May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Anular Solar Eclipse: Watch Live

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. Genisis 1, 14-19

A anular solar eclipse will occur around 5:30 pm EDT. The moon is at its furthest point form the earth, and so, during the eclipse, will not appear large enough to block out the entire sun. It leaves a “ring of fire” around its shadow. Visible to those in Australia and islands in the Souther Pacific Ocean, the rest of us can view it live on-line at a couple of sites:
Space.com http://www.space.com/19195-night-sky-planets-asteroids-webcasts.html

You can also follow the solar eclipse live via Slooh’s iPad app and its website: http://events.slooh.com/

Once, when a partial annular eclipse was visible in North America (Maumee, OH was the prime viewing spot!) I took my children out of school for the day (one in elementary, one in middle, and one in high school) and we drove north to view the eclipse. It was beginning just as we turned onto 475. We were excited and arrived at a Maumee park in time to experience the event. We had viewers, and a small telescope. Shadows filtering through the leaves were crescent shaped, and then almost a complete ring. Well worth the trip and a day out of school!

PHOTO BY: NASA

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/ring-fire-solar-eclipse-today-watch-live-114056740.html

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A New Look at the Ascension
May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A New Look at the Ascension

Originally appeared in the Catholic Times, issue: May 12, 2013

When beginning studies for a Masters Degree in theology, I was in the midst of a difficult time in other areas of my life. Perhaps it was Providence that one book assigned for a seminar was Ronald Rolheiser’s The Holy Longing. The instructor required each member of the class to prepare a presentation on a particular chapter. Mine was “The Paschal Mystery.” That was almost eight years ago, and I still find hope and wisdom in Rolheiser’s presentation of that holy mystery.

Rolheiser put a colloquial twist on the Ascension, describing its message this way: “Do not cling to the old, let it ascend and give you its blessing.” A necessary step to Pentecost, where we accept the Spirit for the moment we are living.

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Rituals and Reverencing Holy Presence
April 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Rituals and Reverencing Holy Presence

Originally published in the Catholic Times, vol 62:27

“Rituals are important,” my friend said as we gathered around the dinner table on Holy Thursday evening. The four of us read prayers together, broke bread, shared wine, and then poured water from a ceramic vase over each other’s hands, praying a blessing as we did. Later we joined with others in our parish to celebrate the Mass that began the Easter Triduum, three days packed with liturgical ritual.

As the Easter season continues, I find myself pondering ritual in life outside church sanctuaries as well as within them. My friend is right. Rituals are important. They provide tangible symbols of realities we cannot see or touch, but experience interiorly. They provide a link to people or places that are part of our history. They help us step out of routine and focus on truths that guide our lives. They help us remember the Holy Presence in which we live. [Read more…]

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March 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Soul Time

Originally published in the Catholic Times March 10, 2013 vol. 62:22

The fourth Sunday of Lent already? Impossible. I’m not where I thought I’d be. Spiritually speaking, that is. Each year I think it will different. I’ll be more disciplined when it comes to food. Each morning will start quietly with undisturbed time for prayer. I won’t succumb to temptations of playing Free Cell or Sudoku on my iPad.

This year I thought I had more attainable goals. In fact, I had but one: give myself “soul time.” Time for my spirit to breathe and, as an old African story goes, catch up with my body. This goal seemed reasonably attainable four weeks ago. I have been forced to admit that some behaviors have a stronger hold on me that I thought. [Read more…]

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We’re Like This…
February 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

We’re Like This…

“…You are the Christ, the Son of the living God…..you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” Mt 16

For some, this passage from Matthew’s gospel is justification for papal authority, for a pope in the first place. I don’t think Jesus intended to establish the modern papacy with this statement. What I heard this morning as I sat with these words was “intimacy.” Peter knew Jesus, and Jesus knew him. Isn’t that what intimacy is, knowing and being known? Something we crave to have with another human being, but more profoundly, with God? [Read more…]

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God’s Hidden Hand
February 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

God’s Hidden Hand

“Called Or Not Called, God Is Here”

Conversion is not viewed as an act of turning away from this or that sin toward this or that virtue. True conversion is never so neatly defined or cleanly accomplished. Conversion involves the gradual reshaping of consciousness to the point that the “convert” begins to view life in a radically new way. It is not something a person DECIDES to do, as though it were in our power to do so. We are led through conversion by the gracious Lord who alone has the power to reshape our consciousness, and who must do so in the face of deep resistance. In the ways the the spirit, it is the Lord and not ourselves who determines that from which we must be purified, and this is usually the source of our greatest resistance.
Peter Fink, S.J.

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Ash Wednesday Woes
February 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Ash Wednesday Woes

Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing…
Joel 2, 12-14a

Ash Wednesday, and I did it all. Fasting. Weeping. Mourning. Rending heart. Well, most of it. The “return to the Lord, your God” is in process.

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Dorothy Stang and Mardi Gras
February 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Dorothy Stang and Mardi Gras

Dorothy Stang S.N.D. July 7, 1931- February 12, 2005

“A Morte da floresta é o fim da nossa vida” which is Portuguese for “The death of the forest is the end of our life.”
(The quote printed on the white t-shirt often worn by Dorothy Stang.)

In “Give Us This Day,” a reflection on the life and mission of Sr. Dorothy Stang, murdered advocate for poor farmers in the Brazilian Amazon and the rainforest that is their home, was places on the page facing this morning’s Mass reading from Genesis 1:20-2,4a. It seems fitting to reflect on the life of the courageous woman from Dayton, Ohio and the words of scripture recounting God’s creating the universe and this earth out of primal chaos. “God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.”

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Love Above All
February 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Love Above All

Saint Scholastica peers at me from this small bronze plaque as I work on the computer typing out blogs, columns, books, and emails. I found the plaque in gift shop just outside the Great Hall on Saint John’s campus in Collegeville. Finding images of Scholastica is difficult, and I was happy with the discovery. Today is her feast in the Roman Catholic Church’s calendar.

Not much is known about Scholastica. She is the twin sister of St. Benedict, and like her brother, she founded a monastic community. Her convent was not far from his monastery and once a year they met part way between both to spend a day in conversation about the spiritual life. I can’t imagine that other more mundane topics common between brothers and sisters were not discussed.

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February 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The Vast Universe

Originally published in the Catholic Times, Feb. 10 issue

Ohio Dominican University celebrated the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas with their annual Convocation in this year featuring a lecture by theologian Fr. Thomas F. O’Meara, OP titled “Vast Universe: Extraterrestrials and Christian Revelation” (Also the title of his latest book). O’Meara’s presentation treated those attending with the opportunity to stretch their minds and understanding of Christian revelation here on earth by considering the possibility of free, intelligent extraterrestrial life sharing with human beings a capacity for relationship with God, the Creator of all. [Read more…]

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