communitas et caritas

(Leonardo da Vinci, Head of St. Andrew) For a couple of weeks now, the lectionary has focused on the end times.  I have to admit that it's my least favorite part of the liturgical year.  It's confusing and misleading!  I want to sit down with Jesus and say, "explain this to me, in plain English."   So, I was especially delighted to find the readings for St. Andrew in my prayer book this morning.   The Apostles are rather extraordinary--but they are also very ordinary.  We do not know a whole lot about Andrew.  However, we know that he's the one who brought his brother, Simon Peter, to meet Jesus, and Peter becomes rather well-known among the Apostles. It's important for us to see Jesus' companions as ordinary people. Jesus did not choose the most intelligent, or the best preachers, or those in influential positions in society.  He chose men (and women!) who were just like us.  They were doing what they knew how to ...

Hello after a lovely Thanksgiving holiday!  I hope each of you has had a week full of blessings and delicious food. In the midst of the festivities, the Giving Voice November newsletter was published with a reflection by me.  It's a variation of the homily I gave a few weeks ago ( and posted here ) , on vulnerability.  Only, in this one, I focused more on the role of vulnerability in religious life these days.  Giving Voice's full version of the reflection is posted on their website, here .   If you're not familiar with Giving Voice, it's a way for women religious of the younger generations to connect with one another and find support and friendship across the boundaries of our separate congregations.  It's a wonderful community for me, and I am grateful to be part of it.  If that interests you, explore their website!  And then, sign up for an event!  The women in their 20s and 30s meet every year over Martin Luther King weekend for a retre...

Two images to close out the days celebrating the feast of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. This first window is from a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, clearly from before Philippine's canonization in 1988.  I don't fully understand all the symbolism, but you can see St. Charles in the upper left, and the Native Americans in the lower left. And, finally, I love this image, in part because it ties in major pieces of my life.  I had just graduated from Saint Louis University when I began my journey into the Society of the Sacred Heart and started learning about Philippine.  In many ways, she was someone I could relate to, and her story touched me deeply.  This image is in the old library room of Saint Louis University (now called Pere Marquette Gallery, but still part of the campus). In that room, they have four depictions of more contemporary saints (small "s") -- Gerard Manley Hopkins, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Elizabeth Ann Seton, and Philippin...

Though the feast of St Rose Philippine Duchesne was yesterday, it can't hurt to keep celebrating it! This is a newer statue of Philippine, commissioned by the city of St Charles, Missouri, just a few years ago.  It can be found at the corner of the property of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles, the first school Philippine founded in the United States, in 1818.  I love the way it captures her affection for the child and the child's affection for her! Do you want more??  One more day--the grand finale will be posted tomorrow morning!

  Happy Feast of St Rose Philippine Duchesne! This is one of my favorite images of Philippine, which I posted just a couple of weeks ago.  It is from the Cathedral of the Angels in Los Angeles, California.  I like it so much because she is so real to me in this picture--she has such a beautiful, normal human face (rather than any glorified saintly face (though it's that too) and rather than the cold solid material of a statue).  As I stood in the aisle of the Cathedral taking this picture, I stopped and talked with her, which couldn't be more natural at that moment.  I felt her presence in a way that I didn't expect, especially since I've been to her Shrine and prayed in the presence of her body, on the property where she lived, ministered, and died.  But in this image, there was something about the kindness in her face, the joy at watching the altar (because that's what the image faces), and the wrinkled yet gentle hands of an old woman that made ...

Continuing to celebrate the feast of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne.  This statue stands outside the Old St. Ferdinand Church in Florissant, Missouri.  It was there in Florissant that she started her second school, in 1819.  She is often depicted with two students, one Native American and one of European descent, to show the populations she served.  While she only served the Native Americans for a brief time, the desire to be with them was in her heart for most of her life. Come back tomorrow for another!

The feast of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne is being celebrated in Sacred Heart communities around the world this weekend (the official day is Sunday).  In Philippine's honor, I'll be sharing some images associated with her over the next few days. This image is a stained glass window from Sacred Heart Schools - Sheridan Road in Chicago.  The oak leaves come from her name -- Duchesne -- which means "of the oak."  The quotation around it (Philippine's own words) reads "God does not require great achievements, but a heart that holds back nothing for self." Come back tomorrow for another image of Philippine!!