I’ve been away this past week, and it was good to get home yesterday afternoon. I’m sure my neighbors appreciated my lawn finally being cut 🙂 Anyway, I had a lot of reading to do, and it was great to sit outside, enjoying the beautiful weather we are having right now in my area. Today the Church celebrates Pentecost, the moment the Holy Spirit fell upon the first band of Christians.
Just the other day, I came across something in our local Catholic newspaper that got me excited. The article was about a gentleman who was changing jobs at a Jesuit High School in Baltimore, and he said that one of his tasks at the school was to integrate St. Ignatius’ Cura Personalis into the daily activities of the school. So, just what is Cura Personalis you ask? It’s Latin for care for the whole person: body, mind and spirit. Those that frequent this blog will recognize that this is a familiar theme here at Making All Things New.
It seems like Easter is quickly becoming a distant memory, doesn’t it?
I don’t know about you, but I seem to be always trying to catch up. Maybe its work, a missed call from a friend, just paying the bills. It can be hard to focus on events of two weeks ago when I have a million things to do today.
I hope you, your friends and family experience the joy that comes with Jesus’ resurrection. We were blessed with a wonderful spring day yesterday, just what you’d hope to get on Easter. A good friend called and wanted to get together. We ended up taking a hike at a nearby nature center. Signs of new life were everywhere. How about you? Where are the signs of resurrection in your own life? I bet you’ll see them if you take the time to look. Give it some prayer time. That’s what the Easter Season is all about.
Earlier this week, in honor of the 1st Anniversary of the papacy of Pope Francis, an event took place at Loyola University in Baltimore called The Francis Factor. Although I wasn’t able to attend myself, I was grateful that the Archdiocese of Baltimore streamed it live on their website.
All the presenters, including Cardinal Sean O’Malley from Boston, were first-rate. Anyone interested in how Pope Francis is shaping the Catholic Church should take some time and watch.
A week from today, we begin the season of Lent, a time of prayerful preparation that leads to Easter.
It’s always nice to have some helps during these 40 days, and my friends at Loyola Press have created an on-line retreat called An Ignatian Prayer Adventure that will keep us focused.
This image is of the nearly 500-year-old logo of the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Over the last several weeks, I’ve been working on a logo for this blog, and Ignatius’ sunburst will be woven into mine. I can’t wait to share it with you 🙂
Yesterday was an amazing day for me. It was amazing because of encounters I had with three amazing men who have made big impacts on the people around them.
In the afternoon, I met up with a friend and we went to visit an elderly priest who now lives in an assisted living facility. My friend and I got to know this priest many years ago, and he provided us and countless others with great spiritual advice.
I for one continue to be impressed with Pope Francis. Just the other day, he was photographed hugging and kissing a man who clearly had a very debilitating skin condition. Without a doubt, the man would be treated as an outcast by most by many, and maybe some of us would avoid contact with him at all costs. But not the new pope.
I had the chance to get away for a retreat this weekend, and ended up at
Loyola on the Potomac, a retreat house I had heard about for years but never visited.
The theme of the retreat was Rivers of Living Water, which was perfectly suited for the location of this center, which is in Southern Maryland and sits above the Potomac River. What a peaceful place!