Over the years, through my work in bereavement ministry, I have had the privilege of walking alongside many people as they navigate the painful and unpredictable journey of grief. In grief, people often want to comfort us but struggle to know what to say. Sometimes we hear, โI know how you feelโ, words that are …
One of the gifts of living in the fourth quarter of life is perspective. We look back through a different lens and begin to see Godโs grace in chapters where His presence was not clear to us at the time. Childhood. Adolescence. Marriage and family. Midlife. The empty nest. Retirement looming. And the legacy I …
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” โ John 1:5 Some moments never leave us. The JFK assassination. The Challenger explosion. 9/11. The COVID pandemic. We remember exactly where we were, because in those moments grief was not ours alone โ we grieved together, what’s often called collective grief. …
โ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐; ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.โ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐:๐๐ Today is National Grief Awareness Day, an opportunity not only to remember those we have loved and lost, but also to become more aware of the many ways grief has touched our own lives. When we hear the word grief, we naturally think …
โYou are precious in my sight and honored, and I love you.โโ Isaiah 43:4 That beautiful line from Scripture was at the heart of the homily Fr. Vincent Hevern, SJ, gave when Jean and I were married 46 years ago todayโand all these years later, it still captures exactly how I feel about her. Looking …
I recently returned to the place where so many seeds of faith, friendship, learning and service were first planted — Our Lady of Mount Carmel Grammar School. As I walked along the old school grounds, so many memories came rushing backโ all the fun and games we played during recess, the games of punchball and Buck Buck, the monthly Hot Dog Days, ice cold cartons of milk, the school bell, the upper gym which became our version of Hoosiers, our beloved Sisters of Charity and lay teachers, my classmates, and the priests and church that defined that formative period of my life. What has stayed with me most over these past 57 years is the increasing realization that it was these ordinary moments and extraordinary people who helped shape the person I becameโand the person I believe God is still calling me to be. I am forever grateful.
What if the voice telling you that you are not enough isnโt the voice you should be listening to? The story of five loaves and two fish reminds us that God doesnโt ask why we donโt have more. He simply asks us to bring Him what we have.
In 1521, a cannonball shattered the leg of a vain, ambitious soldier named รรฑigo Lรณpez de Loyola at the Battle of Pamplona. Months of painful recovery followed โ and in his boredom, reaching for stories of chivalry, he found instead the lives of Christ and the saints. That shattered leg became the doorway to sainthood. …
One of the greatest misconceptions about grief is that healing means leaving the past behind. We hear phrases like, โItโs time to move on,โ โYou need to let go,โ or โYou have to get over it.โ Though usually well-intentioned, these words can leave grieving people feeling that healing requires forgetting the person they loved or …
“๐โ๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ค๐๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข?” “๐ฟ๐๐๐, ๐ผ ๐ค๐๐๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐,” โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. โ ๐ฟ๐ข๐๐ 18:41 (๐๐ผ๐) Back in 2013, over lunch with an old friend, I was asked a question that changed my life โ one I’m still answering today. That friend was Fr. Hank Hilton, SJ, and the lunch was …
