“How do you pray? What do you get from it? How do you feel when you pray? Does just sitting and meditating feel prayerful? When you do or make something for another person, do you also offer it to God as a prayer?”
“The words Barber chose for the vocal parts were an ancient part of the Latin mass. The Agnus Dei is a supplication that has used through many centuries since being added to the Latin mass by Pope Sergius (687-701). He imported it from Orthodox Christianity. In the Eucharist service, it is placed between the Lord’s Prayer and the Eucharistic prayer that precedes the consecration of the Eucharistic Elements. It can also be used as a prayer of meditation, much like the repetition of the Hail, Mary when saying a rosary.”
We shouldn’t give up learning just because we’ve completed high school or college or any kind of formal or informal schooling. If we stop learning, we stop growing. We pray to communicate with God, but we study to understand what God has to tell us through the words of the Bible and prayer.
“I’m pretty sure curiosity about Jesus was one of the main reasons people journeyed, sometimes long distances, to find out who this person was that they had heard about through word of mouth from others. Perhaps they heard someone quote one of Jesus’s teachings, or maybe it was the recounting of a miracle he had performed that caused them to want to hear and see more.”
The story of Jesus going through the cornfield reminded me of September, even though I’m a few miles from the nearest cornfield, which will soon be a Halloween maze. Corn is always a welcome food, boiled, grilled, creamed, or used in succotash or cottage pie. It’s best when it’s fresh, and people in the store rummage through the bins of unshucked corn, checking for readiness. The disciples must have found ripe corn or even corn beginning to dry on the stalk because they rubbed the ears in their hands to loosen the corn for eating.
“This sentence especially touches me: “When Jacob ended his charge to his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.” The image of drawing up his feet and peacefully dying has such a poignancy about it. It represents a death many of us would hope for, yet, denied to so many, especially in the time of the continuing pandemic, war, and violence.”
It was just an ordinary day. The boys were doing catly things: Phoebe sleeping in a cool part of the bedroom, Dominic sleeping on the
“Where do you experience the gift of tears in your life? Do you share tears with loved ones at family events? Do disasters causing significant loss of life affect you? Do beautiful things make tears well up in your eyes? What about when you think about your sins or guilt? Does the thought of the sacrifice of Jesus for those sins and guilt bring you closer to tears? “
” I think the important thing that Jesus would want us to learn from the verse from Matthew is that worries will always be with us. We should deal with what is on our plate now, not what will be for dinner tomorrow. In short, don’t borrow trouble.”
“Another question that occurred to me was, where is this happening in our own time? Who has authority, and where does it come from? Religious sects and denominations, political parties, martial and judicial officials, and even groups like homeowners’ associations claim power and authority, yet where does it come from?”