Reflections
When All Was in Quiet Stillness
When we hear the sentence from the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Wisdom, “When all was in quiet stillness and the night was during its course,” just the sound of these words takes us beyond ourselves. Where do we go? We travel into a deep and safe silence that belongs to Christmas Eve. There …
God is With Us
Since ancient times, humanity has held various versions of belief in the existence of a god or gods. The oldest civilizations in Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers of the Euphrates and Tigris, built exotic temples to placate the gods by offering them gifts of food, and in some cases, human sacrifice. The purpose …
What Are You Waiting For
The following is Lillian’s Advent Vesper reflection for the Sisters in Dominican Convent. My beloved Sisters, It is an honor to celebrate Advent and share my personal reflection with you today on the reading from James 5:7-10. I am overwhelmed with feelings of warmth and love as I read through each verse of this reading. …
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
During these past few weeks, I’ve spent more time than usual with our Blessed Mother as I worked to prepare these reflections. I must admit, it has been an unexpectedly good way to enter more deeply into this beautiful Advent season!In exploring a bit of history of this feast, I discovered that there are differences …
The Seven Sorrows of Mary
Originally known in the Roman Missal as the celebration of Our Lady of Compassion, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows has been commemorated in the Church since the 15th century. The Seven Sorrows of Mary focus mainly on the Passion of Our Lord. I would like to suggest that there is a wider understanding …
Spring’s Call
One of the things I love most about the season of spring is its imperceptibility-its daily surprises. One day there appears to be nothing sprouting and then, within a span of a few hours or days, tiny new growths appear. It’s as if the struggles of winter give way to the fruits of patient endurance. …
The Path to Calvary
This day of hosannas and palms begins a very sacred week in our liturgical year, one that is filled with both terrifying and glorious moments. It is actually the triumph of the Incarnation which we celebrated on Christmas and puts a “period” at the end of the sentence… and God became human. These seven days …
A Lenten Barometer
For centuries, the Church has observed Lent as a season for examining our personal spiritual growth. We can recall the practice as children of giving up something that we especially liked for those forty days. But as we grow older, we try to reflect Saint Paul’s insight: “When I was a child I thought as …
Winter’s Lessons
As the season of winter deepens its hold on us, nature provides us the opportunity to pursue an increased awareness of the gift of silence. There appears to be a death to growth all around us. Nature presents to us a picture of stillness which other seasons lack. But it is the silence of nature …
Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord
As we meditate on the scenes of Christmas, we see a peaceful scene of Joseph, Mary, and the Baby Jesus in a stable. Soon they were visited by shepherds with their sheep from the nearby hills. It was to these poor Jewish shepherds that the heavenly host of angels gave the first manifestation, or epiphany, …