Category Archives: “Speak to Me Lord”

A hospital chaplain tells the painful story of an infant born to a heroin-addicted mother. Moments after birth, the newborn baby experienced drug withdrawals. As the social worker prepared to move the precious infant to foster care, the mother begged the chaplain for one request. She wanted her child to be baptized. In the midst of the heart-wrenching situation, the mother knew that the least she could give her newborn child was the gift of faith! Continue reading →

A technique for dealing with anxiety is “going to the happy place.” The happy place is a situation where you feel comfortable and relaxed. Faced with something stressful, you open the memory file and imagine being there now, shutting out the stomach-churning stuff roundabout.

      Christmas is a great happy place. To escape for a day from the darker realities of life, you can go to church, unwrap presents, have family time and feel the warmth of Christmases past when a glow of childhood innocence and joy shone on everything. Continue reading →

For a Christian, thanksgiving is not just an annual holiday but a daily attitude of life. For God became one of us, in humble self-emptying, to reconcile each one of us to God’s love and mercy. For this act of undeserved and unmerited divine love we never exhaust the depths of our gratitude to God.

      On this Third Sunday of Advent, traditionally known an Gaudete Sunday, the readings of Scripture invite us to recapture that deep Christian spirit of gratitude expressed in deeds of justice and charity. And as we give thanks to God, we discover the deep hope of Advent in God’s renewed coming into our families, homes and lives. Continue reading →

In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist preaches to his fellow Jews. They shared expectations about what God was going to do when he came to set things right in the world.

      Today’s first reading gives a sample of the prophesies that fed their expectations. When God brings his people together, Baruch declares, they will be “borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.” Continue reading →

On this first Sunday of Advent, the word of God offers a timely message. For the sights and sounds of the season bring multiple distractions into our daily routines. There is the sensory overload of festive food and drink, and the stress of the inevitable commercial activity that marks the season. To-do lists and extra errands overwhelm the days and weeks leading to Christmas. Continue reading →

In an early song, Bob Dylan sketched absurdity. “We sit here stranded, though we’re all doing our best to deny it.”

With uselessness and deception all around, memories of a former lover fill his mind. The presence of his lover-of-the-moment, he cries out, “makes it all too concise and too clear that Johanna’s not here.” After surveying his situation, he declares, “These visions of Johanna are now all that remain.” Continue reading →

Family feuds often revolve around inheritance. Decisions on who inherits family property and possessions bring out the best and the worst in family relationships. One hears of siblings with strong family bonds who are torn apart by inheritance disputes, while other families draw closer together to make amicable decisions to share inherited family possessions. Continue reading →