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Today is the memorial of Saint Martha, a saint that I can easily relate to, as we are much alike. Now, you cannot call me a saint. However, we both share the same desire to complete our chores. We have priorities. And yet, like Martha, I tend to let those priorities get in the way of the better part; that of listening to Jesus. Martha, the Worry Wart As we read in the Gospel passage from Luke, Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, was always concerned with the chores and serving: Martha “had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha burdened with much serving, came to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.’ The Lord said to her in reply, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her’”  (Luke 10:39-42). Like Martha, I fixate on the daily to

As promised, I am recommending another podcast today from Bishop Robert Barron.   In this podcast, he reflects on God’s question to Solomon—“ What do you want? ” Bishop Barron suggests that we imagine God asking us the same question.   How would YOU answer that? Solomon’s answer pleases God.   When you listen to this, you will learn Solomon’s answer. Following Barron’s interesting reflection on wisdom, he identifies what he thinks each of us should ask from God. His reflection on wisdom, is striking.   It leads to the conclusion that if you ask for wealth, power or even length of life and gain those things but do not have wisdom, they will destroy you.   Wisdom, he says, allows us to “participate” in the perspective of God. Using wisdom, we can have the vision to know how to respond to the temptation these things bring. Before you listen to the podcast today, ask yourself, “What do I want from God?” and then decide if what you desire will “please God and make you more ful

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I was listening to a podcast by Bishop Robert Barron on Sunday.   I have a few of them that I would like to recommend this week. Today’s is titled “ How Strange is the Power of God .”   It is his reflection on the Book of Wisdom, but I am offering it to you because I especially like his concrete comparisons between what is going on in our lives and the work God is doing in the world. He begins by asking the question, “Where is God?”   When goodness and evil surround us, where is God in all of that? He asks and answers the question, “Why doesn’t the world look like it’s being governed by a wise providence all the time?” This world, he says, “Can look like it is full of incompleteness, suffering and injustice.”     Like road construction. These past two weeks, the road in front of our house has been under construction.   The workers got it paved, and then they didn’t come back for a week.   They poured some gravel on the shoulder, and only got part of it done.

When one fails to see the truth because of following a false ideology, one places their soul in peril. This ominous thought came to mind one day while I prepared to teach a session on suffering and persecution for one of my Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) sessions. I came across the following passage found in the  Catechism of the Catholic Church : Before Christ’s second coming, the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist  (CCC 675). The “mystery of iniquity” sounds threatening since the definition of inequity is evil. So, we are looking for an evil religious deception; a deception that will look like a solution to a problem but will be a tot

Girl with a Pearl Earring Johannes Vermeer [ Web Gallery of Art ] On finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it  [Matthew 13:46]. In his  Introduction to the Devout Life  (1608), which was published in a Dutch translation in 1616, the mystic St Francis De Sales (1567-1622) wrote, 'Both now and in the past it has been customary for women to hang pearls from their ears; as Pliny observed, they gain pleasure from the sensation of the swinging pearls touching them. But I know that God's friend, Isaac, sent earrings to chaste Rebecca as a first token of his love. This leads me to think that this jewel has a spiritual meaning, namely that the first part of the body that a man wants, and which a woman must loyally protect, is the ear; no word or sound should enter it other than the sweet sound of chaste words, which are the oriental pearls of the gospel.' [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jeru

  What is this? I think this is such a pretty plant that spontaneously grew up in our front flower garden, but I have no idea what it is. We are thinking it is a weed, but aren’t weeds ugly plants that are unwanted? No, of course not. There are plenty of weeds, especially those that grow alongside the road and in ditches that have pretty flowers and would make a nice addition to any landscape. This one in our front garden looks like a mini tree; it doesn’t have any flowers so far.   Its light and airy branches, not to mention the shape of it, are a wonderful addition to our garden, even if we didn’t plant it! Admittedly, it is beginning to cover up some of our planted flowers, as it has become much bigger than we anticipated when we decided to let it grow, just to see what would happen. Like an exclamation point to our garden, this plant punctuates the landscape where it is situated.   It adds character and interest, even without flowers. If yo