“i carry your heart with me (i carry it inmy heart) i am never without it” — E. E. Cummings In Bereavement Ministry, we often talk about the “Calendar of Grief” — those dates forever etched in our hearts: a loved one’s birthday, the anniversary of their passing, wedding anniversaries, and holidays like Mother’s Day, …
Fifty-four years ago today, my older brother Dennis passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 19. In early 2020, going through my Mom’s personal things after her passing, I found this letter — Dennis had written it to me in February 1972, just two months before he died. I was a junior at …
“𝑺𝒆𝒆, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒕.” 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝟑:𝟖 As I come to the close of my year-long journey through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, I find myself returning to certain Scripture passages—not just for what they meant then, but for how deeply they mirror …
“𝑩𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒘.” — 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝟐𝟏:𝟓 The resurrection of Jesus is not just a precious single moment we celebrate every Easter morning — it is woven into the fabric of our everyday lives and something we experience repeatedly as part of being human — a rhythm, a quiet steady …
“𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙟𝙤𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.” — 𝙋𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝟯𝟬:𝟱 This morning, I took my second outdoor bike ride of the year — part of my preparation for the 2026 TD Five Boro Bike Tour, a 40-mile ride through New York City on May 3rd. As I headed toward the …
“𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑… 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛, 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 — 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒.” — Mary Oliver, The Journey That line above from the great Mary Oliver lands …
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒚.” — 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒘 𝟐:𝟏𝟎 Winter in New Jersey has been brutal these past few weeks—temperatures in the low 20s have driven this cyclist indoors. So, on Sunday after Mass, I hopped on my Peloton, and as often happens when my body is moving, …
“𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙚𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙪𝙨. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝙒𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜.” 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙚, 𝘼 𝙍𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙍𝙪𝙣𝙨 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙄𝙩 (𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟮), 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙣’𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 Holidays can be an especially tender and painful time for …
“𝑺𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔, 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.”, 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓, “𝑨 𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆: 𝑾𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎”, 𝒃𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒊 𝑺𝒚𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒏 𝑲𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒊 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑹𝒊𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓 (𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟖) As Thanksgiving approaches, I find myself spending more time reflecting on the growing number …
“𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝… 𝙒𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙙𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙤𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙃𝙞𝙢.” 𝘾.𝙎. 𝙇𝙚𝙬𝙞𝙨, 𝙇𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙢: 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧 (𝟭𝟵𝟲𝟰) I was supposed to be walking the Camino Portuguese these past few weeks but had to reschedule …
