Registration is now open for the “Restless” Retreat. This is a free, one day retreat at St. Catherine Laboure on Saturday, April 14th:
The theme of the retreat is being taken from St. Augustine’s famous line, “You made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts will wander restless until we rest in you”. I swear I did not pick the retreat theme… 🙂
My favourite band, Casting Crowns, just released a video of a song from their new album “Come to the Well”. The song is called “Jesus, Friend Of Sinners”:
This is definitely one of my favourite songs from their most recent album Come To The Well. It has a few lyrics which I find devastating:
Jesus, friend of sinners, …we cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing…
A plank-eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided…
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers…
…and finally…
Nobody knows what we’re for, only what we’re against, when we judge the wounded…
It is this last line which I find the most powerful. Before hearing this song I had never really thought that when I judged someone, I was judging someone injured. We’re all wounded, of course, both by the Fall and our own personal histories.
Until I heard these words I had never really considered that when someone does something which disappoints or hurts me, it might be due to a wound which that person had previously sustained, so rather than judging and condemning that person, I should instead see him as someone in need of healing.
Over the past few months I have, on occasions, remembered this song and the resolution it inspired: Be More Gentle With People. When I have done this, and managed to set aside my indigence and anger, and tried to “look for the wound”, the results have been quite surprising. I have found my heart softened and the reservoirs of compassion and patience which I had long thought empty, refilled.
Now, if only I could remember this resolution a bit more often…
I will be beginning with the one at the top of the pile The Church and the New Media which I recently won in a competition over at the author’s blog, The Thin Veil. Thanks Brandon! 🙂
I hope you all enjoyed the quotations from the Desert Fathers over the course of last month. Since we’re now in October, I’m going to resume regular blogging.
My time away was much needed as life got extremely busy in September. In fact, this month is also going to be packed, with trips to Seattle and San Francisco planned, as well a Theology On Tap talk and the wedding of a friend of mine. Prayer would be much appreciated!
Well, our anniversary is coming up this week, so I thought now would be a good time to finally do it. So today I’m going to do four posts, one for each set of mysteries. Here’s the RSS feed:
A few days ago I began responding to the common reactions I hear when a Roman-Rite Catholic visits an Eastern-Rite parish for the first time. Last time I covered numbers 1-10 and today I’m going to finish the list with numbers 11-20 for “Roman Catholics Say The Dardnest Things”:
11. “What are the circles on sticks being carried around?”
These are called “rapidia” (or “flabella”). They are carried by altar servers in the Gospel procession and again when the bread and wine are brought to the altar. On them are pictures of angels. Symbolically, they remind us that our earthly liturgy touches Heaven.
Most of my American friends have now returned from World Youth Day, so I thought I would write a quick entry welcoming them back! Hi guys… 🙂
It’s entirely possible that some people reading this blog have never heard of World Youth Day. Well, it was started back in 1985 by Pope John Paul II and, every two or three years, is marked by a week-long international event. It is for this reason that last week the Pope and 1.5 million Catholics gathered together in Madrid:
If you’d like to read a personal account of the week by an English pilgrim, I’d invite you to check our Hannah’s write-up over at Transformed In Christ.
My favourite band, 
