My heart feels heavy for the condition of the church. Oh, Luther! Calvin! Zwingli! Let’s go back and start over!!!! Because this is getting ridiculous. It’s passed hurtful, looking at comical in the rear-view mirror and now is downright confounding. Continue reading
Here’s the first video that broke my heart: Continue reading
A week or so ago I found myself sort of….well discouraged with my journey. I felt like I was in no-man’s land. I asked St. Therese to pray for me and if possible to send me a sign.
On Sunday we went to St. Therese church, as has been our habit. And the kisses from Jesus started coming. First we sat behind a whole row of Missionaries of Charity in the blue and white saris. They were so joyful and lovely I wanted to exchange a sign of peace with all of them. And resisted the urge to invite myself over after church. They were radiant. (They are like the rock stars of religious life for me.)
The homily was powerful, powerful, powerful and left me in tears. Continue reading
I have been a worship leader and a pastor. In Protestant non-liturgical churches there is often a disconnect between worship leaders and pastors.
Generally speaking worship leaders see the most important part of the Sunday service as the “worship”–meaning the singing and the pouring of one’s heart out to God. The music, no-doubt, takes up the bulk of the service, say 45 minutes or even more. A service in which the Holy Spirit really moves, the sermon may be skipped altogether as we spend the whole time in worship.
Pastors, on the other hand, generally see the preaching of the Word as the most important part of the service. When the Word is preached and people receive revelation for their lives….that’s the good stuff. The “worship” (meaning, again, the singing) serves to prepare people to receive the message. Continue reading
“So far as a man may be proud of a religion rooted in humility, I am very proud of my religion; I am especially proud of those parts of it that are most commonly called superstition. Continue reading
Even as I was starting to appreciate ancient Catholic doctrines, there remained this thing about Baptism. I believed strongly Anabaptist theology (Believer’s Baptism), that one must be old enough and aware enough to know what they are doing. They must be believers themselves, desire the experience, and request the experience. In addition, Baptism was something that we did as a sign of what had already happened inside. There was nothing about the water that saved us. It was simply an act of obedience, symbolic only.
I’ve heard other arguments for infant baptism and for Baptism being a sacrament. But, never got on board.
Then I read this from St. Hildegard and in an instant, my theology shifted: Continue reading
How often have I heard the following: Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship.
It has several variations. But the gist is the same. Religion = bad. And everything gets lumped in there. If it is liturgical, ritual, sacramental, well…..that’s just legalistic, man-made and…religious. Continue reading
It has been with some trepidation that I began to explore the roots of my faith, Protestant tradition and the Roman Catholic Church. It has all along been “working out your faith with fear and trembling.”
And then there’s this, from George MacDonald’s The Princess and Curdie: Continue reading
I was in the first trimester of my eighth pregnancy. I was having dinner with two girlfriends one evening when suddenly I started bleeding and cramping. Terrified, I excused myself from dinner and drove home. I remember there were Christmas lights in the trees and the city looked beautiful. But my heart was racing. I prayed all the way home–starting with Our Father and then Hail Mary. Any previous reservations I had about asking Mary’s intercession were irrelevant in that moment. Mother Mary, pray for my baby. Please go to Jesus and pray for my baby. Continue reading
reconciling things 