ADVENT BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
Advent is a time of preparation and there is no shortage of advice on how to be ready for Christmas. But with these suggestions for Advent reading, I want to take you down a slightly unusual path for the season.…
Month November 2020
ADVENT 2020
waiting. waiting. while heaven downloads onto devices a million years old. this could take all month… thank God it’s Advent: season of Hope nested inside Pandemic: season of Brick Walls (objects that stop and block but also prop up helpful…
Q&A WITH AUTHORS OF AT YOUR SIDE: PRAYERS FOR MESSY, DELIGHTFUL, COMPLICATED, OUTRAGEOUS, EVERYDAY LIFE
What is this book about? Raymond Friel: It’s about being a human being, I suppose, a creature, trying to understand the Creator, trying to speak to the source of our life in ways that make sense to me and hopefully…
CHRIST THE KING
I don’t often express a disagreement with those who prepare liturgical texts, but on this feast I do. Saying that Christ is the King of the Universe, at least to me, makes it sound like Star Wars – that title…
MUSINGS ON THE THEME OF THIS WORLD DAY OF THE POOR: “STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND TO THE POOR”
I remember long ago an anecdotal story of the conference of bishops of Brazil who ended their meetings about policies and procedures with the question: “Well gentlemen, how have we helped the poor today?” Whether this account is true or…
BOOK REVIEW: JUST WATER: THEOLOGY, ETHICS, AND FRESH WATER CRISES
Consider fresh water. We use it for cooking, cleaning, bathing, agriculture and for just about all our economic activities. Yet, of all the water on Earth, only 2.5% of that is fresh water; and most of that lies in icecaps…
REMEMBRANCE DAY
My parents were children during the Second World War, and their memories of that time were lasting ones. They recalled doing paper and scrap drives with their pals, wearing underwear that had buttons instead of elastic, and the incredible gift…
ALL SOULS
All Souls Day is going to mean more to me this year than ever. I recently lost my brother to cancer. My thoughts are filled with memories, conversations and images of my closest sibling in age. Although his death has brought me much…
SAINTHOOD IS FOR EVERYONE!
Messages from Heaven can come in conversations with strangers. Not too long ago, I had such an encounter with a woman on a bus. She was on her way to arrange for the burial of her sister’s ashes. She was really distraught…