Author: The Anchorite

Posted on

Hearing the Lord’s Call

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

“Speak, for your servant is listening.” – 1 Samuel 3:10

Although a winter’s walk in the woods is usually a serene experience (unless you’re near a snowmobile trail), once spring returns, nature is not a quiet place. One can hear the calls of birds, peepers, insects, squirrels, and coyotes, to name just a few. The calls are a means to attract mates, or to mark off territory, or to warn off intruders. So many animals are wired for sound – and, more specifically, wired to hear the call of others.  Continue reading “Hearing the Lord’s Call”

Posted on

Trusting In The Word

Epiphany (B) – Matthew 2:1-12

Heather, a woman who had been searching for something to believe in for years, feels drawn at last to the Catholic faith. She becomes part of the RCIA process at the local parish. Having had little religious background or education, everything she sees and learns is new and exciting to her. Everything seems to  confirm for her that God has indeed led her there. Her interest and excitement are easily seen by other parishioners. Some find it an inspiration and a challenge to their own life of faith. Others shrug it off with a bemused, “knowing” smile. “She’s new and naïve”, they say among themselves. “She’ll learn someday.” Continue reading “Trusting In The Word”

Posted on

Icon Of The Trinity

Holy Family (B)

This is a photo of my mother’s family, from the early 1940’s. My mother, the only one still alive, is in the front row, second from the left.

In celebrating this feast of the Holy Family, we might assume that the focus is on Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and how they lived out their family life. In one sense, of course, that is true. However, when we look at the Gospels, we find very few details about the Holy Family. Certainly not the kind of detail that we in our time would look for in trying to understand them. The Gospels give us very little biographical info. We aren’t given Joseph’s psychological background, or what Mary’s personality was like, or what the child Jesus liked to eat for breakfast. We aren’t given examples of how they dealt with some of the challenges of marriage and family life. We aren’t told anything about what Joseph or Mary’s expectations might have been when they became betrothed to one another.  Continue reading “Icon Of The Trinity”

Posted on

Christmas Signposts

Christmas 2017

With all due respect to the Fourth Sunday of Advent, I’m jumping ahead just a bit with this post in order to offer a reflection on Christmas.

Christmas. What can one say about Christmas that hasn’t been said “many times, many ways”, as the song reminds us? Then again, maybe one can. After all, we are dealing with two different Christmases in our culture, and have been for quite a long time.  Continue reading “Christmas Signposts”

Posted on

Joy

Third Sunday of Advent (B)

“You say you are a Christian. Then where the devil is your joy?” – Georges Bernanos

Joy.

On this, the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday), the liturgy we celebrate returns again and again to this theme of joy. Witness the Opening Prayer at Mass: “Enable us, we pray, to attain the joys of so great a salvation, and to celebrate them always with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.” Witness the first reading: “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul”. Witness Paul, in the second reading: “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.” Joy. Rejoice. The message seems clear. Continue reading “Joy”