When Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee he breaks from the standard expectations of his family and society.  Jesus steps out with daring.  As St John Paul II wrote, “Jesus presents himself as filled with the Spirit, ‘consecrated with an anointing,’ sent to preach good news to the poor.”[1] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk. 4:18-19; cf. Is. 61:1-2).  There is a term in…

We all probably feel from time to time the need to get away from it all.  Most often this is a result of life getting out of hand for us, and it all becoming a little too much.  We long for a freedom from all the pressures that seem to impinge upon our time and energy.  Space and freedom is a luxury few of us have, but we long for it often enough. Though most often this longing comes about as simply the felt need to be free of the stress we might be experiencing, the spiritual tradition has long recognized the need for us to withdraw from time to…

I once chanced to see a rather striking sign outside a church.  The text of the sign was simply, “Can you hear the voice of God in the silences of the day?”  Can you hear the voice of God in the silences of the day? I was particularly struck by it because often enough we expect to hear God in another way. We think God speaks to us in an exceptional way, or that he only speaks to exceptional people, and, sadly, we don’t include ourselves amongst them.  So often we will hear people say, “God never speaks to me,” or the question behind this conclusion which is “Why does…

It is not unusual for us to hear from children the questions, “Who made God?”  “If God has made everything, who made God?” “When did God begin?”  Of course, God has neither beginning nor end. God is.  Yet, to imagine something that has no beginning, that has always been, is not possible to comprehend.  I think it is slightly easier for us to imagine something that may have no end, for we have a glimpse of eternity in our own experience of time, but to imagine something without a start is difficult indeed.  We can apprehend such a mystery, but we cannot understand it cognitively.  To contemplate such a mystery requires the recognition of the…

An article was published around this time last year by Robert Waldinger and Mark Schulz, “What the Longest Study on Human Happiness Found is the Key to a Good Life.”[1]  As the authors pointed out, since 1938, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has been investigating what makes people flourish. It started with 724 participants and has now had more than 1300 descendants of the original group.  The authors claim that it’s the longest in-depth longitudinal study on human life, ever done.  And what is the key to health and happiness?  What we know already deep in our hearts: good relationships.   The trick is, however, that those relationships must be nurtured. As they go…

Even though at times it can be difficult to think of the right thing, gift giving is one of the beautiful customs of Christmas. It marks our appreciation and gratitude for the people in our lives. It does not need to be grand or expensive; it can be small and simple. At times it’s the outcome of a great deal of thought and consideration.  I am sure all of us, at some time, have given a gift and held our breath while we waited for the other person’s response.  Or we may have received a gift and not just been touched by it, but left without words because we know what it…