to the other prisoners the best they could,
and they tried to strengthen each other, and give each other hope.
As the days went by, they even held theological discussions
to try and make sense of what was happening,
not only to them, but to the world.
They talked about the holocaust that was happening before their eyes,
and the war raging across the world,
weapons of destruction worse than any other in history;
and all this coming after what had been called “The War to End All Wars.”
These 2500 priests considered all of this,
and as they pondered,
one question kept returning to them.
“How could this happen?”
But that was not the complete question they asked.
The complete question, the full question, included a key phrase at the end.
Their full question was,
“How could this happen in Christian nations?”
Germany was a Christian nation. Italy, France, Great Britain,
the United States; even Russia had its Christian roots.
And these priests asked themselves,
“How could this happen
among people who professed to be followers of Christ?
We must do better!” they said.
We must do better.
And that is what Jesus is telling his disciples in today’s gospel.
He says, “your righteousness must surpass that
of the scribes and Pharisees.”
In other words, “You must do better.”
The law is not simply to be observed,
it is to be lived.
It is not enough to merely avoid murdering someone, he says,
that’s not enough.
You must do better.
If you have conflict, resolve it.
Disciples are not to call people fools or other demeaning names.
These people you try to humiliate are my brothers and sisters.
Before you even approach the altar with a gift,
if you have a problem with someone,
go reconcile with them,
and then come back.
You must do better.
It is not enough to avoid committing adultery.
Don’t even look at someone with lust.
That’s exploitation,
using someone else for your own pleasure.
You must do better.
It is not enough to avoid false oaths.
Live a life of integrity,
be who you are at all times,
in public and in private,
so that your yes means yes
and your no means no.
You must do better.
This is what Jesus is telling his disciples.
It’s what Jesus is telling us.
When we look at the world today,
the escalation of conflicts between nations,
the out and out war taking place,
we must do better.
When we look at our nation,
the polarization, the name calling,
the attempts to utterly humiliate opponents,
we must do better.
Even when we look inside our Church,
we see infighting, bickering, lack of charity between fellow Christians,
even, sadly, among Church leaders.
Is this reconciling with our brother or sister before coming to the altar?
Is this living a life of integrity where our yes means yes
and our no means no?
We must do better!
The 2500 priests at Dachau who saw the need to do better
also had discussions about how to do better.
In the face of the great evil they were experiencing,
they had an insight,
perhaps even the grace of the Holy Spirit inspiring them.
They realized that in the ministries of the Church
there were images of Christ the King
and images of Christ the Priest,
but there was a need for images of Christ the Servant.
And this could help us do better.
Whenever we humble ourselves enough to serve others,
we encounter Christ in them
and they encounter Christ in us.
In the words of Pope Francis,
“The more we serve,
the more we are aware of God’s presence,
especially when we serve those who cannot give anything in return…”
And when we see Christ in those we serve,
we are more likely to treat them with dignity,
we are more likely to build friendships with them,
we are more likely to want to reconcile with them
in peaceful and loving ways.
Conflict and disagreement are always going to exist.
But the way we resolve those conflicts
and address those differences with others
ought to grow out of an understanding of their dignity as children of God.
When we serve others, we are less likely to call them fools,
humiliate them,
or exploit them for our own pleasure.
When we serve others,
we do better.
So as the priests in Dachau
continued thinking about the important of service,
they saw the need for more images of Christ the Servant.
But they weren’t thinking necessarily
of more icons or paintings of Christ the Servant
being put up in churches and homes around the world,
although that would be wonderful.
I’ve brought in this image of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet,
because that’s who Jesus was and is, a servant.
Contemplating icons like this one
can certainly help us remember Christ the Servant,
and our own call to serve others.
But the priests at Dachau intended something more.
They saw the need for living images of Christ of the Servant.
And so they began to think the time had come
to bring back permanent deacons.
In the 1940’s, and for centuries before,
there were no permanent deacons,
as there had been in the early years of the church —
deacons like St. Lawrence and St. Ephraim.
Permanent deacons existed in the Church for many centuries,
but for a lot of complicated reasons they declined in number
and eventually disappeared.
The priests in Cellblock 26 saw the need
for the return of permanent deacons,
permanent images of Christ the Servant,
who would animate the people to service.
That is what those 2500 priests concluded,
and they wrote their thoughts down in notes,
and those notes were eventually published in a book
that was one of the influences on Pope Paul VI
when he decided to re-establish the permanent diaconate in 1967,
after the Second Vatican Council.
That decision is what allows me to stand before you,
a permanent deacon,
talking to you about serving others.
God always knows how to make grace come out of any suffering.
That horrible experience of the 2500 priests in Cellblock 26
lead to the renewal of the permanent diaconate,
so that now there are almost 49,000 deacons in the world,
and the numbers are increasing each year.
But when we look at the current conflicts in our world,
the divisions in our nation,
and even in our Church,
I must do better,
you must do better,
we must do better!
So I ask you to find some individual or some group that you can serve;
someone who cannot give back,
someone you disagree with or have a conflict with;
or some individual or group that makes you feel uncomfortable.
Christ the Servant went to uncomfortable places
like Samaria and the Decapolis.
He ministered to people who made others uncomfortable,
people on the fringes of society,
like tax collectors, prostitutes, and those with leprosy.
Who would he minister to today, if he were here among us?
Those are the very people he is asking us to serve.
Today Jesus asks us to surpass the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees
and do better.
It is not easy;
but when has the Christian life ever been easy?
the Christian life is the way of the cross.
And through the grace of our baptism,
strengthened in confirmation
and nourished here at the Eucharistic table,
Christ gives us the strength to carry that cross.
Today I urge you to find a way to serve others,
for in doing so you will find Christ;
and others will find Christ in you.
With Lent approaching,
maybe this can be part of your Lenten sacrifice.
The world desperately needs to see Christ, the Prince of Peace.
Because what we Christians have done so far,
as good as it has been,
has not been enough.
We must do better.
The feast of the Epiphany commemorates the arrival of the magi,
and their journey to find Christ can inspire us
to reflect on our own journey to encounter Christ in our lives.
Each of our journeys is unique,
and no one finds Christ in the quite the same way as anyone else.
The magi in the Gospel of Matthew found Jesus in their own way.
The names and numbers of the magi are not given in Matthew’s gospel,
but we think of them as a group of three,
probably because of the three gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Our tradition gives them the names Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior.
These three magi, or wise men, read and studied the signs,
and when they noticed a particular star at its rising,
they traveled far from their own land in the east
and they found Jesus in Bethlehem.
For some of us, our journey might be similar:
following clear signs, point A to point B.
For others of us, the path is different,
a more winding road.
Such was the case with the other wise man, Artaban.
You won’t find Artaban in the Bible.
His story is told by the author Henry van Dyke.
It seems that Artaban had studied the stars with his friends
Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior,
and he knew that a king was to be born among the Jews,
a King who would change the world.
So Artaban arranged to meet up with his three friends
and travel with them to visit this King,
once they saw his star.
In preparation, Artaban sold his possessions and bought three jewels –
a sapphire, a ruby, and a pearl – to carry as gifts to the king.
One night, Artaban looked up and said,
“The star! The King is coming, and I will go to meet him.”
He had ten days to get to the rendezvous
and join his friends’ caravan,
so Artaban immediately got on his horse
and rode across fields of Concabar, past Selucia,
across the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,
and finally arrived at Babylon at nightfall on the tenth day,
his horse exhausted,
just three hours away from his friends.
But what was this?
There was a man lying across the road, a poor Hebrew exile, almost dead,
in the grip of a deadly fever.
Should he turn aside, if only for a moment, to help this poor man,
and risk missing the caravan?
He couldn’t leave the man to die,
so Artaban jumped from his horse, brought the man water
and cared for him until the man recovered.
But, alas, he missed the caravan and his three friends.
Sometimes we think we may have “missed the boat,”
and we look back on the choices we have made,
wondering if they were right.
But Artiban was persistent.
However, he couldn’t cross the desert with only a horse,
so he sold the sapphire
to buy the camels and supplies necessary for such a long trip.
Fortunately, the Hebrew man he had saved
told him that, according to the prophets,
the King of the Jews would not be born in Jerusalem, but in Bethlehem.
So Artaban set off for Bethlehem, hoping to meet his friends there.
He crossed deserts, mountain ranges,
endured the fierce heat of day, and the bitter chill of night.
and finally arrived in Bethlehem.
As he walked through the village looking for his friends,
Artaban heard a woman’s voice through a doorway,
singing her baby boy to sleep.
When she noticed his foreign clothing,
she told Artaban of the three strangers from the far East
who had appeared in the village three days ago,
and how they said a star had guided them to the place
where a newborn child lay.
But the young mother also told Artaban
that the strangers had gone,
and the child and his family were gone too,
rumored to have fled to Egypt.
Artaban’s spirit was crushed.
He had missed his friends again, and the newborn King!
Sometimes our spirits are crushed.
And we feel unlucky or abandoned.
And then it gets worse.
For just then, soldiers arrived in the village,
and Artaban and the young mother heard shouts:
“The soldiers of Herod are killing our children!”
The young mother hugged her child tightly,
and crouched in the darkest corner of the room.
Artaban went quickly to the doorway and stood there, looking out.
A soldier came hurrying up the street
and saw Artaban in his foreign clothing, filling up the doorway.
Artaban said, “I’m all alone in this place,
and I am waiting to give this jewel to the prudent captain
who will leave me in peace.”
Artaban showed the ruby,
and the amazed captain pocketed the jewel and said to his men,
“March on, there is no child here, the house is empty.”
From Bethlehem Artaban traveled on to Egypt,
seeking everywhere and finding nothing.
When he got to Alexandria a wise Hebrew rabbi told him,
“The Messiah will be despised and rejected by many,
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.
Those who seek him will do well to look among the poor and the lowly,
the sorrowful and the oppressed.”
And so Artaban traveled from place to place, visiting the oppressed.
Though he didn’t find the King, he did find many who needed help.
He fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and comforted the captive,
and his years passed swiftly by,
thirty-three years to be exact,
and still he sought the King of the Jews.
Artaban’s hair was now white, his face wrinkled, his body weary.
He had come for the last time to Jerusalem, still looking for the King.
It was the season of Passover and the city was filled with foreigners.
Artaban joined a group of people from his own country
and asked them where they were going.
They said, “We’re going to the place called Golgotha,
where there is to be an execution of two famous robbers,
and another, Jesus of Nazareth, a man who has done wonderful works,
but who has been sent to be crucified
because he said he was the King of the Jews.”
Nazareth? The King of the Jews!
Could it be?
Could it be that he had arisen but had been rejected,
and was now about to die?
And Artaban thought,
“Maybe I will at last find the King, in the hands of his enemies,
and will come in time to offer my pearl for his ransom before he dies.”
But just then a troop of Roman soldiers came down the street,
dragging a young girl.
She was the daughter of a merchant,
but her father was dead,
and she was being sold as a slave to pay his debts.
Artaban knew what he had to do.
He took the pearl and gave it to the slave.
“This is your ransom, daughter.
It is the last of my treasures which I have kept for the King.”
Suddenly there was a great earthquake,
and the walls of the houses shook to and fro.
A heavy tile fell from a nearby roof and struck Artaban on the temple.
He lay breathless and pale, in the lap of the young girl,
knowing that his quest was over
and that he had failed.
Sometimes we feel the same way, that we have failed.
We lose hope, we despair.
But we don’t always have the full picture.
In fact, we rarely do.
You see, then came a voice through the twilight, very small and still.
The young girl turned to see if someone had spoken from the window above them,
but she saw no one.
Then the old man’s lips began to move, as if to answer,
and she heard him say,
“Not so, my Lord, when did I see you hungry and feed you?
Or thirsty, and give you drink?
When did I see you a foreigner and take you in, or naked and clothe you?
Thirty-three years I have looked for you;
but I have never seen your face, or ministered to you, my King.”
The sweet voice came again, faint and far away,
but this time the young girl understood the words:
“Truly I say to you,
whatsoever you have done to one of the least of these,
you have done it to me.”
A calm radiance of wonder and joy lighted the face of Artaban
and a long breath of relief exhaled gently from his lips.
His journey was ended. His treasures were accepted.
The other wise man had found his King.
Not one of us travels the same road.
Some of us have led fairly straightforward lives of faith,
from point A to point B,
only to begin questioning in our old age.
Some of us were raised in the Faith,
and may have drifted away and then returned with new appreciation.
Some of us came to the Faith later in life,
after exploring many different paths,
or after suffering through difficult challenges.
We may have family or friends
who seem to be moving away from Bethlehem right now.
But even they are still on the journey,
and there is hope for them.
On this feast of the Epiphany,
each one of us is asked to reflect on our own search for Jesus.
What has your journey been like?
Where have you gotten lost or sidetracked?
Who has helped guide you back?
In what unexpected places or people have you found Jesus?
What treasures have you given him?
What has been your Epiphany?
[Click here to read the full version of “The Story of the Other Wise Man” by Henry van Dyke]
Once upon a time there were two towers. Both towers began to be constructed about the same time, in the late 1800s. Both were constructed in Europe and designed by European architects, and both of them were ambitious projects, with plans for multiple levels, huge arches, and decorative statues. Each structure was designed to reach high into the sky, and to be built of sturdy stone. And both of these towers are unfinished to this day. Both architects died during their construction, and neither building was ever completed....
On this Solemnity of Pentecost the red vestments and red altar cloths are reminiscent of the fire that descended on the disciples. We see this color more and more in our own lives as the weather heats up and the fire season begins. As we know so well from the fires that typically begin to plague us in the summer, fire can be destructive and deadly. That’s one of the reasons pop singer Billy Joel used fire as a metaphor for chaos, crime, and war in his 1989...
On this Solemnity of Pentecost the red vestments and red altar cloths are reminiscent of the fire that descended on the disciples. We see this color more and more in our own lives as the weather heats up and the fire season begins. As we know so well from the fires that typically begin to plague us in the summer, fire can be destructive and deadly. That’s one of the reasons pop singer Billy Joel used fire as a metaphor for chaos, crime, and war in his 1989...
If you have been listening to the Bible in a Year podcast and are still on schedule, then you probably finished listening to the Gospel of John on Good Friday. Don’t worry if you’re not on schedule, my family and I are a little behind, too. But if you are on schedule, then during Holy Week you heard John describe all the many signs and wonders that Jesus worked: He turned water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. He cured the official’s son from a distance....
Jesus “was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil.” Each year on the first Sunday of Lent we enter into this significant moment at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He has just emerged from his baptism in the Jordan river only to be sent into the testing ground of the desert. As we accompany him into the wilderness, Jesus shows us how to live a life of Gospel conversion, how to begin anew. Today, as we begin the first...
About five or six years ago there was a poll to discover the world’s greatest love letter. After all the votes were tallied, the overwhelming favorite among all the love letters ever written, was a letter from country music singer Johnny Cash to his wife June Carter Cash for her 65th birthday. The letter was published in a book by their son about ten years ago, and it’s just a beautiful letter, brief, simple, and heartfelt, and it goes like this: Happy Birthday Princess, We get old and...
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Chapter-a-Day Read-along, whether you read all five books or limited yourself to just a few of them. In this post I’ll share a few of my reflections on the year, and I would love to know your thoughts about the experience. I invite you to leave a comment on this post to share what reading a chapter a day was like for you. The Divine Comedy – From my wrap-up post: There is so much depth to Dante’s poetry...
Today is the feast of the Holy Family, and as we look at the gospel reading today we might be reminded of a similar story, a more modern story. A story of a family taking a long trip during the holiday season who suddenly realize that they’ve left their young son home alone. I’m speaking of course of that 1990 movie Home Alone, where young Kevin McAllister believes he is being bullied by his older brothers and sisters, and ignored by his parents, so he wishes his family...
In today’s gospel Jesus tells his disciples to “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” In a bit of personal irony, I woke up this weekend unable to “stand erect” because of an excruciating pain in my back. I guess I must have tweaked something putting up the Christmas tree or carrying the box of holiday china. But it’s starting to feel better, and I have great hope that it will continue to heal. We human beings cannot live without hope. We’re unique...
Yesterday was the final chapter of David Copperfield in this year’s Chapter-a-Day Read-along schedule. This post is the place for you to leave your thoughts about your experience in reading Dickens’ own favorite novel of his. What did you gain from reading it? What challenged you? What uplifted you? What surprised you? It had been over twenty years since I last read the novel, and I was very pleased to discover that it was still as enjoyable and moving as the first time. I had no very clear...
Here we go! Tomorrow we begin the final book of the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along and the first book of the 2022 Chapter-a-Day Read-along: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. There’s not much to prepare for in getting ready for the The Three Musketeers except to buckle up and get ready for a wild ride! Try to put any preconceived notions aside, tuck away any memories you have of movies or TV shows you may have seen, and simply let yourself sink into the prose of Dumas’ historical fiction....
There is no text for my homily this past weekend, just the audio. But here is the video for “If You Eat Each Day” by Bryan Sirchio, from which I quoted:
This is the official sign-up post for the 2022 Musketeer Chapter-a-Day Read-along! You’re invited to join me in reading one of the great adventure series of all time, the D’Artagnan Romances. Each chapter averages about 8 pages, so you should only have to dedicate 10 to 15 minutes a day to reading. And if you get behind, you can catch up pretty easily. Wait, what? 2022? It’s only October, so why am I already announcing next year’s chapter-a-day read-along? There’s a special reason, and it goes all the...
As the bells of Notre Dame cathedral begin to echo and fade away, we get ready to close the book on the story of Quasimodo and Esmerelda and pull the next Chapter-a-Day Read-along book off the shelf, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I have read several Dickens novels, and of them all I have the warmest feelings toward David Copperfield. But it has been almost twenty years since I last read it, and I have forgotten most of the story. I have carried these fond feelings with me...
A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately. There was a certain man in the town who heard the warning, so he looked out his window at the gathering storm and saw his next-door neighbors parked outside in front of his yard. They were concerned about him and so they had come by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and...
Today is the final day of reading Quo Vadis, the second book of the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along. If you were able to adjust to the little schedule mix-up, then today is the day for reading the Epilogue and finishing the story of Vinicius and Ligia. This post is the place for you to leave your thoughts about your experience in reading Henryk Sienkiewicz’s classic. What did you gain from reading it? What challenged you? What uplifted you? What surprised you? I’ve read Quo Vadis a few times already,...
We’re only three days away from beginning Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the next book in this year’s chapter-a-day read-along. Published in French in 1831 and English in 1833, it was originally titled Notre Dame de Paris, referring to the great Notre Dame cathedral. Reading it this year is my tribute to the cathedral, which suffered a devastating fire in April of 2019. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I own an old paperback of the novel that I purchased new about thirty years ago that...
I wonder if anyone here has ever felt under-appreciated, overlooked, or even forgotten. If so, then this homily is for you. Today we’re going to sing the praises of one of the most under-appreciated and over-looked parts of the Mass. Everyone always talks about how the scripture readings spoke to them, or how great the music is, or even sometimes how the homily touched them. But no one ever walks out of Mass saying, “Wow, that dismissal, it really hit me today.” The dismissal is often forgotten or...
For those of you who are reading Quo Vadis as part of the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along, there is an important revision to the schedule. The original schedule was based on the freely available translation by Jeremiah Curtin which has 73 chapters and an epilogue. If you are reading Curtin’s translation then you have nothing to worry about. But if you are reading the translation by W. S. Kuniczak that I recommended, the original schedule will not work for you. Kuniczak broke the longer chapters into smaller segments, so...
Today we have reached the final chapter of The Divine Comedy, the first book of the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along. For the past 100 days we have accompanied Dante through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, and it has been quite the journey. I have to admit that this was one of the most challenging chapter-a-day read-alongs for me. There is so much depth to Dante’s poetry and there were so many footnotes that I feel I just scratched the surface of the poem. A daily read-along is probably not the...
Tomorrow, April 10, is the one hundredth day of 2021, the day we finish The Divine Comedy in this year’s chapter-a-day read-along. I’ll post a wrap-up of The Divine Comedy tomorrow, but today we look ahead to our next book, Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz. I have been looking forward to reading Quo Vadis ever since I began planning this year’s read-along. I’ve read it a few times before and even taught it to junior high students, but I am especially excited to read this newer translation by W. S....
We’re on day thirty-four of the 2021 Chapter-a-day Read-along, which means we’ve finally reached the end of Inferno and made our way out of Hell. Tomorrow we begin part two of The Divine Comedy, Purgatorio. This post gives you an opportunity to share your thoughts, quotes, and questions about Inferno. Some Quotes from the Past Week “My Guide and I crossed over and began to mount that little known and lightless road to ascend into the shining world again…And we walked out once more beneath the Stars.” –...
I’m a few days late with this post, but it’s week three of the 2021 Chapter-a-day Read-along, and we’re twenty-four cantos, or chapters, into Inferno, the first part of Dante’s The Divine Comedy. We’ve only got ten more days in Hell, after which we will accompany Dante into Purgatory. This post gives you an opportunity to share your thoughts, quotes, and questions about the book up to canto twenty-four. Some Quotes from the Past Week “The man who lies asleep will never waken fame, and his desire and...
Welcome to week three of the Aubrey/Maturin Chapter-a-Week 4 Year Read-along Odyssey. This post gives you an opportunity to share your thoughts, quotes, and questions about chapter three of Master and Commander. Quote of the Week “He looked over those miles of sea to windward — perfectly clear. Not a sail, not the slightest break on the tight light of the horizon. The topgallant sail above him was suddenly golden: then two points on the larboard bow, in the mounting blaze of light, the sun thrust up its...
It’s week two of the 2021 Chapter-a-day Read-along, and we’re over a third of the way through Inferno, the first part of Dante’s The Divine Comedy. This post gives you an opportunity to share your thoughts, quotes, and questions about the book up to canto thirteen. Some Quotes from the Past Week “Men of sound intellect and probity, weigh with good understanding what lies hidden behind the veil of my strange allegory!” Inferno, Canto IX (Ciardi) “…the aim of malice is to injure others whether by fraud or...
Welcome to week two of the Aubrey/Maturin Chapter-a-Week 4 Year Read-along Odyssey. This post gives you an opportunity to share your thoughts, quotes, and questions about chapter two of Master and Commander. Quote of the Week “This was Jack’s first direct, fully responsible acquaintance with book-keeping, and he did not much relish it.” This quote reminded me of when I first became principal and had to start working on the school budget. Where are Jack and Stephen this week? Jack and Stephen are still in Port Mahon as Jack...
Welcome to the first of what I hope will be weekly updates for the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along. The plan is to make a very brief post each Wednesday to give readers a place to post their thoughts, questions, or reactions to the chapters read in the past week. If you’ve read ahead or if you know the story, please refrain from any spoilers. Each week I hope to post some quotes that stood out to me along with a footnote or two that might be helpful. I may...
Welcome to the first of what I hope will be weekly updates for the Aubrey/Maturin Chapter-a-Week 4 Year Read-along Odyssey. The plan is to make a very brief post each Sunday or Monday to give readers a place to post their thoughts, questions, or reactions to the chapter just finished. If you’ve read ahead or read the series before, please refrain from any spoilers. Each week I hope to post a quote from the chapter, a description of the current setting, and maybe even a nautical or historical...
When 2020 began who could have predicted what we were in for? You might think that in the midst of stay-at-home orders and quarantines I would have had a banner year in reading. The reality is that I had to spend a lot of time working from home and planning for how to reopen our school, so my brain was often too tired to read. However, I still did manage to have a fairly robust year of reading, and I met most of my reading goals. Here are...
Congratulations on reading War and Peace, one of the great works of world literature! Whether you finished it early, on time, or not yet, thank you for participating. I hope the read-along was as enriching for you as it was for me. (If you liked the experience of reading classic literature in one chapter a day, please consider joining the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along.) I guess the read-along is technically not over, since the schedule calls for reading one final Tolstoy short story tomorrow, “How Much Land Does a...
In just a few days the Aubrey/Maturin Chapter-a-Week 4 Year Read-along Odyssey begins. This post is an introduction mostly for those who are unfamiliar with the series or with books set in the Age of Sail. Now, I am about as far from an expert on this series as you can find, but I have read it a few times, so I’ll share a few things that I think might be helpful for a new reader. If you have prior experience with the books I invite you to...
The 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along begins in a few days and it’s time to get ready for our first book! If you’ve been part of our read-alongs the last few years, you know that we’ve already read some of the greatest novels of all time — works like War and Peace, Don Quixote, and The Count of Monte Cristo. But our first book of 2021 has been called “The Greatest Single Work of Western Literature.” I speak, of course, of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. Dante’s masterpiece has had...
Today we see the beautiful roses and the rose vestments, and the rose colored candle that represent the third Sunday of Advent. These are visible reminders that no matter what we are going through, no matter what is happening around us, as Christians we are always people of Good News. And when we receive good news, how do we react? We rejoice. And that’s why this Sunday is dedicated to rejoicing. Why? Because we now know that the one we long for, the one our soul longs to...
This is the official sign-up post for the Aubrey/Maturin Chapter-a-Week 4 Year Read-along Odyssey. Yes, you read that right. This is a four year challenge to read what some call the greatest historical fiction series ever written, the Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin nautical series by Patrick O’Brian. Join me in a long, slow read of this masterful account of life at sea (and on land) during the Napoleonic era. This reading odyssey will require a heart of oak but the journey will be well worth the effort. Why These...
This is the official sign-up post for the 2021 Chapter-a-Day Read-along. This marks the fourth year of the read-along, and we are once again back to reading several books instead of just one. As you might remember, there aren’t too many books that have exactly 365 chapters, and we’ve already read the most well known: Les Misérables and War and Peace. So, like we did in 2019, for 2021 we will be reading several different books whose chapters add up to 365. By joining along in reading one...
As we get ready to say goodbye to November, we flip the pages closer and closer to the end of the War and Peace Chapter-a-day Read-along. I hope you have enjoyed the book as much as I have in this very challenging year. Although I haven’t been able to blog during these last months, I’ve been keeping up with reading a chapter each day and posting quotes on Twitter and Facebook. And now the story is reaching its end. In fact, if you’ve looked at the schedule lately,...
Every year the Tolkien Society sponsors Tolkien Reading Day on March 25, the anniversary of the fall of Sauron: It has been organised by the Tolkien Society since 2003 to encourage fans to celebrate and promote the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien by reading favourite passages. We particularly encourage schools, museums and libraries to host their own Tolkien Reading Day events. With the world in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, reading a bit of Tolkien can give us hope. Far from being an escape from reality,...
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. On the surface that seems so barbaric. And yet that law, known as the Law of Retaliation, was one of the most civilizing acts in human history. In the ancient world, before there were any laws, if a person was hurt or offended, then they would round up their clan and go after the person who caused the injury and their revenge would often be worse than the original crime, perhaps even leading to death. The Law...
Was it really the hag I killed? It was myself I killed, not her! I murdered myself in one fell blow, for all time! It has taken me many false starts to try and read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, but I finally managed to do the deed. I’m not sure why it has taken so much effort for me to read this Russian classic. The characters are well developed and believable. The plot is suspenseful and compelling. The issues it explores are timeless and significant. And...
We’ve just finished week 2 of the War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along. If you’re reading according to the schedule then you read chapters 6 through 12 this week. How do you feel about Tolstoy’s writing style so far? Does War and Peace read the way you expected it would? Leave comments on those questions or on any other War and Peace topics you choose.
Welcome to week 1 of the War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along. Each Monday morning during the read-along I am going to try and publish a short post to give everyone a chance to comment on the previous chapters. These posts will be very brief, because their main purpose is to provide a forum for us to talk about the book. Please be sure to talk only about the chapters that have been scheduled up to this point, so as not to spoil anything for other readers. And if...
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Chapter-a-Day Read-along, whether you read all four books or limited yourself to one, two or three of them. In this post I’ll share a few of my reflections on the year, and I would love to know your thoughts about the experience. I invite you to leave a comment on this post to share what reading a chapter a day was like for you. First of all, while I still love Don Quixote, I am not sure that reading...
We’re only two days away from the War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along, and I hope you’re as excited as I am. Please tell your friends and family that they can still sign up by visiting the announcement post. As we get ready to start our journey I thought I’d share a few things to help us prepare. First of all, Cary, one of our fellow readers, has created a calendar that can be imported into your favorite calendar app. Thank you, Cary! The calendar comes in two formats,...
This is the official sign-up post for the 2020 War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along. You’re invited to join me in spending the first year of the new decade reading one of the truly monumental literary achievements of the world, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to be intimidated by how long the book is because we’ll be reading it in little bites, a chapter a day, savoring the experience and making it a part of daily life for...
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the last Sunday of our Church year. Today all of the themes of Jesus’ life and ministry come together in this one culminating feast here at the end of the year. Each liturgical year has its own particular character because of the fact that we read from one particular gospel. This year it’s been the Gospel according to Luke, and it’s good for us to look back over the year and try to see...
Pat Schneider is a poet, author, and teacher of writing,
whose has a mission to help people discover their voice.
Her most well-known book is called Writing Alone and with Others,
and she begins the book by saying,
“Everyone is a writer. You are a writer.
All over the world, in every culture,
human beings have carved into stone,
written on parchment, birch bark, or scraps of paper…
Those who do not write stories and poems on solid surfaces
tell them, sing them,
and, in so doing,
write them on the air.”
One of Schneider’s core beliefs is that,
“Everyone has a strong, unique voice.”
No matter who we are,
no matter what our age is, we each have important things to say,
and we each have a deep need to be heard.
That’s why today’s reading from Sirach is so important.
Just as each of has a deep need to be heard,
we learn today that God is a listener.
God has had many titles over the years,
Alpha and Omega, I Am Who Am, Abba Father,
but one that we might propose today is the Great Listener.
God is the Great Listener.
And listening is something we all need.
I’ve often spoken with parents over the years who were worried
that their teenage son or daughter was losing their voice.
Not that they were unable to speak physically,
but that they were silencing themselves
because no one would listen to them.
The parents worried that their children had stopped speaking up in class,
afraid of being misunderstood
or made fun of for their questions or comments.
Have you ever felt that you weren’t listened to?
Have you ever tried to tell someone your problems or worries
only to feel like they were simply nodding along politely,
waiting for their turn to speak?
Everyone has a need to be heard.
Sadly, there are entire groups of people
whose voices are routinely ignored.
The voices of women have been disregarded for centuries,
and while strides have been made in this country,
there are still parts of the world
where the voices of women are silenced.
The same thing is true about the poor.
To be heard in our culture you either need to have money or power,
and the poor have neither.
About a year and a half ago,
Brenda and I were invited to Washington, D.C.
to attend the annual U.S. Bishop’s Social Ministry Gathering.
The Catholic Social Ministry Gathering is an annual major event
organized by the U.S. Bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace
and Human Development.
For three days,
hundreds of Catholic lay people, deacons, priests, and bishops
from all over the country came together
to attend workshops, seminars, and forums
on topics as diverse as poverty, nuclear arms, and the Farm Bill.
The culminating event of the gathering
happened on a cold Tuesday morning in February,
when all of us left the conference center together
and traveled to Capitol Hill
where we all had appointments
with our various Senators and Representatives.
The Catholics had come to Washington.
As part of the Eastern Washington delegation,
we had three meetings scheduled:
first with our Representative from the 5th Congressional District,
and next a separate appointment
with each of our two Senators.
At the exact same time that we were meeting
with our representatives from our state,
Catholics from all the rest of the 50 states
were meeting with representatives from their states.
We tried to speak one message in one voice
to make sure that our voice was heard.
Why did we do this?
Why did the U.S. Bishops host this Social Ministry Gathering
and send us to Capitol Hill?
We might also ask,
Why do Catholics march on Washington, D.C. each year
on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision?
The answer to both questions is the same,
and can be found in today’s scriptures.
“The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites.”
“…he hears the cry of the oppressed.”
“The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan,
nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint.”
“The Lord hears the cry of the poor.”
God is the Great Listener.
And if God hears the cry of the poor,
then we should, too.
We were in Washington, D.C.
because the bishops asked us
to hear the cry of the poor
and carry it to our nation’s leaders.
We were not there speaking for ourselves.
We were there to speak on behalf of the poor, the immigrant,
and the oppressed.
We were there to speak for those whose voices have been silenced
or drowned out in all the other political noise.
And in Washington that’s unusual.
In fact, one of the representatives commented
that that’s one of the unique things
about meeting with Catholic delegations:
they rarely are there to speak on their own behalf,
but instead come to speak for the sake of others.
The reason our bishops call people to DC every year
to the Social Ministry Gathering
is because through our baptism,
we become one with God through Christ,
and if God listens to the poor and the oppressed,
then that is what we are to do, too.
Pat Schneider the author knows what it means to listen to the poor.
Not only does she teach others how to write,
she makes it a point to reach out specifically
to those whose voices are in danger of being silenced forever.
She leads writing workshops for low-income women like Robin.
When Robin attended one of Pat’s writing workshops,
Pat had no idea that Robin and her three small children were homeless
and living in a car.
Pat had no idea that Robin and her children got showers and food
from whatever shelter they could find each day.
But through the writing workshop, Robin found her voice, her confidence.
As Pat puts it,
“Before an abused or neglected child can entrust painful secrets
to a caring adult, he must experience having his story honored.”
In that writer’s workshop, Robin had her story honored.
She was heard.
“Now, after 15 years, Robin has her Master’s Degree in Social Work.
She is the author of a book of resources for leaders of writing workshops
for youth at risk…”
This week we can take comfort in knowing
that we have a God who listens.
But we are also challenged
to embrace our baptismal call
to listen to others,
especially the poor and the oppressed.
We are a week away from beginning our final chapter-a-day book of the year, The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. We end our reading of Lilith next Saturday, October 19, and begin The Old Curiosity Shop on Sunday, October 20. From Don Quixote to The Count of Monte Cristo to Lilith, we’ve gone from Spain to France to the region of the seven dimensions, and we’re going to end our year in England.
There’s something about reading Dickens in the twilight of the year, as leaves are falling and logs are on the fire, that feels right. As much as I love Cervantes and Dumas, this is the book I’ve been anticipating most this year. Maybe it’s because I last read a Dickens novel nine years ago when I reread Tale of Two Cities. Or maybe it’s because I’ve never read The Old Curiosity Shop, and I’m ready to get lost in a new story. Or maybe it’s simply the title, which makes me think of antiques and old books.
The Old Curiosity Shop was published as a weekly serial from April 25, 1840 to February 6, 1841. It contains 73 chapters, which will take us right up to December 31. It appears that Dickens originally conceived it as a short story but after a few chapters decided to expand it into a full novel.
Since I’ve never read The Old Curiosity Shop, I have deliberately avoided reading about the plot, wanting to enjoy it as it unfolds. The only thing I really know about it is that it was tremendously popular in its day, both in England and in America. According to Megan Garber in The Atlantic,
Before the arrival of the 40th and final installment of The Old Curiosity Shop, in 1841, American readers of the series were forced to wait. And wait. And wait—not just for Charles Dickens to finish his story, but for his completed work to cross the Atlantic. When the ship bearing the resolution of the series finally docked in New York, a mob desperate to learn the fate of the tale’s protagonist…stormed the wharf.
I’ll be reading the very reasonably priced Kindle edition by Open Road. You can also find The Old Curiosity Shop for free online at Project Gutenberg and there are several audiobook versions at Librivox. As with all our read-alongs, I will be posting quotes from each chapter on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #curiosityshopreadalong and I invite you to do the same.
It’s a beautiful October day today,
and I have to admit that October is my favorite month.
I love the colors of the leaves as they change,
the foggy mornings that we often get,
and the pumpkin spice food and beverages
that show up in the stores and coffee shops.
But I also love the feast days that come one after another in October:
St. Teresa the Little Flower, the Guardian Angels,
St. Francis of Assisi, and Our Lady of the Rosary.
The month of October is also set aside as Respect Life Month,
And the first Sunday in October, today, is Respect Life Sunday.
And if there’s anything that needs respecting in today’s world,
it is life.
We hear the words of the prophet Habbakuk in the first reading,
“Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and clamorous discord.”
Those words apply just as much to us today
as they did in the days of the prophet when they were written.
Our world is full of violence and strife
towards people of all ages, of all abilities, of all backgrounds,
and of all nationalities.
We might even say of today’s world that there is a great disrespect
for the value of human life.
We seem to have lost our way
when it comes to recognizing the dignity of every human person,
before they’re born, after they’re born,
or when they’re at the end of their journey in this life.
And trying to defend the value of those lives,
the lives of infants,
the lives of those who are disabled or dying,
the lives of those on death row,
the lives of immigrants, the poor,
trying to defend the lives of any vulnerable human population
is often met with enormous resistance.
And what about our own efforts to respect human life?
October is a good month for us to ask ourselves
if we need to improve in the respect we give to every person in our lives,
from family members to coworkers,
from acquaintances to strangers.
Do I gossip? Do I bully? Do I ignore those in need around me
simply because they are different or believe differently than I do?
We have to challenge ourselves,
we, who profess to know and respect the value of human life,
to live out what we believe,
to put it in practice in our own lives.
So it is vitally important that we take time this month
to refocus on the inherent value human life,
and help others understand.
But when we look at the work required
to try to change the culture so that all human life is valued,
and to make sure we are living out what we believe,
we might feel intimidated or overwhelmed
by the sheer enormity of the task.
How do we transform our culture
so that each individual human life is understood as sacred,
as important,
regardless of what a person can or cannot contribute to society?
How do we help people see
that our worth does not derive from our ability to do
but our worth derives from the fact that we are,
that we exist,
that we were created by a loving God
who chose us into being?
It seems like too big a task for people as small as we are,
and there seems to be too much inertia in the opposite direction.
But today’s scripture readings
challenge us to live out our call to discipleship.
First we hear from Paul in his second letter to Timothy.
As Paul writes this letter,
he is close to the end of his life, and he probably realizes it.
He’s in prison in Rome,
and he’s writing a letter to his closest companion
and probably his best friend, Timothy:
Timothy who traveled with him on two of his journeys,
Timothy whom he sent on several special missions.
Paul knows Timothy’s family well.
He knows Timothy’s grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice,
and he admires both of them for their faith,
the same faith that he sees in Timothy.
As Paul writes what is probably his final letter,
he wants Timothy to fully understand and be confident in
the gift that he’s been given by God
through Paul’s imposition of hands on him.
You see, Timothy is in Ephesus while Paul is in Rome,
and he’s sending Timothy this letter
because he knows that Timothy has a big job ahead of him.
Timothy is the leader of the Christian community in Ephesus,
and there are a lot of false teachings that are beginning to spread
by well meaning people who think they are being helpful.
It’s a big task for someone to take on,
very similar to the task of trying to help people understand the value of life. So Paul’s words to Timothy are also good for us to hear.
And what Paul says to Timothy is this:
“I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God
that you have through the imposition of my hands.”
He wants Timothy to stir that gift into flame,
the gift of the spirit Timothy has been given,
the gift of the spirit by Paul’s imposition of hands.
We have been given that same gift of the Spirit
through the sacraments of baptism and confirmation
and which are renewed every time we come to this altar
in the sacrament of the Eucharist
Paul wants Timothy to remember,
to remember that he has that gift,
the gift of the spirit,
and to stir that spirit,
to stir it into flame.
The picture here is a fire pit full of coals
that have begun to grow colder;
the coals have died down,
they’re just glowing now,
not providing much heat,
not providing much light,
and Paul is saying to Timothy
“Poke a stick in there and stir those up,
stir them up into a flame,
get that flame going again, you have this gift from God,
you have the spirit.
And Paul says it’s a spirit of power,
it’s a spirit of self-control
and it’s the spirit most of all of love.
Timothy has what needs.
We have what we need.
But it must be stirred up!
It must be made active.
We see the same thing in the gospel.
Jesus and the disciples are on their way to Jerusalem,
and it’s a long journey,
and as they’re on the way,
Jesus has just finished telling them
about the temptations they’re going to face,
and how difficult discipleship is.
So the disciples say to Jesus, “Increase our faith.”
They feel the need to have Jesus’ help in strengthening their faith,
in increasing their faith,
and what does Jesus tell them?
He says, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’
and it would obey you.”
What Jesus is telling them is, you have the amount of faith you need.
The faith that you need is in you, no matter how small it is.
Now stir it up, bring it to light, rely on it and trust in it!
That’s the message for us today
as we we recommit ourselves to respecting life:
each one of us already has access to the power of the Holy Spirit
to do what needs to be done.
The presence of Christ dwells in our hearts.
That should excite and delight us,
and give us joyful hearts,
even in the face of a world that doesn’t fully understand the value of life.
Paul says, “Remember that!”
Stir up those embers!
The presence of the Holy Spirit needs to be activated in our lives.
It’s like getting a brand new credit card in the mail.
You open up the envelope and what’s the first thing you see?
Call this toll free number to activate your card.
If you don’t activate it, then it’s useless.
We have received a gift from God that needs to be activated.
Today.
This very day there are well-meaning politicians and cultural leaders
proposing laws and initiatives
that they mistakenly believe are helpful to society,
but which will harm the dignity of human life.
This very day there are young women in Spokane
who have just found out they are unexpectedly pregnant,
and who are scared to death and don’t know what to do.
This very day there are people all around us
suffering from terminal diseases,
and in their pain and confusion,
they wonder if their families would be better off without them.
This very day there are children in our schools and neighborhoods
who are growing up under the weight of poverty,
and who are on the verge of committing their first or twenty-first crime.
We have the faith we need to help them,
even if it is as small as a mustard seed.
We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit
through the sacraments of the church
renewed every time we come here to Mass.
Our challenge is to take time in this month of October
to stir into flame the gift of the Holy Spirit
for the sake of all those lives that are so precious to God.
Our read-along of The Count of Monte Cristo is almost done, so it’s time to get ready for our next book, Lilith, by George MacDonald. Lilith is going to be quite a change from Dumas’ tale of revenge, so it may take a little adjustment of one’s reading mindset. Not only is Lilith a fantasy story, but it’s also quite dark, dense, and deep. It has been called “a long parabolic narrative heavily laden with Victorian Christian symbolism,” so get ready for some allegorical writing.
Lilith is our shortest read-along of the year, at 47 chapters. The read-along goes from September 3 to October 19. Because it has the reputation of being a dark fantasy, I thought autumn would be a good time to read it, just as pumpkins and hay bales are beginning to appear. Remember to use the hashtag #lilithreadalong if you are posting on social media. I’ll continue my habit of posting a quote from each chapter on both Twitter and Facebook, and I invite you to do the same.
A Bit of Background
Though he does not get as much attention as the people he influenced, George MacDonald was a major force in the development of fantasy fiction. MacDonald mentored Lewis Carroll and he had a strong influence on the works of such fantasy writers as J. M. Barrie, Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, L. Frank Baum, T.H. White, Lloyd Alexander, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Peter S. Beagle (all of whom are among my favorite authors).
According to Michael Mendelson in his article, “George MacDonald’s Lilith and the Conventions of Ascent,”
C.S. Lewis refers to MacDonald as the preeminent genius of mythopoetic fantasy, and Auden asserts that Lilith is “equal if not superior to the best of Poe.” Other distinguished readers include H.G. Wells, G.K. Chesterton, T.S. Eliot and J.R.R. Tolkien, all of whom seemed to have borrowed from MacDonald. More recently, Steven Prickett has claimed in Victorian Fantasy that MacDonald is perhaps the greatest fantasy-writer of the Victorian (“or any other”) period.
Mendelson goes on to describe what a reader can expect from Lilith:
Lilith is fundamentally a romance of ascent. Like the great upward journeys of Dante, Bunyan and Blake, MacDonald’s romance is an invented myth based on a structure of Christian allegory in which the journey’s goal is the return of mankind to its ultimate source in the creator. But MacDonald’s ascent also involves a paradoxical fall into horror and alienation: as Eliot has it, “the way down is the way up.”
MacDonald’s prose is rich with symbolism and imaginative power, but may take some work to understand. For those would like a little assistance as they read, David Nelson has published an online study guide for Lilith.
You can find Lilith online for free at Project Gutenberg, and there is also a free audiobook version at Librivox.
Who Is Lilith?
Lilith is a figure out of Jewish mythology who also later figured in Western European literature of the Romantic Period and whose legend influenced the artists known as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. But who is she?
Here is how she is described in Goethe’s play Faust:
Faust:
Lilith? Who is that?
Mephistopheles:
Adam’s wife, his first. Beware of her.
Her beauty’s one boast is her dangerous hair.
When Lilith winds it tight around young men
She doesn’t soon let go of them again.
Lady Lilith by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1866–1868, 1872–1873)
And here is a sonnet titled “Lilith” by Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti:
Of Adam’s first wife, Lilith, it is told
(The witch he loved before the gift of Eve,)
That, ere the snake’s, her sweet tongue could deceive,
And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
And, subtly of herself contemplative,
Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
Till heart and body and life are in its hold.
The rose and poppy are her flower; for where
Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
Lo! As that youth’s eyes burned at thine, so went
Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
And round his heart one strangling golden hair.
It will be interesting to see how MacDonald incorporates her story into his novel. As much as I have enjoyed reading The Count of Monte Cristo, I’m ready for a change, and reading Lilith should do the trick.
Back around 1995 or 1996, I was teaching my 8th grade class about vocations and the different religious orders. Their assignment was to research a particular religious order and write a report to share with the class. Now this was around 1996 B.G. Before Google. There was no Internet, no search engines, no Wikipedia, no email, and so I had given them a magazine that listed addresses for all the different religious orders in the United States. They got into groups, chose a religious community, did some encyclopedia...
Being a parent or grandparent can be really strange. And one of the strangest things about it is when the kids start to imitate you. At first its kind of funny and cute, the way you make faces at them and they try to make faces back. They dress up as mommy or daddy, pretending to do grown up things. But it’s not so funny when they start imitating your bad habits or repeating certain words. As they get older they begin to admire other people and try...
I read recently that filming is going to begin next year on the fifth Indiana Jones movie. I guess everybody knows who Indiana Jones is, the swashbuckling archaeologist, who goes in search of artifacts like the Ark of the Covenant. Well there’s a scene in the third Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade, that can speak to us today as we celebrate Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ. In The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones has spent the entire movie searching for the Holy Grail, the chalice...
One of the most useful apps on a smart phone is the Maps app. You type in an address of the place you want to go and you’re instantly given not only written directions for how to get there, but you also get a map that shows a path for how to get to your destination. You don’t even have to know the name or even the address of a place you’re trying to get to. You can simply type in “food near me” or “shopping near me.”...
All three readings today speak of the rhythm of the spiritual life. We see it at work in the lives of Isaiah, Paul, and Peter, each in a different context, but it’s the same rhythm. It’s a rhythm of dialogue, of back and forth, like a conversation. And it begins as all things spiritual begin, with God’s initiative. God is always seeking us out, God is always trying to engage us in his divine life, and God always meets us where we are. God comes to Isaiah as...
Here is the audio from my homily for the Christmas Eve Children’s Mass, December 24, 2018.
Once upon a time, in the early ages of the world, people believed that storms and droughts and sickness were sent by angry gods and goddesses. To the ancient people, the universe was a fearful place, a place of chaos, a place of danger, and the only way to stay safe was to offer sacrifices to try and please the gods. Ancient peoples would sacrifice a portion of the crops, they would sacrifice animals, and in some cases, they even sacrificed humans. But then came a people who...
The other day I was driving home from work, coming up Freya hill, and I noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of me. People put bumper stickers on their cars for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because they have something to say to the world. “Vote for this or that candidate.” “Work for world peace.” “Support my kid’s school.” Well, this particular driver had a different message. It was a big, red rectangular sticker, and in white letters it read, “No Gods. No Masters.”...
Many of you know that Les Misérables is one of my favorite books, but it’s a long one, almost 1500 pages, so reading it takes a while. Last year I found out that it has exactly 365 chapters, so I decided that in 2018 I would read one chapter a day, starting on January 1st and going to December 31st. They’re short chapters, about 5 pages or so, and I I thought it would be kind of a meditation and exercise in patience and delayed gratification to read...
As the church year begins to wind down over the next two weeks, many of the the Scripture readings are about the end of time, when Jesus will come again. So today’s first reading may seem out of place. In the cycle of readings for Sunday, the first reading is paired with the gospel. But today’s reading from Proverbs about the worthy wife seems a bit disconnected from the gospel. Why are these two readings paired together today? Since the gospel seems to fit this time of year...
This weekend is catechetical Sunday, the weekend in which the Church asks us to call forth those who have been chosen to be catechists in our parish, to bless them and commission them for the upcoming year. These are the teachers at our parish school, All Saints; these are the parish staff and volunteers who work with the children and teens in the many youth faith formation ministries of the parish. They are more than teachers, they are catechists. What does that mean? They do teach, certainly. which...
After Mass this Sunday I’m going to drive south to the Camas Prairie in Idaho, where my wife Brenda is already visiting her mother. As any conscientious husband will tell you, you don’t need a reason to visit your mother-in-law, but this weekend we do in fact have a particular reason for visiting: we’re going to watch the eclipse. We want to go see the eclipse not only because it’s such an unusual natural phenomenon, but also because natural events like this can help us understand the supernatural...
There’s a long but important sentence in the First Letter of Peter that we heard earlier: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” Of all the words in that long sentence, it’s the last one, hope, that’s the most important. Hope is something the world could surely use more of. But before the First Letter of Peter gets to that long sentence, there’s a lot that comes before to help us understand what it means. First of...
The first few gospel readings of the Easter season focused on showing us that Jesus was raised from the dead. He eats with his disciples, he shows them his wounds, he assures them that it really is him, he is risen from the dead. Now as we enter the third week of Easter the scripture readings change their focus from the resurrection itself to show us the effect of the resurrection on the disciples. We see this first in the figure of Peter. The last time we saw...
We walk through the Doorway of Love, following the Thread of Love, imitating the Model of Love, sitting in the Garden of Love.
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A while back a friend shared a website with me that was a collection of the last words of famous people, and it was very interesting. Some of their final words were humble. For example, Leonard DaVinci said, “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” Some tried to be prophetic. Nostradamus, for instance said, “Tomorrow I will not be here.” He was right. And there were some who didn’t realize they were speaking their final words. The last...
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Suppose we had a time machine and we traveled back in time to talk to Simon Peter before he met Jesus. And what if we asked him, “What would a peaceful life look like to you?” I wonder what he might say. Maybe he’d say, “Well, a peaceful life would be one where my fishing business would continue to thrive. I would catch lots of fish each day, sell them all, and support my family comfortably. My wife and I would live in harmony and raise our children...
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I’m sure you’ve heard about the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens. It’s breaking all box office records, and I’ve seen it myself a couple of times. One of the things I find interesting about this new Star Wars trilogy is that it begins in the same way as the original trilogy with Luke Skywalker. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’m not giving much away by saying that the main character starts the story on a desert planet feeling forsaken, feeling abandoned, just like Luke Skywalker...
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When I was about eleven or twelve years old, I was fascinated by the life of long-haul truckers. I used to listen to songs by Red Sovine and Merle Haggard, watch movies like Smokey and the Bandit, and dream about living life on the road. One year I asked my mom and dad for a CB radio for my birthday so I could talk to all the truckers on the road from my room at home. Their response was similar to Jesus’ answer to James and John: “You...
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This past week on Facebook a former student posted a picture of herself with her husband. They’ve been married almost two years, and they were standing with their arms around each other next to the “Sold” sign in front of their very first house. She’s about five months pregnant as they get ready to welcome their first child this coming December. I imagine there are lots of families moving into new homes this summer, getting used to new cities, new neighborhoods, children about to start the year in...
Today’s readings form a beautiful progression: In the first reading God makes a promise. The responsorial psalm responds to that promise. The Gospel shows the fulfillment of the promise. And all three center on the figure of the shepherd. First, God promises. During the time of the prophet Jeremiah, the people of God were scattered. They were beaten down. The Babylonians had laid siege to Jerusalem, and had ultimately destroyed the Temple. The chosen people are in exile. The kings of Israel, who were supposed to shepherd the...
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On this Solemnity of the Ascension, the Scriptures describe Jesus as being lifted up into the cloud. We hear a lot about “the cloud” these days. We can put our documents in the cloud. Or we can keep our pictures in the cloud. We can even put our music and books in the cloud. It’s really convenient having our music or all of our books at our fingertips. But for many of us, switching to the cloud can be a difficult transition. We’ve probably got file cabinets full...
What if, at communion, after receiving the Body and Blood, after consuming the consecrated bread and wine, we were handed a consecrated towel? What if we came forward with arms held out, and the priest or deacon or eucharistic minister said, “The Body of Christ,” and handed us the host, and then, “The Blood of Christ,” and handed us the cup, and then “The Service of Christ,” and gently placed a white towel in our hands? And what if we took that towel walked out of this building...
Do you remember the first picture of Jesus you ever saw? Was it a picture in a children’s Bible? A coloring book page from Sunday school? The actor Robert Powell in Jesus of Nazareth? There are many famous images of Jesus, and some of them hang on the walls of our homes. There’s the famous Warner Sallman painting of the Head of Christ, which has sold over 500 million copies. There’s the familiar Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Divine Mercy image. Another popular painting of Jesus is...
Every year on the First Sunday of Lent, the gospel takes us into the desert where Jesus was tested for forty days. And we follow Jesus into the desert for these forty days of Lent so that our hearts can be transformed, so that we can be ready to enter fully into the Mystery of Easter. This means being careful of the Star Wars Effect. When the original Star Wars movie came out in 1977, every kid my age wanted to see it. It was the first movie...
In the first reading we hear that “Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD.” Now that doesn’t mean you get to sleep here in church during the homily! But we do have something in common with Samuel: at one point, we, too, were not familiar with the Lord. Samuel is called three times, but he does not recognize who is it is. It is the priest Eli who helps him understand that it is the Lord who is calling. In the gospel, too, Andrew and an...