Category: Ignatian Spirituality

A Living Saint

At church this past Sunday, the recessional hymn was Lift High The Cross, one of my favorites. Since we don’t hear it so often, I’m assuming it was played in anticipation of today’s feast of the Triumph of the Cross. This feast is linked to one of my favorite memories. The event took place at St. Mary’s Seminary and University, where I was once a student. It involved the man in the photo to the left, Archbishop Dominic Tang Yee-Ming, SJ (1908-1995).

When he was named the apostolic administrator of Canton, China in 1950, it didn’t sit well with the Communist leadership, and it was even more so when he was consecrated a titular bishop in 1951. The government indicted him as “the most faithful running-dog of the reactionary Vatican” and imprisoned him without a trial or conviction on February 5, 1958. He spent the next 22 years in prison, seven of which were in solitary confinement.

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Sowing Seeds

Several months before 9/11/01, our two young interns sat me down to talk. In order to reach people their age, they said, “you have to get an AOL instant messaging account.” They also informed me that I had to come up with a screen name. Because I was venturing into this new world begrudgingly, I told them that if they really wanted me to do it, they would have to come up with a screen name for me. With that, they went back to their office to figure it out.

About ten minutes later, they came back to my office. One of them said, “we think your name should be seedthrower, since that’s a big part of what you do.” They also added the fact that I’m always concerned with what sprouted, and how its growing, but that I’m not supposed to keep looking back to check. Ouch.

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Our Father

After I make some coffee and feed the dog each morning, I head upstairs to the computer. The first site I go to is Loyola Press’ Three Minute Retreat. I know I’ve written about this great little prayer help several times, but it’s worth bringing up again.

Loyola Press has done a great job at giving us a simple, quick and meaningful way to start our day, and if you haven’t tried it out yet, please give it a look. You can even have the retreat emailed to you, which it how a lot of my friends and co-workers get the messages. Who doesn’t have three minutes to spare?

I am writing about it again because of a line that was included in today’s retreat. It struck a chord with me.

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The Legacy

I guess it’s always a little tricky to talk about someone’s legacy. As I was thinking about my pastor’s legacy today, many things came to mind. Of course, there is the big, beautiful church building. There’s the perpetual adoration chapel. No one on the finance committee would want to forget that, despite these tough times, we remain in the black. The list could go on and on. But, I don’t think any of these are keys to his legacy. Well, if not them, then what?

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Do Not Be Afraid

This Annunciation is one of my favorite pieces of art. Painted between 1433-34 by Fra Angelico, it hangs in the Diocesan Museum in Cortona, Italy. I have had the gift of visiting Cortona several times, and I love to stand in front of this painting, viewing the scene taken from the Gospel of Luke (1:26-38). The strikingly beautiful Gabriel has a message for Mary. Before he makes the announcement, the most important ever made, he has a more simple message. “Do not be afraid.”

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Wow

Post author By seedthrower1
Post date 08/20/2010
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Today was a great day for me, and I hope you had a great one too. First off, I had a meeting with some folks to discuss the possibility of making Faith Fighting Diabetes a reality here in Carroll County. As I gave them the background of this heartfelt desire I have, I could see the concept was resonating with them. It was awesome.

Just to fill you in, I was away on retreat at the beginning of the summer. I was a bit bored one day (it happens on silent retreats), and I started flipping through a magazine in the retreat center library. I saw a small advertisement for an organization called Faith Fights Diabetes.

Although I probably shouldn’t have, I ripped the ad out, and put it in my wallet. When I got home, one of the first things I did was jump on-line to check this organization’s website out. I was really impressed with what I saw. In a nutshell, the website was all about encouraging the leaders of faith communities to educate their congregations about diabetes. Statistics show that people trust their faith leaders more than they do their doctors. Go figure.

Continue reading “Wow”

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23rd Psalm

Someone made the comment the other day that they’d like to see the Scriptures discussed a bit more, so here it goes.

The 23rd Psalm is used at just about every funeral I go to. As I listened to it being sung on Friday, I paid attention to the words,

The Lord is my shepherd;

there is nothing I shall want.

In green pastures you let me graze;

to safe waters you lead me;

you restore my strength.

You guide me along the right path

for the sake of your name.

Even when I walk through a dark valley,

I fear no harm for you are at my side;

your rod and staff give me courage.

You set a table before me

as my enemies watch;

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Only goodness and love will pursue me

all the days of my life;

I will dwell in the house of the Lord

for years to come.

Continue reading “23rd Psalm”

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Live Life to the Fullest

I went to the funeral home today. I was paying my respects to the family of an 18 year old boy who was killed in a car accident last Thursday. Generally, when you hear about such tragedies involving teenagers, you assume that speeding, drinking, texting, or carelessness must have been involved.

Sadly, this boy was just waiting to make a left hand turn when someone rear-ended him and the impact pushed his car into oncoming traffic. I can’t imagine the guilt whoever hit him must feel. These things never just touch one person or one family. The ripples stretch far.

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Back At It

I’ve been feeling a bit guilty lately. Instead of mixing gym visits with walking, I’ve just been doing the walking. I rationalized this decision because walking is my favorite form of exercise, and I love being outside, enjoying the summer. But then my bank statement comes, and I’m reminded every month that I’m paying for something that I’m not using.

Being on vacation these past couple of days has given me the chance to review the goals I set for myself this year. One of those goals, a really important one, was to get to the gym at least three times a week. Darn. Again, the rationalization kicks back in. “At least you’re exercising…” You know how it goes. Maybe you’ve got a couple of New Year’s resolutions that have a similar outcome?

Well, enough of that. I just got back from a great workout at the Y and am feeling tired. I also signed up to meet with a trainer once a week for the next three weeks. I think she’ll help me get back on track.

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Shelter in the Storm

This weekend, I’m commuting back and forth to Blue Ridge Summit, PA, where about 25 college students are on retreat. The students are from McDaniel College, where I help out with the campus ministry program, and the focus of the retreat is to help the incoming freshmen transition into campus life.

This afternoon, I’m going to be giving a talk about the storms of life that routinely come our way. College students seem to be especially prone to such turbulence, and my plan is to get them to realize that there are all kinds of safe harbors they can get to when things get tough.

I’m basing the talk on the passage from Matthew’s Gospel (8:23-27), the one where the disciples panic as a storm kicks up and they think the boat they’re in will go down, taking them with it. All the while, Jesus is asleep. When they wake him, screaming that they’re going to die, He chastises them. “Why are your terrified, O you of little faith?” With that, Jesus immediately calms the storm and returns things to normal.

My plan is to tell the students that, no matter how bad things seem to get, Christ is right there with us. He’s always willing to be our shelter in the storms that come our way, and we all know from personal experience, they’ll come.

Continuing with this metaphor, if you think about it, the safest thing would be to keep our boats tied up at the dock. But boats weren’t built to remain in a harbor. In the same way, we weren’t created to be so scared of life that we never really risk much.

It’s out in the open sea that the craftsmanship of the boat builder can be seen. As these young people move on to the next stage of their lives, they’ll have the chance to test all the gifts that have been given them. They will make mistakes, and there will be storms. It’s all part of learning that God is right there with us through it all.

What do you do when a storm kicks up in your life? Where/Who is your shelter in the storm?