The time of waiting is drawing to a close. In my parish, 22 people are waiting to join the Church tonight at the Easter Vigil.This is only a part of the Exultet, an ancient hymn which will be sung tonight at the beginning of the Easter Vigil; it is one of our Church's most beautiful hymns.

This is our passover feast,When Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,whose blood consecrates the homes of all...

Fulfillment-Apocalypsis

The End is as invisible as the Beginning.

The universe came forth from the Word,

and returns to the Word.

In the very center of the Sistine Chapel, the artist

depicts this invisible End

in the visible drama of the Judgement-

This invisible End has become visible as

the height of transparency:

Omnia nuda et aperta ante oculos Eius!

(All is laid bare and revealed before his eyes)

...

This image of Christ washing the feet of His Disciples is from a series of frescos painted by Giotto and found in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. I have been blessed to have seen the originals more than once, and they are precious and powerful, and the story about how they survived World War Two is miraculous. They are, however, not the main story today.Tonight, the Church commemorates the...

In Luke's Gospel (19:1-10), we hear the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector. He's a short man,and he wants to see Jesus but can't see over the crowd. So he climbs a tree to get a better look.Jesus sees him, calls him down, and says "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay in your house."Now, as I was pondering this passage, I got to thinking. What would I do if Jesus invited...

And so it begins again. Holy Week is here, starting today with Palm Sunday. Yesterday, we had our annual RCIA retreat for all those coming into the Church at the Easter Vigil.How blessed we are to be able to journey alongside these people seeking God. I wish sometimes that our group was smaller, that I could get to know each person more deeply, but the Lord keeps bringing large groups of people...

I've just come back from a trip to Chicago. It was a time to renew friendships, meet some new people, and learn about all the ways Loyola Press is helping people grow in their faith. Thanks to everyone for making it a meaningful trip.One of the exercises we did involved taking a butterfly cutout and embellishing it with words and decoration in order to tell a story. It was an interesting task,...

Last week, I was giving tours of our church to a bunch of second graders. Joining them were several special needs children. One girl is severely handicapped, and she can be a bit disruptive, especially if you're a second grader :)Well, I love working with special needs kids. It's a blessing for me, and although I don't have any training in this area, I seem to get by pretty well. It's that way...