Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation. Even so, chances are that at your parish and mine, Mass will be jam-packed. Maybe there’s something about “You are dust and to dust you shall return” that speaks to people in a way that a Mass in Ordinary Time does not. And yet last Ash…
Tag: ash wednesday
When the Good News Seems Grim
If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 This is a frightening prospect. To be entirely dispossessed of everything that is not Christ, leaning more and more on him, entering every more deeply into the suffering of others: the sick, the…
The Great Letting Go
At some point in my mid-thirties I realized I was holding on a little too tightly. It manifested as an unshakeable anxiety about having control over my life, about what I thought I was supposed to be doing. This eventually led was a very Dante-esque experience: Midway through the journey of my life, I was…
Lent in the Time of Coronavirus
On March 12th I was supposed to be on a plane to Italy, leading a group of travelers through Rome and Tuscany. It’s part of a small travel company I operate that specializes in tours of Italy, and this trip was centered on the art, spirituality, and life of Michelangelo. So for the better part…
incarnation is everywhere 