Childhood fantasies and dreams of spiritual heroism often give way—in later life—to reality, disappointment, disillusionment, and spiritual stagnation. The life of Teresa, who as a child ran away from home in her quest for martyrdom among the Moors, followed this trajectory. After entering the Monastery of the Incarnation, she found herself gradually settling into a […]

The citizens of Capernaum’s prideful quest for exaltation will result (according to Jesus in today’s gospel), with their ignominious descent into the netherworld. That is somewhere near where the Babylonian exiles found themselves, burdened with what the text describes as their being flushed with shame—this shame reflecting, perhaps, their now wounded pridefulness. The “Little Way” […]

In situations requiring difficult decisions, we sometimes ask ourselves: What would Jesus do? In our daily conversations it might be equally helpful to ask: What would Jesus say? Or, expressed differently, would I be saying the same thing (I am saying now) if Jesus were literally/physically present? Well, the fact is that Jesus is always […]

In the mysterious providence of God, some of us began our spiritual journey with hearts that were like that rocky ground in which the germinating seed of salvation battles to survive and flourish. Some of us were more fortunate and began with fundamentally good soil, but because of various spiritual wounds, have had to battle […]