Author: The Anchorite

Posted on

The Voice of Restlessness

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Matthew 11:25-30

One day in early spring, I somehow caught a bad stomach flu. It began one evening with some stomach cramps. Then came that feeling that things were about to work in reverse, if you know what I mean. I needed to get to the bathroom, and quickly. That was the first of several experiences of multiple vomiting that I had that night. “Unpleasant” doesn’t begin to describe it! The next day, I felt totally depleted. It took a great deal of willpower to get myself to do anything.

A couple of days later, I began to feel restless. To me, that was a good sign. My energy was beginning to return, and was looking for an outlet. I wasn’t yet ready for my normal routine, but the worst of that flu was certainly over. My restlessness was the first positive sign of that. At times, that is what our times of restlessness mean. Our bodies simply have some excess energy that needs an outlet of some kind.  Continue reading “The Voice of Restlessness”

Posted on

Thomas

Feast of St. Thomas: John 20:24-29

Whenever we, in our own time, ponder the Gospel accounts of the appearances of the Risen Lord, we may wonder what they were like. We may even feel a touch of envy for people like Peter and Mary Magdalene and Paul, who saw the Risen Lord Jesus. We may say to ourselves, “Well, they saw him; we don’t. They had an advantage over us”. Or so we believe. Going further, we read in the Acts of the Apostles how faith in the presence of the Risen Lord enabled the apostles (and others) to preach, heal, and face great dangers out of love for the Lord. We may wonder how we can encounter the presence and power of the Risen Lord in our own lives.

A closer look at the resurrection appearances in the Gospels will help us greatly. These accounts were written not only to show how the Risen Lord appeared to these first believers; they are also written to give future believers, those who have not seen Jesus, clues as to how they, too, can encounter the Risen Lord. The story of Jesus’ appearance to Thomas is certainly one that can be read on both levels.   Continue reading “Thomas”

Posted on

Welcoming the Holy

Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

Our smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers offer us ready access to an astonishing amount of information on nearly every conceivable topic. One can even “google” oneself, and see what that brings up. Nowhere, however, do we find an app that will help us sort out all that information, help us discern the true from the false, and help us discern what information really is relevant to our lives. Like Pilate, we are tempted to ask, “What is truth?” Our culture does not offer us a clear answer to that question. How do we know what truth is? How do we receive it? Continue reading “Welcoming the Holy”

Posted on

Reverence

As I am now away on a vacation of sorts, I didn’t know if I would do a post this weekend. Since today happens to be rather foggy and damp where I am, it isn’t the best day for hiking – unless I want to get damp quickly, which I don’t. Besides, there have been a few potential topics that have been dancing around inside my head for a while. Today seems like a good day to explore one of them.

Whenever there has been a significant change in anything, we can expect that this change has brought about some improvements. However, any change can also lead – inadvertently, perhaps – to a loss or a diminishing of something important that was already there. The “law of unintended consequences” makes its appearance.  Continue reading “Reverence”

Posted on

Food For The Journey

Corpus Christi (A)

Two weeks ago, we celebrated the feast of Pentecost, which also marks the end of the Easter season in our liturgical calendar. Parish liturgy committees (and others) are told that, after Pentecost, we move into Ordinary Time. Out with Easter white and Pentecost red, and in with Ordinary green!

Well, not so fast.

Although we do move into Ordinary Time right after Pentecost Sunday, the Church adds two more “white” Sundays immediately following Pentecost: Trinity Sunday and then Corpus Christi, or The Body and Blood of Christ, which we celebrate this Sunday (along with Father’s Day in the USA).  Continue reading “Food For The Journey”