by Michael Francis Falce
“THEN THE LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord – but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake – but the Lord was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire – but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound.” (1 Kings 19:11-12)
by Father John Catoir
Sweeping biographies about great leaders like Lincoln, Gandhi and Churchill are at the top of my list of favorite movies. I also love musicals. Up until recently, my favorite musical was ‘My Fair Lady.” However, ‘The Greatest Showman’ has recently moved into first place.
by Effie Caldarola
WHEN MY SON and his male cousins headed to college, my daughter’s gift to them was a colorful book called “A Man, a Can, a Plan,” by David Joachim and the editors of Men’s Health.
A FEW WEEKS before Ash Wednesday, an Associated Press squib with Lenten implications appeared in the Washington Post sports section:
by Margaret Birth
I WAS A TEENAGER when an Episcopal priest, Father Ralph Byrd, introduced St. Francis of Assisi to about 150 of us retreatants by showing us the movie, “Brother Sun, Sister Moon.” He said it had transformed his life. The movie is a dramatized biography, largely inspired by St. Bonaventure’s Major Life of St. Francis. From then on, I was captivated.
Did you know that Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day fall on the same day this year? I was wondering what possible connection the two days could have, so I went to Google.
EUROPE’S WHOLESALE abandonment of its Christian faith is often explained as the inevitable by-product of modern social, economic and political life. But there is far more to the story of Euro-secularization than that, as three ecclesiastics, a Presbyterian minister and two Italian priests demonstrated this past Christmas.
by Father Robert W. Blauvelt
SOME PEOPLE HAVE profound spiritual experiences praying in a church or contemplating a sunset or starry sky. I had one while looking at a weather-beaten farmhouse near Atlantic City, N.J.
It was unfortunate that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, recently described “Amoris Laetitia,” Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on marriage and the family, as a “paradigm shift.” Perhaps the cardinal meant “paradigm shift” in some sense other than … paradigm-shift-as-rupture.
THE DOMINICAN Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist – the name itself is a prayer. When I first met the community in 2000, it was only three years old and already growing rapidly. The Sisters’ full-length white habits and generous smiles bespoke their total self-gift and corresponding joy. In these religious sisters, I recognized the fulfillment of an unexpressed longing of my heart. Though life would bear me far from this moment, I never forgot.
