As Christians, we are commended to see Christ in everyone, to see God’s hand in everything. The Gospels tell us to, Pope Francis tells us to, Saint Teresa tells us to… and, in the early part of the 20th century, an Englishwoman named Caryll Houselander told us, as well, in words that still resonate today.Many of the Church’s mystics saw or heard Jesus. He appeared to them in visions and they listened to his words echoing in their hearts. Caryll Houselander was different: she s...

I almost broke my tooth on it.It was the evening of Twelfth Night, the end of the Christmas season, and my parish church was celebrating as many churches and families do in France, with a galette des rois—what might be translated as a King’s Cake.We don’t just sit down and eat this cake, mind you. There’s an age-old protocol that needs to be followed having to do with the little charm that bakers hide inside the cake. The youngest child present must hide under the table a...

I wrote a prayer when I was eight or nine. I remember that I was in my bedroom and very worried. A very big question—for a very small person—was haunting me: What if I died and discovered that I had lost everything, that I had put all my good deeds into a bag with a hole in it? What if everything I believed about heaven wasn’t true?The shadows of that possibility have darkened the threshold of too many days of my life. The celebration of Good Friday and Easter, and the Feast of...

The final week in the "Pray to Your Father in Secret" Lenten Book Club.

How can God die?I once asked a theologian friend to explain to me how it is possible that God, the Creator of the Universe, could die and still keep the world in existence. My friend told me it was possible because Jesus, a divine Person, is true God and true man. The Son of God died a human death, but the divinity itself did not die. Of course that is true, and I felt satisfied for a time. But this paradoxical moment of the God-man dying on the cross—so pregnant with meaning and mystery&m...

Darkness begins to fall upon the earth as Mary Magdalene looks up into the face of Jesus hanging from the cross…struggling for breath…shuddering under the pain of the nails in hand and feet.This Jesus who had freed her, saved her, shown her mercy…She could no longer wash his feet with her tears or anoint his head with oil…She was about to lose the Light that had taken away her darkness. She watched his eyes, hoping for one last sign that he knew she was there…f...

Welcome to the Online Lenten Book Club!During these six weeks of Lent, we are reading and reflecting on the classic on prayer, Pray To Your Father in Secret by Jean Lafrance.  For more information about the book club, visit this blog post.  You can find Pray To Your Father in Secret at www.PaulineStore.com . Week 5, Chapter 4 - The Dialogue with GodYour real center of gravity is in adoration, in reaching ever upward. Too many people fall into the habi...

Welcome to the Online Lenten Book Club!During these six weeks of Lent, we are reading and reflecting on the classic on prayer, Pray To Your Father in Secret by Jean Lafrance. For more information about the book club, visit this blog post. Week 4, Chapter 3 - The Working Out of SalvationWe read Scripture to integrate Christ’s life into our own lives, not just to hear his story. Everything we do—reading, praying, working—is to become one with Christ. We don&rs...

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Lenten Book Club!During these six weeks of Lent, we are reading and reflecting on the classic on prayer, Pray To Your Father in Secret by Jean Lafrance. For more information about the book club, visit this blog post. Week 3, Chapter 2 - The Way of SalvationThe world changed when God sent his son to become part of it; we have, in the process, become part of God, and he of us. We need to focus, daily, on a constant awareness of that presence.Our ...

Well, the truth is that we don’t know!Eggs are regarded as a symbol of resurrection because they hold the seed of life within. The Egyptians and Greeks used to decorate eggs with different colors, and then eat them as part of their spring celebrations. Another ancient festival that used eggs is the Jewish Passover (also celebrated in the spring), during which it was customary to offer a hard-boiled egg dipped in salt water as a sacrifice to the temple in Jerusalem. Persians used to paint e...