Michael's Random Thoughts and Photos on Spirituality

The film on this website will be presented to Pope Francis on March 17, by two of my Paulist brothers. Fr. Mark-David Janus, CSP will present the Pope with Cardinal Kasper’s newest Paulist Press book, “Pope Francis’ Revolution of Tenderness and Love.” Fr. Gil Martinez, CSP will present the film "Owning Our Faith" in a private audience after morning mass.

L2-2015-SPN     Can we talk?  In today’s liturgy of the Word we reflect on two mountains, Mt. Moriah  and Mt. Tabor both of which we are asked to climb.  We remember Abraham and Isaac, Peter, James and John; two encounters with God.  The first seems dark, even sinister, the second glorious.  In fact, they are both glorious.     Abraham lived in an era when child sacrifice was common practice among other religious traditions.  Abraham, delighted in a “new” God who had given him a child even when Sarah was barren, unable to give him a child.  Sarah and Abraham delighted in Isaac — the precious gift.  During the walk to Mt. Moriah Abraham must have suffered, must have wondered how in the world God would change joy into tragedy, leading him to the edge of committing the sin of murder.  This story is not about a punitive God who asks deadly things of us, but of a God who wants our full and undivided attention.  G...

  A mother once asked Albert Einstein how her son could become as smart as he was.  Einstein replied, “read him fairytales.”  “What else should I do” she asked, “read him more fairytales.”  Einstein once said “logic will get you from point A to point B, imagination will take you everywhere.”     In a lot of ways we have lost the power of the story.  Immediately we want to know if something is true or not.  We get obsessed with data, facts and what we think is real and concrete.  In religious and spiritual realms we settle for beliefs and creeds rather than faith.  It is ease to say “I believe” quite something else to free fall head long into what we say we believe.  Imagination helps us take that step, the step that can lead us to far more than we can possibly imagine or believe.     Jesus gave us no creeds.  Jesus told stories, stories that would, if we use our imaginations, lead us to new and fuller life....

Fr. Richard Rohr nailed it with this reflection this morning: Every Creature Is a Word of God Thursday, January 22, 2015 God brought things into being in order that his [sic] goodness might be communicated to creatures, and be represented by them; and because his goodness could not be adequately represented by one creature alone, he produced many and diverse creatures, that what was wanting to one in the representation of the divine goodness might be supplied by another. For goodness, which in God is simple and uniform, in creatures is manifold and divided. -Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I, 47, 1 Each and every creature is a unique word of God, with its own message, its own metaphor, its own energetic style, its own way of showing forth goodness, beauty, and participation in the Great Mystery. Each creature has its own glow and its own unique glory. To be a contemplative is to be able to see each epiphany, to enjoy it, protect it, and draw upon it for the common good. (Some Sunda...

It is only a cartoon. Last Sunday around a million French citizens flooded the streets of Paris to proclaim freedom; freedom from tyranny, freedom of speech, religion, freedom from fear and terror. Freedom, however, does not mean I can do whatever I want. Freedom requires civility. Freedom does not mean just because I can, I should. Words, even cartoon words matter. That said, there is no justification for slaughtering anyone for what is only a cartoon, be it a misguided opinion or not. Freedom requires civility. There is nothing civil about extremism in any form. Extremism never expresses the core values of any religious tradition. Extremism is ego on steroids, what I want at all costs. Addressing extremism and extremists is not the same as addressing their so called religious identities. Extremism is born of a dark fear that I am not going to get my way, that I am only good or right if I can wipe out all opposition to my way of thinking. We see being played out on the world stage, t...