Christian contemplation thrown into the muddy highways of the world : encouragement : experiences : resources
This past week, in the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) I continued on the theme of Christian eco-spirituality for Earth Month, and I honoured Jacques Maritain, one of the biggest influences on me and on this blog, who died 51 years ago today: As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our …
Continue reading “Exigencies of Contemplative Love for Creation and People (Quotes Vol. 38)”
You’d think that, if human beings were reasonable, the way we manage our home would correspond to the account we make of how the home functions. But when it comes to our common home, this isn’t the case. Etymologically, “ecology” means words about or an account of the oikos, the home. “Economics” means the laws …
Continue reading “Our Family Tree, Our Common Home, Our House Rules”
This past week, all the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) spoke of a Christian eco-spirituality for Earth Month, including a connection noted by Benedict XVI between contemplating nature and contemplating Christianized human nature: My soul, while enjoying the beauties of nature, was also tasting the sweetness of spiritual joys. — Marcel Văn …
Continue reading “Contemplating the Beauty of Nature and Transfigured Human Nature (Quotes Vol. 37)”
Nothing brings out my passion more than talking about the place of Marcel Văn CSsR (1928–1959) in the ecclesial crisis of abuse. And at the same time, nothing causes me to boil over more than efforts which, intentionally or not, directly or indirectly, would put the light of his witness under a bushel basket. I …
Randy Woodley, Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days Reconnecting with Sacred Earth (Minneapolis, MN: Broadleaf Books, 2022). As I announced at the beginning of Lent, I have taken on the project of reading one short two-page chapter (or reflection) from Indigenous Christian Randy Woodley’s book Becoming Rooted, first as part of a Laudato Si’ Lent but …
This is a post that I had planned to have up yesterday, but I reconsidered. It’s not the kind of thing that you put up on April 1st and expect to be taken as seriously as you intend it. As I was sitting in the Easter Vigil on Saturday night, I heard for only the …
In this first week of Lent, quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) stick to a pattern: God invites us to contemplate him in gratitude as the Creator of creation, as well as in the people we meet. In fact, these are connected. I spoke to him in all simplicity, of the river when …
Continue reading “Contemplate Nature, Contemplate God’s People (Quotes Vol. 29)”
On social media (Facebook, Instagram, and X) this past week I delved into some of my favourite quotes about the Nativity, including the Feast of the Holy Family today: At Christmas we contemplate God made man, divine glory hidden beneath the poverty of a Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; the Creator of …
Continue reading “Some Favourite Christmas Quotes (Quotes Vol. 21)”
The title of this article is in many ways a shocking follow-up to Part 2 and Part 3 that came before it in this series on Marcel Văn and clerical abuse. In those articles I dealt with the grace of resilience in surviving abuse, then the grace of resisting abuse and everything that supports it. …
With a little delay due to the feast day of Saint Thérèse, here are the quotes posted to Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) this past week. The theme, until October 4, is still Christian contemplation in the Season of Creation., seen in the images chosen for the backgrounds, as well as in the selection of quotes themselves (though …
Contemplative in the Mud 