Patron for the Pandemic
About six years ago I was sitting on the beach with my friend Monica when I had a startling idea. “Why is there no 24-hour adoration chapel in Manhattan?” Surely a city which hosts eight million people on any given…
The Egg and the Rock
Today’s Gospel seems to tell a Tale of Two Peters. Jesus asks His disciples the pivotal question: “Who do you say that I am?” It is Peter who proclaims in reply: “You are the Christ!” Peter is able to see…
What Kind of God
Recently it seemed that a wish was about to come true. It was the wish that I made the last three years while blowing out birthday candles. The wish that I had been working tirelessly for and praying for on…
Not Dumb Forever
“God wounds only to heal.” His eyes were filled with compassion, as he spoke these mysterious words. Moments ago, this priest had told me that God was going to answer my prayer for joy (fulfilled first here); now he seemed…
Flowers in the Desert
“Flowers in the desert” my friends and I would call these little graces, gifts of hope or promise during times that seemed dominated by absence. They varied in nature or significance: A chance encounter on a plane. An intriguing new…
Parented By Gratuitous Love
There are many beautiful flowers in the nursery garden, but I am drawn at once to Baby M*. Only a few weeks old, he is the smallest of all, weighing in at only 2.5 kilos—the equivalent of a small sack…
Living the Ellipses
“Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can.” God invites Abram to faith in today’s First Reading. We’ve all marveled at the night sky, contemplating its vastness and the twinkling of bodies light-years away. But some…
The King of Glory and the Pink Bunny
I have two distinct memories of our second grade Christmas pageant. The first is of the lyrics to The King of Glory which we sang with such joyful exuberance that we were marched through the hallway to the upper grade…
Who’s At the Door?
When my little friends Nicholas (then 8) and Theresa (6) came to spend a day in New York City, the first stop was my apartment. As we ascended the many stairs to my sixth-floor walk-up, Nicholas exclaimed excitedly, “Cie-Cie you…
The Word That Heals
One day a mother overheard her five-year-old playing “hospital.” Her patient was stretched out on the couch as the little girl touched various parts of her body—head, stomach, throat—pronouncing each time “Body of Christ”, “Body of Christ,” “Body of Christ.”…
