O Holy Trinity, we come to you in silent prayer, seeking only to love you and adore you beyond all words and thought. Grant us the grace to long for…
Category: Spirituality
Hospitality, Heart-to-Heart
What is Christian hospitality? What does it mean to receive guests, strangers, travelers, pilgrims, refugees, as if we were receiving Christ himself? What does it mean to find Christ in…
Will You Join Me for A Prayerful “Experiment” this Lent?
We’re just over a week away from Ash Wednesday! Which means it is time to be reflecting on your Lenten devotion. Continue reading on Patheos. Note: This post was originally…
The Future of This Blog
Hello friends! I hope 2017 has been good to you. This year I’ve survived two tropical storms (an unnamed one when we were vacationing in Florida in June, and then…
Why Experience Is Not the Foundation of (All) Spirituality
I’ve been reading a book by William A. Barry, a Jesuit priest who is an authority on spiritual direction. The book, Finding God in All Things, is a companion to the Spiritual…
The Flicker of the Screen
For if there is no dark night of the soul anymore that isn’t lit with the flicker of the screen, then there is no morning of hopefulness either. The above…
Know Who You Are: When God Gazes At You, Who Does God See?
In Delphi, in ancient Greece, at a famous pagan temple these words were carved above the entrance: γνῶθι σεαυτόν (Gnothi Seauton), which in English means “Know Yourself.” It’s a universal spiritual…
The Mystical Body
How do we embody the contemplative life? And how does the contemplative life make a difference in our bodies (both as individuals and collectively)? Fran and I had dinner the…
Joyful Sanctity
What is the relationship between holiness and joy? A reader named Gordon writes, in response to my concerns about how “experience” can be misunderstood in a spiritual context: I agree…
The Place of Joy in Christian Spirituality
What is the relationship between prayer and joy? If we enjoy our prayer, does that mean we are avoiding the hard work of spirituality (which, at least in Christian terms,…
Contemplation and Peace
A Facebook friend shared with me that she has been “thinking about contemplative prayer as a resource for peacemaking or for community building.” Especially given the horrors in Orlando this past…
Remembering the Monks of Tibhirine
May 31, 2016 marks a grim anniversary in the history of the Cistercian Order. It’s been twenty years since the assassination of seven Trappist monks of Notre Dame de Atlas Abbey in…