Passion

Real Presence

“The Presence of God is an applying of our spirit to God, or a realization of God as present, which is borne home to us either by the imagination or by the understanding.” ― Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

It’s already very late on Easter Sunday and so, happy Easter! Today I have been reflecting on the real presence of persons and the real presence of Christ. May the physical distance between persons from one another and from the sacraments startle us to greater awe and reverence for them both. Continue reading →

Stay awake with me

This Holy Thursday, I’m thinking back to my first visit to the Church of All Nations at the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem. In it, there’s this impressive mosaic of Jesus praying while his disciples have fallen asleep in the background. Continue reading →

Palm Sunday & Paralipsis

Photo: Palm Sunday Mass at St. Peter’s Square in Rome in April 2015

Like many people around the world, I’m participating in the mass to the extent that livestream and personal intention makes possible. Today, my friends and I watched a live broadcast of Bishop Barron’s Sunday mass for Palm Sunday. And as usual, Bishop Barron gave a wonderful homily about the Passion narrative we heard in today’s gospel. While it’s a long gospel that offers us much upon which to reflect, I found it striking that Bishop Barron did not discuss the pandemic at all. Continue reading →

Reflecting with Jean Vanier on terrorism 3 years after the Charlie Hebdo massacre

Today marks the third anniversary of the date two jihadists murdered 12 people in the Charlie Hebdo shooting.

Just days after the 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels, I travelled to Trosly-Breuil, France where Jean Vanier was delivering a Holy Week retreat on the theme “The Agony of Jesus.” Surely the terrorist attacks were on everyone’s minds, and I wondered if Jean would mention them. Continue reading →