Defiant and loving it …

Recently I had the opportunity to fly to Ohio. I love to fly. Since I was a little girl I have always been fascinated by flight. Once I wanted to be a pilot, but my dad said no. The best part of flying is take off. This, for me, is…

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Experiencing the Lord

Consider these examples: you start learning a language, and you can say “that is delicious” but you can’t say all that you experience as you eat the wonderful food because you don’t have the words; you have a life changing experience, but it isn’t until you hear a song that…

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Dead leaves?

Today while looking out the window of my office and enjoying the beauty of a crisp, clear blue sky day, a rare treat in Ohio at the end of February, I noticed a tree that stood out from the other trees in the scene. Every other tree stood tall and…

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Good looking stuff

Lent is here. On the first weekend of Lent, our readings direct us to look at temptation. The first (Hebrew scripture) reading is the Adam and Eve sin story. Of course, the first thing to note is the word “story;” we don’t think the first homo sapiens lived in a…

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Lent? To deny, to savor or both?

Lent is coming. It’s always been a special time for me, as though the season itself provided me the courage to address those dark areas where God’s light was dimmed and grace was not completely at home. Those six weeks are better for aligning myself with grace than any New…

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A half full glass

The first words of this weekend’s readings are a lament: “the LORD has forsaken me, my LORD has forgotten me.” No matter what our situation in life, it is going to feel like that sometime! And some people have lives with much more than the average amount of suffering and…

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Rules of the heart

On this seventh Sunday of Ordinary time, year A, the first words we hear in the first reading are striking: The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy …” This command to “be holy”…

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Conversion

Walking along the Great Miami River this past Sunday, I came to Poplar Creek and was awed by the beauty of the scene. After several days of deep freeze Ohio, this Sunday in February was a welcome treat with a temperature well into the 50s. As I stood and absorbed…

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Oh no, not rules!

We U.S. Catholics are a bit allergic to rules! “Too many rules” is one of the reasons people give for leaving the Church. This week and next, we are going to hear about commandments! Maybe we struggle to affirm the truth of the first line of our first reading: “if…

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